Yi Jiayi had countless speculations about the new case, fueled by curiosity and passion. Yet, upon entering the autopsy room, she was instantly chilled to the bone.
The corpse was horrifyingly bloody, far beyond what she had mentally prepared for.
This time, the body lying on the autopsy table in the morgue was that of a young woman, her uterus cut open, someone had stolen both her life and her baby.
“The preliminary conclusion is that the cause of death was excessive blood loss,” the medical examiner said briefly after examining the body, and then began the procedure.
Just as the coroner spoke, Yi Jiayi was drawn into a flow of vivid imagery. The young policewoman stood powerless in the void, a spectator to a scene filled with blood and despair—
A pregnant woman lay in a pool of blood, pleading for help from two elderly people.
Not only did they not help by calling emergency services, but they also went to the kitchen to fetch knives.
They moved the pregnant woman into the bathroom, one held her down while the other wielded the knife, performing the gruesome act of murdering the mother to take the baby.
The killers wore gloves and covered their shoes with cloth before the act; despite the mess made during the abduction, they left no footprints.
The murderer cleaned the baby of any filth, wrapped it in a blanket prepared in advance, made two vertical cuts on the wrists of the pregnant woman, turned the tap on low, then closed the bathroom door and hurriedly left.
After that, the life of the victim trickled away like running water.
Yi Jiayi snapped back to reality and realized that Sergeant Fang was about to take his team back to office B for a meeting.
Just like last time, in her heightened state of awareness, she memorized the documents that the medical examiner’s office needed to submit in the next three days.
She then went to the forensic department for evidence registration, and by the time she came out, Sergeant Fang Zhenyue and his team had already disappeared.
She returned to the administrative police office holding her folders, standing by the desk, her heart filled with sorrow.
“Was it awful? I heard Uncle Jiu mention her stomach was cut open,” Sister Yin made a shivering gesture.
Yi Jiayi nodded silently.
Sister Yin sighed and turned to silently go about her work.
For the next few hours, Yi Jiayi sorted files while intermittently reading and studying well-written reports, frequently taking notes, but more often pausing to recall the murder scene she envisioned, deeply concerned about the progress of the investigation.
I wonder if things are going smoothly for Officer Fang and his team…
After work, Sister Yin rushed off in a hurry, while Jiayi dawdled before finally descending the stairs.
Upon reaching the entrance of the police station, she couldn’t help but gaze in the direction of the Major Crime Team B.
Officer Fang and his team were probably in a meeting. I wonder if the two murderers have been listed as suspects yet, and why those two elderly perpetrators committed the crime.
And that child, I wonder where he will be taken and if he can survive.
I don’t know…
She pointed her toes towards the office of Major Crime Team B, but forcefully straightened herself out.
She was just a clerical administrative officer, doing miscellaneous and supplementary work, with no reason to barge into the Major Crime office and boss everyone around.
Besides, she claimed to know who the murderer was, but where was the evidence?
She would be treated as a lunatic, or even worse, as mentally ill.
Moreover, she couldn’t even clearly state the murderer’s name. Was it possible to describe the face from memory, have someone draw a portrait, and then issue a wanted notice? That seemed unlikely.
Last time, finding the murder weapon and catching the murderer was just good luck on her part.
She didn’t understand before, but having been involved in a case, after hearing Liu Jiaming and others discuss work, and reading several files about the complexities, durations, and difficulties of solving cases, she realized how many steps there were in a murder investigation—finding clues, suspects, and evidence, each step more challenging than the last.
Her rash involvement could not only be unhelpful but might expose her to embarrassment and even danger.
Imagining Liu Jiaming and his team fiercely questioning her, “How did you know?” “Where’s the evidence?” “Don’t interfere with official duties!” “Crazy!”
Jiayi lowered her head and gently rubbed her shoulder, which had been punched by a murderer earlier that day. It had turned blue and purple by morning, and it still hurt to touch.
Liu Jiaming and Lin Wangjiu came out for a smoke and saw Jiayi standing absentmindedly at the entrance of the station. Liu smiled and asked, “Jiayi, finished work?”
Jiayi was startled, looked up to see who it was, and then snapped back, managing a weak, “Brother Jiaming.”
“Hey, what’s good to eat at home tonight?” Liu Jiaming moved closer, teasingly making conversation.
“My brother runs a tea restaurant. I’ll go there for dinner tonight, he’s making soybean and pork knuckle soup for me.”
“Right, our little policewoman was injured yesterday, you do need to nourish yourself well.” Liu Jiaming nodded seriously, then mournfully added:
“You’re lucky to have pork knuckle soup, we’ve been eating instant noodles for three or four days straight, it’s really sad.”
Jiayi chatted a bit more with Liu Jiaming, then, her thoughts in disarray, turned into the parking lot.
Distracted, she accidentally bumped into another elderly lady who was looking down as she walked. Her lunchbox fell to the ground, and, unluckily hitting a protruding iron bar, cracked loudly along a long seam.
The old lady’s body was stooped, hardly able to straighten up. Seeing the broken lunchbox, she exclaimed “Aiyo” and bent to pick it up, but Yi Jiayi beat her to it.
