Chapter 27: The Corpse Kneels in Worship!

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A body?

Every officer at the scene was startled.

Shen Ting was no exception. He hurried forward.

They had been searching for the Hummer because it might contain physical evidence.

If the bodies of Liu Furen and the others were also inside, they would naturally provide far more clues.

Everyone gathered around the front of the vehicle, and at once understood what the technicians meant.

There were three bodies inside.

Just like the exterior of the Hummer, the interior—and the bodies within it—had been doused with gasoline and burned.

All they could make out were three charred corpses.

What mattered was that the bodies had been arranged in an extremely bizarre posture.

They had not simply been piled inside the vehicle.

Each body occupied a separate seat. Their legs were folded beneath them, their waists slightly bent, and their heads lowered, as though they were bowing in repentance.

Their bodies, especially their legs, had been fastened to the seats with steel reinforcing bars.

“This posture…”

Shen Ting frowned slightly. “This case may truly not be an ordinary kidnapping for ransom. If they were made to kneel and bow, could this involve a revenge killing?”

More importantly—

There were only three bodies inside the vehicle.

Yet Liu Furen’s party had consisted of four people.

One driver, two bodyguards, and Liu Furen himself.

“Could Liu Furen’s body be somewhere else?” Shen Ting guessed.

He shared the situation at the scene with the investigation group.

Everyone had previously been making deductions, but now that they had actually found the Hummer, they were all deeply shocked.

Because this proved that the group’s deductions about the criminal had been correct.

The criminal was truly terrifying.

He had a precise grasp of human nature at the newspaper office, a precise understanding of how the police would respond, and the nerve to leave the vehicle in the suspicious area for the time being, dancing on the edge of a knife while evading the search team.

Only after the police had completely ruled out the pond at Sanya Slope did he return to abandon the vehicle.

And that was not all.

Even after the investigation team had disbanded and the police had withdrawn their personnel, he had deliberately come back, dug a pit, and buried the vehicle deeper beneath the pond.

Such courage, such strategy—and above all, such control over human nature—left even the well-informed members of the group speechless with astonishment.

…

Before long, the technicians completed their preliminary examination. The Hummer was hoisted onto a tow truck and transported back to the Public Security Bureau for further evidence collection.

Zheng Yuanqiao found Xu Xinyi and Xiong Beibei and finally voiced the question that had been weighing on him all afternoon:

“How exactly did Shen Ting determine that this was where the vehicle had been abandoned?”

Xu Xinyi and Xiong Beibei exchanged a glance. They, too, looked puzzled.

“Ahem. We don’t know either. Shen Ting hasn’t seemed to do anything these past two days, and then he found the Hummer.”

Xiong Beibei looked utterly bewildered.

Xu Xinyi corrected her. “Not two days. Forty-six hours and twenty-three minutes.

“From the moment we left the station in the police car until now, it hasn’t even been two full days. That includes the two nights we spent resting.

“And yes, he really didn’t seem to do anything during that time.”

“Didn’t do anything? What does that mean? Haven’t the two of you been with Shen Ting the entire time?

“You didn’t notice anything at all?”

Zheng Yuanqiao sounded displeased.

Xu Xinyi took a palm-sized notebook from her pocket and opened it for him.

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It was completely blank.

There was not a single word on the first page.

Zheng Yuanqiao stared at Xu Xinyi in even greater astonishment.

“Captain Zheng, weren’t you the one who told Little Bear and me to follow Shen Ting and learn from him?

“This notebook was prepared for exactly that purpose. I originally intended to record Shen Ting’s unusual procedures, his methods of solving cases, and so on.

“But as you can see…”

Xu Xinyi looked slightly embarrassed. “There’s nothing here. We haven’t noticed any special investigative techniques from Shen Ting over the past two days.”

Xiong Beibei quickly nodded, equally baffled.

“Exactly! Shen Ting hasn’t done anything these past two days!

“I drove, he rode in the car, and we just circled around this area. The first day, we covered the whole region. Either he was observing things from the car, or he was playing on his phone.

“I actually think he spent more time on his phone.

“Then this morning, he gave me three locations, and we made a focused search of each one.

“And at noon, he suddenly said that the Hummer might be in this pond.

“Captain Zheng, you know what happened next.

“The vehicle really was here!”

“Just like that? So… effortlessly?”

Zheng Yuanqiao looked toward Shen Ting, who was once again playing on his phone in the distance, and found it even more unbelievable.

He had assumed that Shen Ting must have worked extremely hard over the past two days, using all sorts of special methods and equipment before discovering the Hummer.

He had never imagined that it would be so easy and casual, so plain and unremarkable.

He had merely ridden around in a car, and then found the Hummer?

Zheng Yuanqiao suddenly felt short of breath, as though he might vomit blood.

