North American Detective: I am Proficient in All Kinds of Gun Quick Draws-Chapter 617 - 345 Critical Clue_2

Some people were attempting to obtain samples of the liquids from the freezers, others were crouched on the ground inspecting every inch of the floor, while Holz was looking up at the five somewhat frightening bodies overhead with deeply furrowed brows.

Dean walked over to him. "What do you think? Can you figure out how these people died? I'm very curious about how the killer managed to fix these bodies up there with just a few large nails."

Holz was a professional forensic scientist, well-experienced and knowledgeable, and may have come across similar murder methods before.

Upon hearing Dean's question, Holz twisted his somewhat sore neck but didn't directly answer. Instead, he counter-asked, "Dean, do you know what the real cause of death was for those more than twenty puzzle victims that were hung up before?"

"Strangulation!"

Dean's mind flashed through the scenes he had seen before, replaying each one, as he gave an affirmative answer. "Although I didn't take down the bodies to examine them closely, I noticed their facial muscles were slack and rigid. There were no secondary strangulation marks on their necks. Therefore, I suspect they had been injected with some kind of anesthetic before being hung up, causing the facial muscle rigidity."

Normally, the faces of those hanged to death would be contorted and grotesque, with lips pulled up to expose the gum beds, the tongue sticking out, and with rigor mortis, would maintain this ghoulish appearance for a day or two. But the more than twenty bodies that made up the towering puzzle were not like this. So, Dean suspected that before being hanged, these people had already been injected with an agent that caused this abnormal situation.

Holz gave Dean a direct thumbs-up.

"Your deduction is correct.

"We found an overdose of Muscle Hardeners in those victims' bodies.

"The killer was extremely brutal. Under the effect of the drug, those victims were in a petrified state before they were hanged.

"They could only watch helplessly as they and their companions were hung, feeling suffocation gradually pervading their awareness, slowly experiencing the approach of death—a kind of double torture, both physical and mental.

"In fact, even if those victims hadn't been hung, they would have died from the overdose of the drug, effectively suffocating themselves."

Saying this, Holz pointed to the five bodies overhead. "It should be the same here. Under normal circumstances, the contact area of the iron nails is so small that human flesh and blood cannot support a body weighing over a hundred pounds without it falling. This would only be possible if these bodies were like wooden planks or plaster. Does this give you some hints?"

After listening to Holz's hint, Dean's eyes widened slightly.

What method could turn a body of flesh and blood into something with the properties of wooden planks and plaster?

Dean glanced at the freezer filled with unknown cryogenic liquids and said hesitantly, "Freezing?"

The problem was, there were no signs of freezing on the surface of the bodies.

Holz, however, nodded. "Right, but not the kind of freezing we know—injectable freezing. Dean, you should know that our bodies contain a large amount of fluid. Some agents, once injected, can solidify all the bodily fluids. Without dissection, it's hard to tell from the appearance."

His gaze intensified.

"This method of murder is similar to the previous Muscle-Rigidity Agent.

"Before death, the victim's senses would be greatly heightened, able to feel part by part of their body disappearing... as if they had never possessed that part of the body.

"This method, I had only heard of before but have never seen.

"Dean, if I'm not mistaken, there likely isn't any blood evidence left at the scene.

"You really have big trouble on your hands now."

This wasn't an ordinary killer. Holz felt Dean had truly met his match this time and might be in over his head.

THUD THUD THUD.

A noisy sound came from the cellar.

A few burly security guards with gloomy faces were using tools to remove the large iron nails from the cellar ceiling that fixed the five bodies in place. The ends of those iron nails had been embedded in the bodies.

The process was not at all pleasant.

These bodies were extraordinarily heavy, and the straps set up were pulled very tight. This made Lawrence somewhat admire Holz's foresight. If it hadn't been for Holz's suggestion to set up something like safety ropes in the air first, those security guards might not have been able to hold on to these heavy bodies once they lost the support of the large nails.

After the bodies were brought down, Dean reached out and touched them. The bodies weren't as hard as he had imagined but possessed a certain toughness. They were also slightly swollen. However, this swelling was different from the bloat of decomposing bodies; it was more like the full, solid expansion of concrete poured into a mold.

Holz, on the other hand, wearing gloves, inspected them even more meticulously. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The situation was more troublesome than he had imagined.

He looked at Dean with a somewhat schadenfreude expression. "Buddy, the killer is even more brutal than I thought. After injecting the drugs and watching these people suffocate to death, he then froze them. Finally, he nailed these five unfortunate fellows to the ceiling. His need for revenge is strong; I suspect he has psychological problems too."

Dean rolled his eyes. As if that wasn't obvious.

Normal people kill by stabbing—knife in, knife out—or simply shoot and leave. At most, they might cast the body in cement or dismember the corpse. Rarely does a killer have the leisure to arrange the bodies into a puzzle after the deed.