Xiao Tao Huang hung up a call and came over to ask me: "How's it going? Any new discoveries?"
I shook my head. She called over some police officers and prepared to go to the old teaching building to take a look. Right before leaving, I suddenly stared blankly at the artificial lake, and Xiao Tao Huang asked what was wrong with me. I said, "That's right, can you get some people to dredge this lake?"
"What, is there something in the lake? Can you be sure?" Xiao Tao Huang frowned.
"It's my deduction. Since the murderer could hang the corpse on a tree, it means the victim was unconscious at that time. The victim had no external injuries, so he was most likely forced to inhale some anesthetic. But an adult male weighs at least 60 kg. Lifting such a big living person up and hanging him on a tree, while trying to leave as little trace as possible, would be very difficult. Also, since it was made to look like a suicide, why not make it seem like he had jumped into the lake and drowned, wouldn't that be easier? The murderer couldn't have not thought of this, so there must be a reason why he went out of his way. Therefore, I guess the murderer threw something into the lake that he didn't want the police to dredge up along with the corpse."
"You're right, how could I not have thought of that! Song Yang, you're so smart! What major did you study anyway?" Xiao Tao Huang asked in surprise.
"We studied electronics." Wang Dali quickly cut in, then patted me on the shoulder, "But our Yang Zi here has broad interests. He reads all kinds of detective and forensic books."
I looked at him with extreme disgust. What was with that 'our Yang Zi'? I instinctively moved away from him a little.
"What a waste that you didn't become a policeman. I'll contact the headquarters right away and have the engineering team come dredge the lake!" Xiao Tao Huang said.
Xiao Tao Huang left a few policemen here to clean up the scene. She went to the abandoned teaching building with the others, making a call on the way. Since she wasn't in uniform, I didn't know her rank and asked, "By the way, you seem quite powerful, what rank are you exactly?"
Xiao Tao Huang took out her police ID. It said "First-Class Superintendent". I also happened to glance at her ID number. She was only 24 years old. It seemed she had just started working, so I guessed either someone in her family had connections, or she had accomplished some great feat before.
"Sister Xiao Tao, you're so accomplished for your age, a First-Class Superintendent. Is that a very high rank?" Wang Dali seized the opportunity to flatter her.
"It's not that high." Xiao Tao Huang smiled.
Wang Dali then asked me how high the rank of Superintendent was. I explained to him that Chinese police ranks were divided into Police Officer, Superintendent, Inspector, Chief Inspector, and Chief Superintendent. While First-Class Superintendent wasn't the highest, for someone just graduated from the police academy, a promotion speed like this was equivalent to riding a rocket on her butt.
Soon, we arrived at the abandoned teaching building. The building was surrounded by many sophora trees. Their lush shadows completely enveloped the building, giving it a very gloomy feeling. The gate was tied with chains and padlocked.
Xiao Tao Huang called a policeman to go find the person in charge of the school to come open the door. I waved my hand and said, "No need. Just lend me two hairpins."
"Can you pick locks too?" Xiao Tao Huang took two hairpins from her hair and gave them to me.
I bent open the hairpins and stuck them into the keyhole, fiddling for a bit until the lock opened. Wang Dali said in surprise, "Damn, Song Yang, you're too modest! We were classmates for four years and I didn't even know you could pick locks!"
"Picking locks is very simple. I'll teach you when there's time."
Lock picking really is simple. Modern lock cores are all derived from the same basics. Of course my grandfather had taught me this. One time when I was sick and bored, he taught me to pass time. It only took me three hours to learn it.
"Hey hey!" Xiao Tao Huang yelled, "Don't go teaching that kind of skill casually! Locksmiths have to register at the police station."
"Don't worry, I won't use it for bad things." I gave the two hairpins back to her after finishing.
Xiao Tao Huang said, "Forget it, you keep them! I have mysophobia, I don't want to dirty things unnecessarily."
"Oh then let me pay you back later!" I said.
Xiao Tao Huang chuckled, "Thanks, no need! Just looking at you, I can tell you don't have a girlfriend. You have such a cute boyish face, yet you don't even know how to say something to make a girl happy. Why didn't you say you'll buy me two nicer-looking ones next time?"
