Chapter 1423
Chapter 1423: The Wednesday Killer
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The Deron Special Bureau’s Logistics Division had twelve teams, with a total of twenty-four Investigators. While their numbers were small, they had seven thousand support employees who were primarily meant to provide assistance and support to the other divisions.
Put simply, when the other divisions were too busy, they would request aid from the Logistics Division. When it came to dirty work like cleaning up a crime scene or large-scale investigations of the people, the other divisions would push their work onto the Logistics Division.
After all, that was why they existed!
The golden-haired woman guided Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha to the floor that the Logistics Division was on before heading back.
This floor was for Investigator offices, so while the area was huge, there were not many people.
!!
It was the morning rush, so most of the Investigator squads were out. There were only seven or eight people in the office. Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha greeted them warmly, and there were introductions all around. After that, they were called into the office of Division Chief Tong Guan.
Tong Guan was in his seventies and had a square and stiff face. He had a broad chin, and his hair was black and glossy, probably dyed.
Once they had sat down, Tong Guan laughed and said, “Lu Xiangyang, your superior at Blue Boiling Point, is my classmate and good friend. He was effusive with his praise for you two, saying that you were his best students, the two heroes of the Logistics Division.”
Xia Fan chuckled. “That’s a little too much. Division Chief Lu was just using us as the butt of his joke.”
Tong Guan waved his hand. “Impossible. I know Old Lu. His nickname is Donkey because he’s both meticulous and as stubborn as a donkey. He can’t possibly have been praising someone else.
“To tell you the truth, I had to make countless phone calls to Headquarters to get you transferred to Deron. I begged Human Resources Division Chiefs Ke Chuanjiang and Cai Yuan for ages before they let you go.
“The Deron Star Region is on the border and is one of the most disorderly star regions of the Union. Once you’re familiar with the area, you’ll understand that an accursed place like this isn’t meant for humans to live in. The three great federations occupy only thirteen percent of Blue Moon, with 87% being uncharted regions. Those places are the territories of savages and playgrounds for various criminals.
“Deron is close to these chaotic areas, so our murder rate is a hundred times greater than that of the Union’s core regions, and we even have terrorists who occasionally stage attacks.
“Of course, you guys don’t need to worry too much. After all, we’re the Logistics Division and responsible for support. While we don’t have many Investigators, we have seven thousand regular employees, so we can finish most jobs. As Investigators, you guys will have a rather easy time of it.”
As he was talking, someone knocked on his door. A tall, thin, young Investigator with glasses walked in. Xia Fan recalled that this guy was called Dylan, as they had introduced themselves when they had come in just now.
Dylan frowned and said, “Division Chief, the Wednesday Killer has struck again. Our superiors have told us to dispatch two teams to support the Investigators.”
“Understood,” Tong Guan sighed. “Ha, it’s only morning, but a problem has already appeared. Get a shuttle. You and Ma Zheng should prepare to move out.”
Dylan replied, “Our superiors asked us to send two teams.”
Tong Guan nodded. “I know. You should have already met Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha. They will be heading with you to the crime scene this time.”
Turning his head, Tong Guan apologized to Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha, “After your long journey, you should have been allowed to rest for a few days, but the Wednesday Killer is too much of a problem. The Bureau is almost going crazy trying to deal with him.
“Thus, I must trouble you with this task. Just take it as your assignment test. If you do it well, I’ll treat you to a drink once you get back!”
…
Whoosh!
Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha sat in a high-speed shuttle of the Special Bureau and headed to the crime scene.
Ma Zheng wasn’t much of a talker, but Dylan had a livelier personality. He sat in front of Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha, talking to them with a smile, “Division Chief Tong had his eyes on you two before you even graduated. Every day, he called Headquarters eighteen times, pleading for you two to be sent over.
“Now that I think about it, the Logistics Division is in quite a bad state. We started with twenty-four investigation squads, but because the jobs aren’t going smoothly, we’ve been cut down by half. Really, what is Headquarters thinking? If they weren’t going to treat the Logistics Division well, why even establish it in the first place?”
Xia Fan didn’t say anything. He and Traveling Buddha had gotten famous for their feat of killing twelve Murder Shrine members in a single battle. This matter had gotten around. After all, many Investigators had originated from Blue Boiling Point. Such an incident would naturally draw their attention.
“Tell me about the Wednesday Killer,” Xia Fan prompted him.
Dylan nodded. “The Wednesday Killer is truly formidable. He kills someone on Wednesday, one person a week, for many weeks in a row now, never leaving behind a trace of evidence. Many Gold Investigators of the bureau have gone out to investigate, but they’ve come back disappointed. I’ll send you the files so that you can see for yourself how terrifying this guy is. Every body is cut up into 108 parts, so accurately it almost seems like surgery, and then they’re stuffed into public restrooms, schools, or commercial restrooms. He seems to pick only places people frequent.”
