North American Detective: I am Proficient in All Kinds of Gun Quick Draws-Chapter 58 - 57 Truth Part 1

Morgue of the Forensic Science Department.

Holz was explaining the autopsy results to Dean and the other two. "The deceased is female, aged between thirty and thirty-two years old. The time of death was about a month ago. There are strangulation marks on her hands, and a total of thirty-seven non-fatal injuries were found on her body. The suspected murder weapon is a pair of fire tongs, and the killer apparently watched her bleed to death."

"Can you ascertain her identity?" Dean frowned.

The body was severely decomposed. Not even her parents could recognize her if they came.

Holz shook his head. "Extracting DNA isn’t that simple. Although we collected some hair from the living area of Shane’s wife and daughter in Villa 76, we couldn’t extract enough DNA from them. The only sample we can confirm at the moment is Shane himself."

Although Shane is of German descent, it’s highly unlikely he and his wife were close blood relatives. Therefore, his DNA sample alone cannot confirm her identity, so we currently cannot determine if the body is Shane’s wife.

This result undoubtedly left Dean and the others greatly disappointed.

Our excitement was premature.

Lawrence was still unwilling to let it go. "Holz, don’t tell me we found this body and got nothing?"

Holz shrugged. "We still gained something. We extracted the killer’s fingerprints from the baseball bat that killed Shane. He was a fool; although there were traces of wiping, the force used when he struck Shane was too strong, causing the fingerprints to not be completely wiped away."

Upon hearing this, the three showed elation.

Doesn’t that mean they could first determine if the helper, Marcus, was the killer?

But then Holz threw cold water on their theory. "After extracting the fingerprints, I immediately compared them with Marcus’s, but they didn’t match. So Shane likely wasn’t killed by him."

"FK!" Lawrence’s facial muscles twitched. "Holz, you’re making me really want to beat you up!"

Dean couldn’t help but clench his fists as well.

This guy was infuriating.

Harry, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief.

He said cheerfully, "Since it’s not Marcus, then the killer must be someone else. The traces in the warehouse were well preserved, and the murder weapon was still there. We can carry out a bloodstain analysis to roughly estimate the killer’s height. Also, I noticed there are many cameras in the warehouse; maybe the surveillance captured the killer’s image."

Lawrence rolled his eyes. "Buddy, I checked the surveillance yesterday. Even the footage from half a month ago has already been overwritten by new videos."

The storage technology wasn’t that advanced yet. It was already pretty good for the warehouse to retain half a month’s worth of surveillance data.

Dean interrupted them. "Guys, no matter what, Marcus’s suspicion hasn’t been cleared. The person who rented the warehouse used his identity information. Maybe he’s just one of the murderers, but not the one who did the deed."

They needed to interrogate Marcus again!

"Let me do it this time!" Lawrence cracked his knuckles, making a popping sound.

Dean ignored Lawrence and instead looked at Holz. "Holz, have you checked the deceased’s teeth and lower body?"

Americans like to eat sweets, so quite a few people have poor dental conditions, and any treatments would leave records and files in the clinics. If they had dental implants, it would be possible to quickly identify the body through the serial number on the implant.

"Of course I checked!" Holz was quite displeased with Dean questioning his professionalism. "The deceased had good dental conditions, with no signs of repair or implants. I also examined the deceased’s lower body but found no traces of violation. Even if there had been, such genetic material wouldn’t be preserved for this long!"

"I meant, was there an IUD—an intrauterine device—inside the deceased?" Dean’s tone was serious.

In other respects, he might not be as professional as Holz. But when it came to women... ha! In his past life, Dean’s only outlet for his darker impulses was intense physical ’exercise’—his private euphemism for his numerous sexual encounters. The women he’d slept with hailed from over thirty countries and numbered in the thousands; he knew their kind very well. Women in North America and Western Europe are relatively open. It’s fine when they are young. But as they grow older, to take care of their partner’s ’happiness’ and enjoy the most intimate contact, they might use IUDs. Those who lead promiscuous lives or work in the ’temporary love’ industry are even more likely to use them. And each IUD has a unique serial number!

