Chapter 9 Little Sister 1

  "Little Tong, how's it going? Has the cranial imaging come out?"

  Zhang Tong's hands were shaking uncontrollably as he held a photo, with big tears rolling down his face.

  Wang Yanan's heart tightened as she leaned in to take a closer look. Who would have thought that this one glance would leave her stunned? Because the girl in the printed photo in Zhang Tong's hand looked almost identical to her, like a smaller version of herself.

  When Wang Yanan returned to the office from the scene, it was already after 1 pm. She had just walked into her office when Zhang Tong's call came in. Although he didn't say anything on the phone, his tone made Wang Yanan very worried.

  In the autopsy room, the atmosphere was clearly not right. On two cold stainless steel autopsy tables were placed small, grayish-white bones. Pan Jian and Zhang Tong's faces showed no expression at all.

  "What's wrong? The corpse has a problem."

  "The bodies don't ask questions. Confirmed to be human remains. Female. Age between nine and twelve years old. However, there are two sets of remains here. To be precise, two incomplete sets of remains."

  Wang Yan did not understand what Zhang Tong meant by saying "You mean there are two victims."

  "According to the piece of pelvis and skull we found, we can confirm that one of the deceased is a girl. However, we also found two pairs of pubic bones, with different lengths, both within the age range of 9-12 years old. From this, we can conclude that there are not one but two deceased individuals. However, due to the incomplete skeleton, the other individual does not have a skull yet, so currently, we cannot confirm their specific identity. As you know, it's difficult to determine the sex of children before puberty based on skeletal remains, let alone with many missing bones. So, based on current clues, I don't have any leads, but I'll do my best."

  "Can the year of death be confirmed?"

  "According to the carbonization age of the bones, the time of death for both individuals is roughly between 15 to 18 years ago. However, I'm still waiting for the forensic and biochemical examination reports. They extracted biochemical samples from the shallow grave where the bodies were buried. The results should be out today." She thought for a moment before continuing, "Yanan, I'd like to request another on-site investigation. What do you think?"

  "I've thought of that too. There may be more than one victim. I'll report to Director Li at the press conference in a moment."

  Wang Ya Nan left. Zhang Tong picked up the small skull and examined it carefully. He didn't speak for a long time.

  At the meeting, everyone's face was very solemn. After listening to Wang Yan's report, the whole room suddenly fell silent.

  Zhao Junjie, who was sitting by the door and listening, suddenly stood up: "I have an idea. Can I say something?"

  Director Li nodded.

  Zhao Junjie looked at everyone and said, "My old classmate Liu Chunxiao from the Municipal Procuratorate told me that several children around the age of nine had gone missing one after another in that poplar forest. I'm thinking, could it be related to the victim we found?"

  "Is your news accurate?" Li Ju asked with half belief and half doubt.

  "Of course, it's accurate. For some special reasons, Prosecutor Liu has been concerned about the case of missing children in that area for a long time. One of the missing girls was named Zhang Qiu, who is also Dr. Zhang's younger sister. And Dr. Zhang happened to be at the scene when the case occurred. You can say she witnessed everything." Zhao Junjie seemed a bit garrulous when talking about his discovery, and even had some small sense of pride.

  "You're saying Xiao Zhang is an eyewitness." Li Bureau put down his pen, a look of confusion on his face.

  Zhao Junjie nodded: "I originally applied to squat in your bureau just for the sake of Zhang Faye's unsolved missing case, which would be a very marketable story. Unfortunately, she can't recall the situation at that time."

  Can't remember.

  Wang Yanan added, "At the time of the incident, the murderer injected a certain dose of anesthetic into Zhang Tong's body, attempting to make him a vegetable. Unexpectedly, Zhang Tong woke up after being in a coma for a month. However, he suffered from selective amnesia." She turned to face Zhao Junjie, "But, Reporter Zhao, isn't this just you coming to be an undercover agent?"

  Zhao Junjie awkwardly rubbed his head: "As journalists, sometimes we have to make some sacrifices."

  "Alright, alright. Don't drag the conversation off track." Director Li stood up. "Here's what we'll do. Little Wang, have someone investigate the missing persons reports for the past twenty years in the city's suburbs and Hu Yang Forest. Also, get in touch with Inspector Liu at the Municipal Procuratorate. Try to confirm the identity of the deceased as soon as possible."

  "Director Li suspects that there may be more than one victim at the scene. I plan to conduct a thorough re-examination of the scene."

  "No problem. If there are difficulties with manpower or equipment, just let me know." Li Ju said, his expression serious as he swept his gaze over the crowd. "This case is extremely important and involves minors. Everyone must be highly motivated. From now on, all leave is cancelled and we will operate a 24-hour shift system. We must strive to crack the case as soon as possible and catch the culprit."

  Zhang Tong called his mother's hospital room phone.

  "Mom, I'm Tongtong. How are you? I have to work overtime these few days and won't be able to visit you."

  "Oh. Then you have to be more careful with your rest. Don't get too tired." Her mother's voice sounded very disappointed.

  "By the way, mom. I have something to ask you. During your last few days at home, did anyone come visit us?"

  "You said it was last week."

  "Correct."

  "Let me think... apart from you, Uncle Chen, there shouldn't be any outsiders."

  "Uncle Chen."

  "Uh-huh. He comes often. Anything wrong?"

  "Nothing. I was just asking. Mom, you rest. I'll call you again when I'm free."

