Chapter 801 - 681: Weirdness_2

Chapter 801: Chapter 681: Weirdness_2

After the blood of the maids downstairs coagulated, there was a strong smell of rust, but here... it was more like the stench of rotting blood from bodies that had been dead for days and begun to decompose.

"Strange..."

Li Shang was filled with doubts.

"From the fierce signs of fighting at the scene, the bleeding person should have died not long ago."

He carefully observed the amount and shape of the blood on the floor; a large puddle had formed, almost turning into a pool of blood, with edges showing complex spatter and flow marks, indicating there was definitely a large open wound on the victim that would be unsurvivable.

His gaze shifted slightly, falling onto the most conspicuous object next to the pool of blood.

A safe.

Or rather, something that used to be a safe.

The safe was made entirely of gold, torn into two by tremendous force, with the break twisted and horrifying.

More concerning to Li Shang was the unusual marks he saw at the center of the break.

Signs of severe corrosion, the metal surface pitted, some even blackened, intertwining with the surrounding tear marks.

Violent tearing... combined with acid corrosion? What kind of combination is this?

Li Shang stared at the safe’s remains, lost in thought.

The man from the Mechanical Department saw Li Shang just crouching and looking silently, couldn’t help but ask:

"Captain Li? Did you notice something? This safe..."

Li Shang seemed not to hear his question, stood up, and waved to a busy constable from the technical department not far away:

"What was originally inside this safe?"

The technical constable replied hesitantly:

"Captain Li, due to the special commissioner’s unique identity, the items stored in the safe are likely of high confidentiality, so Special Commissioner Zheng didn’t allow us to photograph or document the items in the safe.

The items inside were also taken away by Special Commissioner Zheng after counting them personally..."

The constable paused for a moment, glanced at the man from the Mechanical Department, hesitated, but continued:

"However, Captain Li, I did see Special Commissioner Zheng ask us for an evidence bag and put in..."

Li Shang quickly asked: "Put in what?"

The constable scratched his head and replied strangely, hesitated:

"It seemed... it seemed to be a tooth? Yes, a tooth!"

Li Shang was stunned, subconsciously repeated: "You said what?"

The constable confirmed very seriously:

"A tooth, a human tooth."

Li Shang felt his mind momentarily freeze; no matter how he thought, he couldn’t fathom why the confidential item stored in the special commissioner’s golden safe would be a human tooth?

This doesn’t make sense!

Could the special commissioner have a perverted habit of collecting human organs?!

Li Shang pulled a strand of his hair forcefully, then crouched down again, nearly pressing his face against the cold metal break of the safe, observing the tear marks and acid-corroded openings more carefully.

Suddenly, his face stiffened as an unbelievable idea emerged:

"No, it’s not that the special commissioner’s safe locked a tooth, it’s that the perpetrator’s tooth accidentally fell into the safe."

This idea was peculiar; after decades of handling cases, this was the first time he had seen a tooth left at a crime scene.

But Li Shang’s eyes brightened as he thought deeper, piecing together the incongruous scene of the maids’ deaths, the outline of truth emerged in his mind.

His mind raced, thoughts churning rapidly:

"Last night, the perpetrator entering the special commissioner’s villa very likely wasn’t alone, or even a group, but two waves of people entering here with different purposes.

The first wave must have entered earlier with the purpose of stealing something from the special commissioner’s safe.

He quietly eliminated all maids that could interrupt, then arrived at this room on the second floor and began trying to open the safe.

However, just as he was about to succeed, or had already succeeded, the second wave arrived.

This second wave were the actual ’villains,’ who made no attempts to hide, directly breaking into the front violently, storming upstairs.

Their target was likely the special commissioner himself.

Thus, two groups of perpetrators with different motives accidentally ran into each other in this room, leading to a fierce battle.

The result likely was the first wave’s teeth got knocked out during the fight, and they probably died, while his body then...

Li Shang stood up abruptly, rushing to the completely shattered window.

Most glass fragments scattered outside the room, a few remained on the window ledge, with several already blackened, hardened blood stains nearby.

Li Shang leaned out, looking outward through the window.

Downstairs was equally chaotic, the lawn was trampled beyond recognition, flowers and grass fell.

The road opposite showed signs of intense combat, with multiple cracks and potholes, and a car wreck dismantled into parts, under the streetlight nearby, another pool of blood already solidified could be vaguely seen.

Li Shang swallowed, reconstructing the scene in his mind:

"The first intruder’s body was thrown out from this window by the second wave of assailants, crashing far onto the streetlight."

Li Shang inferred the dead body belonged to the first perpetrator because he killed the maids too gently.

Assassination, sneak attack... usually meant not powerful enough.

And the brutality and strength of the second wave was best evidenced by the dismantled car wreck on the road and the villa.

The more Li Shang thought, the clearer and smoother his thoughts became; whether due to bearing the "Detective" title for too long or his inherent detective potential, whenever he step into a crime scene, his brain becomes sharp, clues and deductions surge like inspired, as if there truly is a force of detective power continuously activating within him.

Li Shang’s mind continued racing, flashes of fragmented information and associations crossed his thoughts.

Associated with the special commissioner who was missing;

Associated with the proposal to stage a murder by Feng Ju;

Associated with the scene when presenting the Sheepskin Scroll to the special commissioner in this villa;

Further associating with Feng Ju’s phone never being reachable...

Countless clues finally converged into a point, like a match struck in darkness, illuminating the fog abruptly.

Li Shang’s throat dried instantly, heart pounding abruptly, a terrifying idea surged uncontrollably:

"Could it be, the first intruder last night was Feng Ju?!"

His collaboration with us to stage a scene was false, or not entirely true? His real purpose wasn’t to kill the special commissioner, but to take advantage of the chaos... to steal the Sheepskin Scroll?!"

Did he assume the special commissioner would hide the Sheepskin Scroll in the safe?

If true, then the tooth in the safe... is Feng Ju’s?!"

Li Shang took shallow breaths of cool air, shivers bursting from his spine, rushing to his head!

He felt his throat dry, heart pounding like with drum hammers, crashing into his chest, face turning pale blue and white, unable to control his expression.

The man from the Mechanical Department watched Li Shang’s face change bizarrely but remained silent, his own face gradually turning grim.

Li Shang forced a swallow, suppressing the surging waves in his heart difficultly.

This is all speculation; there isn’t any tangible evidence. That tooth was taken away by Special Commissioner Zheng; he can’t gain access to actually compare.

But hypothetically, if Feng Ju really did this, and if disclosed... what impact would it have on him personally?

If someone follows the trail, investigating further from Feng Ju, would they uncover evidence of his collusion with [Mask].

Although that evidence was false.

Moreover, their plan likely failed because the sewers didn’t reveal shattered body remains from any explosion.

Li Shang shook his head, forcibly gathering his chaotic and dangerous thoughts.

The urgent task is to find evidence and verify his deductions.

The body!

The corpse under the streetlight holds the key!

.....