Farewell Letter
A black and red large truck’s tire marks stretched for several meters on the ground, emitting a nauseating smell of blood.
Lin Yan sniffed and gently picked up a clump of dark, sticky internal organ fragments from the ground.
Memories rushed in like a flood, causing her face to pale in an instant, her lips tightly clenched.
The heaviest concentration of bloodstains was beneath the two front wheels of the truck. If it weren’t for the investigative markers, it would have been impossible to step there. Nevertheless, the scene was already disturbed, with a chaotic mix of footprints – some belonging to the driver, some to the person who reported the incident, and others from other construction workers on the site.
Fang Xin was trying to measure the footprints while suppressing his nausea. Before long, his face turned white, and he stumbled and rushed outside.
Lin Yan furrowed her brows. Perhaps she had been feeling unwell since this morning, as her stomach was churning as well. A fair wrist extended in front of her, offering a tissue.
“For you.”
Lin Yan suddenly felt deeply insulted, “Get lost, I don’t need that!!!”
Song Yuhang held the tissue, momentarily stunned. He then slightly curved his lips and walked aside to question an eyewitness.
The portion of the victim’s body below the chest had all been caught in the wheels, and after being repeatedly crushed, it was now flattened against the ground, paper-thin. The head and neck were detached, connected only by a few strands of blood vessels. Half of the head had been crushed by the wheels, and the pale brain matter adhered to the front wheel. The entire facial structure was unrecognizable to the naked eye, making it a completely disfigured countenance.
Such a body, let alone an autopsy, would be difficult to even lift from the ground.
After the forensic personnel finished taking photos, Lin Yan reached her hand into the pool of blood, felt a tooth, lifted it to the light, examined it, and placed it in an evidence bag.
“Based on the degree of tooth wear, the deceased was very young, under eighteen years old.”
Duan Cheng quickly approached, took a photo, and made a record at the same time.
“Judging from the skull…,” Lin Yan’s hand gently touched the remaining half of the skull, sliding back and forth on its side. “The skull is thin, muscle lines are not prominent, the forehead is vertical, the top is flat, indicating that the deceased was likely a young female.”
“There’s a large pool of blood at the scene, flowing southward into the cracks in the ground,” Lin Yan stepped back. She had already touched the deceased and didn’t want to contaminate the ground further, so she signaled a few assistant forensic experts to come and collect the bloodstains.
“Turn over the soil together with the blood.”
A shovel went down, lifting a large clump of soil with roots intact, placing it all into an evidence bag.
Others, all wearing gloves, searched the extensive pool of blood for bone fragments. This was crucial for confirming the identity and age of the deceased in the later stages.
Lin Yan leaned over again to examine the half of the skull, her words ringing out confidently, “The wounds show clear signs of vitality…”
She lifted her gaze and looked up at the rooftop where the broken railing was swaying perilously.
The truck driver had already been restrained. With handcuffs on, he was crying and wailing under the questioning of several detectives. “I really didn’t know there was someone here, I really didn’t know! It was so dark, around four o’clock, I went to work as usual, delivering construction materials to the site. People often throw construction waste downstairs without much thought, I really didn’t think much of it!”
A tall man of about seven feet, crying and struggling forward, his face turning red, exhibiting prominent signs of a red nose due to alcohol consumption.
Song Yuhang walked over, “Test his alcohol level.”
“Open your mouth!” Several detectives held him down, inserting the instrument into his mouth.
“Blow.”
The man blew lightly, and the value on the device immediately spiked to its peak.
A detective brought the reading to her, indignant. “This guy drank quite a bit last night. Look at how high his blood alcohol content is now. No wonder he didn’t even realize he ran someone over!”
The nearby foreman trembled, and Song Yuhang’s gaze turned to him. “Did you discover the body?”
The foreman nodded, stuttering, “Ah… y-yes… it was me…”
“Don’t be nervous, take your time to explain what happened.” Song Yuhang signaled for a cigarette to be handed to him. The foreman took it, his fingers trembling as he lit the lighter. After taking two deep drags, he calmed down slightly, though his voice still trembled.
“Early in the morning, around five o’clock, I went to work as usual…” He recalled the scene with lingering fear, but Song Yuhang interrupted him.
“Do you remember the exact time?”
The foreman thought for a moment. “I usually wake up at five-ten. At that time, it should have been around five-thirty. I put on my safety helmet and walked toward the construction site. When I got to the front of the building… I saw…”
He shivered as he recollected the scene.
Old Li, who was responsible for delivering construction materials to the site, was a familiar face. He knew that Old Li liked to drink, but nothing had ever happened before. The two of them exchanged warm greetings.
“Morning, Liu Tou,” Old Li lowered the car window, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth.
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“Morning. Not drinking today?”
“Beer, want some?” Old Li shook a bottle of alcohol at him from the seat beside him, and there were some peanut shells scattered around.
“No, no. I’ll be back to work soon. Can’t let the boss catch a whiff of the smell later.”
Liu Tou stepped back to make way for the truck and then heard a loud bang. He was in the middle of loosening his belt to urinate against the wall. He even chuckled and cursed, “You drunkard, had too much again, huh?”
