CORPSE WHISPERER

Huang Xiaotao finished a phone call and came over to me. "Well? Any new findings?"

I shook my head. She gathered a few officers to head to the old teaching building. Before leaving, I suddenly found myself staring at the artificial lake. Huang Xiaotao asked, "What is it?"

"Oh, could you get some people to dredge this lake?" I suggested.

"Why? Is there something in the lake? Can you be sure?" Huang Xiaotao frowned.

"It's deduction. The killer managed to hang the victim from a tree, meaning the victim must have been unconscious at the time. With no external injuries, he was likely forced to inhale some kind of anesthetic agent. But an adult male weighs at least sixty kilograms. Lifting and hanging a living person that heavy while leaving minimal traces is incredibly difficult. And since the goal was to stage a suicide, why not make it look like he drowned himself in the lake? That would have been far simpler. The killer must have considered it. The choice to take the harder route must have a reason. So, I suspect the killer threw something into the lake – something he doesn't want the police to dredge up along with a body."

"Right! Why didn't I think of that? Song Yang, you're so clever! What exactly is your major?" Huang Xiaotao asked, pleasantly surprised.

"We're in electronics," Wang Dali blurted out quickly, then patted my shoulder. "But our Yang'er here has wide-ranging interests. He reads all kinds of books on investigation, forensics, you name it."

I shot him a look of utter disdain. 'Our Yang'er'? I subconsciously took a step away from him.

"Honestly, it's a waste of your talents not being a cop. I'll contact HQ right away and get an engineering team to dredge!" Huang Xiaotao said.

She left a few officers to finish processing the scene, taking the rest of us to the abandoned building. On the way, she made a call. She wasn't in uniform, so I couldn't tell her rank. I asked, "By the way, you seem to have significant authority. What's your actual position?"

...

...

Huang Xiaotao flashed her police ID. It read 'First-Class Police Superintendent'. I caught a glimpse of her ID number – she was only 24. She must have graduated recently. I guessed she either had family connections or had pulled off some major feat early on.

"Officer Xiaotao! So young and accomplished! First-Class Superintendent – that's a pretty big deal, right?" Wang Dali seized the moment to flatter her.

"Not really," Huang Xiaotao smiled.

Wang Dali turned to me, asking how big a Superintendent really was. I gave him a quick rundown: Chinese police ranks go from Constable, Superintendent, Supervisor, Commissioner, to Chief Commissioner. First-Class Superintendent wasn't the top, but for someone fresh out of the academy, it was like riding a rocket to promotion.

Soon, we reached the abandoned building. It was surrounded by locust trees, their dense shade enveloping the entire structure, giving it a gloomy feel. The main doors were chained shut, secured by a heavy padlock.

Huang Xiaotao motioned for an officer to find the school administrator to unlock it. I waved my hand. "No need. Lend me two hairpins."

"Don't tell me you're also a lock-picking expert?" Huang Xiaotao pulled two hairpins from her hair and handed them to me.

I bent the pins open, inserted both ends into the lock, jiggled them a bit, and the lock clicked open. Wang Dali gasped, "Holy crap, Song Yang! You're a dark horse! Four years as classmates, and I never knew you could pick locks!"

"It's pretty easy. I'll teach you sometime."

Lock-picking is simple. Modern lock cores follow basic principles. Of course, this was also something Grandfather taught me once when I was sick and bored. I mastered it in three hours.

"Hey, hey!" Huang Xiaotao called out. "Don't go teaching that to just anyone! Locksmiths have to register with the police station."

"Don't worry, I won't use it for anything bad," I said, handing the pins back.

"Forget it, you keep them," Huang Xiaotao said. "I have a bit of a germ thing. I don't use things after they've been... handled like that."

"Oh! Then I'll pay you back for them later!" I offered.

Huang Xiaotao burst out laughing. "You clearly don't have a girlfriend. You've got such a cute, boyish face, but not a single smooth line to charm a girl? Couldn't you say, 'I'll buy you two prettier ones next time'?"

