Chapter 2 Headless Corpse
The little loli took the initiative to say: "My name is Xiao Xi, nice to meet you all, and from now on we are colleagues, please give me more guidance."
"Are you also an indoor worker like Hua Jie?" Ge Lei asked.
"Of course not!" Xiao Xi puffed out her chest and said: "I'm an external staff member, I'm a senior detective of the Zero Special Case Group!"
The male colleague next to him said: "You don't need to talk to them, maybe they will be scared away soon, or lose their lives. It's a waste of emotions."
This man's words were extremely unpleasant, and Grey clenched his fists. If they weren't in the police station, he would have punched him in the face a long time ago.
Just then, the office door was pushed open and Hua Jie returned, smiling and saying: "Sorry to keep you waiting. I'll help you with the registration formalities right away."
"Shouldn't we meet with the head of the task force?" I asked.
Sister Hua said in a gentle voice: "The team leader has seen you all long ago and is very satisfied with you. Fill out this form, and once it's done, you'll be one of us."
I hesitated for a moment, but Gere picked up the form and started filling it out. As good brothers, we should advance and retreat together, so I also began to fill it out. Just as I finished writing, the office door was suddenly kicked open, and a man in his 40s walked in. He wore a long gown, had an eight-character beard, and wore a pair of sunglasses, looking like a blind fortune teller in the park.
"Gray took a look and exclaimed: "My god, it's you!""
I also recognized him, we call him Old God Stick, he saved my and Grey's lives, but then disappeared, we've been wanting to find him, didn't expect to meet him here.
"You've arrived, so let me introduce myself. I'm the leader of Team Zero, and my surname is Cui. You can just call me Old Cui from now on."
I'm shocked, this guy is actually the leader of the Zero Case Team, our future superior.
"How's the procedure going?" Old God asked Flower Sister.
"It's almost done, just need their signatures now."
"That's all right, hand it over." The old stick took the file from Hua Jie's hand and said to us: "Let's go, let's talk in my office!"
This office is so small that you can see from one end to the other at a glance, and yet there's another room?
The old man walked a few steps forward and came to an old-fashioned sliding door. He pushed it open with force, and inside was indeed an office, no more than two square meters in size.
"Wow, your office is huge, it's almost as big as the cubicles in our dormitory bathroom."
The old man didn't mind, sat down and asked: "How about it? Come work for me, the treatment is quite good, the work is very leisurely, and you'll often go on business trips. The salary is twice that of your classmates!"
This statement is very tempting to Grey and me, we don't have much stock left, in another week, our pockets will be cleaner than our faces. But the old fox laughed like a fox, I had a feeling that I was going to be deceived.
Money doesn't come from thin air, especially in the police system, high income may mean high risk.
Gail was very excited, and I cautiously asked: "So what is the main work of our department?"
The old man smiled and said, "Of course it's related to your profession. It's about investigating cases, some of which other departments don't investigate. We look into old, cold, and unsolved cases. And we don't evaluate performance, so even if you can't crack a case, that's okay, no pressure."
"Is that all?" I couldn't quite believe it.
"It must be simple!" The old stick said with a very affirmative tone: "We are all old acquaintances, I have saved your little lives, and I am your lifesaver. Would I cheat you?"
What you said is right, but I always feel like there's something wrong somewhere.
The old man took out two documents and put them in front of us, saying with a smile: "Sign your names, you are the members of Zero Case Team. From now on, we are a family!"
I exchanged a glance with Gray, picked up the file and became serious. The first page was some confidential clauses and so on. This I understand, after all, the case being handled is a bit special.
Just after finishing the first page, Lao Shengui urged: "Sign quickly, there are many benefits to joining our department. Have you seen the two beautiful women outside the door? They're both still single!"
"Really?" Grey asked hastily.
"Of course!" said Lao Shen: "As long as you sign your name, the beauty and money are all yours."
Although I hesitated a bit, Grey and I glanced through it hastily and signed our names.
"That's settled!" The old stick slapped his hand and said: "Welcome to join the Zero Number Special Case Group! Ask Xiao Xi and Hua Jie about the rest of the things!"
The chair hadn't even warmed up yet when we were pushed out by the old rascal. He was smiling with a face full of wrinkles, indicating that he was in an extremely good mood.
The only male colleague outside looked up at us and said expressionlessly, "Now you've fooled two! The old man will be happy for a few more days."
"What does it mean?"
The male colleague didn't even glance at us and continued fiddling with the copper coins in his hand.
"Bullshit!" Greg said disdainfully.
"Come with me, I'll take you to complete the formalities, and you will officially become a member of Team Zero!" Hua Jie led them out of the office.
At the moment I closed the door, I vaguely heard Xiaoxi say: "Please make this life last a bit longer, don't hang up so quickly!"
I patted Gail and asked: "Did you hear what that little girl just said?"
Ge Lei shook his head, staring straight at Hua Jie. This guy can't walk properly when he sees a beauty.
Can't help but say that Hua Jie's figure is explosive, just one back view is very charming. The curve of her body seems to have some kind of magic, firmly attracting our eyes.
