When the body was salvaged, Yi Jiayi couldn’t get close, in the dark it seemed like she saw a body, or perhaps just a bunch of entangled water weeds.
But once in the forensic autopsy room, as the body was placed on the dissecting table and the forensic team slowly removed the water weeds, she finally saw the stark white bones.
The room, emitting a cold light with no warmth, and the bones nearly the same color as the light, drew her into a stream of consciousness imaging.
The deceased was a tall, thin teenager, his face still youthful, probably eighteen years old.
While two assailants covered his girlfriend’s mouth and dragged her down the grassy slope, the victim struggled fiercely trying to rush to help, but was held down by three other men. No matter how hard he fought, he couldn’t break free.
During the struggle, three older youths continuously hit him with nearby objects. When stones flew, they used fists and feet; when a punch broke his forehead, they picked up another stone to continue hitting.
The tallest youth with a buzz cut was beating someone and roaring at the same time: “Admit your fault, and I’ll let you go. What’s wrong with borrowing your girl for a while? Brothers are as close as limbs, get it? Do you get it?”
With each question, he viciously smashed down a raised stone.
Yet the victim clenched his teeth throughout, neither begging for mercy nor admitting any wrongdoing.
His eyes red, he seized any chance to dash down the grassy slope, fighting back desperately when caught.
He managed to land a blow on the buzz cut youth’s cheekbone and bit hard into the ankle of another youth in a green jacket.
In the blind fury of punches and kicks, it was unclear how many hits were landed on the three attackers, but even though not lethal, he didn’t give up. Like a small beast surrounded by wild dogs in the wilderness, his vision blurred with blood, he knew he was outmatched yet still fought desperately.
During the conflict, the victim managed to crawl nearly ten meters towards his girlfriend on the slope, almost reaching the youth attacking her when the buzz cut youth was provoked into extreme malice and rage.
He picked up an even larger stone, and as another thug held the victim down, he brutally smashed it down onto the victim’s shoulder.
This blow likely shattered the victim’s shoulder, a pain so severe it would ordinarily make someone wail in agony, kneel, and beg for mercy, or even fall down and stay down.
But in the agony of near death, the victim’s adrenaline surged so high that he seemed no longer to feel pain, his eyes only on his girlfriend’s face, smeared with blood and tears, no longer pretty.
Gritting his teeth, he remained silent throughout, his shoulder drooping limply, yet still trying to turn and bite the youth tormenting his girlfriend.
The buzz cut youth, overcome with hate and anger, lifted the large stone and roared, “Then die!” He brutally smashed the stone onto the victim’s head.
The victim’s body convulsed, the once strong and vigorous youth finally collapsed limply on the ground, no longer resisting or fighting back.
His jaw still clenched tight, his eyes filled with hatred.
…
It was unclear if the male victim’s emotions were too intense, or if their deaths were simply too tragic.
Yi Jiayi felt a chill running through her body long after walking out of the autopsy room with Officer Fang, her left hand clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white, unaware of it herself.
“Next week, we need to collect reports from Forensic Xu and the Forensic Science Division. Did you write them all down?” Officer Fang noticed her silence and distraction, wondering if she was frightened by the corpses, and shifted the topic to work.
Yi Jiayi raised the file in her hand, nodded, and managed a weak smile: “Got them all.”
“Alright,” Officer Fang nodded, “let’s call it a day and go home.”
“Alright,” Yi Jiayi replied softly, her mood low.
Officer Fang patted her shoulder, watched her drink some hot water, and as she was gathering her things to leave, he pulled her back into the office of Team B.
The young policewoman looked puzzled at him, as if asking: You just told me to leave, why are you not letting me go now?
“Take a moment to rest on the side, and ride the bike when you feel better. It’s not safe to be out of sorts.” After saying this, Fang Zhenyue walked to the whiteboard and wrote down two characters:
【Shoes】
“What do you mean?” Sanfu stared at the two characters and then looked puzzledly at Fang Zhenyue. He didn’t remember anything wrong with the deceased’s shoes.