Her words struck a nerve. My emotional intelligence was indeed sub-zero. My cheeks flushed crimson.

But Huang Xiaotao was joking with me. My first impression was of an icy, aloof beauty cop. This changed my view of her slightly for the better.

Wang Dali seized the chance to offer: "Officer Xiaotao, I know a great accessories shop for girls, good quality, reasonable prices. After the case, I can take you to buy some new hairpins."

Unexpectedly, Huang Xiaotao replied coldly, "Thanks, but no need!"

Wang Dali was thoroughly rebuffed. He whispered to me, "Yang'er, why does she talk to you but not me? I'd say my looks, while maybe not Wu Yanzu level, are at least comparable to Eddie Peng! Does she not like ruggedly handsome types like me?"

I glanced at his messy, Eason Chan-like hairstyle. "Maybe she's just not familiar with you yet. Get to know her better."

"Really?" Wang Dali rubbed his head, half-believing.

We reached the music classroom on the third floor. The corridor was unnervingly dark even during the day, straight out of a horror movie. I figured it was partly due to poor lighting and partly the eerie emptiness of a long-abandoned place devoid of human presence.

I asked Wang Dali, "How come I've never heard of this piano ghost legend?"

"Me neither. This ten-year-old gossip is the kind girls spread. When do girls ever talk to us? Anyway, I don't believe in campus ghost stories," Wang Dali scoffed dismissively.

"Then why are you hiding behind me?" I asked.

"Nonsense! I just stopped to tie my shoe and fell behind," Wang Dali argued weakly.

We spotted a classroom door marked '314 Music Room'. Several officers kicked it open first, letting out startled cries. We followed and found a headless corpse sprawled inside, a large pool of dried blood surrounding it.

Wang Dali sucked in a sharp breath and darted behind me.

"Don't disturb the scene! You, secure the perimeter outside! You, start photographing evidence immediately!" Huang Xiaotao barked orders, tense.

The officers sprang into action. Huang Xiaotao handed me two pairs of rubber gloves. "Can you handle this?"

"Whatever a forensic examiner can do, I can do. And things they can't do? I can do those too," I stated, my gaze fixed on the body.

"Alright, that puts my mind at ease," Huang Xiaotao nodded.

We put on the gloves. Wang Dali, the coward, stayed glued behind me, hands clamped tightly on my arm. I could feel him trembling.

"Dali, if you can't handle it, wait outside!" I said.

"Do I look like a guy who'd ditch his friend? Okay, I'll wait for you outside!" With that, Wang Dali bolted out the door.

"Your classmate is hilarious," Huang Xiaotao chuckled softly.

I knelt to examine the body. Judging by his clothes, the victim was a student around twenty. He lay face down towards the door. His head had been cleanly severed at the level of the fourth cervical vertebra, though that alone couldn't be assumed the primary cause of death.

Huang Xiaotao tested the rigidity of the victim's arm. "Time of death, about ten hours ago."

"You know how to determine that too?" I was slightly surprised.

"You see enough, you learn. Look, the lividity is already fixed. Rigor mortis is present in the fingers. Classic signs of death around ten hours ago, right?"

Huang Xiaotao had clearly studied forensic textbooks. Her rank wasn't just handed to her. I gained a new level of respect. I pressed my ear to the victim's back and lightly tapped his spine, using Echo Bone Listening for a moment. "If Forensic Examiner Qin were here, he'd probably say the same..."

"So, I guessed right?" Huang Xiaotao said, pleased with herself.

"Unfortunately, no. Time of death was approximately forty-eight hours ago. Margin of error, no more than two hours."

"Impossible! The body is still so... fresh!" Huang Xiaotao gasped, her face paling.

"Appearances can be deceiving. If you don't believe me, I can prove it!" I declared, ripping off my rubber gloves with absolute certainty.