  After hanging up the phone, Zhang Tong couldn't calm down. She walked to her desk, opened a drawer, and took out the express mail that had already been opened. This was the first time she sat down to carefully read the letter after receiving it. After identifying the address on the envelope, it was a private sanatorium. The sender's name was unfamiliar, never heard of before. Looking at the empty envelope, Zhang Tong really couldn't understand why someone would steal this mysterious letter. However, one thing was certain: the person who stole the letter must not have known its contents at first. It was because they accidentally saw it and panicked, taking away the letter paper in a flurry, and subconsciously stuffed the opened envelope into the bookcase. They didn't have enough time to think carefully, so they took the envelope together. They were afraid of being discovered. It seemed that if she could know the contents of this letter, many mysteries would be solved.

  Thinking of this, Zhang Tong took out paper and pen, according to the sender's address on the envelope, she wrote a letter back to the other party, and attached the already opened envelope, requesting the sender to inform her in detail about the specific content of the letter. Finally, she called to notify the express company to come and pick up the item.

  Recalling the medication that had been switched by her mother, and this strange express delivery, Zhang Tong's emotions were somewhat agitated. No matter what the outcome was, Zhang Tong only recognized one thing - for the sake of her mother, she must get to the bottom of things.

  At noon, the sky started to rain. Gradually, the rain grew heavier and heavier. The sky seemed to be covered with a thick layer of white curtains. This is autumn rain. After each rainfall, the weather will cool down significantly.

  Two police cars and a black-and-white forensic van with the words "Forensic" written in large letters were parked on the side of the poplar forest in the suburbs.

  "What's up? Should we wait until the rain stops before doing anything?" Wang Yanan looked worriedly at the dense rain outside the car.

  The walkie-talkie crackled with Zhang Tong's voice: "No need, we're already ready."

  Before long, Wang Yan saw the two doors of the forensic scene car being opened one after another from the rearview mirror of the police car. Zhang Tong and his assistant Pan Jian wore thick raincoats and crawled out of the car. Through the raincoat, it was clear that each of them held a long, antenna-like object in their hands, connected to a backpack on their backs.

  Wang Yan hurriedly put on her raincoat and got out of the car, closely following behind Zhang Tong: "What do you need me to do?"

  "No need, we'll handle it ourselves. If we find anything, we'll let you know." Zhang Tong waved his hand and then he and Pan Jian walked towards the forest in front of them, one after the other. Less than ten meters away from them was a shallow pit where the bodies were buried.

  In the woods, the rain had weakened a bit. Zhang Tong and Pan Jian each pulled out the round antenna of their radar detector from their hands. They turned on the device, each occupying an angle, about 20 meters apart, and began to search for signs on the ground inch by inch. More than ten minutes passed, but the monitor screen remained silent, including when they scanned over the shallow pit where the body was first found. There was no reaction at all. Zhang Tong couldn't help but start doubting his own reasoning. So much time had passed, and it was possible that they wouldn't find any remains after all. But could he just give up like this?

  A gust of wind blew by, and the raindrops were blown up into the air, hitting Zhang Tong's face. The rainwater made it hard for her to open her eyes. The branches above her head creaked out a strange rustling sound in the wind. Suddenly, everything around her became silent. The snapping of twigs underfoot, the howling of the wind and rain... all disappeared without a trace. Zhang Tong's feet felt as if they were nailed to the ground, unable to move. The scene before her eyes was eerily familiar. That tall poplar tree, those branches stretching out in mid-air, and the soft grass beneath her feet... Zhang Tong couldn't help but take a sharp breath. These scenes had appeared more than once in her dreams. And there were also the sounds of sobbing...

  Zhang Tong shivered and suddenly turned around, but there was nothing in front of her. Why couldn't she hear the crying sound that had appeared countless times in her ears in her dreams? Her heart involuntarily rose to her throat.

  At this moment, the monitor in her hand emitted a sharp "beep" alarm sound. Startled, Zhang Tong quickly looked down and saw that on the radar detection screen, a small bright spot had appeared. This meant that the deep-layer radar detector had detected the remains of bones at a depth of no more than 1.5 meters below the surface. Her hands trembling, she pressed the zoom button. The screen soon displayed the shape of the skeleton. There was no need to doubt whether this was human remains or not, because the small skull had revealed everything.

  After probing the ground within a fifty-meter radius around the shallow pit, Zhang Tong sadly realized that he was not facing one dead person, but many. Including the two previously discovered, the final number could be as high as seven.

  The rain continued to fall ceaselessly. Zhang Tong stood up after finishing the last coordinate and planting a small flag as a marker. She looked up at the gloomy sky, and rainwater once again drifted into her eyes. Zhang Tong felt an inexplicable sharp pain, and subconsciously closed her eyes. Suddenly, a heart-wrenching cry echoed beside her ear. It sounded like a little girl's anguished wail, as if she was in extreme pain. The voice grew clearer, seemingly right next to her ear. Zhang Tong hastily opened her eyes, looking around frantically, muttering to herself: "Little sister, little sister... I heard you crying. Where are you..."

  Zhang Tong's abnormal behavior stunned Pan Jian, who was busy organizing the instruments on the side. He simply didn't dare to believe his eyes. He immediately reached out to wipe the rainwater from his face and loudly called out: "Dr. Zhang, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?"

  The crying suddenly stopped. Zhang Tong stood pale-faced on the spot. It took half a day for her to come back to her senses: "I'm fine, be careful with the equipment, don't damage it." As she spoke, she walked away without looking back towards where the police car was parked. Wang Ya Nan and several of her subordinates were waiting for her response.