“The body was wrapped in water grass and slowly decomposed, so the clothes were still on. Moreover, the deceased’s socks were there, but not a single shoe was found,” Fang Zhenyue narrated.
“He wasn’t wearing shoes when he sank into the lake,” Sanfu immediately replied.
“It’s impossible for a person not to wear shoes,” Fang Zhenyue underscored the word “Shoes” with two horizontal lines, “The shoelace that tied the body to the rock could have been from the shoes the deceased was wearing. The murderer might have taken off the deceased’s shoes not only to use the shoelaces but perhaps because he fancied the shoes.”
“!” Sanfu clapped his hands sharply, “Those shoes could very well be on the murderer’s feet now.”
Fang Zhenyue nodded.
Having sorted out the clues, Fang Zhenyue updated the whiteboard with the findings of the evening and discussed a while longer, though no substantial progress was made.
To move forward, they would have to wait for new reports from the forensic science and medical examiner’s office, or until Liu Jiaming found a missing person who matched the deceased’s profile to confirm the deceased’s identity.
Fang Zhenyue decisively dismissed the team, leaving only Liu Jiaming to work overtime.
Gary and Lin Wangjiu had met with the female deceased’s family. Upon receiving the notice from sir Fang to wrap up, they happily went home to rest.
The visits to the female deceased’s classmates and teachers would wait until school resumed the next day.
At this time, Yi Jiayi was still sitting in the office, repeatedly recalling the visions triggered by the male deceased’s bones. Seeing her somewhat recovered, Fang Zhenyue decisively picked her and the old bicycle up, tossing them into his jeep, and ‘on the way’ took her home.
After returning home, Yi Jiayi washed up and then went back to her small room to spread out her pen and paper again.
She recorded the information she remembered, pondering and filtering through it again and again, attempting to deduce the identities of the murderers from it.
The murderers knew the male deceased, possibly even were so-called brothers before.
But who was this male deceased?
…
…
After staying up late the previous day, Yi Jiayi was a bit listless the next morning.
Still feeling somewhat dizzy and light-footed after washing up, it wasn’t until she saw a table full of food that she incredulously raised her head and asked, “Is there a neighbor coming to have breakfast together today?”
“Has work been tough recently?” Yi Jiadong placed the last plate of egg tarts on the table, looking at his sister with some concern as he gently stroked her newly tied-up long hair, “Eat more, don’t let all the flesh I’ve fed you over the years go to waste just as you start working.”
The table was brimming with translucent shrimp dumplings, thickly sliced, clearly segmented pork siomai, smooth seafood congee with conpoy, steamed mung bean pastry, fish slice rice noodle rolls dripped with fresh soy sauce, freshly baked egg tarts, and chicken pineapple buns…
“How early did you get up this morning, brother?”
Turning her head to look at Yi Jiadong, the broad-shouldered, well-built man was still wearing an apron, looking at her with anticipation, his eyes brimming with a desire for her praise.
In the memories of her former self, she often nestled in her brother’s arms and acted coquettishly.
After she crossed over, she thought that this body was already that of a grown girl, and it was only natural to be somewhat distant from her brother.
But at this moment, Yi Jiayi, who was cherished, felt a longing for her brother’s embrace, wanting to get closer to this honest and warm-hearted big brother.
She awkwardly stretched out her hand, measuring by his side, and after several attempts, she still couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Lifting her head, she smiled sheepishly. Yi Jiadong, amused by her silly demeanor, laughed heartily, slapped her shoulder hard, and knocked her back into the chair, then cheerfully said:
“Eat up before it gets cold.”
“Then I’ll start!” she declared joyfully with both hands raised, then picked up her chopsticks.
Looking at the table full of delicious food, she didn’t even know what to eat first.
The smooth and tender seafood porridge, which first tasted sweetly of seafood, slowly revealed a rich rice flavor as she savored it.
She gulped down two big spoonfuls before going for the shrimp dumplings.
The tender, translucent rice wrapper burst, releasing salty and savory juice, and as she bit down, the freshness of the shrimp and the tenderness of the minced meat were apparent.
