The Case of the Suspended Ceiling

In an abandoned clinic outside the walls of Xikang, an intermediary was leading an attractive married woman inside.

As the intermediary unlocked the door, he introduced:

"Don't be fooled by this remote location. There are a lot of residents around here. If it weren't for the murder case that happened here over two years ago, this place would have been sold off long ago.

Ms. Liu, let me tell you, buying this place is definitely worth it. No matter what business you run in the future, you will make an absolute killing. Now is the best time to buy. In a few years, the price will go up again..."

The door opened and the intermediary kept talking nonstop. But at that moment:

"Ah... Ah..."

A scream sounded, giving the intermediary a huge fright. Then, before he could react, Ms. Liu ran off like the wind, screaming as she went.

Seeing this, the confused intermediary looked towards the door and exclaimed:

"Damn... I... Damn..."

He was so scared he almost fell to the ground. Inside the room, on the table, was a human leg.

Without another word, the intermediary ran outside, but after running just a few meters, he came back.

Then, he took out his phone, opened TigerTok, turned on the recording function, and said to the leg:

"Damn, today I... A human leg, scared me to death."

After recording the video, the intermediary quickly called the police, then added mosaics to the short video before posting it on his own account, looking quite satisfied. His previous panic had completely disappeared.

At an abandoned delivery station, a crowd of onlookers surrounded the entrance. Someone passing by just now had smelled the stench of corpses inside and called the police.

Now the police were opening the door while the crowd outside, phones in hand, squeezed to get inside.

Just a few seconds after the door opened, the police shouted loudly:

"Step back, secure the scene!"

Hearing this, an aunt holding up her phone to record turned and shouted to those behind her:

"Step back, step back!" Then she shoved her body forcefully forward, trying to capture the scene inside.

The special investigation team was still a step too slow. By the time they deduced the corpse's location, two parts had already been discovered by the public.

In their horror, people began frantically posting the events and videos online. In an instant, the internet exploded with chatter that officials struggled to suppress.

Not only that, but a daring colleague of Su Mo's had previously noticed Su Mo's posted video and hadn't thought much of it. Now realizing its significance, he directly shared the video online.

This stirred up even more frenzy. Without waiting for police announcements, netizens had already pieced together what happened.

Everyone knew that someone calling himself the Midnight Judge had killed and dismembered Duan Lie. The reason being that Duan Lie was the culprit behind the Xikang Frankenstein Murder Case.

With this, the Midnight Judge became famous. Something like this had never happened before. It was practically a plot straight out of a novel, and many people were paying attention.

Some even replaced their online avatars with Su Mo's masked image, enjoying immense popularity for a time.

Yet regarding the online fervor, officials made no response, as they still hadn't determined whether Duan Lie really was the Frankenstein Murderer.

Facing his team, Special Investigator Wei Dongqing said:

"Duan Lie was indeed the Frankenstein Murderer."

"Why? We scoured Duan Lie's home but found nothing," Zhao Xiaobao said, puzzled.

"It's been over two years, the evidence is long gone. But based on Wu Xin's psychological profile of Duan Lie, and those gym membership cards in his room, it's conclusive," Wei Dongqing replied.

He continued, "What we need to do now is catch this Vigilante. He's more dangerous than Duan Lie, I can feel it."

Forensic Doctor Qin nodded: "I've thoroughly examined the scenes at each location. They were wiped very clean, leaving us no clues. Even Duan Lie's phone was burned beyond recovery.

From my many years of experience, this is definitely not the perpetrator's first crime. He must have at least a few cases under his belt, otherwise he couldn't achieve this level of meticulousness."

At this, Wu Xin chimed in: "But before now, I'd never heard of any 'Midnight Judge'."

The others' faces darkened at these words. Zhao Xiaobao looked utterly confused: "What does this mean?"

Li Yang rolled his eyes at Zhao Xiaobao: "It means the murderer did this on purpose. Leaving a moniker means he's confident we can't catch him. It signifies a formidable opponent."

At the archives, after watching the short video for a while, Su Mo whispered to himself with a smile: "I still photograph quite nicely, even with the mask on. Still so cool."

Putting down his phone, he looked at a case file on his desk. It was titled: Ceiling Hanging Case.

Three years ago in Fanghua Community of Xikang's 2nd Ring Road, a serial murder case occurred with 3 victims in total.

They had all been hanged from ceilings and strangled to death. The victims were all male, so the case was named the Ceiling Hanging Case.

The details were clear. The 3 victims were all males living in the same community, all married with children, and all had a history of domestic violence.

What's more, in the third case, there were 3 other people present in the victim's home. It was baffling.

At the time, the third victim had invited 3 friends over to drink. They all got drunk and when they woke up, discovered the victim hanging dead inside the house, which had been locked from the inside as an "impossible crime" scene.

Logically, the killer should have been one of the other 3 people present, but police investigation later found they were all innocent.

The cases shared another similarity - the victims were fully clothed and neatly dressed, clearly having been arranged that way by the killer.

The case seemed straightforward but was difficult to crack. Firstly, the 3 crime scenes were spotless with no clues left behind. Secondly, the 3 friends of the third victim all had alibis clearing them of suspicion for the first 2 cases, so they were ruled out.

Su Mo's next target was this serial killer. He guessed the murderer was one of those 3 people, since alibis are easy to manufacture but impossible crime scenes are not.

So he looked over the 3 mens' information and contemplated:

Liu Ming, male, 33 years old, civil servant, no domestic violence record, kind personality, affable, parents still living. Alibi provided by father.

Qian Shang, male, 34 years old, lawyer, history of domestic violence, steady personality, socially adept, divorced parents but both still living. Alibi provided by wife and child.

Wang Xiaohu, male, 35 years old, policeman, domestic violence record, easygoing personality, slick and sly, parents deceased. Alibi provided by female colleague.

Su Mo thought: "Just looking at their files probably won't reveal much. I'll have to meet these three men in person to glean anything useful.

But one thing is certain - the killer dressing up the victims so neatly must have some meaning, but I can't figure out what yet. No rush, once my alter ego's emotions turn red I'll know."