Before long, Wang Dali came running over, panting and holding a red umbrella. He handed it to me, “Yangzi, is this the one?”
“That’s right!” I said to Forensic Doctor Qin, “Excuse me, could you lend me two pairs of rubber gloves?”
Forensic Doctor Qin was sitting on a small stool, a cigarette between his fingers. He tilted his chin and said, “There are some in the toolbox, take whatever you need.”
I took two pairs of rubber gloves, threw one to Wang Dali and put on the other pair myself. Wang Dali exclaimed in surprise, “Yangzi, what are you doing?”
“To avoid leaving fingerprints on the corpse, of course,” I replied.
“No, I mean...you want me to move the corpse?!”
“Who else is going to help me if not you? Stop talking nonsense and hurry up,” I urged.
Wang Dali lamented with a grieved expression, “Please don't drag me into this mess.”
“I’ll treat you to lunch, that should make up for it, right?” I said.
With a group of police officers watching to the side, Wang Dali didn't dare refuse. I asked him to prop up the upper body of the corpse while I took a pair of scissors from the toolbox and cut open the sweatshirt. Forensic Doctor Qin glared at me but didn't say anything. The corpse had its tongue sticking out—if I took the sweatshirt off over the head, it would likely tear the tongue.
After cutting open the sweatshirt, I proceeded to unbutton the shirt underneath. The face of someone who had died from hanging looked terrifying. Wang Dali had kept his eyes shut tight, not daring to look. When he peeked a glance, he was so frightened that he quickly closed his eyes again. “Damn, Yangzi. Aren't you scared at all?”
“Why would I be scared of a dead body? Are you scared of tables?” I replied nonchalantly with a faint smile.
To me, there really wasn't much difference between a corpse and a table. When I was younger, my grandfather had often taken me to graveyards to practice examining bones, and we would frequently stay the entire night.
Since there were many onlookers, I didn't take off the corpse's pants. I told Wang Dali, “Hold up the body!”
“You got it!”
Wang Dali cheered up and lifted the body, propping it on his shoulder.
I slowly opened the red umbrella, and the smell of medicinal herbs immediately diffused out. A policewoman covered her nose and exclaimed, “Where did you buy this umbrella? It reeks!”
“Sorry about that!” I gave an apologetic smile.
I had bought this umbrella on a shopping trip. The genuine copy of The Collection of Wrongful Convictions mentioned umbrellas could be used to examine bodies. People long ago had realized ultraviolet rays could make hidden wounds visible. Through the constant refinements of Song Ci, the great Song dynasty interrogation officer, different medicines were applied to the umbrella surface. This ‘forensic umbrella’ could then be used to uncover different traces on a body. I had followed the book's instructions to make my own ‘forensic umbrella’.
I slowly rotated the umbrella under the sunbeams. To ordinary people, the red shadows cast on the corpse's chest simply looked red. But to my eyes, they were like rainbows, composed of fan-shaped regions in various shades of red.
I examined the pale skin of the dead person while Wang Dali struggled to keep holding up the body. “Yangzi, hurry up and start the examination. The sun isn't hot today, I don't need you to shade me with the umbrella.”
“But I've already started examining!” I said.
“What? You're examining with a tattered umbrella?” Wang Dali was baffled.
“How can you call this a tattered umbrella? Do you know how much of my allowance I spent on medicinal ingredients to make this umbrella? I wouldn't trade it even for a girlfriend.”
“Well you'd need to have one first!” Wang Dali retorted, his gaze drifting longingly toward the aloof policewoman again.
Forensic Doctor Qin sneered, “Kid, which book taught you these odd ancient tricks? You want to examine a corpse with a broken umbrella—why not summon the dead man's spirit and have him speak for himself?”
I ignored him, thinking to myself: Go ahead and make sarcastic remarks while you still can. You won't be able to soon enough!
After rotating the red umbrella three times, half a blurry palm print suddenly appeared on the corpse's shoulder, startling everyone present. Forensic Doctor Qin gaped, so focused that he didn't even notice the cigarette falling from his lips.