The investigators had watch-style communication devices, and Xia Fan quickly received the info from Dylan. He opened the screen and read the file diligently.
Traveling Buddha yawned in boredom. The guy had always been an off-handed manager, leaving almost everything to his partner Xia Fan.
——
The shuttle left Planet Victory and headed to a mining planet called Meadow. As this was a star region where many Natives had once lived, many planets had been named by the Natives, so the names were rather unsophisticated. There were also some planets that had a thick mythical flavor to them.
Befitting its name, Meadow was a planet with a large wetlands bias, where many grasses grew. Later on, when the mining industry was developed, cities were established, and the wetlands had been polluted into wastelands.
The killer had abandoned the corpse in Miners Stadium, a place that could hold 1.8 million people. The local working class loved sports, and the Miners were the most famous basketball team on Meadow. Every time they had a match, numerous people would converge with their families to watch, consuming large amounts of junk food and downing copious amounts of strong alcohol.
The stadium was like a black bowl, large enough to obscure the sun. There were 1800 restrooms inside; the corpse had been discarded in No. 373.
As this was a repeat offender, the various divisions of the Special Bureau had all come, together with the local police. It could be considered a gathering of elites from all sides.
Ordinary people couldn’t even get to the crime scene, only official employees. Even so, when Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha arrived at Restroom No. 373, they still saw more than a hundred badged Investigators of the Special Bureau ensuring that the scene was watertight.
The Logistics Division was a weaker division. When Dylan saw how many people were there, he didn’t try to force his way in, instead pulling Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha to stand to the side.
Xia Fan was still reading through the file. After combing through the most recent twenty-three incidents, he gradually drew a clearer and clearer image of the culprit.
Although Xia Fan hadn’t entered the crime scene, he had the Scent ability, and he was able to conjure an image of the scene in his mind. He knew that someone had drunk alcohol and thrown up in Restroom No. 373, and a man and woman had intercourse in the restroom, and had thrown the used condom into the trash can after.
He heard a man speak up in a deep voice, “The case is already clear. It’s that Wednesday Killer again! The method is exactly the same as the previous twenty-three cases! The victim this time is a young woman, thirteen or fourteen years old, and she was brutally dismembered into a hundred and eight pieces.
“The Technical Division has already confirmed that this isn’t the initial crime scene. The Wednesday Killer probably did the killing and dismembering somewhere else, and then he used the break between stadium games to toss the corpse into the restroom.
“The suspect we’re searching for has the following traits: male, between thirty and forty years old, 1.85 meters tall, strong and muscular, and possessing a criminal record.
“At the time, there were 1.75 million spectators with tickets in the stadium. The tickets were bought with their real names, and the criminal should be among them! Focus the investigation on the basketball fans and the spectators who came from other planets to watch. The criminal didn’t bring any family, coming alone. With these traits, we can narrow down the number of suspects.
“Alright, that’s all I have to say to you. Does anyone else have anything to add?”
Hearing this, Xia Fan raised a hand. “Me. I do.”
More than a hundred pairs of eyes instantly turned on Xia Fan, who smiled back, not appearing flustered at all.
The crowd parted, allowing Xia Fan into the crime scene. The first thing he saw was a short man, his height only reaching Xia Fan’s chest, but he had an Advanced Investigator badge. He was around forty years old and had a very solid figure, built like a tree trunk.
The short man looked at Xia Fan and saw that it was only a primary Investigator, but he didn’t think too much about it. After all, the Bureau had more than a thousand Investigators, so there was no way he could recognize them all.
“What do you want to say?” the short man asked him sternly.
Xia Fan smiled. “Sir, I would like to know how you are so certain that the criminal is 1.85 meters tall or higher?”
The short man was taken aback. Suppressing his impatience, he replied, “Naturally, it’s because of the footprints. We extracted three footprints from around the crime scene, and based on the size of the shoes and the clarity of the footprints, we can estimate the criminal’s height and weight. Did you not learn this at training camp?”
“We learned about that, of course,” Xia Fan nodded. Opening the door of the restroom, he pointed at the marked-out footprints on the floor. “But, sir, look here. This footprint isn’t right. These two can be understood as someone pulling open the door and entering the restroom, but this one is in the opposite direction, meaning that someone was leaving.
“To be more exact, he didn’t walk out, but ran out. That’s why this third footprint’s front part is more clear, and there are traces of friction.
“All of you know that when someone is running, they will naturally use their front sole to exert strength. Thus, I think that this isn’t the criminal’s footprint, but someone who saw the body in the restroom and then ran out in fright. For some reason, he didn’t report it to the police.”
The short man was startled, and anger appeared on his face. “Are you saying my judgment was wrong!?”