Yi Jiadong sat opposite her, also trying a couple of shrimp dumplings.
Watching his sister’s mood gradually uplifted by the delicious food, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Being a big brother was quite effective, easily cheering up his sister.
Contentment.
That morning, Yi Jiadong found a sense of purpose in life from his sister, feeling strong and grand, happily starting his day.
Yi Jiayi, warmed by her brother’s cooking, was rejuvenated and took some of the unfinished breakfast to the police station, distributing it to the starving children of the Major Crime Team B, earning their heartfelt thanks.
Child Liu Jiaming still used his usual phrase, “It saved my life,” never changing his words, but to express his sincerity, he improvised on the spot and called out “Sister Jiayi.”
At his call, Jiayi blushed deeply, put down her things, and ran off.
Next awaited Major Crime Team B was a whole day of meticulous investigation and visits.
Liu Jiaming continued asking from one police station to another if there were any missing persons fitting the profile of the male victim in the King’s Park murder case, whether the case was open or closed.
Lin Wangjiu continued with Gary to visit the female victim’s school, talking to teachers, questioning classmates, and trying to be as gentle as possible to not frighten the children.
Bustling and hustling, hard work might all be in vain, yielding nothing.
Such is the work of a detective, laborious and thankless yet necessary, with potential for no gains yet still undertaken. No matter how annoying or exhausting, just swallow it down with a Coke on ice, digest it yourself, get used to it yourself.
After three busy days, Liu Jiaming narrowed down the identity of the deceased to one of five missing persons, and then visited the police stations where these five had been reported missing.
Eventually, he identified the target as Ding Baolin, a missing person from Sham Shui Po, 18 years old, 176 cm tall, unemployed and homeless. About half a year ago, shortly after the King’s Park murder case, his family reported him missing at the Sham Shui Po police station.
“Did they leave a phone number? Tell the family to come to the Yau Ma Tei police station to identify the body,” said Liu Jiaming, after visiting six police stations and finally heading back to Sham Shui Po. Although the families of the other five were also notified, he felt that this one matched the description of the male deceased the most.
“They are very poor, no phone. After Ding Baolin disappeared, there was only a seventy-year-old grandmother living on welfare and a thirteen-year-old boy still in school, Ding Baolin’s grandmother and brother. Here’s the address, I’ll take you there to notify them,” said the officer in uniform, checking his watch. It was just the time students got out of school, and he could probably clock off after taking Liu Jiaming there.
“Alright, thanks for your hard work,” Liu Jiaming looked outside at the sun that had been blazing all day, the outdoors was at its hottest and stuffiest. Grimacing, he muttered to himself, “Thanks for your hard work,” before he went out with the officer in uniform.
Leaving the police station, they crossed Lai Chi Kok Road, winding this way and that, before finally finding Ding Baolin’s home.
Ding’s house was dirty, small, and dilapidated, with several families sharing one bathroom, and odd smells permeating everywhere.
Ding Baoshu had not yet finished school. Liu Jiaming and the officer waited under the eaves of the alley, fanning themselves and making awkward conversation.
After waiting for over half an hour, just as Liu Jiaming was about to give up, Ding Baoshu came back dragging a large bag.
The young boy, not yet fully grown, about 1.5 meters tall, skinny, with a delicate face and short hair, could easily be mistaken for a girl if not looked at closely.
With every step he took, the bag clinked and clanked, obviously filled with recyclable cans and bottles.
After the officer in uniform explained their purpose, he just nodded, took the big bag of stuff home to put away, spoke briefly with his grandmother, and then came out, quietly following behind Liu Jiaming.
All the way, the young boy kept his head down in silence.
Whether precocious or something else, he was especially wooden in his reaction to the news that his brother might already be dead.
There wasn’t a breath of wind on the street. Liu Jiaming invited Ding Baoshu to ride a double-decker bus, swaying all the way to the Yau Ma Tei police station.
When they entered, the blast of strong air conditioning was a relief to Liu Jiaming, but Ding Baoshu shivered.