Chapter 376: Chapter 376: Guo Limin

2022-05-20

Everyone nodded in agreement. I turned to Gu Chen and said, “Let’s get the body down. I’ll grab something from the car to cover it. After all, this is just a child, barely in their teens. I don’t want the neighbors to catch wind of this mess.”

Gu Chen replied, “There’s a small blanket on the backseat.”

Mary chimed in, “But with the previous two bodies, didn’t the killer dress them up in clothes? This time, though, the killer left this one bare.”

I snapped my fingers and said, “Exactly. I’ve noticed that too. I’ve always found it odd why the killer bothered to clothe the others.”

As I walked outside with Mary, I continued, “I’ve been puzzled for a while now. When we found Li Jun’s body, it was at the bottom of an old, abandoned well. Yet, Li Jun was dressed in clothes.”

“Right,” Mary agreed. “It feels like the killer is deliberately hiding something with those clothes.”

Rubbing my chin, I nodded. “Exactly. It was the same with Liang Zhengyu. The killer didn’t strip him down either. That struck me as strange, especially after seeing Guo Li’s body. It confirmed my earlier hunch—the killers are Zhang Zijun and Guo Limin, working together.”

I opened the car door and pulled a small blanket from the trunk.

Turning to Mary, I added, “Zhang Zijun must be the one making the calls to us, while Guo Limin handles the killings. The first two victims were boys, and their own child is a boy too. That says a lot. Every day when Zhang Zuochen came home, Zhang Zijun and Guo Limin couldn’t see the wounds hidden beneath his clean school uniform.”

Mary nodded. “So for all this time, as parents, they never realized their child was being bullied. But when they brought his body home and saw the marks under that pristine uniform, they must’ve been devastated. That’s when they started planning revenge, hunting down whoever had hurt Zhang Zuochen.”

We stepped back into the courtyard. At that moment, Uncle Chen and Gu Chen were working together to lower Guo Li’s body.

I wrapped the blanket around Guo Li’s body and continued, “An eye for an eye—that’s what this couple set out to do.”

Mary asked, “So did the killer do this on purpose? Because their own child was a boy? Is this some kind of gender bias?”

I nodded slowly. “It’s possible.”

Letting out a sigh, I added, “The killer even took the time to clean up the bloodstains from the ground and the body. Dressing a corpse wouldn’t be hard for them. Yet this time, they didn’t bother. Is it really just about gender, or is there another reason behind it?”

Gu Chen and Uncle Chen carried the body to the car, and we drove straight to the Sub-bureau.

By the time Uncle Chen started the autopsy, it was already eight in the morning.

“We’ve got something.”

Halfway through the autopsy, Uncle Chen walked in from outside as Coroner Wang worked on the body. He said, “We finally searched every hardware store in town. And we found someone who bought fishhooks. It’s Guo Limin. We’ve got the footage from the shop, and we have the fishhooks used in the crime. Now we can compare them to confirm if they match what Guo Limin purchased.”

I nodded at Uncle Chen. “Good. Verify it immediately. And tell me which stores she visited. If we can narrow down a specific area, we can track Guo Limin’s movements. That’ll help us figure out where she’s been and where she might be staying.”

Uncle Chen gave a quick nod. “Alright, I’ll get on the comparison right away. It’ll take a lot of manpower, though. I’ll take some people with me. If you need anything, just call.”

With that, Uncle Chen hurried off.

Coroner Wang continued meticulously dissecting the body.

I spoke up, “If you look at the motive and methods, this case isn’t hard to figure out. We already know who the killer is. The problem is, even though we know, we haven’t found solid evidence at the crime scenes to prove it. The killer’s cleanup is just too thorough.”

Coroner Wang called out, “Come take a look at this.”

At his words, a few of us leaned in for a closer look. Wearing masks and gloves, Coroner Wang pointed to Guo Li’s trachea and esophagus. We could clearly see several iron nails deeply embedded in the tissue.

In Guo Li’s stomach, we found more iron nails. It seemed gastric fluid had leaked out, causing acute peritonitis along with massive internal bleeding.

After inspecting, Coroner Wang concluded, “The cause of death is clear.”

“Gastric hemorrhage and acute peritonitis from gastric fluid leaking into the abdominal cavity—that’s what killed Guo Li.”

Coroner Wang stated with absolute certainty.

By nine in the morning, the autopsy was complete.

Guo Li was gone, and though we’d caught one supposed killer, another was still out there. But this time, I had a feeling we’d track down Guo Limin soon. Before, due to the phone calls, we assumed the killer was a man. Now we know that was just Zhang Zijun throwing us off.

Not long ago, the killer called us. That call completely exposed her. I doubt she’s unaware of how obvious that was. So why did she do it? She could’ve just sent a text, but she chose to call instead.

Why?

By ten in the morning, the dark clouds that had loomed all day finally broke. A light drizzle began to fall, washing away the summer heat. Gu Chen and I stood in the rain, savoring the brief coolness. Just then, Gu Chen’s phone buzzed.

It was Uncle Chen.

His first words were, “Get over here. We found Guo Limin. And there’s more.”

Gu Chen and I exchanged a glance. It had only been about an hour since Uncle Chen discovered Guo Limin had bought fishhooks. In that short time, he’d already located her. That was fast—almost too fast. Still, we’d caught the killer.

From what Uncle Chen said, it sounded like there were other discoveries beyond just finding Guo Limin.

We drove to Uncle Chen’s location.

When we arrived, Uncle Chen had already surrounded the area with his team. We stepped into the apartment. A woman sat on the sofa, flanked by two men keeping watch. She wore loose casual clothes, her short hair cropped neatly, and flat shoes on her feet.

No wonder, when I checked Zhang Zijun’s room earlier, I only saw short hairs in the sink. I’d overlooked something—women can have buzz cuts too. It’s a clever way to mislead investigations while making movement easier.

As we walked in, Guo Limin barely glanced at us. Her eyes held a hollow indifference.

She looked like a walking corpse, unresponsive to everything around her, as if she’d lost all instinct to react.

Uncle Chen grinned as he saw us. “Brother Wu, you were spot on. Our investigation revealed Guo Limin bought fishhooks from five hardware stores and one fishing supply shop. Each purchase was small, nothing suspicious. But the locations of these stores? They’re not far apart. They almost form a perfect circle.”

I nodded, and Uncle Chen went on, “So we searched within that radius for Guo Limin. Knowing her appearance and age, we checked resident records in various apartment complexes. During the process, we found a woman named Guo Limin had rented this place.”

“When we got here, we apprehended her on the spot.”

As he spoke, Uncle Chen gestured, and someone handed over a large evidence bag. Inside was a whip.

I took it and examined it closely. Judging by its length and thickness, it matched the wounds on Guo Li’s body. Whether this was the exact whip used to harm Guo Li still needed confirmation through Coroner Wang’s analysis.

If we can confirm this whip caused Guo Li’s injuries, we’ll have physical evidence. Combined with the batch purchases of fishhooks and fishing line—if they match what Guo Limin bought—we’ll have an airtight case.

“Take Guo Limin back for interrogation soon.”

I turned to Uncle Chen and asked, “Didn’t you say there was another discovery?”

“Come see for yourself.”

With that, Uncle Chen headed toward the bedroom.