Old Li reversed the steering wheel abruptly, muttering, “Damn it, which idiot dumped garbage here? Don’t they know the truck only goes in and out through this route?”
He stepped on the gas, revving up the engine and charging forward, but he felt something crunching under the wheels.
In a hurry to unload, he floored the gas pedal and tried a few times back and forth, never bothering to get out and check.
After finishing urinating, Old Li turned on the spotlights at the construction site. When the harsh, pale light fell upon the scene, he turned around and was immediately terrified. He plopped down on the ground in shock!
Under the wheels were some shreds of clothing and fragments. Blood seeped out from beneath the wheels, and half of a skull, compressed and deformed, had been squeezed out as if one could hear the sound of muscles and bones shattering.
Liu Tou didn’t even bother with his pants; he scrambled to his feet and rushed over to stop the truck.
“That’s the situation, officers, officers! It’s got nothing to do with me!”
Song Yuhang handed over a pen and paper, saying, “Leave your name and contact information. Fang Xin, come here and take a blood sample. If necessary, please cooperate with our investigation.”
Fang Xin emerged from the gruesome scene, holding an evidence kit. She efficiently collected blood samples from the truck driver and the eyewitnesses.
Song Yuhang’s gaze drifted over, and Lin Yan was still crouched in the pool of blood. Unusually, she was dressed in formal attire today, covered with a protective suit. Her hair was pulled back, revealing her delicate and fair nape.
Handing over the notes she had in her hand to others, Song Yuhang put on gloves and walked over. She squatted beside her.
With limited investigation markers, Lin Yan shifted to the side a bit. “Something on your mind?”
Song Yuhang’s gaze also seemed a bit uneasy, wavering on her face. “Uh… about the results.”
“The deceased was under eighteen years old, female. Based on the extent and coloration of the bloodstains, the time of death should be around four o’clock yesterday morning.”
Lin Yan finished her explanation in one breath and walked to the other side, changing her perspective to observe the fragmented half of the skull.
Song Yuhang followed her. “Is there anything unusual?”
She pointed to the depressed part of the skull, her fingertip even picking up a tiny fragment of bone. “Comminuted fracture, consistent with characteristics of a high-impact fall.”
Duan Cheng couldn’t take it anymore, collapsing to the side after taking photos. “Ugh…”
Lin Yan clicked her tongue. “What a rare case. Their psychological resilience is too weak. Captain Song, you should consider replacing them sooner rather than later.”
Song Yuhang looked at Lin Yan, then at Duan Cheng, as if contemplating the feasibility of the situation. When he met her gaze, Duan Cheng was afraid she’d think he was useless, so he quickly stood up and said, “It’s fine, I can still hold on!”
Her gaze returned to linger on her face, “Are you saying she fell to her death rather than being run over by the truck?”
Lin Yan nodded slightly, aware that her gaze was fixed on her, yet she didn’t meet it. “Yes, at most, the truck’s impact caused secondary injuries. Judging by the extent of skull fractures and that pool of blood—”
Song Yuhang followed the direction of her pointing finger and looked over.
“The color of the soil there is visibly darker than on this side. It’s very likely the place she fell from.”
“Can you determine whether it’s a fall that occurred while she was alive or after her death?”
Song Yuhang walked over and touched the soil there.
Lin Yan shrugged. “It’s difficult, given the condition it’s in now. I’ll bring her back to the lab and perform a thorough autopsy to try and determine.”
Song Yuhang straightened up, shading his eyes, and looked up at the rooftop. “I’ll take a few people up there to have a look.”
******
Upon entering the building, a cloud of dust mixed with the smell of cement rushed toward them. The elevator was still out of order. With the team in tow, Song Yuhang climbed the stairs to the sixth floor. A steel door separated the rooftop from the staircase.
The door wasn’t locked; it swayed as the wind blew. Song Yuhang signaled the forensic personnel behind her to step forward and immediately collect fingerprints. Once they finished, she gently pushed the door open.
The rooftop wasn’t spacious and lacked any objects, presenting a desolate scene. Several criminal investigation personnel scattered to search for useful clues.
However, Song Yuhang went directly to the railing.
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******
“Come on, let’s lift this up and take it back to the office.” While Song Yuhang was searching for clues upstairs, Lin Yan was preparing to wrap up the work downstairs.
Duan Cheng looked utterly dispirited as he stared at the mess of bones and flesh. “This… How do we go about this?”
“Don’t waste time. We obviously use a shovel. Move quickly, and we can still make it back in time for lunch.” With impatience, Lin Yan rolled her eyes, picking up a specialized small shovel from her hand and started scooping up larger pieces of tissue and bones from the pool of blood, placing them into a body bag.
“…” Duan Cheng endured and endured, his face turning pale. He eventually managed to suppress the nauseous feeling, joining the team that was shoveling the remains.
******
Song Yuhang leaned halfway out and saw Lin Yan lifting the wrapped body bag onto the vehicle. She bent down, inspecting the scuffs on the ground beneath her.
“A ruler.” She squatted down to measure it. The footprints were small, consistent with the characteristics of a deceased person under the age of eighteen, as Lin Yan had mentioned.
