Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 23 Ghost Hotline - Serial Murder Case 3
A murder warning?
The other party hung up the phone as soon as they finished speaking. Zheng Yan's heart skipped a beat, and he realized that something terrible had happened.

In the history of criminal investigation, cases with premonitions of murder are generally major serial murder cases, and the murderers are cold-blooded and cunning, usually possessing counter-investigation awareness, making them very difficult to deal with.

This is not a simple case of someone falling from a building.

He rushed back to his office and notified the technical team to trace the coordinates of the call, but the call was too short to find out, and the number was not in service when he dialed it.

Further analysis of the call recordings revealed a shocking piece of information.

"Is this the voice of the deceased, Qu Li?" he asked incredulously.

Xiao Chen and Tan Ming happened to be on the phone together and were both shocked when they heard this.

"A ghost hotline?"

Although we know that voice-changing technology is very advanced nowadays, and the murderer must have just used Qu Li's voice as a template, the fact that the murderer specifically chose the victim's voice to call and announce the next death shows that the murderer was really killing people with the mindset of playing a game, and that the victims he chose were definitely not just one or two.

The atmosphere instantly became heavy. They had thought the case was simple, but it turned out to be an epic level of difficulty.

Tan Ming frowned and said, "The killer didn't specify what time, where, or who will die tomorrow. How are we supposed to find the next victim?"

We cannot openly call on the public to pay attention to safety, as this would cause panic.

Zheng Yan rubbed his face, took a breath, and said, "First, investigate the recent missing persons cases. Have all residential buildings, office buildings, hotels, and other high-rise areas increase patrols. Have local police stations pay close attention to casualty cases within their jurisdictions, especially those that appear to be suicides..."

Then all we can do is wait.

They stayed up all night at the police station, constantly on the phone, their nerves on edge, only able to relieve the tension by smoking.

At 7:29 a.m., the operator received a call from a police station 30 kilometers away.

A young woman in her early twenties hanged herself at a bus stop.

The Criminal Investigation Team 2 immediately rushed to the scene.

……

The police cordoned off the entire street, and the body was still hanging on the bus stop sign, untouched, head down, feet dangling in the air. From a distance, it looked like a teru teru bozu (a Japanese doll shaped like a teru bozu) hanging from the eaves.

As soon as the police car stopped, the sound of the front and rear doors slamming shut rang out simultaneously.

Zheng Yan pulled back the police tape and strode inside, asking in a deep voice, "What exactly happened?"

The police officer said, "At seven o'clock in the morning, the first bus was about to stop at this station. Because there are many factories nearby, there were no passengers getting on the bus, only passengers getting off. The first passenger who got off the bus discovered the deceased behind the bus stop sign and then called the police."

"So, many people saw the body?"

"Yes, the car full of people caused quite a bit of panic."

Zheng Yan scratched his eyebrow in annoyance and asked again, "Do you know the identity of the deceased?"

"I don't know. The deceased wasn't carrying any identification, and his phone was missing. We looked for it but couldn't find it, and no one in the neighborhood knew him."

The situation is similar to that of the previous victim, Qu Li.

A young woman, looking haggard, died in a manner resembling suicide. The crime scenes were all in crowded areas, and she had no identification on her. It seems to be the work of the same killer—the missing Peng Siyan? Or someone else entirely?

Tan Ming glanced at the simple bus stop sign, frowned, and said, "This is the simplest bus stop sign from many years ago. It only has a timetable and no surveillance cameras. Most places have already phased out this kind of bus stop sign. Are there any other surveillance cameras on this road?"

The police officer listed the locations: "There's a traffic camera at the intersection 900 meters to the right, and a freight factory 500 meters to the left that should have surveillance. There might be more on the opposite street, but there's a green belt full of ornamental trees in between, so it's probably hard to catch them."

So it's another blind spot in the surveillance?
“It seems the murderer knows this place very well,” Xiao Chen said. “There aren’t many places in the city without surveillance cameras these days, and he knows what time of day to commit the crime so that more people can see it but it’s not easy for him to find out.”

They immediately connected the case with the ghost hotline, but the police officers who were unaware of the truth had doubts.

"Why do you think this is a murder case? Actually, the deceased looks more like a suicide. I have handled many cases of hanging, and I can basically determine that she hanged herself before she died. But apart from the natural contraction of her muscles, there were no signs of struggle at all, and her expression was even peaceful."

Indeed, forensic pathologist Lao Li reached the same conclusion.

Xiao Chen asked with his eyes: Could it be a mistake? Isn't this the second person the murderer foretold?

Zheng Yan: "Her age, manner of death, time and place of death, and lack of identification information are all similar to Qu Li's, so the possibility of coincidence is unlikely. As for why it looks so much like suicide, we'll only know the truth after a detailed autopsy. Old Li, were there any wounds on her body? Were they injuries from abuse or self-harm?"

Old Li lifted the deceased's clothes to examine them: "Yes, it looks like self-harm marks... Oh, good news, there are stitch marks here, we can send photos to various hospitals and ask them to help identify it."

This was an unexpected bonus; I thought I'd have to search for a phone for days and nights.

Zheng Yan immediately instructed Xiao Chen to contact various hospitals, and then set about another matter: "After the trace evidence examination is completed, conduct an on-site investigation and scan, contact the municipal government and have the sidewalk fenced off in their name."

We can't let more people see this.

Tan Ming looked around and asked, "The crime scene and time the killer chose are very distinctive. Commuters from Shizi Garden start arriving around 6 a.m., and a bus full of factory workers passes by here on time at 7 a.m. The killer wanted more people to discover the body. Why?"

"Serial killers who make advance warning calls are usually cold-blooded, ruthless individuals seeking adrenaline thrills. He might want more people to witness the intricacies of his killing games, creating trouble for us. Besides that, there's another possibility—"

Zheng Yan looked at the factory entrance across the street, which was hidden by the green belt, and said in a deep voice, "He wanted to take advantage of the crowd to blend in and leave."

Tan Ming was horrified: "The murderer lingered at the scene for a long time, and even watched us arrive?"

"Probably."

This is the difference between serial killers and ordinary criminals. They are bold and disregard the law. They might have just been standing across from them, laughing as they watched them look worried, and then whistling as they slowly walked away.

Tan Ming frowned deeply, his sharp gaze sweeping across the crowd: "I'll have someone investigate where the rope the deceased used to hang himself came from, and then ask those who saw the body if they left any clues."

The identity of the deceased has not yet been confirmed, so this is all we can investigate for now.

Zheng Yan nodded: "I'll walk along this road with the police officers."

Reconstruct the killer's route to see if any overlooked surveillance footage can be found or some unexpected discoveries can be made.

This was a very tedious task, and by the afternoon, they hadn't made any significant progress.

Finally, it was Xiao Chen who brought the good news.

A doctor at a hospital recognized the deceased and found his identity information in his medical records.

Guess what kind of story it will be? (Rubbing hands excitedly)
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(End of this chapter)