Chapter 179: Discovery of the Butcher’s Tracks and the Trampled Grass

After no breakthrough could be made from the Rose, the most sensible choice was undoubtedly to explore other possible leads to gain crucial clues.

At this moment, the task force had once again split into two teams. One, led by Lin Tian, headed to Taicang City in an attempt to extract valuable information from the Bomber’s Sister. Meanwhile, Su Ming joined forces with Liu Yang, Bai Yu, and others to help track down the fleeing butcher.

Though the team had been on the move all day and were exhausted, there was no time to rest.

Staying up late had become routine for the criminal investigators. Sometimes, it was common to stake out a suspect for several consecutive nights, all part of the job.

Moreover, those on the front lines of criminal investigation knew all too well that in dealing with a ruthless drug trafficking organization, every minute counted. The quicker they acted, the more lives they might save and the more crucial clues they could uncover. This would inevitably bring them one step closer to dismantling the entire trafficking ring.

—

Since Liangxi City was relatively close to Gusu City, Su Ming, Guo Ping, and Xu Changsheng were the first to arrive at Xishan Orchard, where they met with Liu Yang and others who were already combing the mountains in search of the butcher.

It was now three in the morning. Xishan, with no pedestrians or residents, only the sounds of various insects, appeared increasingly dark and eerie.

The full moon that had once hung high in the sky was now shrouded by clouds, stripping away the little light that remained on the road.

Such dim surroundings were perfect for the butcher to hide, making it difficult to spot him even if he were hiding in a random patch of grass, raising the difficulty of the search.

Even with nearly a hundred criminal investigators and special police officers, armed with powerful flashlights and accompanied by several police dogs, they had essentially surrounded the entire Xishan to search, but still hadn’t made much progress.

Not even a single clue from the butcher had been discovered, making the task of capturing him increasingly difficult.

From a pursuit perspective, the first few hours of a search were always the most likely time to find clues, even the most opportune moment to capture a criminal.

If no progress was made during this time, the difficulty of capturing the butcher would increase severalfold, and he might continue to evade capture, which was something that could not be allowed.

A member of a drug trafficking organization had come all the way from Lianjiang City to Gusu City, even managing to kill the “Poison” in a wooden house halfway up the mountain before the Criminal Investigation Team could capture him.

Such brazen actions, if not followed by his capture, would undoubtedly be a massive blow to the Gusu police force’s reputation and, by extension, to the entire Dragon Country’s police force.

Thus, aside from Liu Yang, the head of the Gusu Public Security Bureau had given a direct order: even if they had to dig up the entire Xishan, the butcher had to be found. He could not be allowed to escape.

—

At this moment, inside the workers’ wooden house halfway up the mountain, Su Ming and the others, having arrived as quickly as possible, were investigating the scene where “Poison” had been executed.

Guo Ping, following Su Ming’s instructions, was using his own investigative experience to search for related clues.

Several hours of fruitless searching for the butcher’s whereabouts had passed. Under the pressure of the top leaders, Liu Yang, who had been under immense stress, seemed to relax significantly upon seeing Su Ming return to assist with the capture.

Liu Yang, skilled in dealing with official matters, knew very well that no matter what the final outcome was, he only needed to fully cooperate with Su Ming for now. If there was any blame later, it would likely fall on Lin Tian, who would bear the brunt.

With the pressure easing, Liu Yang turned to Su Ming, who was performing the autopsy on “Poison’s” body, and gently asked, “Team Leader Su, have you discovered any important clues or details?”

Su Ming, having roughly completed the autopsy, was removing his rubber gloves while sorting through his thoughts. With a blank expression, he explained, “First, based on the cutting edge of the wound, we can tell that the weapon used by the butcher was not particularly sharp, or rather, only the tip of the knife seems sharp, while the blade itself likely has some rust on it.”

“The wound has a noticeably uneven texture, and I also found some rust particles embedded in the muscle tissue.”

“Then, analyzing the closure of the wound on Poison’s chest, it’s clear that after the butcher pierced his chest with the weapon, he didn’t wait for him to die from poison. Instead, he quickly pulled the weapon out, causing massive blood loss to accelerate his death.”

“When the weapon was removed from the heart, the blood splattered everywhere due to the pressure of the human body, and a large portion of it must have splashed onto the butcher.”

“Normally, clothes worn by people have a certain absorbent capacity, so even if blood splatters, it would usually be absorbed. However, the butcher was not wearing ordinary clothes. The outer layer appeared to be a waterproof garment, likely to prevent blood from soaking through.”

Su Ming pointed to the half-circle bloodstain on the ground and continued, “This semicircular bloodstain indicates that the butcher was wearing something similar to a raincoat, with the blood dripping from the hem.”

“From the rusted weapon and this bloodstain, we can already confirm that the member of the organization who executed Poison was the butcher, who is responsible for dozens of murders. This is beyond doubt.”

“In the files of the Silver Serial Murders, most of the victims died from punctured arteries or hearts, leading to fatal blood loss.”

“This suggests that the butcher was likely given his codename because of his brutal and perverse methods of killing.”

“Just like when slaughtering livestock, the butcher enjoys watching his victims bleed out and witnessing their pupils dilate.”

“And in the many cases in Lianjiang City, there are several common patterns.”

“First, no weapon has ever been found. Even after thoroughly searching the crime scene, no weapon has ever been located.”

“Second, the killer leaves no DNA or fingerprints, and the victims show no signs of resistance, indicating the butcher’s exceptional skill in both murder and evasion of detection.”

“Third, at every crime scene, there’s usually a semicircular bloodstain, like one left by the hem of a raincoat.”

“From these three points, we can roughly infer that the butcher takes his weapon with him or perhaps reuses it. It is impossible for him to leave a weapon behind, so there’s no need to search the area for discarded weapons.”

“Moreover, the fact that he wears a raincoat to shield himself from the blood suggests that the clothes he wears underneath likely don’t get much blood on them.”

“To summarize, the butcher is fully capable of…”

“…wearing a raincoat and wielding a weapon, watching his chosen victim bleed to death, and then, half an hour later, walking down the pedestrian street in a suit, carrying his weapon and bloodstained raincoat as if nothing had happened.”

“Therefore, as long as the butcher is willing, he could simply take off his raincoat, wipe the blood off his face, hide the weapon and raincoat in a backpack, and walk down the mountain as if nothing happened. Wouldn’t that be much better than hiding somewhere on the mountain?”

“Moreover, it’s precisely because the environment of Xishan is suitable for hiding and evading that I dare to speculate even more boldly that the butcher is probably no longer hiding on Xishan.”

“From the perspective of criminal investigation roles, we are the ones fully conducting the investigation, while the butcher is fully engaging in counter-investigation.”

“With his wealth of experience and expertise in counter-surveillance, he would never hide in Xishan, a place where we, the police, consider to be the most likely location for concealment but where one cannot even get enough food or warmth.”

“So, we should first search downward, towards the city, rather than upwards, deeper into the mountains.”

As soon as Su Ming finished speaking, his phone in his pocket rang with a rather urgent tone.

After taking a glance at the caller ID, Su Ming pressed the answer button and switched to speakerphone.

The next moment, Guo Ping’s low voice echoed throughout the wooden house.

“Deputy Team Leader Su, according to the route you instructed earlier, I found signs of the butcher briefly hiding in some grass near the higher ground at the foot of the mountain…”