Sweeping Mouse Ridge – Chapter One : 5

With each inch the rescue rope descended, the temperature inside the shaft grew colder. This might just be a figment of her imagination born of fear, but Tang Xiaotang genuinely regretted her earlier “volunteerism.”

Originally, Liu Simiao had said she wanted to go down the shaft for an investigation, insisting with a serious face, “Outdoor crime scenes are greatly affected by weather, and the most important evidence—the body—is particularly easy to destroy, so a forensic pathologist should perform the autopsy first.” Liu Simiao looked at her, nodded, and gave her four words of advice: “Be bold, be careful,” before having the firefighter named Chen Guoliang secure her with a steel wire rescue rope around her waist and shoulders, fastening the nuts and bolts, and lowering her into the shaft.

Now, she couldn’t suppress the chills running down her spine…

Below was a bottomless blackness; above was a despairing leaden color. Her suspended body slowly sank as if being buried alive. The rough, grayish-white well walls, coated with dry powder fire extinguisher, resembled the belly of a giant python. This image made her want to vomit; acid reflux churned incessantly. Her waist and armpits throbbed with pain from the rescue rope. Suddenly, the ugly marks left by the rope on her skin flashed into her mind—marks like the noose around the neck of someone who had hanged themselves. A nightmare she hadn’t experienced in a long time returned, not causing her excruciating pain, but enough to make her tremble. She desperately wanted to shout for the people above to pull her up, but no sound came out.

Just then, her toes brushed against something soft…

She slowly steadied herself, tugged at the rope twice to let those above know she had reached the bottom, and took a few deep breaths, intending to calm herself. But her nostrils were immediately filled with a pungent, foul stench—the distinctive smell of burnt skin and hair. She tried to turn on the LED light on her helmet, but her gloved fingers had reduced their sense of touch, and it took her a while to find it. With a “snap,” she unscrewed it, and the gruesome scene at the bottom of the well, like a scene from hell, stunned her.

A large mass of pure black and dark red mud-like substance, covered with a thin layer of white dry powder fire extinguisher, lay discarded at the bottom of the dark well like raw meat coated in flour, ready to be deep fried. Even with the bright light from the LED light, it took a long time to discern the stacked human figures. Burned by the flames, these charred corpses were twisted and deformed, like cars involved in a multi-vehicle collision and explosion on a highway, their steel and metal tangled together, indistinguishable from each other. The curled-up or exposed bones stood out eerily, as if still stretching and spreading at the bottom of this narrow well, struggling unwillingly. The occasional squeaks from the flesh and fat intensified this illusion. Tang Xiaotang stood frozen for a long time, chilled to the bone, before cautiously probing the corpses with a stainless steel rake. Confirming they were neither human nor ghost, she dared to gently turn the bodies with her fingers to examine their basic condition.

There were three corpses in total. The bottom one was an adult, lying supine. The surface wasn’t severely charred, but its arms were tightly curled up, as if a monkey were hugging the two corpses above. Horrifyingly, its charred skull still had its mouth half open, and under the light, its white teeth were bared outwards, appearing particularly grotesque. The skull of the corpse above was fractured, and the spilled brain matter had congealed on the surface, burned into a black streak. The surface of the uppermost corpse bore gashes as if hacked and chopped. The raging fire not only charred the body, but the violent flames also seemed to have pierced through its throat, churning wildly inside its intestines, causing a section of internal organ to spill out, revealing a dark, scorched reddish-brown interior.

“Little Tang,” came the voice of Liu Simiao, “how is the situation?”

Tang Xiaotang looked up at the well opening but didn’t see Liu Simiao. The well opening was very, very high above, like another bottomless well.

She sighed and spoke into the police Bluetooth communicator clipped to her collar: “It’s a complete mess. All three bodies are severely burned, all fourth degree burns, with visibly charred surfaces and no signs of survival. This is the result of prolonged burning in flames. The initial assessment is that the accelerant was gasoline, because the exposed bones are light gray with heat cracks, indicating calcined bone caused by the high temperatures of gasoline combustion. In this condition, it’s clearly not suitable to move them to the forensic pathologist’s vehicle for the initial autopsy; it’s better to do it here… Sister Simiao, the three bodies are tangled together like a pretzel. I want to separate them and examine each body individually, but I’m afraid of damaging the original evidence. What should I do?”

“Little Tang, you need to examine the body carefully before drawing conclusions.” Liu Simiao’s tone suddenly became serious. “Are the bodies entangled, or are they seemingly entangled due to twisting and deformation but actually separable? The former often reflects the reaction of multiple people burned to death struggling towards the fire exit, while the latter is a result of mass cremation after death. This directly relates to the direction of the investigation; there’s no room for error… Looking at the photos Chen Guoliang took, it seems the bodies are just piled up haphazardly, without any actual entanglement.”

Tang Xiaotang composed herself, examining the three bodies again and again before saying sheepishly, “Uh… Sister Simiao, you’re right again.”

“Remember what I told you: ‘Boldness and meticulousness!'” Liu Simiao said. “Now, slowly turn the bodies over and verbally describe the autopsy findings. I’ll take your statement.”

A rustling sound came through the earphones; it was probably Liu Simiao getting her notebook.

Tang Xiaotang carefully examined the top corpse and said, “Corpse A, male. Based on the development of the bones and teeth, estimated age is around twelve years old, height approximately 130 cm, cause of death unknown. The body was found supine, with fourth-degree burns. There was no clothing or other textiles covering the body; the tissue is hardened, brittle, blackened, and unstructured. Straight lacerations along the skin lines are visible, and some organs are protruding from the wounds.”

