Chapter 11: Lost Hand Case ≠ Lost Hand Gang
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
With the bet placed, the group dispersed, and everyone went back to their own business.
Li Beini rushed to Zhao Yu and pulled him aside, "Zhao Yu, what’s been up with you recently? Is something wrong with your brain? This is the infamous Lost Hand Case! How could you make a bet like that?"
"Lost Hand Case? Waddup?" Zhao Yu replied casually.
Zhao Yu searched through his memory and quickly found the related keyword. His memory jumped to around the same time last year. At the time, he was just an intern investigator, but had been sent to help the forensics department with setting up new equipment instead of participating in the case.
"Waddup?" Li Beini sighed helplessly, "Quite a few officers lost their jobs thanks to this case. If the case was this easy, we wouldn’t be talking about it today!"
Zhao Yu finally remembered. Last year around the end of April, Qinshan City had two cases of a serial Lost Hand Case, causing a huge commotion. The victims’ right hand had been chopped off using a sharp tool without mercy.
Due to the slow progression of the investigation, one of the victims continued to complain. That added with the paparazzi’s interference, the case became wildly public, dragging the police department’s name through the mud. Including the previous leader of team B, quite a few police officers were forced to quit. Team Leader Qu Ping had been promoted during that time as a replacement. Despite the massive effort from the police department, the case was still cold to this day.
"You really don’t know? Or are you just messing with me?" Li Beini’s eyes were wide. "This morning at 5:30, near Jiu He street, another Lost Hand Case happened!"
"What? Again?" Zhao Yu was surprised.
"Yeah!" Li Beini replied, "Otherwise, why would we have an emergency meeting? Didn’t you see we were all prepared for the worst? Especially Team Leader Qu Ping, she hasn’t even eaten yet!"
"Oh…" Zhao Yu finally remembered. No wonder when he had come to look up houses to rent, most of the investigators were missing! It was because of this case.
"Just now, Team Leader Qu Ping already explained," Li Beini continued, "there was a one year gap, but the modus operandi was exactly the same! If there isn’t some unknown factor, the crime must have been committed by the same person!"
"Interesting…" Zhao Yu looked at the case record. According to the record, the victim of the current Lost Hand Case was a thirty-six-year-old housewife. The husband worked with construction materials and was fairly well off.
At the time of crime, the lady had just finished attending a party. She had been knocked out while walking to her BMW. By the time she woke up next morning, her right hand had been chopped off. The culprit had even gave her simple first aid to prevent her from bleeding out.
The two cases from last year were about the same. The victim was always a female around thirty years old.
"No way?" Zhao Yu muttered to himself as he looked at the information, "With his sort of case, how could you not catch the culprit? With cameras everywhere, there should at least be photos?"
"You aren’t wrong!" Li Beini shook her head and sighed, "But there really wasn’t any video evidence! This culprit is like a ghost, and now he’s got quite the reputation! If you ask me, just save up some money and pay for the monitor! You can’t win this bet!"
"Bah! Little girl, don’t go raining on someone else’s parade. It’s discouraging." Zhao Yu spoke calmly, "If the culprit is really bold enough to repeat the offence again, I guarantee he will be captured!"
"I’m not afraid the case won’t be solved!" Li Beini wore an expression of worry. "I’m worried that you won’t solve the case!"
"What do you mean?" Zhao Yu didn’t understand.
"Just now your bet with Vice Captain Liu was clear!" Li Beini furrowed her brows, "Only if you solve the case, and catch the culprit by yourself, does it count as your win! If Team Leader Qu Ping solves the case, you still lose!"
"Um…this…hmph!" Zhao Yu thought about his Miracle System, and simply huffed with confidence, throwing the case records aside."No need to fear! Anything’s possible. Who knows, maybe I’ll have solved the case by tomorrow! If you ask me, the culprit of the Lost Hand Case was probably the victim’s husband. These sh*tty housewives just spend too much money, so the husbands don’t have to put up with it anymore, and chop their hands off!"
"Ah…Jesus…" Li Beini slumped back into her chair, very much disappointed in Zhao Yu.
That night after going back to his apartment, Zhao Yu could not sleep. He was worried. Could his Miracle System have actually disappeared? If tomorrow he smoked and there was no response, then everything was over.
If he really did not have the Miracle System, how could he solve the case, or talk about bets?
Lost Hand Case? Why did they chop off the hand of all things? Was it really because the women were too troublesome?
Thinking this much, Zhao Yu became even more interested in the case. He calmed down and started rereading the records over and over. Despite Zhao Yu’s crude nature, when he worked, he was very serious. He was the type that did not rest until he finished what he was doing.
It was this attitude that allowed him to push and shove his way to the top, becoming one of Qing Long Gang’s top affiliates.
After Zhao Yu read through the entire case record, carefully memorizing all the details, he could not help but think about the difficulty. He did not imagine the case would be so complicated. No wonder the police had worked so hard but still did not crack it.
The criminal was very careful. Out of the three incidents, he avoided the surveillance camera every time. This was not something a regular person could do.
Not only that, but the culprit’s methods were highly brutal. All three victim’s right hands were chopped off with a single move by an axe-like weapon. Thus, the police suspected the culprit was a strong, young man.
But after forensic testing, the place where the culprit had cut the arm was very precise, right at the most fragile point of the wrist, avoiding any hard bones.
As long as the weapon was sharp enough, any regular person could have committed the act, thus they could not eliminate the possibility of a female culprit.
Also, the crime raised many questions, like why did the culprit only choose 30-year-old females with decent living conditions?
At this time last year, the culprit committed two acts within five days, then disappeared. But why did he wait a whole year before starting again?
Would it be like last year, where he would act again within the next few days?
Why did the culprit only cut off the hands of women?
Was it really related to money?
Or was it a gang?
Thinking this much, Zhao Yu could not keep his eyes open, and gradually lulled himself to sleep…
...
The next morning at six o’clock, Jiang Dafeng was about to go to the market and pick up a shipment of fresh fruit from the south.
Yet, just as he squeezed some toothpaste onto his toothbrush, he heard a chain of violent coughs coming from upstairs.
"Cough…Cough…Cough…"
"Is he okay?" Jiang Dafeng recognized Zhao Yu’s voice, yet angrily spoke again, "You deserve it! Go die, shameless pr*ck."
"Wah…"
But from upstairs suddenly came a loud exclamation, shocking Jiang Dafeng, causing him to drop his toothpaste all over his slipper.
All he could hear was Zhao Yu from upstairs, "There, there! Finally! Hahaha…"