Sha Qing

Chapter 38: Tinder (1)

After seeing a dead body half buried in the mud at the bottom of the lake, Leo returned to the cabin and immediately called the local police.

The victim was a girl about ten years of age. Her hands were tied on her back with ropes, and a heavy weight circled her waist- a lead bag used for running. Her pale face pale was swollen face and filled with blisters, and her pair of gray-blue dull eyes was open.

Li Biqing was sitting on the wooden path with huddled knees and face buried within his own arms. Leo knew how discomfited he was feeling right now. No one would remain indifferent after seeing the lifeless body of such a young child.

******

Because of the remote location, the New Jersey State Police led by an officer named Eden, arrived more than an hour later. After inspecting Leo's credentials, Eden showed cordial respect as he courteously asked Leo about how they found the body. Routine records were quickly completed. The little girl's body was soon recovered - they put the cadaver into a bag, and then loaded it to police car. Some policemen stayed to continue the investigation around the scene, while others prepared to take the body back to a forensics.

Li Biqing's face was still pale, but he seemed to have calmed down. He walked over to Eden, who was whispering with Leo. He said to the police officer, "I suggest that the police search the entire bottom of the lake."

"You mean ..." Eden was a little confused about the relationship between the Chinese young man and the FBI, but this was clearly not the time to care about this.

"I think it's possible -although deep inside I hope that my speculation is wrong- but still, I'm asking you to thoroughly search the lake," Li Biqing hesitated for a short time, and finally uttered another sentence, "I suspect there's more than one such body."

Eden's countenance change, "You mean, this is a serial murder case?"

He spent most of his work patrolling the highway, and had never seen such a situation. If the young man's guess is not unfounded.... Damn, New Jersey has had no serial killings for the last seven years. Why did this happen to him this time? This type of case has high media attention, is constantly urged by the higher ups to be solved as soon as possible, and the murderer is always particularly cunning and cruel. The police handling the case have to bear considerable pressure. This is a tough job for Eden who, had always, only wanted to patrol the roads.

""

What evidence do you have? Eden wanted to refute, but the 'as handsome as a movie star' FBI agent seemed to trust the lad's judgment. (t/n, here's ma boi Eden fangirling on Leo )

"Maybe you should widen the enclosed area and evacuate the tourists first. If this is really a serial murder, I will take over the case." Leo said, frowning.

The worried state police officer, who was eager to throw out this hot potato, immediately promised, "Okay, I will immediately send more people to search the bottom of the lake. But the lake is too big, so we cannot guarantee that we won't miss some things."

"Just do whatever you can to the best of your abilities." The agent said.

This process would take at least two or three days, and they couldn't stay in their cabin anymore. Even if they could ignore the warning tape in the area, the two were unwilling to spend their holiday under the attention of a group of busy state and county police.

"What should we do?" Li Biqing asked.

Leo said, "Either we return to New York, or find a place in a nearby town."