In the interrogation room corridor.
After hanging up the phone, Li Jian’s expression was grave as he said, "Mr. Ma! The murder weapon and bloody clothes related to this case have been found, buried on the back hill."
"However, Mr. Zhang discovered a pile of white bones nearby."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Ma frowned slightly and asked, "Can it be confirmed as a case?"
Li Jian responded, "They only saw the white bones buried in the soil; it’s unclear whether it’s a criminal case."
"Mr. Zhang said there are often secret burials on the back hill."
Mr. Ma urged, "Whether or not it’s a criminal case, we must clarify everything."
"If it’s exposed bones from a burial, there needs to be sufficient evidence."
"If it’s a criminal case involving a human death, we must initiate the murder case mechanism."
"Mr. Li, lead the team to survey the scene first, and report back immediately if there are results."
"Mr. Chen, your task is to escort the three suspects in the interrogation room to the detention center and complete the subsequent procedures."
Li Jian and Chen He replied seriously, "Yes! Mr. Ma!"
Five minutes later, two police cars quickly left Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau.
In the first police car, Wan Junjie sat in the driver’s seat, with Li Jian in the front passenger seat.
Jiang An and Zhang Yean sat in the back.
While driving, Wan Junjie asked, "Boss, when I was young, I grew up in the countryside. My hometown has a mountain where people often secretly buried the dead at night."
Li Jian replied, "Mr. Zhang also mentioned the burial issue on the phone just now."
"However, this burial shouldn’t expose the bones, right?"
Wan Junjie said, "Not necessarily!"
"Based on my experience living in the countryside, some of the dead weren’t buried deeply."
"If some animals on the mountain smelled the scent of decay, they would dig up the graves and eat the flesh of the dead."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Yean, sitting in the back row, felt a sour sensation in her throat and a wave of nausea.
"Wan, your tastes are too heavy."
Wan Junjie said, "You kids who live in the city probably can’t imagine the scene of animals gnawing on rotten flesh."
Li Jian said, "What you said isn’t impossible, after all, the back hill is large and undeveloped."
"I believe there are many carnivorous animals on the back hill."
Then, Li Jian turned his head and said with a smile, "However, all this can only be confirmed after Jiang An runs the tests."
Zhang Yean nudged Jiang An with her elbow and said with a smile, "Junior, you have a lot of responsibility and pressure."
Li Jian said, "If you say the exposed bones are from a burial, we’ll immediately come back and celebrate with drinks."
Wan Junjie stepped on the gas pedal, and the car accelerated.
"Since the captain said so, let’s go early and return early."
After a brief pause, Li Jian said, "I haven’t finished speaking yet."
"If Jiang An says it’s not a burial, we probably won’t be back."
Zhang Yean turned her head and said, "Junior, our return tonight is entirely in your hands."
Wan Junjie gripped the steering wheel and said, "I haven’t returned home for three days already, your sister-in-law has urged many times."
Jiang An smiled and said, "This time on field duty, I have great responsibility."
"It’s not just on a professional level but also on personal and lifestyle levels."
Two hours later.
Two police cars stopped at the foot of the back hill.
At this moment, it was dusk, and the sunset glow covered the entire hillside.
As Li Jian and his team got out of the car, they saw Zhang Chao waiting at the bottom of the hill.
"Mr. Li! Thank you for your hard work!"
Li Jian nodded.
Zhang Chao glanced at Jiang An and asked, "This fellow seems unfamiliar."
"Oh! That’s right! I forgot to introduce you."
"This is the top-notch forensic student who just joined our criminal investigation team, with strong investigative skills."
"This is the head of the back hill precinct, Zhang Chao."
Zhang Chao said, "Indeed, you seem knowledgeable and well-informed; turns out you’re a forensic expert."
"Pleasure to meet you!"
Jiang An nodded, "Hello, Mr. Zhang!"
Then, Li Jian asked, "How far is the white bone scene from here?"
Zhang Chao replied, "On a hilltop in the middle, about a 30-minute walk."
Li Jian said, "It gets dark early in the mountains, have your officers prepare a few high-intensity flashlights."
Mr. Zhang replied, "Mr. Li, I’ll arrange that immediately."
Then, the group started walking uphill.
Half an hour later, they finally arrived at the white bone scene.
However.
The pile of white bones was already enclosed within a white police cordon.
Zhang Chao said, "Mr. Li, while digging up the murder weapon, we unintentionally saw some white bones on the soil surface."
"Originally thought to be animal remains, we used digging tools to scratch the surface, surprisingly discovering a human skull."
"So, I reported it to you immediately."
Li Jian nodded, looked around, and said, "There are quite a few dirt mounds around here, are they all burials of the dead?"
Zhang Chao said, "There used to be a burial custom here, but now most have been cremated, with only a few secret burials."
After a brief pause, Zhang Chao continued, "There are many wild animals in the mountains, such as weasels, stray dogs, wolves, etc."
"We suspect it might have been animals that dug it out after the burial."
"After all, this place is barely visited by people."
Li Jian said, "Let’s inspect the scene first and draw a conclusion later."
Then, he turned and said, "Are you ready, Jiang An, Zhang Yean?"
Jiang An put on gloves and shoe covers, saying, "Ready!"
Zhang Yean held a black DSLR camera in her hand.
Then, the on-duty officers lifted the police cordon, and Jiang An and Zhang Yean entered.
In front of them, apart from a skull, there were over ten bones.
Zhang Yean glanced and said, "It looks like there are still some bones buried in the soil."
Jiang An nodded.
"Mr. Zhang probably only dug up a portion of the white bones."
"Should we excavate everything first before examining?"
Jiang An said, "Let me check first!"
Then, Jiang An squatted down and picked up the skull from the ground.
The skull had no muscle or scalp attached.
After carefully examining it, Jiang An found no fracture marks on the skull.
Then, moving the skull in his hand, Jiang An said, "Senior sister, please photograph the front, back, and sides of the skull."
"Okay!"
Subsequently, the shutter clicks sounded "click, click, click."
After the photographs were taken, Jiang An set down the skull and picked up a long, thick bone.
Zhang Yean speculated, "This should be a human femur, right?"
Jiang An nodded, "Left femoral bone."
Suddenly, Jiang An’s pupils shrank, and he froze there. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on NoveI~Fire.net
Zhang Yean noticed his unusual expression and asked, "Is there a problem with the bone?"
Jiang An looked up, emphasizing each word, "This is not a burial, it’s a body dump!"