When A Snail Falls In Love

Chapter 55.1

The sun rose from behind the distant mountains, and the entire mountain range was bathed in bright, golden light. The grass became even more verdantly green, and the contrast with the corpse caused the scene to look like a vivid, quietly beautiful and yet horrific picture.

Ji Bai, Xu Xu and several senior criminal investigators stood at the periphery. After the forensic examiner had concluded his examination, he stood up and walked over: "The time of death is estimated to be sometime early in the morning, the day before yesterday. The preliminary theory is that death was by potassium cyanide poisoning, which is the probable cause for the ruddiness of the deceased's face. In addition, the wrists and ankles bear shackle marks, and the vagina is red and swollen, with lacerations. There are no other visible marks. More definite conclusions will be made after the autopsy."

Everyone was silent – looking at it this way, this case was looking more like homicide, as well as rape.

Ji Bai's face was sombre as he asked: "Has the identity of the deceased been ascertained?"

Zhao Han replied: "We're still investigating."

While the forensic examiner was very carefully moving the body, Xu Xu walked over, and stared wordlessly at the soft, fair, and beautiful face.

The investigators were spread out over the crime scene. Xu Xu stood in front of the corpse for a while, then walked over the Ji Bai's side. He was standing at the rocky crag behind the location where the corpse had originally been laid out, completely lost in thought.

"There was a lot of thought put into the choice of location for dumping the body." He pointed at the marks in the soil at the base of the rocky crag, and said: "There's evidence of a history of mudslides in this area. That is to say, when it's the rainy season, the corpse would have been buried very quickly."

Xu Xu interjected: "The murderer did not want the body to be found."

Ji Bai nodded, and continued: ""This mountain range has only one narrow road, and there's no surveillance to monitor the area for several kilometres. If the criminal drove a car, there's no way it would have been captured (on camera or CCTV). The vegetation on the mountain is dense, and I'm afraid it will be very difficult to find the criminal's footprints." Having said this, he lifted his head, and noticed that Xu Xu's face was pale.

After checking to see that nobody was around, Ji Bai strode to her side: "What's wrong? You're not feeling well?"

Xu Xu: "It's nothing, I'm just a little tired."

On the way there, Ji Bai had been entirely focused on the case, and had not given her any thought. It was only now that he remembered she had not eaten for almost an entire day, and had rushed there at night. No wonder she was tired. He said softly: "In a while, when we go down the mountain, I'll carry you. Once we leave the mountain range, let's find something to eat."

Xu Xu felt warmth spreading through her body, but, as there were still investigators from the district around, she replied: "You don't need to carry me. It will not leave a good impression. I'm fine."

Ji Bai reached out a hand to caress her head: "There's nothing wrong with that. It's perfectly justifiable (天经地义 – in line with the principles of heaven and earth) for a male colleague to look after a female colleague. After all, I can't let any other male colleague carry you, can I?"

Xu Xu laughed as well. The two of them did not speak further, but continued their individual examination of the turf around the corpse.

In the end, the results were as Ji Bai had anticipated. The criminal investigators searched the entire mountain, but had come up empty. The criminal had left behind no footprints, no hair, or any other physical evidence.