CORPSE WHISPERER

The shock of the 'dead man coming to life' left everyone dumbfounded.

Huang Xiaotao stared, wide-eyed. "Song Yang, how did you do that?"

"Life dwells in death; death dwells in life. Even in a deceased body, certain physiological functions can be temporarily restored through specific techniques," I explained.

"That... that sounds incredibly mystical!"

"Not mystical at all. At the moment of death, a person usually has some air trapped in their lungs—unless they drowned or suffocated. What you just witnessed was that trapped air forcing the body upright." I used tweezers to pick up the bloody ice shards from the floor, examining them closely. They were coated with blood and tiny bits of flesh.

"But why was there ice in his lungs?" Huang Xiaotao voiced the question on every officer's mind.

"Because after death, his body was frozen for a period. But there was no water residue on the surface, suggesting dry ice or a refrigerant was used. This significantly slowed decomposition, creating the illusion he'd only died ten hours ago. The internal state, however, doesn't lie. Earlier, using Echo Bone Listening, I detected varying degrees of decay in the internal organs, characteristic of death around forty-eight hours ago. Because the body was frozen, the trapped air in the lungs condensed into these ice shards..." I smiled faintly.

Huang Xiaotao listened, utterly transfixed. She suddenly slapped my arm. "Song Yang, you're amazing! I'm almost starting to doubt... are you really self-taught?"

...

...

I chuckled. "Enough chatter. Let's continue the examination."

I asked an officer to bring over a long table, placing it upside down in the center of the room, legs pointing upwards. I then wound rope tightly around the legs, creating a simple rope bed.

Beneath it, I placed the electric hot plate, plugged it in, and rested the iron plate on top.

Huang Xiaotao picked up the potted succulent from my bag. "Your university life seems quite colorful – you have everything! But what do you need this plant for?"

"You'll see soon. Help me strip the body and get him onto the table!" I instructed.

Two officers removed the trousers and moved the body onto the rope bed. Huang Xiaotao averted her gaze, a blush rising on her cheeks when the corpse's genitals were exposed.

Probably hasn't been in a relationship, I thought. That's why she's so shy.

I opened the white vinegar. Squeezing juice from the ginger, I dripped it into the bottle. When the iron plate was hot, I splashed the entire bottle of vinegar onto it. With a loud hiss, pungent white vinegar vapor filled the room, stinging noses and forcing many officers to cover their faces and step back.

I continued splashing vinegar, my eyes fixed on the body.

Amidst the swirling vapor, purplish-red marks began to appear on the corpse's skin. I switched off the hot plate. As the vapor cleared, gasps of astonishment rippled through the room!

Numerous handprints were now visible on the body – identical in size and shape to those revealed by the red umbrella on the other victim!

"Oh my god! A woman's handprints! Could it really be... a ghost killing people?" Huang Xiaotao exclaimed in shock.

I stifled a laugh. The prints were smaller than an adult male's and the fingers appeared slender, but that didn't prove they were a woman's, let alone a ghost's. I wondered how Huang Xiaotao made it to First-Class Superintendent.

"What are you waiting for? Take photos!" I urged.

"Right, right! Officer Wang, bring the camera!" Huang Xiaotao ordered.

Under her direction, a young officer quickly moved in, snapping pictures of the marked body.

This technique is called the "White Vinegar Corpse-Steaming Technique" – another ingenious method pioneered by Coroner Song Ci!

The human palm secretes minuscule amounts of sweat, which is alkaline. Reacting with the acidic white vinegar, it reveals latent handprints.

But these prints don't last long. Sure enough, within minutes, they began to fade.

Huang Xiaotao asked, "Song Yang, I thought ghosts in movies were intangible? How could they leave handprints?"

"Who said it was a ghost? This is clearly left by the killer. I'm certain the killer is human. Did you notice these distinct, cupping handprints on the victim's calves? Know what that means?" I asked.

Huang Xiaotao mimed grasping. "The killer grabbed the victim's calves..." She suddenly covered her mouth. "I know! The killer is a pervert!"

Her deduction made me want to laugh and cry. How could she miss the obvious? "It means the killer grabbed the victim's calves to drag the body!"

"Oh! That makes sense!" Huang Xiaotao nodded, then frowned. "Wait, no! If death was forty-eight hours ago, how could both witnesses say Deng Chao was with them here last night? Was he already dead then?"

"Seeing isn't always believing. When witness testimony contradicts physical evidence, I trust the evidence. I don't think this body is Deng Chao. It was moved into this music classroom from elsewhere," I stated.

"But why would the killer do that?" Huang Xiaotao was bewildered.

"Unclear for now. But the truth always comes out," I replied.

Just then, Wang Dali rushed back in. "Yang'er! Got the stuff you..."

He froze mid-sentence, his eyes glued to the naked corpse splayed on the iron plate. The sight clearly horrified him.

"Holy crap! Every time I leave, you guys ramp up the weirdness! What is this? Giving the corpse a sauna?"

"Nah, we were debating whether to steam it or pan-fry it," I shrugged.

Wang Dali, probably picturing food, shoved the items at me, covered his mouth, and bolted out.

Huang Xiaotao beside me also looked queasy. "Could you not talk about food while examining a corpse? It's disgusting! Are you even a student? Your nerves are way too strong!"

"Sorry, my sense of humor is a bit warped," I grinned.

The magnet Wang Dali found was salvaged from a speaker. I covered it with the white paper and moved it slowly over the severed neck stump.

When finished, I carefully lifted the paper, holding it out for Huang Xiaotao to see my 'harvest'.

Though the particles were tiny—easily blown away by a sneeze—they were visible against the white paper.

"What are these..." Huang Xiaotao leaned in.

"Sharp metal fragments," I explained.

She looked from me to the paper. "Hey! These are smaller than dust mites! How could you even see them?"

"Lots of carrots. Good for the eyes!" I joked.

"And where did these 'sharp metal fragments' come from? The piano wire?" she pressed.

I carefully folded the paper to protect the crucial evidence. Then, I held up a piano wire. Hair-thin, but under close inspection, it was actually twisted – composed of several fine steel strands. Even if damaged, it wouldn't shed 'sharp metal fragments'.

"A tool that sheds fragments like this would be a saw or hacksaw blade. Hacksaw blades are made of iron and wear down easily during use," I explained.

"A saw? Are you saying the victim's head was sawed off while he was still alive?" Huang Xiaotao's eyes widened in horror.

"Let's not jump to conclusions just yet. By the way, do you have a handkerchief?" I asked.

"Hold on!"

Huang Xiaotao borrowed one from an officer. I broke off pieces of the succulent, wrapped them in the handkerchief, and squeezed out the sap. Dipping the handkerchief in the sap, I gently patted the neck wound.

Gradually, the cut surface turned purple. Clear cutting marks became visible on the flesh, while the bone showed distinct friction patterns characteristic of repeated sawing.

"See?" I pointed. "The victim's flesh was sliced open with a knife. But the spine was severed with a hacksaw blade."

Huang Xiaotao stared, her mouth agape. "How did you do that?"

"Simple. Succulent sap reacts to metal traces. Using it on the wound reveals the marks left by the tools," I explained.

"Song Yang," Huang Xiaotao said, her eyes fixed intensely on me. "I've known you for less than an hour. You've performed one bizarre autopsy trick after another – techniques I've never seen in all my years as a cop. No way. You need to come clean. What exactly are you?"