Dude, something's really wrong with your abilities.

Chapter 38 First Hand

At five o'clock in the morning, sanitation worker Zhang Xiumei rode her cleaning cart to the square to clean, a task she does every day.

After passing the giant "Flying Apsara" landmark in the center of the square, she saw a person sitting on a bench, with an upright posture.

At first, she thought it was someone who had gotten drunk the night before and spent the night in the square. It wasn't too cold at this time of year, and it wasn't uncommon for drunkards to end up lying in the square after drinking at night with nowhere else to go, so she didn't think much of it.

In addition, it was dark at the time, and she couldn't see very clearly, so she continued sweeping. When she finished cleaning the square and was about to go back, she passed by the same place again, and the person on the bench was still sitting there, in the same posture, which was a bit strange.

By then it was much brighter, so she rode her bike over to get a closer look. She discovered that the person was completely enveloped in a layer of yellowish substance, somewhat like honey, from head to toe. Most frighteningly, a pair of arms had appeared on the person's back, extending from the shoulder blades, with slightly spread fingers. She was so terrified that she fell off her bike and frantically called the police.

Captain Fang Luping of the Chengnan Squadron in the jurisdiction quickly arrived at the scene with his team, set up a cordon, dispersed the onlookers, and arranged for technical personnel to enter the site.

Captain Fang squatted in front of the bench for a long time, observing. He had been working in this area for almost ten years and had seen all kinds of cases. He had seen people killed and dumped on benches before. But he had never seen anyone killed and then turned into a sculpture and displayed there before.

No, this isn't the first time. Captain Fang suddenly realized.

The female teacher who was murdered in the art room of No. 3 Middle School was also turned into a statue and displayed there. However, because the locked-room mystery of that case couldn't be solved, the higher-ups believed it involved supernatural forces, so it was handed over to the Fifth Team of the Supernatural Abilities Bureau. If this case is also…

With this vague suspicion in mind, Captain Fang, out of caution, still contacted Sun Tiemei from Group Five.

While the squadron's technical team was still collecting evidence, the fat man raised his hand to stop the officers from moving the human statue. He squatted in front of the bench for a long time, and when he stood up, his brows were furrowed, his arms were crossed over his chest, and his expression was as if he had already gone through all the clues in his mind.

Su Xiaohe noticed his expression and hurriedly took out her notebook to take notes. Chen Shi also looked at the serious-looking fat man with suspicion. Had he suddenly become intelligent?

The fat man slowly spoke: "This person didn't commit suicide; he was murdered."

Su Xiaohe carefully wrote down those words and waited for the fat man to continue, but he remained silent.

"Brother Daqiang, please continue."

"Oh, that's all for now. I'm still thinking about the rest."

It's only because Su Xiaohe has a good temper; anyone else would have smashed the notebook in his face long ago.

Chen Shi looked at the fat man with disdain. He and the fat man had grown up together since they were little, and he knew this man's ways all too well. The fat man had used up all his peak intelligence in his life to outwit his sister-in-law.

The fat man argued that this was only the first step, to confirm that it was a murder before proceeding further.

Su Xiaohe said that anyone with an IQ greater than 70 would know that it couldn't have been suicide.

The fat man argued, "That's different. Most of the cases we've seen are very strange, anything can happen, so it's very important to carefully determine whether it's suicide or homicide."

Chang Biao asked Fatty, "So what's the basis for your conclusion that it was murder?"

The fat man said, "The evidence is too complicated; I'll just give you the result directly."

Chen Shi said speechlessly, "Brother Biao, you're the only one here who listens to his nonsense."

"What's the rush? I have a second layer." The fat man glared at Chen Shi, then pointed to the hands on the back of the deceased. "These hands don't belong to the deceased; they belong to someone else. The murderer sewed someone else's hands onto his body, which means the murderer either knows surgical suturing or knows someone who does."

Su Xiaohe took a deep breath and turned to Chen Shi: "Teacher Chen, what do you think?"

The fat man said, "I haven't finished yet, there's a third level."

Chang Biao came over and covered his mouth: "Daqiang, stop fooling around, take a break and let Xiaoshi talk."

The fat man was still muttering that his third layer was the core, until Sun Tiemei glared at him sternly and he shut up.

Chen Shi organized his thoughts: "Why did the patrol team call us here? It's not because they discovered any deep connection between this case and the previous Li Qian case, but because the two cases, when placed side by side, share a striking commonality: the murderers weren't simply killing people, but turning them into something else entirely. Last time it was plaster casts to resemble Venus; this time it's resin encasing them in sculpture. Last time it was placed in a locked room; this time it's displayed on the street. Li Qian lost a pair of hands; this person gained two. It's like two math problems; the previous one was subtraction, while this one is addition."

"The methods used in the two cases are different," Chen Shi continued. "The materials are different, and the locations where the bodies were disposed of are different. We can't conclude whether it's the same killer yet. But the core logic of these two cases is similar: the killer is using human bodies as materials to create sculptures. He's not killing people; he feels like he's creating a work of art. If those hands were taken from someone else's body, then it's not just reshaping a person, but piecing together different people as parts."

"Professor Chen, your analysis is spot on. Based on the existing evidence, the common point is 'reconstruction,' and the differences are 'subtraction' and 'addition.' This framework is not something an ordinary person could summarize." Su Xiaohe realized after speaking that she had offended someone a bit, and quickly tried to make amends, "Brother Daqiang, that's not what I meant. Your previous analysis was also very valuable, even if it wasn't very useful. But sometimes eliminating wrong options is a contribution in itself."

Pang Daqiang angrily drank water in silence to the side.

"We'll split into three groups. Pang Daqiang will keep an eye on the forensic doctor and investigate the case as an independent one until the comparison results are available. Don't narrow your own path. Su Xiaohe will investigate the source of the resin, and Chen Shi will investigate his social connections after confirming the deceased's identity, to see if there are any overlaps with Li Qian." After Sun Tiemei finished speaking, the people from the five groups left, but she herself did not leave immediately.

She leaned back in her chair, going over the two cases in her mind: if the killer was the same person, it meant his methods were changing, his audacity was growing, and he had moved from a locked room to a public square. If it wasn't the same person, then both killers shared a twisted ideology, and might even know each other.

After the Red Falcon case, the bureau has been conducting an internal investigation to identify any internal moles. The bureau appears relaxed on the surface but is actually very strict on the inside. The fact that the Fifth Group takes on routine cases is a cover-up.

But if this case continues to escalate, it will be very difficult for just a few people in Team Five, especially for her, who will also be firmly tied up in the case.

She needed to inform her superiors of this risk. Once the forensic team released the DNA comparison results, if the extra hand indeed belonged to Li Qian, the two cases would be officially merged, and she would request full support from the intelligence and technical departments. If the hand didn't belong to Li Qian, then it would be treated as two separate cases for the time being, and Group Five would continue to handle it on its own.

She started the car and sent a message to Lao Zheng: "There's a new case. The methods and materials are different from the Li Qian case, but the core logic is similar. The cases haven't been merged yet, so I'm reporting now."

Old Zheng replied instantly: "Is it serious?"

She typed two words: "Complex".

In the afternoon, the fat man called: "Those hands are confirmed to be Li Qian's."

Everyone fell silent for a moment after hearing this.

As expected, it was just as predicted.