Chapter 256: The Arrest Begins

My aunt was the one who taught me how to drive and I hadn’t taken any formal driving lessons. With my level of proficiency, the car would definitely be sent back into the workshop as soon as I tried to reverse. Besides, I hadn’t sat for a driving test yet, so I didn’t actually have a driver’s license.

“Forget about the car!” I said. “Getting a cab isn’t much trouble anyways."

"Just accept it,” laughed Xiaotao. “It's for the convenience of working the case."

After slight contemplation, I asked Dali, "Didn't you say you wanted to get your driver's license last summer? Have you taken the test?"

"I only said that to please my dad,” said Dali, a daft look spreading across his face as he scratched his head. “I went to one class and learned a little theory, but that’s it."

"How about this? I don't have time to sit for the driving test so you can use the car,” I suggested. “Dali, when this is all over, you should take the test. I’ll have to trouble you to drive me around in the future!”

"Oh my God, I’m getting a car! It’s so sudden! I can’t believe it!” gushed Dali, his hand clutching his chest in excitement. “Dude, why are you so good to me? Aren’t you afraid I might fall for you?"

"Quit fooling around. I’m asking you to be my personal driver," I chuckled.

“You may address me as Mr. Wang in the future!" Dali patted his chest.

Xiaotao laughed at our interaction and added, "Aside from freezing the website’s accounts, we’ve also frozen the accounts of all the streamers found through the studio’s computers. With the disappearance of the website, the whole lot of them are bound to have been alerted but I couldn’t care less. I’ve already declared to my superiors that we will arrest all the streamers who have broken the law nationwide."

“If this matter is released, it will definitely be a huge shock to the industry!" I said.

"We can’t allow this to get out,” nodded Xiaotao. “As long as you and I know, that’s enough."

"That’s to say, you’ve also frozen Storm Punisher’s account?" I asked.

"Wang Yizhou's name was on the list!" replied Xiaotao.

The young people of today left their houses without any cash, having acclimatized to the usage of WeChat pay and credit cards. Freezing his accounts meant that he was temporarily immobile. As the saying goes, there is no better strategy than to exhaust an enemy’s supplies. This drastic measure would definitely deal a heavy blow to our suspect.

Additionally, Xiaotao had issued a wanted notice to all precincts and called for close monitoring in every railway station, bus station, airport and dock, connecting the entire province in the search to arrest Storm Punisher. As long as he used his ID, his location would be exposed at once.

With Skynet surveillance, even the tiniest clue that might usually be undetectable could lead us to the criminal. Right now, Storm Punisher was trapped in Nanjiang City with no way of leaving so all we had to do was catch the fish in the barrel.

We arrived at an open space surrounded by a team of officers who watched over Pork Rong’s naked corpse. Strictly speaking, only half of it was left but it was unmistakably Pork Rong because of the stake still impaled in his anus. The blood on his legs had long solidified. At the moment, Bingxin was crouched beside the corpse, examining it for evidence.

Pork Rong had murdered six policemen which was considered a grave criminal offense. However, on the other hand, he was just a young man who simply craved fame and became a bomb fanatic after he was driven by various factors. Seeing his incomplete corpse, I couldn't help but sympathize.

"Why is the body here?" I asked.

"Song Yang-gege, aren’t you silly!” laughed Bingxin. “Why would you ask such a question?"

I turned to the others and said, "Don't you think it’s strange? The body could have been left at the crime scene and would’ve been ignored. Yet Storm Punisher made the effort to abandon the corpse in the wilderness. That proves one thing–wherever he’s hiding isn’t a convenient place to store the body."

"Not convenient?” Xiaotao perked up at once. “What do you mean by that?"

There were flies buzzing around the corpse’s intestines that had been exposed, leading me to conclude, "The weather is beginning to get warmer and the corpse will start to smell. This suggests that wherever Storm Punisher is hiding isn’t a standalone bungalow or an airtight basement. There must be other houses around. With his accounts frozen, he’s under financial difficulties so he plans to stay there for some time, which is why he bothered to deal with the aftermath."

"That makes sense!" nodded Xiaotao.