There were no signs of deliberate damage to the railing. Long neglected, the railing had developed a patchy layer of rust from water erosion. As soon as her fingers touched it, an audible creak of strain echoed.
Following the railing to its point of fracture, Song Yuhang found a tiny piece of fabric on it.
She put on gloves, picked it up, and placed it into an evidence bag.
An investigator rushed over to report, “Captain Song, we’ve checked it all. There are no signs of a struggle on the rooftop, and the lock on the door only has one person’s fingerprint. We found this in the corner over there; it seems like it was blown by the wind.”
He handed over a thin, completely rain-soaked piece of paper. Song Yuhang held it carefully, afraid that she might damage it if she pressed too hard.
She brought it in front of her, using an inspection light to illuminate it. The ink had smudged considerably due to the rain, and she could barely make out the first two characters: “遺書” (“Farewell Letter”).
******
Downstairs, Forensic Doctor Lin took off her mask to catch her breath, while Duan Cheng moved the wrapped body bag onto the vehicle. His peripheral vision caught sight of the injury on her face, and he immediately exclaimed, “Forensic Doctor Lin, what happened to your face?”
The gazes of the others quickly shifted towards them. Without hesitation, Forensic Doctor Lin lifted her foot and kicked at him, exclaiming, “I’ll give you something to yell about!”
Afterward, she hurriedly covered her face again with her mask, as the commotion had caused her cheeks to ache. Forensic Doctor Lin winced and muttered, “How else could I handle it? Like a dog chewed on it!”
******
Although she couldn’t hear what they were saying, seeing Forensic Doctor Lin and Duan Cheng fooling around somehow brought a faint sense of warmth to this gruesome crime scene.
Song Yuhang withdrew her gaze. As far as her eyes could see, outside the police cordon, the area was crowded with onlookers and media.
“What’s going on? Why is this happening?”
“I heard the truck driver ran over a person, back and forth, more than ten times. It’s a horrifying death.”
“Why would someone resort to such a brutal act out of revenge or grievances?”
“My nephew, who works at the construction site, said…”
A murmur of hushed conversations rose from the crowd, with a variety of speculations and opinions. The media pushed and shoved forward.
“We are journalists, journalists! Please let us in for an interview. We want to talk to your responsible person.”
The local police officers had never encountered such a situation before and were struggling to hold them back. Among the journalists, there was a young woman with blonde hair who was not very tall. She took advantage of a momentary gap and slipped past the officers, suddenly taking a flurry of photos of Forensic Doctor Lin.
Miss Lin was momentarily blinded by the unexpected burst of camera flashes. The journalist had already rushed up, taking close-up shots of the wrapped body bag and then shoving a microphone in front of her.
“May I ask when this case occurred?”
“Who is the victim?”
“Do the police have any leads at the moment?”
……
A rapid stream of questions came pouring out, ranging from various aspects. Lin Yan narrowed her eyes when her gaze met the journalist’s in front of her. The journalist noticeably hesitated upon locking eyes with Lin Yan.
There was no way to forget – Lin Yan had left quite a lasting impression.
That unforgettable face and agile movements.
Lin Yan opened her mouth, wanting to address her, but realized she didn’t know the journalist’s name.
Impatiently, Lin Yan furrowed her brows and raised her hand to move her aside, saying, “Step aside.”
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Having dealt with countless people, she couldn’t recall who this was.
Other reporters, not wanting to be overshadowed, swarmed around her since she held the highest-ranking law enforcement position present. In a blink, she was encircled.
“Officer, could you give us some information about this case?”
“Officer, has there been any progress in the investigation so far?”
“Why did the perpetrator commit the murder?”
Some even recognized her face from beneath the mask, and a murmur spread through the crowd, “It’s Forensic Doctor Lin, it’s her. This definitely must be a major and serious case…”
Lin Yan lifted her foot to leave, but those people persisted in following her, whispering, “Hey, Forensic Doctor Lin, Forensic Doctor Lin…”
Lin Yan was pushed around by the crowd, feeling dizzy and overwhelmed. Amidst the chaos, she didn’t know who bumped into her, and suddenly everything spun. Fortunately, someone behind her reached out and steadied her.
When Lin Yan turned her head, it wasn’t the familiar face she expected.
“Are you alright, Forensic Doctor Lin? You can go ahead.”
Lin Yan nodded, then made her way out of the encirclement. She left Duan Cheng and a few assistant forensic doctors behind to deal with the reporters’ inquiries.
Song Yuhang furrowed her brows. Seeing that Lin Yan had safely left the crowd, she withdrew her gaze and prepared to descend the stairs. However, in that moment, the corner of her eye caught a person in a black jacket. Although she was quite far away, she noticed that the person wasn’t holding a camera, which meant they weren’t a reporter. Despite being part of the onlookers, they weren’t engaged in any conversations with the people around them.
Years of working in criminal investigation had honed her keen instincts. She swiftly turned her body around and requested, “Binoculars.”
A colleague handed her the binoculars. Amidst the crowd, Song Yuhang carefully scanned for that black-clad figure. However, she realized the person had already vanished into the vast sea of people, as if it had all been a fleeting illusion.