My Youth Began With Him

Looking at Gao Ran with unreadable eyes, Qin Chu didn’t speak.

“Why are you staring at me? Speak.”

“I’m afraid the answer is too much for you to accept.”

“Bullshit, I’m a cop. I’ve handled countless cases… Tell me. I’m sure I can take it.”

Gao Ran thought Qin Chu was exaggerating.

After all, he wasn’t a cop who only sat in his office and drank tea; he had done many field missions and cracked countless cases before he was promoted to the position of bureau chief.

“I think the weapon is a fingernail.”

“What?”

Gao Ran thought he had heard it wrong, so he asked, “What?”

“I said I think the weapon is a fingernail.”

“Fingernail. Are you kidding?” Gao Ran was stupefied.

“You know me, Old Gao. I never joke, especially in such a solemn situation…”

“But the theory of the weapon being a fingernail is ridiculous… How could one tear open a body with a fingernail? Do you think the criminal is a Siberian tiger or a Tibetan mastiff?”

Gao Ran was unconvinced, thinking this theory was ridiculous.

“I checked the wound in the neck and saw it was torn open. The edges of the wound are uneven. It doesn’t look like a wound opened by a sharp weapon.”

“But it can’t be a fingernail. How strong does the fingernail have to be to cause such a wound?”

“So the murderer is…”

“A psycho?” Gao Ran continued for him.

“An inhuman psycho,” Qin Chu concluded.

“Inhuman psycho? What’s that damned thing?”

“Let’s put it this way. Old Gao, I think the murderer is a person with greater strength than ordinary people, or a person with special abilities.”

“This is… impossible. This isn’t a movie… It sounds so unreal. Why don’t you say supernatural abilities? Maybe it was done by an alien?”

Gao Ran thought Qin Chu was imagining things and thus didn’t believe him.

Qin Chu didn’t speak…

“Besides, if the wound was cut open by a fingernail, the murderer would be as strong as a fierce beast. And we didn’t find any clues about the murderer in the wound… If the murderer used a fingernail, then there should be skin cells left in the wound. Chu, you’re a genius and miracle doctor, but your theory is not scientific…”

“Who is the victim? Have you checked his background?” Seeing Gao Ran didn’t believe him, Qin Chu didn’t speak more about it; instead, he changed the topic.

“Yeah. With the advanced IT technologies, we found his information immediately by putting in his fingerprint… Anyway, the guy deserved to die. He’s a notorious scoundrel in the Nanwan District. His name is Ji Changhe, 35 years old and unemployed. He made a living by scamming and blackmailing people and was a gambler. His wife divorced him and married a guy in another city with their son… His parents live in the countryside in Mengcheng County. He rented a room in the slum for 200 yuan per month. But the owner of the room said he hadn’t paid rent for three months. He refused to leave and threatened to burn the room… His neighbors avoided him as if he was a malevolent tumor.”

“Why did he go to Nanwan Park so late in the night?” Qin Chu was curious.

“I was curious, too and sent my people to investigate. It turned out that the guy liked to swim. The temperatures went up a bit lately and part of the ice on the lake in the park melted. Many people went there to swim. I guess the guy went to the lake to swim tonight. Besides, we found alcohol in his body. He must have gone for a swim after drinking.”

“Did he have enemies?” Qin Chu continued to ask.