Then, she supported the corpse by its side and slowly rolled it over, letting it roll to one side. A hand, burned beyond recognition, slapped against her shoe, startling her into a gasp.

“Little Tang, are you alright?” Liu Simiao’s voice came through the earphones again.

“It’s alright.” After examining the second corpse, Tang Xiaotang continued announcing in a low voice: “Corpse B, female, approximately nine years old, height about 110 cm, cause of death unknown, found supine, fourth-degree burns, no clothing or other textiles covering the body, tissues hardened, brittle, blackened, and unstructured. The skull is fractured along the natural sutures, with blood and brain matter spilling out, forming streaks of coagulated blood on the surface of the skull.”

“Ah?” A surprised exclamation suddenly came from Liu Simiao in the earpiece.

Tang Xiaotang quickly explained, “The skull is like a sealed container filled with liquid and moist brain tissue. When burned at high temperatures, once the liquid reaches its boiling point, it generates enormous pressure. A child’s skull can’t withstand this pressure, and the entire skull will crack or even burst along the natural sutures…”

“I know that,” Liu Simiao said. “I’m just surprised that the height and age of these two children don’t quite match… It’s alright, please continue.”

Tang Xiaotang set the second body aside, examined the third body, and said, “Corpse C, male, over fifty years old, 170 cm tall, cause of death unknown. The body was found supine, with fourth-degree burns. The deceased’s clothes and shoes are charred, offering little value for evidence. The upper limbs are in a distinct ‘boxing stance,’ a result of muscle coagulation and contraction after exposure to high temperatures, where the flexor muscles are stronger than the extensor muscles. This cannot be used to determine whether the burns occurred before death or after cremation, but it indicates prolonged exposure to high temperatures… Oh dear, there seems to be something near the body’s hand!”

“What?” Liu Simiao asked, adding, “Don’t handle important evidence directly with your hands; use tweezers to examine it.”

Tang Xiaotang was very obedient. She unzipped the evidence extraction kit from her waist, took out tweezers, squatted down, and picked up the object from the ground—a gleaming object covered in dust: “Sister Simiao, we found an adult wristwatch, a Vacheron Constantin. The strap is burned down to a sliver, the crystal is cracked, and the hour and minute hands stopped at 10:31. It should be the one worn by the male Corpse C.”

“That’s hard to say. It could also be the murderer’s, slipping off or being peeled off during the disposal of the body—”

Liu Simiao was interrupted by a soft exclamation from Tang Xiaotang: “Wait a minute, something’s wrong with this body. Why is it so much higher than the ground? This is… my God!”

Liu Simiao was already used to Tang Xiaotang’s sudden outbursts, but this time something was wrong. The earpiece suddenly fell into a deathly silence, so much so that Liu Simiao thought it was broken and tapped it with her finger, but still no sound. Just as she brought the Bluetooth speaker closer to her lips, preparing to call Little Tang, a sob suddenly came from the earpiece…

Not far away, Chu Tianying, who was pouring plaster into the tire treads, abruptly looked up at Liu Simiao, his eyes gleaming with astonishment.

Generally, during a crime scene investigation, police Bluetooth intercoms were designed to allow all officers in the area to listen and communicate. However, the scene at Sweeping Mouse Ridge was relatively open, with a dense concentration of police officers. Liu Simiao, concerned about interference and leaks, only opened communication channels for five people: Tang Xiaotang, Chu Tianying, Lin Fengchong, Du Jianping, and herself. This was why Chu Tianying was surprised by Tang Xiaotang’s sudden sobbing. Immediately afterward, Lin Fengchong’s voice came through the earpiece: “Little Tang, what happened? Speak up!”

A chilling wind, seemingly rising from the ground, suddenly sliced ​​through Sweeping Mouse Ridge like it had been cut in half, emitting a piercing scream in the air, causing the thorns and withered grass to tremble.

Liu Simiao stood with her back to the wind, speaking into the Bluetooth communicator: “Little Tang, if you don’t explain the situation, I’ll go down the well to support you immediately—”

“And…” Tang Xiaotang finally managed to utter a sob, “There’s another body, trapped under Corpse C. It’s a little girl; she looks only three or four years old…”

Liu Simiao felt a tightness in her chest. Despite having investigated countless crime scenes, despite having witnessed the most horrific crimes, like all detectives, even with an inherently hardened heart, even at an age when retirement was possible, she rarely managed to control her anger and grief in the face of a young child’s corpse.

Perhaps it was because she had spoken of a scene she couldn’t bear to describe, like opening a floodgate of emotion, that Tang Xiaotang finally began to sob softly.

Liu Simiao wanted to comfort her but couldn’t find the right words, so she remained silent. As time ticked by, Tang Xiaotang’s crying showed no signs of stopping, which annoyed Liu Simiao. Just then, a gruff voice blared through the earpiece: “Little Tang, are you there?”

It was Du Jianping’s voice, but it didn’t sound like him. It lacked his usual simplicity and harshness, instead possessing a clumsy, hesitant gentleness, like a father seeing his daughter make a mistake and becoming even more helpless.

Tang Xiaotang was startled and quickly wiped her tears with her sleeve: “Director Du, I’m here!”

“Finish your work first.” The voice was still so rough yet gentle. “Don’t be afraid, I’m down in the subway station, right next to yours.” Then, a soft knocking sound came from the blackened floodproof door next to the bottom of the shaft.

Tang Xiaotang felt a surge of warmth in her heart. Director Du, like a lion, was the pillar of strength in the hearts of all police officers. With him by her side meant she had something to rely on, and she had to be strong.

“Yes! I’ll continue the autopsy!” she said.