"An IUD..." Holz’s expression changed slightly. "I’ll check now."

He had overlooked that detail.

While Holz was busy, Dean finally turned to Lawrence. "Lawrence, go interrogate Marcus again. Whether it’s through threats or other means, as long as you don’t kill him, you must find out why his information appeared at the rental company!"

"No problem!" Lawrence revealed a ferocious smile.

"As for Harry, go to the deputy captain’s team and see if they’ve finished the bloodstain analysis of the villa. If it’s done, have them move to the warehouse, and by the way, inform them of what we’ve found!"

Although Harry was not accustomed to Dean’s assignments, seeing that Lawrence had no objections, he didn’t say anything. His generally good impression of Dean reduced his resistance. freewёbnoνel.com

After the two left, Dean lit a cigarette and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Although there were already quite a few clues, they lacked a clear direction. He now had three suspects. The first suspect was undoubtedly Marcus, lying in the hospital; much of the current evidence pointed to him. The second was Hutt, Shane’s former boss. This guy had the capability and motive to commit a crime, and considering the clients of the secluded warehouse were mostly mechanical companies, his suspicion was also considerable. The third, the Shane Family! That’s right! Dean still suspected the Shane Family. All of this originated from the photo in that picture frame and that line of text. He vaguely felt that there was a story hidden within.

A cry of surprise came from the morgue, interrupting Dean’s thoughts. "’Oh, my God!’"

Dean, looking through the glass, saw Holz holding up a small, round ring stained with dark brown bodily fluid; it was particularly conspicuous under the light...

...

「Elsewhere.」

Lawrence arrived at the hospital in a fuming rage.

Marcus was recovering nicely. Blissfully unaware of the impending doom, he was leisurely lying in his hospital bed, watching Tom and Jerry, and occasionally bursting into laughter.

Suddenly, BANG.

The door to the hospital room was forcefully pushed open.

The next moment, Marcus saw the person he least wanted to encounter.

"What... what are you here for again?"

"Of course, I’m here to have a good talk with you about how you deceived us!"

Lawrence cracked a smile, first closed the door, and then, to Marcus’s terrified gaze, increased the volume on the TV.

Marcus, a seasoned con familiar with trouble, immediately realized what was about to happen.

He said in a panic, "Don’t mess around! If you mess around, I’ll scream, and I’ll apply for an injury inspection!"

"Injury inspection?" Lawrence placed a cup of milk tea and a board of fine needles in front of Marcus. "Is it illegal to treat you to milk tea and acupuncture?"

He also thoughtfully explained to Marcus, "These are specially selected fine needles. When they pierce your fingers and toes, they’ll give you a thrill so intense you can’t breathe. The key is the wounds are small. Even if you get an injury inspection, the most I’ll get is docked some pay."

Marcus looked at the fine needles, his voice trembling. "What on earth do you want!"

Lawrence did not answer but pointed to the milk tea beside him, continuing to explain, "If you withstand the acupuncture but still lie through your teeth, then congratulations, I’ll reward you with a cup of milk tea. This is a specially made hair-infused milk tea. After you drink it, the crushed hairs will prick their way from your esophagus all the way to your intestines, letting you enjoy the ’pleasure’ of being stabbed by countless needles from the inside. Anyway, you’re in the hospital, so no need to worry about dying in pain. Even if you do die from the pain, I’ll, from a humanitarian perspective, help you—the murderer who committed suicide to escape justice—apply for free cremation."

It has to be said: as the saying goes, ’He who touches pitch shall be defiled therewith.’ Hanging out with Dean, if Lawrence’s heart hadn’t already darkened, his methods certainly had.

Just hearing the description made Marcus turn pale.

His voice breaking with a sob, "F**k, I haven’t lied to you! What exactly do you want to know? Just say it!"

...

While Lawrence was venting his anger by tormenting Marcus, Holz, on his end, had also identified the female corpse through the serial number on the IUD!