“Sorry about that,” Grandma said with a pained expression, glancing at Yi Jiayi’s pink lunchbox and quickly pulling out a wad of cash from her pocket.
It was all change, and even though it was a thick stack, it probably totaled no more than a few dozen yuan.
Grandma carefully straightened the bills and stuffed them into Yi Jiayi’s hand, apologizing, “Please buy a new one.”
“There’s no need, Grandma. It’s my fault for not watching where I was going, not yours,” Yi Jiayi hurriedly waved her hand. The Grandma in front of her clearly lived a more frugal life than her own family, and Yi Jiayi felt wrong to accept the hard-earned money of an elderly person.
“It’s clean,” Grandma, thinking Yi Jiayi was worried about the money being dirty, rubbed the bills on her skirt and continued to push them into Yi Jiayi’s hand.
“Really, it’s not necessary. This lunchbox was old anyway; it has served its time,” Yi Jiayi said with a laugh, placing her hands behind her back, feigning indifference.
Hearing her words, Grandma seemed touched by something, her eyes suddenly reddened and she froze awkwardly for a few seconds before turning to ask the old man locking up the tricycle behind her something Yi Jiayi couldn’t quite make out.
The old man replied, finished locking up, and also began fumbling in his pocket.
The two elders scraped together about a hundred yuan and earnestly asked if it was enough to cover the damages.
“It’s really not necessary,” Yi Jiayi, seeing the appearance of the two elders, suddenly felt a pang in her heart.
She quickly reached out to press their arms, smiled nonchalantly, and then dashed into the garage.
The two elderly lingered at the door for a few seconds before finally pocketing the money and walking together toward the police station.
As Yi Jiayi was pushing her bicycle out of the parking lot, she saw Lin Wangjiu lowering his head to smoke at the police station entrance, and Liu Jiaming watching the backs of the two elders entering the police station, his lips pursed, showing a rare look of sympathy.
Liu Jiaming caught sight of Yi Jiayi and turned his gaze away, asking her, “Aren’t you going home? Be careful, or your pig trotter soup will get cold and won’t taste good.”
“Who are those two elderly?” Yi Jiayi asked. He seemed to know them.
“The parents of the victim in the infant abduction and murder case,” Liu Jiaming said with a sigh in his voice.
Their child had grown up, married, and even had grandchildren, but suddenly, her corpse was found at home and her grandchild was missing. Furthermore, both elders were quite old, suffering the agony of burying their own child…
Yi Jiayi suddenly remembered her own words in front of Grandma, “lived out its full life,” and felt a piercing regret.
“They’ve gone in.” Lin Wangjiu finished his cigarette, patted Liu Jiaming’s shoulder, and the two turned back to take the elders to give their statements.
Yi Jiayi stood by the bicycle at the entrance of the parking lot, her feet feeling as if they were filled with lead, immovable.
After a long while, the window beside the corridor outside the interrogation room was pushed open, and the victim’s elderly father hunched over by the window, smoking.
Backlit, he bowed his head, his entire face submerged in the smoke, the occasional glow from the burning cigarette tip failing to illuminate his visage.
At this moment, the deceased’s mother had probably finished the first round of questioning, and she trembled as she walked behind the old man, silently patting him on the back.
A door nearby opened, casting a slanting yellow light that illuminated the old man’s deeply lined, weathered face, glistening with damp, broken light.
During these moments of silent smoking, tears had already wet his face.
Yi Jiayi clenched her teeth and silently decided to lock her bicycle back up again.
Just as she turned the bicycle around, a few starving ghosts rushed out of the police station. Seeing Yi Jiayi’s back, they suddenly shouted and charged towards her.
“Sir Fang, since we’re going out to eat, why not head to Jiayi’s place? Her brother runs a cha chaan teng1A “cha chaan teng” is a type of casual dining restaurant that originated in Hong Kong, known for its affordable, eclectic, and fast-paced fusion of Western and Chinese cuisines. The menu typically includes dishes like Hong Kong-style milk tea, coffee, sandwiches, and noodles, along with unique offerings such as French toast and baked spaghetti with a Chinese twist., and I heard they’re serving pig’s trotter soup tonight. I could use some calcium myself,” said Liu Jiaming as he picked up her bicycle, stuffed it into the trunk of Sir Fang’s car, and then ushered her into the vehicle.
The jeep started up, and Liu Jiaming turned around to say, “It’s a pity that Gary and Sanfu are still taking statements from the victim’s husband. They’ll miss out on the pig’s trotter soup.”
“I haven’t had a proper meal in a long time…” Lin Wangjiu sighed as he rubbed his belly.
Team B’s two vehicles thus ‘kidnapped’ Jiayi, heading north straight to Yi Ji on Apliu Street, Sham Shui Po, bustling to support the little policewoman’s brother’s business.
On the jeep weaving through the traffic after work, when everyone talked about the current leads in the case, Yi Jiayi, whose mind was completely focused on the case, listened more intently than anyone else.
kidnapped 🤣