I moved closer to observe the body and asked Bingxin what she thought. "The time of death is 48 hours ago," she concluded.

"Wasn’t he killed last night..." interjected Dali.

I checked for rigor mortis of the joints, applying pressure on the knees several times. The human knee was the largest piece of cartilage throughout the entire body, and was one of the first parts to start rotting after death. My conclusion concurred with Bingxin’s.

"The video must’ve been pre-recorded,” I said. “When we watched the live stream last night, Pork Rong was already dead and had even begun to stink, so Storm Punisher had to dispose of the body."

As soon as I reached out my hand, Dali knew to hand me the Autopsy Umbrella. With its application, I discovered many fingerprints on the body. "The murderer handled the body very hastily which also suggests he’s not very good at this sort of thing,” I surmised. “The stake on the contraption was broken off so it must have been inserted very deeply."

I asked Bingxin to lift the body and Dali was just about to lend her a hand but I closed the umbrella and quickly stopped him before he could move.

"Half of his body is heavier than I expected,” remarked Bingxin.

"The murderer is about your height and rather poor at manual labor,” I explained. “Transporting the body must have been difficult for him..."

"Song Yang-gege,” said Bingxin. “I just noticed laceration marks on the hipbone."

I examined the hipbone and scanned my surroundings, immediately noticing an almost imperceptible trail left from dragging the body on the ground. "The murderer tied a rope to the victim’s thigh and dragged the body all the way here!” I deduced. “There is something strange about that though. The body was openly discarded here without any form of concealment, but the rope was removed. Could the rope expose his hiding place?"

I had intended to walk along the trail to search for wheel marks, but I decided to investigate the body first.

I grabbed the dead man's bloody feet and meticulously examined each and every detail, then asked if anyone had a needle or something similar. Bingxin pulled a hairpin from her head which I straightened and inserted between the toenail and the nailbed, scraping out some tiny, crystal-clear particles.

Bingxin and Xiaotao leaned in to have a look at what it was.

"It's sand!" cried Bingxin.

"Sand from where?" I asked.

"I’m not sure,” Bingxin admitted. “In fact, I’m not quite clear about that either. I’m only aware that the shape of sand particles differ from place to place. They are pentagonal, square, and round shapes; the list goes on. This particular grain of sand has a round shape and should be river sand but I can't confirm the exact location.”

The officers took turns examining it, but only Wang Yuanchao had valuable information to offer. "It's Chahe River sand," he said flatly.

"That’s amazing!” exclaimed Dali. “You can even tell where it’s from with a mere glance!"

"The lower reaches of the Chahe River is the only sand collection point in Nanjiang City,” explained Wang Yuanchao. “Back when I was working narcotics, I swallowed a mouthful of sand when a criminal pinned me onto the banks of the Chahe River. The doctor eventually extracted nine grains of sand from my trachea so I remember this shape."

"In other words, it’s sand used in building materials," added Xiaotao.

"Did you find any wheel marks on the road?" I asked.

"Quite a few!" acknowledged Xiaotao.

I walked along the trail and came to a dirt road that was covered in wheel marks. After scrabbling around the ground for a while, I found sand of the same shape.

"The wheel marks are the same as those left by the car bombing!" yelled Xiaotao.

"Let’s investigate this lead,” I said elatedly. “He must be hiding in a messy rental unit under construction. There should be sand and ropes piled up at the scene. I doubt there’s a parking lot so the murderer’s car should be parked nearby. And the surrounding area has a bunch of food stalls."

"How do you know there are a bunch of food stalls?” asked Xiaotao in wide-eyed shock. “Did you disect the victim’s intestines?"

"Just search along these parameters. I'll explain later," I answered cryptically.

Xiaotao led the officers on a search at once but I stayed behind to help Bingxin with the body. After all, I couldn’t leave her to handle it all alone.

When the others had all left, the three of us returned to the corpse. To Dali’s surprise, I pulled out a stack of yellow joss paper from my pocket.

"Song Yang, are you actually going to burn joss paper for this heinous criminal?"

"He’s already dead,” I sighed. “This is something I must do no matter the person."