"What, the adopted son of Di Gong?" "Is it that Di Gong?"
Hearing the captain reveal Di Zhen's identity, the policemen were all surprised. The older policemen had taken Di Gong's criminal psychology and logical reasoning courses at the police academy. They also knew about the many mysterious cases Di Gong had helped the police solve more than a decade ago. In the police circle of Huaizhong, Di Gong was respected beyond imagination.
"Take off the handcuffs!" The captain asked Gong Jingfan for the key.
Lao Gong said embarrassedly, "Captain, what he did has violated the public security regulations. By the rules, he should be detained, no matter whose adopted son he is."
Di Zhen said, "I'm here to turn myself in. Punish me however you want!"
"Since you're here to turn yourself in, don't wear the handcuffs. Just come back with us later. Can't I trust you?" The captain finally opened the handcuffs for Di Zhen, patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "You're even taller than me now, young man. Why did you come to Jiangxia?"
"To look for a job."
"It's really time for you to be independent. What's the deal with the needle stabbing?"
Although Long Yun was smiling, his eyes were extremely serious. Because Di Zhen was the adopted son of Di Gong, he didn't want to see him go astray.
Di Zhen also knew that he had to give an explanation now. He couldn't tell the truth. After thinking for a while, he answered seriously, "To persuade a silly girl!"
"Haha!" The captain laughed. "Young people really tend to lose their cool. It's understandable, but detention is still unavoidable!"
"I know. I'll take the punishment for my wrongdoings!"
"Oh, you kid!"
Gong Jingfan didn't quite believe Di Zhen's story and gave him a suspicious look.
The leopard was sent to the car, and everyone was ready to call it a day. At this time, an old woman ran over from the side of the road and shouted, "Police officer! Police officer! Something's wrong. That big cat has hurt someone!"
"What? Where?"
"Follow me!"
The captain sent a car to escort the leopard, and the keeper went in the car. When Di Zhen turned his head to look, he inadvertently caught a strange look on the keeper's face. Judging from the curve of his upturned mouth, he seemed to be smiling.
Gong Jingfan said to Di Zhen, "Don't wander off!"
"Can I go and have a look?"
"Stay with me!"
The old woman led the policemen to a residential area by the road. All the houses here were bungalows, and each family had a yard. The old woman stopped in front of an iron gate and said, "This is it! When I passed by here just now, I smelled a strong smell of blood. I took a peek inside. Holy cow! It scared the daylights out of me!"
The iron gate was bolted from the inside. The adjacent courtyard wall was tiled, and there were glass shards plastered on top with cement for anti - theft purposes.
The captain peeked through the crack of the door and saw two legs sticking out from the open door of the house. A man was lying in a pool of blood.
The policemen knocked on the neighbor's door and borrowed a ladder. Then they climbed over the courtyard wall from the next door. The captain asked the neighbor, "Who lives in this house? What's his job?"
"It's the second brother. He's in the construction business."
"What's his real name?"
"Zhang Mu"
"Did you hear any noise during the day?"
"Really didn't. I just got off work and came back."
Di Zhen climbed up the ladder as well. Standing on the wall and looking down, he saw a string of bloody footprints left by a leopard on the ground. There was a meat - drying rack in the courtyard, and a lamb leg had fallen to the ground with tooth marks on it.
Di Zhen used his camera to take pictures of all these.
"Hurry up!" Gong Jingfan behind him urged.
The courtyard wall was nearly two meters high. Di Zhen jumped down directly and reached out his hand to help Gong Jingfan. Gong Jingfan scoffed, "I'm not that stupid girl you need to protect!" Then he jumped, and with a tearing sound, his pants split at the seam.
Di Zhen laughed, "You're a bigger wimp than a silly girl!"
Gong Jingfan made a threatening gesture.
The policemen who had entered first were inspecting the scene.
"It was really the leopard that did this!"
"The leopard probably came in to steal the lamb leg, and when it found someone at home, it killed him."
"How terrible! His intestines are sticking out!"
"Hey!" The captain stopped the first few who had gone in, "Be careful not to step on the bloody footprints on the ground!"
"Captain, do we still need to investigate this?"
"Aren't the culprits already caught?"
The captain scolded, "What did you come here for? To watch the show? I've called the forensic department and forensic science experts. They'll check if it's an accident. Don't step around randomly!"
"It must be an accident. What else could it be!" Most policemen thought so, just as obvious as 1 + 1 = 2.
Di Zhen's attention was caught by a square patch of water on the ground beside the door. He tugged at Gong Jingfan and said, "Do you have a camera?"
"What's this?" Gong Jingfan also noticed the mark on the ground.
Di Zhen squatted down and touched it. Gong Jingfan kept saying "Hey" to remind him, but Di Zhen ignored him and put his finger under his nose to smell. "It's just water."
"Do you know who you are? Can you be more self - aware?" Gong Jingfan complained and took a picture of the mark with his phone.
Di Zhen walked up to the bitten lamb leg, squatted down, and sniffed. The lamb leg was salt - cured and very salty. He wasn't sure if a leopard would eat such a thing.
Maybe it took a bite and found it unpalatable, so it left. There was only one tooth mark on it.
The policemen were all gathered around the main house door. Di Zhen walked over and said, "Officer Long, can I have a look?"
"Oh, okay, come here!" the captain said.
The policemen let Di Zhen through. Standing at the door, he saw the body in a shocking state. There was a bite mark on the neck, and the abdomen was ripped open. A large pile of intestines was lying outside, and it was bloody. It wasn't clear which organs were missing.
There was a stub of a cigarette in the semi - coagulated pool of blood.
The body's mouth was wide open. Generally, after death, a person's muscles relax due to the lack of nerve - current stimulation, resulting in a lifeless look on the face, known as the 'deathly appearance' (a Chinese term referring to the lifeless look of a deceased person's face). This deceased was no exception; his open mouth seemed to show the painful struggle before his death, and he died with his mouth open.
Of course, it might also be because the trachea was bitten through and he was desperately trying to take a breath of air.
Seeing Di Zhen absorbed in looking, Officer Long asked, "Xiao Di, any findings?"
"He isn't wearing any underwear!"
"Ah!?"
Officer Long reached out and felt the deceased's trousers. Sure enough, he praised, "You are very observant."
Di Zhen said, "This gentleman is unluckier than me."
"Yeah, who'd expect a leopard to break into someone's home all of a sudden?"
"Officer Long, do leopards eat internal organs?"
"I'm not sure about that."
The policemen talked about this issue for a while. Gong Jingfan walked over and said, "Yes! Felines love to eat internal organs. They will eat the liver first. It's their only way to get vitamins."
Di Zhen also noticed that the deceased's fingers were slightly curled up. It was spring and the temperature was mild. The stiff fingers indicated that the person had died ten hours ago.
However, the leopard only appeared on the street ten minutes ago. Besides, when he got close to the leopard, he didn't smell any blood on it, nor did he see any bloodstains.
Was this a suspicious point?
Di Zhen wasn't sure. He'd save it for the time in the detention room to kill time slowly!