Before Xia Fan could reply, Dylan pulled Xia Fan back and whispered to him, “What are you doing? That’s Deputy Bureau Chief Zhu Chenfeng!”
Xia Fan nodded and smiled. “Oh, so it was the Deputy Bureau Chief! I’m sorry for this awkward first meeting, but I truly do feel that there is an error in your judgment. This is not the criminal’s footprint, so we cannot determine that the criminal is a muscular man 1.85 meters tall because of it.”
Zhu Chenfeng’s eyes bulged. “Which teacher taught you!? Although there are many footprints on the scene, footprints of those who came first and those who came later will create an overlapping effect. Anyone who has received an Investigator education should be able to determine which footprint came first and which one came last.
“Is there anything in that head of yours!?
“Everyone in the universe knows that the Special Bureau is after the Wednesday Killer. I don’t believe that there’s some scoundrel who would find a body and not immediately call the police. After all, not reporting a crime is also a crime, with a sentence as long as three years in prison!
“No one would take this sort of risk and not report, not unless they were the criminal himself!
“Dylan, where’d this kid come from!?”
Dylan scratched his head awkwardly. “Deputy Bureau Chief, please calm down. Xia Fan is a new Investigator of the Logistics Division. He only arrived today.”
“Logistics Division?” Zhu Chenfeng was even more furious when he heard that Xia Fan was from Logistics. He roared, “This is an important investigation! When did it become the place of the Logistics Division to speak their nonsense!? Get out right now! Anyone who delays the capture of the criminal, whether it’s this brat or Division Chief Tong, will all be fired!”
“But these footprints really can’t have been left by the criminal. If you look through the files, you’ll discover that the criminal has never left behind any evidence in the past twenty-three cases. His methods are clean and efficient, so why would he leave behind such obvious evidence now? It’s just not normal.”
Dylan pulled Xia Fan away from the crime scene, but Xia Fan was still talking.
“Oh my ancestor, can’t you just give it a rest? Deputy Bureau Chief Zhu’s temper isn’t to be messed with!” Dylan whispered to Xia Fan.
“The people of the Logistics Division are so ignorant! Comparing the previous crime scenes to this one? This is a stadium with 1.75 million spectators. The criminal must have run into someone, which is why he discarded the body and fled in panic, idiot! A bunch of idiots!
“What are you standing around for!? Find the suspect according to the list I gave you! Arrest all the suspects who match!” Zhu Chenfeng roared out.
…
After offending the Deputy Bureau Chief on the first day, the four from the Logistics Division naturally didn’t fare well. Zhu Chenfeng had driven them out in a fury.
Traveling Buddha didn’t care, and Xia Fan continued to read the file. He even used a method that Dylan didn’t understand, finding a bunch of mice, giving them food to eat, and then talking to them. Dylan was amazed again and again.
“Look at these two. One of them doesn’t care at all about what’s going on, while the other one acts strangely, feeding mice snacks. I really don’t know what the Division Chief saw in them that he would go to such great lengths to recruit them,” Dylan complained to Ma Zheng.
Ma Zheng frowned. “That shouldn’t be. I think Xia Fan’s argument was very reasonable. If the Wednesday Killer was that easy to catch, the case would have been solved ages ago. The obvious clues left on the crime scene don’t seem like that guy’s style at all.”
“You’re on his side? Not your partner’s?” Dylan cocked his hand and waved it in frustration.
—
The Logistics Division was in a very awkward spot. While all the other Investigators were running around like headless flies, the four of them were standing around doing nothing. Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha were in no rush, continuing to go about their own business.
They had arrived at the crime scene at noon, and it was soon nightfall. As their colleagues went in and out, tense looks on their faces, Dylan had an unpleasant feeling. He inwardly reproached Xia Fan for being so impatient and butting heads with the Deputy Bureau Chief.
Many suspects were seized, and the interrogations went on through the night. The four from the Logistics Division were completely excluded and had no idea of the results.
As the time neared midnight, Zhu Chenfeng’s assistant, Liang Jin, came out from the stadium and went up to Dylan and Ma Zheng. Glancing at Xia Fan, who was reading the file while sitting under a tree, he said, “Dylan, Old Ma, call over Xia Fan. The Deputy Bureau Chief wants to see him.”
“What’s the situation?” “Was the criminal caught?” Dylan and Ma Zheng asked quickly.
Liang Jian chuckled bitterly. “Haa, that kid was right. The one who left the footprints wasn’t the criminal, but a local miner.”
Dylan didn’t dare to believe his ears, crying out in disbelief, “Not the criminal? Then why did he run? Not reporting a criminal incident is also a crime!”
“Because he brought another person’s wife to see the game, and he didn’t want to expose his affair by reporting the matter! In any case, it’s best not to mention it. After running around all day, we only managed to catch a couple having an affair.
“Hurry and call them. Big Bro is here and is also waiting.”