"Boss, what should we do now?" A young man named Zhang Lu asked, hands on his hips, panting heavily.
Wu Jiu took two deep breaths of fresh air, trying to calm his breathing. "It's not a big problem," he said, walking towards the moat.
The other five also followed.
Wu Jiu was their leader.
Even he said it wasn't a big problem.
They naturally trusted Wu Jiu.
"How is it? Is there anything different about this corpse?" Wu Jiu appeared beside Chen Nan as he was examining the body.
"Someone was fighting on East Street just now, and we went to check it out."
A hint of awkwardness flashed in Chen Nan's eyes.
*I haven't even asked where you went, and you're confessing?*
*Is there a need to confess to a newcomer like me?*
He didn't dwell on it and said, "The deceased appears to be around thirty-five years old. There are no visible wounds on his body, but his pupils are dilated, indicating he was clearly frightened before death."
"There's a noticeable bulge in his abdomen, and mud in his mouth. He likely drowned after accidentally falling into the river."
"Oh, right."
"There's a subtle scratch on the deceased's right lower leg."
"It looks like it was scratched by something."
Chen Nan hadn't studied case-solving techniques.
But he had watched hundreds of episodes of Detective Conan as a child.
He had also seen some police and gangster films.
He understood some things, more or less.
Wu Jiu squatted down, carefully examined the corpse, and then focused his gaze on the scratch on the deceased's right lower leg. "What do you think scratched this?"
He had previously thought Chen Nan was just a rich young master there for a superficial experience.
But now.
He no longer looked down on Chen Nan.
One.
Compared to a murder victim,
The bodies of drowning victims are generally more gruesome when discovered.
But Chen Nan appeared very calm.
It was clear that this guy was much braver than he had imagined.
Secondly.
He could also determine the cause of death based on external features of the corpse and even offer his own opinions.
In this regard, even he admitted defeat.
Recalling when he first joined the constabulary.
He had studied with his master for a long time before learning how to examine corpses.
Chen Nan could be said to be self-taught.
Therefore.
He wanted to see how Chen Nan viewed that scratch.
Chen Nan hesitated for a moment and said, "I feel this scratch was left by a rat. But... the rat extermination efforts in Tongcheng have been unprecedentedly successful, and there are almost no rats to be seen in the city."
He had lived in Tongcheng for over a year and had never seen a single rat.
So, he had specifically investigated the reason for the extinction of rats.
It was said that there used to be many rats in Tongcheng, and a man named Li Cai had developed a rat poison that exterminated all the rats in the city.
Moreover, sprinkling the rat poison at the city gates could also prevent rats from entering.
Therefore.
The possibility of the scratch on the deceased's body being left by a rat was very small.
Wu Jiu said, "Do you think it's possible?"
"That the deceased encountered a rat outside the city, was chased, and accidentally fell into the river, then flowed along the river to the moat?"
Chen Nan replied, "That's also possible."
Wu Jiu looked at his brothers behind him. "Find a painter to sketch a portrait of the deceased and post it throughout the city, so his family can come to claim the body."
Chen Nan added, "Also, investigate the deceased's social circle."
Wu Jiu showed surprise. "You suspect this isn't an accidental death?"
Chen Nan nodded.
But he didn't explain further.
He couldn't just say he saw a layer of resentment shrouding the deceased, could he?
Not only that.
The resentment on his body was extremely dense.
It was obvious.
This was by no means an accidental death.
Wu Jiu said with a wry smile, "Brother, this is just a very common accidental death. There are over a dozen such cases every year. How can we spend all our energy on this?"
Chen Nan asked curiously, "Are there many similar cases every year?"
Wu Jiu nodded. "Last year was the least, with only eighteen cases."
"As for this year, this is already the fifteenth body."
"At this rate, there will be at least ten more cases by the end of the year."
"Don't be too surprised. Tongcheng has a population of thirteen million."
"Even excluding the rural population, there are over eight million people living in the city alone."
"With such a large population, it's normal for a few unnatural deaths to occur each year."
Chen Nan admitted that Wu Jiu made a lot of sense.
However.
The resentment on the deceased's body proved that this was by no means accidental.
Seeing Chen Nan's unwillingness to let it go,
Wu Jiu could only give up for now. He said to Song Yunfei, "When the deceased's family claims the body, remember to investigate their social circle."
What else could he do?
Chen Nan was a revered figure in their eyes.
Although he believed the deceased died accidentally,
Chen Nan clearly wanted to continue the investigation, so they could only go along with him.
The painter soon arrived at the moat and sketched the deceased's likeness, then posted it on the major notice boards in the city, asking the deceased's relatives to claim the body as soon as possible.
After doing all this, Chen Nan walked with them towards the city. "Captain Wu, if the deceased's relatives do not claim the body, what will happen to it?"
Wu Jiu replied, "If the deceased's relatives do not claim the body within three days, we will cremate it to prevent corpse reanimation."
Upon saying this,
Wu Jiu's expression suddenly became serious. "It does seem a little unusual."
Chen Nan asked, "What is it?"
Wu Jiu said in a low voice, "If I recall correctly, in the past five years, none of the discovered corpses have been claimed."
He hadn't realized anything before,
But now he found.
This was the strangest part.
Chen Nan's face was full of excitement.
He had just taken office and encountered such a challenging case.
Was he going to make a contribution?
He suppressed his inner excitement and asked, "Is there really such a thing as corpse reanimation?"
Wu Jiu's expression was solemn. "Although this sounds like a fairy tale, there are indeed phenomena of corpse reanimation."
"The year I first joined, I personally witnessed a corpse reanimate."
"At that time, many of us joined forces to subdue that zombie."
"However, we lost more than ten brothers."
Speaking of what happened back then,
Wu Jiu looked fearful.
Chen Nan offered his opinion, "Why do all the dead seem to be people without relatives?"
"Is it possible someone doesn't want those corpses to be claimed?"
"If so, what is their purpose?"
He paused and asked, "Captain Wu, before the corpses were cremated, did you examine their physical characteristics?"
Wu Jiu frowned. "What do you mean? You don't think someone wants to use their bodies for some scheme, do you?"
Chen Nan smiled. "We'll know if that's the case when the bodies are cremated."
"Also, tell the morticians in the morgue to keep a close eye on that previous body."
"I have a premonition."
"The killer will soon surface."
Just then.
Liang Jian, his face covered in blood from being beaten, staggered over, his eyes filled with terror. "Brother Chen, save me, save me!"
Chen Nan looked surprised. "Who dares to beat you like this?"