Chapter 385: A Case Shrouded in Fog

“But then the distance shortened, and the victim didn’t move away,” Li Jianye asked with a frown.

“Why is that?”

Xu Huo spoke up. “Social safety distance, to put it plainly, is just a matter of vigilance.”

“And a relationship is what lowers that vigilance and builds trust.”

“The killer must have done something to lower the victim’s guard.”

‘How did they do that?’

‘Honestly, the most obvious factor is appearance.’

The level of suspicion a man or a woman arouses in others is naturally different.

“The killer might have used persuasive words, or maybe some other method. But they were definitely a stranger. Otherwise, the victim wouldn’t have stopped so far away.”

“The time of death was late at night. At that hour, even persuasive words wouldn’t lower a person’s guard by much.”

“Considering the killer’s height, it was most likely a woman.”

‘As for the accuracy of the height estimate…’

It could be deduced from the angle of the knife wound.

Normally, a knife is held in either a standard grip or a reverse grip.

A reverse grip, where the blade extends from the top of the hand by the thumb, is typically used for stabbing someone shorter or of the same height.

The strike is usually aimed at the mid-to-lower body, around the abdomen.

A standard grip, however, has the blade extending from the bottom of the hand by the pinky, and is used for a downward stabbing motion.

This grip is generally used to strike someone taller than the attacker, often targeting the head.

If the target were shorter, this grip doesn’t allow for a powerful forward thrust.

Therefore, you can often deduce the killer’s height from the angle of the wound.

And the killer used a standard grip, with the blade on the pinky side.

“So you’re saying…”

“The killer is a woman, about five-foot-three, weighs around one hundred fifty-five pounds, and wears a size 8 shoe?” Li Jianye asked.

He could deduce these details, but unlike Xu Huo, he couldn’t find the various pieces of evidence to back them up.

Xu Huo nodded. “That’s right.”

‘What else could be determined from this?’

Age!

“She’s most likely a middle-aged woman, and her profession probably involves intense physical labor.”

‘Why?’

Because of her strength!

The strength to plunge a knife into someone’s neck!

The strength to tear through skin with her bare hands and rip out the internal organs!

The human body is incredibly tough. Take skin, for example. It feels soft to the touch, but if you were to try and tear it open with your bare hands…

…you’d learn a humbling lesson about your own limitations.

But the killer managed it. Although she needed a knife to make the initial opening, the strength required to tear the flesh is far beyond that of a typical young woman.

High body weight and great strength—that can only point to a harsh working environment.

“A construction worker?”

Li Jianye guessed after studying the footprints for a long moment.

The footprints themselves were a clue.

The footprints left by the killer had a wavy pattern.

“These are from rubber-soled shoes.”

Specifically, the kind of plimsolls similar to the blue and red dance shoes you see in kindergarten.

The ones here, however, were the army-green type.

They were originally used for army training—durable, long-lasting, and cheap.

They’re popular among manual laborers for the same reasons: durable, long-lasting, and cheap.

A pair costs about ten yuan.

They also have those little nubby dots on the sole, so it’s almost certainly this type of shoe.

‘So…’

“It’s very likely she’s a construction worker or something similar.”

Xu Huo nodded. “Even if she isn’t, her job must be in a similar field.”

Women on construction sites generally come in two types: either very large or very thin.

The latter have good endurance, while the former are simply very strong.

You might see someone who looks overweight, all flab, but…

…if you were willing to take a punch from her, you might think twice about how you describe her.

In addition, rural aunties are a similar case.

An auntie is always an auntie.

Their stocky builds, honed by years of farm work, hide enough power to easily flatten a college student.

Of course, many of these powerfully-built aunties also end up working on construction sites.

That’s why Xu Huo said her job couldn’t be far from that type of work.

“Tsk…”

“What kind of grudge could drive a woman to gut a body and leave it an empty shell…?”

Li Jianye said, clearly amazed.

“Who knows.”

Xu Huo shook his head. He paused, then his brow furrowed.

“But, I have a feeling… the killer didn’t actually hate the victim that much.”

“Didn’t hate him that much!?”

Li Jianye froze, staring at him in disbelief. He pulled out a photo of the victim, taken at the crime scene before the body was moved.

The victim’s organs had been brutally torn out of his abdomen.

‘And that’s not considered a major grudge!?’

“Captain Li, how did he die?”

“A single knife wound to the neck.”

“Clean and efficient, wasn’t it?”

“Yes… Wait. If it was clean and efficient, that means…”

Li Jianye trailed off, his brows furrowing as if he’d just realized something.

To be honest, most people have had extreme thoughts at one time or another.

Try to remember.

When you truly hate someone, do you want to give them a quick death, or make them suffer a fate worse than death?

Almost everyone would choose the latter.

But the killer didn’t do that.

That’s why, even though the wind and snow had long since masked any scent at the scene, Xu Huo could state with certainty that this wasn’t an act of hatred.

“That’s weird.”

“If the killer didn’t hate the victim…”

Captain Li’s brows knitted together. A series of questions shrouded the case in fog.

“Then why did she kill him?”

“And why… after he was dead, did she disembowel him, tearing out his organs with her bare hands?”

“Don’t tell me she’s just a psychopath!”

The killer’s tearing motions were like a dog digging for a bone, only instead of digging in the dirt, she was digging in a stomach.

With both hands, she rummaged inside the abdomen, pulling out every organ.

The victim’s body was left an empty shell, like a cicada nymph that has crawled out of the ground, climbed to the highest point, and shed its exoskeleton, leaving its insides empty.

And yet, despite doing all this, the killer didn’t hate the victim.

‘If that’s the case…’

At this thought, everyone present grew somber, lost in deep contemplation.

Why did the killer kill him!?