In less than two hours, we completed all the procedures for reporting, got our police uniforms, and were assigned a dormitory in the city bureau's compound. Sister Hua also gave us some daily necessities, so we can move in tonight.
After chatting with Hua Jie for a couple of sentences, I found out that the male colleague with Bell's palsy was called Lin Huo Huo, whose origin is unknown. Like Xiao Luoli and Xiao Xi, he was also brought back by Lao Shen Gong, and is an "old man" in the Zero Case Team.
"Lin Huo Huo, what a funny name!" Gray sneered.
"How many years have they been in the task force?"
"It won't be long, just a little over three years!" Hua Jie replied.
"So there won't be any new colleagues in these three years?"
"You'll know later!" Hua Jie seemed to say. We had already become a part of the Zero Case Team, but still felt that this team was too mysterious.
The office of the Zero Case Team was shabby, but the efficiency of handling cases was very high. When we returned to the office, the police certificates were already ready and placed on our desks. It's just that I felt my colleagues looked at us with strange eyes, not sure why.
Back in the office, Xiao Loli and Mian Tan Nan were nowhere to be found, while Old Shen was waiting for us with a file in his arms.
"This is your first case in Team Zero. Take a good look. I'm out of here." Old Godly handed me the file and left.
Gle and I have our desks in the corner, as soon as I sat down, Gle complained: "What era is this? Not even a computer, files are still paper-based, doesn't the provincial government give us case funds?"
Sister Hua said seriously: "Because the cases we handle are relatively special, they require high confidentiality, so we don't use computers. All documents and materials are in paper form. After the case is solved, they must be collected back to ensure that the case will not be leaked."
These rules are too weird, it feels like going back from the information age to primitive society all at once, and it takes some time to get used to.
I opened the file folder, and on the first page was a scene photo, a bloody corpse with its head missing!
"Whoa, you're really bringing it!" Grey exclaimed.
I quickly flipped through the photos and handed them over to Gray, starting to study the documents seriously.
Victim Xie Ping'an, 51 years old, a well-known collector in the city. He was killed at home two days ago, and his head is still missing. The only suspect is the victim's wife, who has been controlled by the police.
Xie Ping'an's social relationships are very simple, and the people he interacts with are mostly some collectors in this city. The deceased has a small reputation in the local collector circle. Occasionally, he would also help fellow collectors appraise cultural relics. His wife is a retired middle school teacher in this city.
The suspect's mental state was extremely unstable, and the police visited the victim's friends and neighbors. Before the case, Xie Ping'an's mentality was not very stable, always saying that someone wanted to harm him. However, his friends did not quite believe it. Xie Ping'an had also reported to the police before, with a record of police response, but there was no result.
The deceased had a good relationship with his wife and two children, who are studying abroad. Neighbors reacted that the couple was kind to others, rarely quarreled with people, and had no bad habits. They had never heard of any grudges against anyone.
According to an informed source, the victim had recently acquired a batch of antiques worth a lot of money before the incident, but no one has ever seen them.
The police initially classified the case as a murder for financial gain, but soon ruled out this possibility. No signs of forced entry were found at the scene either.
Then on the last page, I saw this sentence: 'Due to unknown forces, transferred to Case Zero for investigation!'
When I saw this sentence, I vaguely felt what case the Zero Number Special Case Group was investigating, but I didn't say it out loud. Anyway, the contract has been signed, and that's all there is to it. Because I have to face the unknown, I'm also a little excited.
I put down the file and humbly asked: "Sister Hua, does the Zero Case Team have any procedural guidelines for us to take a look at?"
"No!" Hua Jie laughed and said: "The Zero Case Team is very free, you can come as you like, as long as you can crack the case!"
"Hey, I like this rule," Gray shouted. "Are there some dishonest guys that I can beat up too?"
"Of course you can, as long as you can move your fists."
Gleefully, he said: "There aren't many people who can beat me, I love this job!"
I took another look at the documents on the table, and two photos caught my attention. The wounds on the victim's neck were very strange. The bones in a person's neck are extremely hard, and it takes strength and skill to cut off someone's head with one knife, not to mention a very sharp knife. Moreover, I didn't see any murder weapon in the photos.
The wounds on the victim's neck are uneven, and I'm not a forensic expert, but it doesn't look like they were made by a sharp blade. From the photos, you can also see that a piece of spine was pulled out from the neck, and I started to think that the victim's wife is unlikely to be the killer. It would be very difficult for a woman to break someone's neck in a short amount of time and then make the spine look like this.
Judging from the photos, the victim's wife is extremely thin and weighs around 100 pounds. The killer must be someone else.
An idea suddenly flashed into my mind, I'll go find the victim's wife and have a chat with her, there must be some clues on her.
"Hua sister, can we see the victim's wife?" I asked.
"Of course, I'll arrange it for you." Hua Jie picked up the phone and asked, "She's currently in a mental hospital, do you still want to see her?"
"There are many kinds of madmen, and pretending to be mad is one of them. Only by seeing this person with your own eyes can you determine whether he is truly mad or just pretending."
Sister Hua picked up the phone and said a few words, then hung up and told me: "I've arranged everything for you, just go there directly! Let me remind you of one thing, that woman is very dangerous now."