Back then, the investigation team had mobilized several thousand people, along with even more volunteers. They had risen before dawn and worked late into the night for more than two months, only to find nothing.

The special task forces that followed had sent out even more officers and spent even more time, yet achieved no progress.

And Shen Ting, twelve years later, had sat in a car, played on his phone, driven around for less than two days—and found the Hummer?

This…

Was there any justice in the world?

Zheng Yuanqiao had never been one for profanity, but he could not stop himself from cursing inwardly.

Of course, he also knew that investigating a case—especially a difficult cold case or long-unsolved case—was often an unreasonable business.

Sometimes talent truly mattered more than effort.

A single casual flash of insight or a new line of thought could completely shatter the barriers surrounding a case and bring it decisive progress.

“It seems I really did strike gold this time!”

Zheng Yuanqiao was delighted as well.

When he had invited Shen Ting to serve as a consultant, he had not been entirely confident. He had worried that Shen Ting might perform poorly and contribute nothing, leaving him to suffer the consequences.

But that concern was gone now.

Even if Shen Ting never contributed another thing, finding the Hummer alone was more than enough.

He walked over to Shen Ting with a smile.

“Shen Ting, excellent work. You’ve worked hard these past two days.”

“Yes, it has been rather exhausting.”

Shen Ting rolled his shoulders and nodded seriously.

Sitting in a car for two days straight was indeed uncomfortable.

A muscle twitched in Zheng Yuanqiao’s face.

The kind of exhaustion we mean probably isn’t the same thing, is it?

If he had not already questioned Xiong Beibei and Xu Xinyi, he might truly have believed Shen Ting’s nonsense.

“Ahem. How about this? Once we get back to the station, I’ll make some arrangements.

“Shen Ting, why don’t you explain to all of us blockheads exactly how you determined that the vehicle had been abandoned here?”

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“No problem!”

The group set out and returned to the Chaoyang Public Security Bureau.

Night had completely fallen, and they were well past the end of the workday.

Yet when the convoy returned, the station courtyard was unexpectedly surrounded by officers.

Some officers had already gone home, but the moment they heard that the Hummer from the Luo River kidnapping case had been found, they immediately returned to the station.

It was not only officers from the First Precinct. Personnel from other precincts, as well as logistics staff, clerks, and others, had all come to see what was happening.

The kidnapping of Liu Furen had caused a tremendous sensation back then.

Nearly every officer in the entire Great Capital had been assigned, in shifts, to participate in the search.

And the final result had left many people unable to let go of the matter.

Now that the Hummer had been recovered from the water, how could they not come and take a look?

When Shen Ting got out of the vehicle, every officer in the courtyard turned toward him in astonishment.

“So that’s Shen Ting?”

“The newly appointed consultant?”

“He’s so young.”

“I heard many people objected when Captain Zheng invited him to be a consultant. I never expected him to be this impressive.”

…

Zheng Yuanqiao had not expected so many people from the station to appear either.

Qin Shan, the brigade commander, glanced at Shen Ting from a distance, then patted Zheng Yuanqiao on the shoulder with a smile.

“Yuanqiao, you certainly have a good eye. You actually managed to find a talent this young.”

“Just luck, Captain Qin. Nothing more.

“Captain Qin, did everyone come because of the Luo River kidnapping case?”

“Of course. I’ve already tried to keep the news under wraps. Otherwise, officers from every other district in the Great Capital would have come running too.

“Let me put it this way: if there were progress in the Skinmaker case in another district, could you really resist going over to take a look?”

“Of course I’d go!”

The Skinmaker case was a recent one, and its details were horrifying.

The murderer had removed the skin from living victims and turned it into various handicrafts for sale.

Zheng Yuanqiao had also been assigned to assist with the investigation.

But in the end, they had found nothing.

“Yuanqiao, make the arrangements immediately. Like everyone else, I’m intensely curious.

“We all want to know how this Consultant Shen you found managed to locate the Hummer.”

“No problem. I was already planning to hold a discussion and have Shen Ting enlighten us.”

Zheng Yuanqiao quickly made the necessary arrangements.

Twenty minutes later, the largest conference room at the Chaoyang Public Security Bureau was packed with officers.

The corridor outside was crowded as well.

Zheng Yuanqiao smiled.

“I’m sure no one wants to listen to me ramble. Let’s get straight to the point and have Shen Ting answer our questions.”

He beckoned to Shen Ting.

Shen Ting rose and walked to the whiteboard at the front of the conference room.

“I know what everyone wants to ask.

“But before I answer, I would like to ask all of you a few questions.

“Once we resolve these questions, the answers to your own questions will naturally become clear.

“First question: How do you view—or, more precisely, how would you evaluate—the criminal behind the Luo River kidnapping case?”

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