“That's...that's impossible!” Forensic Doctor Qin jumped to his feet.
“Dali, flip the body over!” I said.
“You got it!”
Wang Dali was invigorated. He flipped the corpse over and propped it on his shoulder.
I continued twirling the red umbrella. Like an infrared scan, wherever the red light passed, more palm prints appeared one by one on the back of the corpse, even clearer than the one on the shoulder. These palm prints were small, as if left by a woman.
“Stop for a second!” The policewoman snapped her fingers. “Little Wang, bring a camera over!”
A police officer quickly brought over a digital camera. The policewoman had me keep holding up the umbrella while she took photos of each palm print in succession.
After all the prints were photographed, I had Wang Dali put the corpse down.
The policewoman looked over the photos on the digital camera and said, “Strange, the ridges in these prints don't seem quite like normal palm prints.”
“That's because they aren't palm prints. They're fabric textures. These hand prints went through the clothing. At the instant of death, the qi in the body scatters out from all pores. If an object blocks the skin at that moment, it will leave an 'imprint'. These imprints won't show up unless revealed by special methods.” I explained.
“Qi?” The policewoman looked baffled.
“It may sound mystical, but if you think about it, it makes sense.” I said with a smile.
The policewoman nodded thoughtfully as if coming to an understanding. “Not bad, you've really got some skills. Where did you learn all these odd theories? So in other words, this was a homicide!”
“Definitely homicide!” I agreed.
“No, that can't be right!” Forensic Doctor Qin suddenly stood up again, his face draining of color. “Young man, in all my years as a forensic doctor I've never heard of any ‘red umbrella’ or ‘imprints’. Where exactly did you learn this?”
“Magic tricks? Why don't you show me one?” I sneered as I closed the umbrella.
“How dare you talk to me like that! Do you know who I am?” Forensic Doctor Qin trembled with rage, his lips quivering. I felt a surge of contempt—so you fall back on seniority when you know you're in the wrong? I don't fall for that.
“I don't know who you are. All I know is that you made a mistake. You called a homicide a suicide, letting a college student die for no reason and allowing the murderer to walk free!”
“You little...!” Forensic Doctor Qin reached to grab my umbrella. I turned my body and he grasped at air, now completely furious. “Hand over that wretched umbrella! I've been a forensic doctor for so many years and have never heard of any ‘red umbrella’ or ‘imprints’. You...you must have used some evil arts. Stop making wild speculations here!”
Forensic Doctor Qin was rendered speechless. He turned to the policewoman, “Little Taotao, you saw it too. This punk is making fun of me. Hurry and drive away this unreasonable troublemaker!”
But the policewoman shook her head. “Forensic Doctor Qin, you can't go back on your word like this. Everyone present heard you two make that agreement. Since you promised to let him investigate, you should keep your promise.”
The policewoman was actually smoothing things over, conveniently ignoring the resignation. I understood but pretended to be oblivious. Oh well, I was too lazy to keep attacking a drowning dog anyway. I could leave the old man some face.
Forensic Doctor Qin was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said, “Little Taotao, even you won't help me? Fine, I won't investigate this case anymore. Let him look into it! If this punk actually cracks the case, I'll leave the criminal investigation team.”
Having said that, he took off his white coat and flung it to the ground, then stormed off indignantly.
I watched his retreating back with an icy smile. Old man, still not hurt enough?
Just then, a slender snow-white hand extended before me. I looked up to see the policewoman.
“My name is Huang Xiaotao. You are...?”
“Song Yang!”
I grasped her hand. Huang Xiaotao's hand was very soft and delicate. She also gave off a faint body fragrance. I had been chaste for 22 years and had never touched a woman's body before, especially such a mature and charming lady. I felt a little shy and my cheeks suddenly flushed.
"Well then, I'll be counting on your guidance for this case," Huang Xiaotao said with a smile.
"Of course!" I replied.
Just then, a cry of a girl came from outside the police line: "It's a ghost! My boyfriend was killed by a ghost!"
Hearing this, the three of us were taken aback at the same time.