Her words struck a nerve. I really did have negative EQ. My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.
But Xiao Tao Huang was actually joking around with me now. My first impression of her was that she was an icy policewoman who was indifferent to personal relationships. My impression of her immediately improved a little.
Wang Dali seized the opportunity to ingratiate himself: "Sister Xiao Tao, I know a shop for girls' accessories with great prices and products. After we're done with the case, let me take you to buy two new hairpins, what do you say?"
But Xiao Tao Huang coldly replied, "Thanks, no need!"
Wang Dali got rejected outright. He whispered to me, "Yang Zi, how come she talks to you but not me? I think I'm at least as good-looking as Wu Yanzu, on par with Peng Yuyan, right? Could she just not like rugged handsome guys like me?"
I glanced at his Eason Chan-esque messy hair and said, "Maybe she's just not familiar with you yet. Get to know her better."
"You think so?" Wang Dali stroked his head doubtfully.
We arrived at the music classroom on the third floor. The corridors here were also strangely gloomy even in daylight, very much like a scene from a horror movie. I figured it was partly because of poor lighting, and partly because being abandoned for so long without people, it naturally felt creepy.
I asked Wang Dali, "How come I've never heard of this piano ghost story before?"
"I haven't heard of it either. This kind of nonsense from ten years ago, only girls like to spread it around. When do girls ever talk to us normally? I don't believe this kind of campus ghost story anyway." Wang Dali disdainfully said.
"Then why are you hiding behind my back?" I asked.
"What do you mean? I just lagged behind you a step to tie my shoelaces earlier." Wang Dali argued forcefully.
We saw a classroom with a sign "Music Classroom 314". Some policemen rushed in first and soon let out horrified screams. We followed them in and discovered a headless corpse lying inside, with blood pooled all over the floor and already coagulated.
Wang Dali gasped and instantly scurried behind my back.
"Don't disturb the scene! You, cordon off the teaching building outside! You, start taking photos for evidence right away!" Xiao Tao Huang tensely directed.
The policemen immediately began busying themselves. Xiao Tao Huang handed me two pairs of rubber gloves and asked, "Can you handle this?"
"Anything a forensic pathologist can do, I can do too. Anything they can't do, I can still do!" I said as I gazed at the corpse.
"Good, then I'll leave it to you with peace of mind." Xiao Tao Huang nodded.
We put on the gloves. Wang Dali, that coward, kept hiding behind me the whole time, clutching my arms tightly. I could feel him shivering.
"Dali, if you can't handle it just wait outside!" I said.
"What kind of faithless friend would I be to do that? I'll wait outside then." Wang Dali went out the door after saying that.
"Your friend is so funny." Xiao Tao Huang smiled.
I squatted down to examine the corpse. From the clothing, the victim seemed to be a student around 20 years old. He had fallen facing the door. His head was neatly severed from the fourth cervical vertebra, but that couldn't be determined as the cause of death yet.
Xiao Tao Huang moved the victim's arms and said, "Time of death was around ten hours ago."
"You know this stuff too?" I was a little surprised.
"You pick things up after seeing enough cases. Look, the victim's lividity has started merging already, and the fingers are stiff with rigor mortis. Aren't those signs of a death around ten hours ago?"
It seemed Xiao Tao Huang had indeed diligently studied forensic medicine books. Her rank of First-Class Superintendent wasn't obtained through connections. I now looked at her with a bit more respect. I laid my ear against the victim's back and lightly tapped the spine with my fingers, listening for a while with the 'bone sound differentiation' technique and said, "If Forensic Pathologist Qin were here, he'd probably make the same judgment..."
"So I guessed right?" Xiao Tao Huang said smugly.
"Unfortunately, the time of death was actually around forty-eight hours ago, with a margin of error within two hours."
"Impossible! This corpse is clearly still very fresh!" Huang Xiaotao exclaimed in shock.
"You can't judge things by their appearance. I can prove it to you if you don't believe me!" I said as I ripped off the rubber gloves.