At the precinct entrance, Viktor Dunn hollered that he wanted grilled noodles. Marcus Shaw declined, pulled a water bottle from his backpack, turned away from everyone, downed the last few pills, tossed the empty bottle in the trash, and prepared to go back to eat instant noodles.
Watching Viktor Dunn joke with the noodle vendor, Marcus Shaw thought that Daniel Shaw had loved grilled noodles too—and couldn't iron clothes either. The two of them were alike in those respects.
At four o'clock, Captain Reed presided over the case discussion. Besides Marcus Shaw and Viktor Dunn, several colleagues from the second and third investigation teams were present.
Reed raised his enamel tea mug, slurped loudly, cleared his throat, and said, "Let's hear what we've got."
Marcus Shaw, seated beside him, began: "The victim, Sonia Fischer, fifty-six years old, lived in Elmwood Heights, retired, widowed. Simple social life, no vices, regular habits—she visited the morning market almost every day. She was killed this morning on her way back, hacked to death at the entrance of Building 5, Unit 5. The autopsy report has been expedited. On the right side of the back of her head, there is a sharp-force wound nearly nine centimeters long. The skull was split open with heavy bleeding—single strike, fatal. The weapon is tentatively identified as a hatchet or cleaver, still unrecovered. In addition, the victim was violated post-mortem. Testing found only trace amounts of condom lubricant in the vaginal canal—no semen. No foreign hair, skin cells, or bodily fluids were found on the body. However, in her hand, there was a spent sparkler firework. Nothing special—the kind sold at firecracker stalls during New Year, impossible to trace. We can rule out the possibility that the victim set it off herself in the hallway. It was likely placed there by the killer as some kind of ritual, or deliberately to misdirect our investigation. Estimated time of death around five a.m. No eyewitnesses, no usable surveillance footage."
Just then, Dr. Maren Frost knocked and entered, handing over a lab report. The condom they'd recovered had foreign bodily fluids on the outside—not belonging to the victim and unrelated to the case. At Captain Reed's glance, she pulled up a chair and sat down, her ponytail swishing.
Marcus Shaw continued: "Viktor Dunn and I canvassed nearby residents. Their opinions of the victim varied, but overall she wasn't the type to make enemies. No recent arguments with anyone that anyone could recall. She had a son named Vince Conrad, and the two did argue. But he was rarely home. We've contacted him—he says he was in Ordos at the time of the incident. His ID trace confirms this, so we've ruled him out as a direct suspect. He's on his way back, arriving tomorrow."
Lucas Lutz, sitting across from them, spoke up: "What was the relationship between this mother and son? Did they argue often? What about? Could he have hired someone to kill his mother?"
Viktor Dunn answered for Marcus Shaw: "The downstairs neighbor said they always argued when he came home—just the usual, the mother wanting him to settle down and stop being a drifter. But it was just family nagging. After the fight, she'd still make him sweet-and-sour pork. Kill his mother? You think everyone's as dark-minded as you?"
Lucas Lutz pushed his thin-framed glasses up and said, "Not necessarily. Maybe there's something hidden there that you haven't uncovered." He sighed and muttered, "A giant baby raised in a greenhouse really isn't cut out for criminal investigation."
Viktor Dunn leaned forward, about to blow up. Marcus Shaw kicked him under the table and said, "We'll find out more when Vince Conrad gets back tomorrow. We can question him in person."
The room filled with silence again.
Captain Reed leaned slightly toward Marcus Shaw and asked, "Anything else from the scene?"
As he spoke, a spray of saliva arced onto Marcus Shaw's left cheek. Marcus Shaw frowned and quickly wiped it with the back of his hand.
No one spoke for a moment.
Viktor Dunn quickly stood, grabbed the tea mug from the table, and said, "Boss, looks like your tea's empty. Let me get you some water," and scampered off.
Marcus Shaw turned his face away,fearing Captain Reed's shirt buttons might pop off and hit him too.
Marcus Shaw waited until Viktor Dunn returned with the water, then continued. "The crime scene location was problematic—before we arrived, several people had walked through. Temporary evidence was hard to preserve. We did our best, carefully collecting blood traces, clothing fibers, hair, and footprints."
He looked at Dr. Maren Frost.
She picked up: "Of the seventeen blood samples collected at the scene, all tested as the victim's blood. This confirms the killer struck with a single fatal blow, leaving the victim no chance to resist."
"A single fatal blow? If the building entrance was the primary crime scene, how did the killer manage a one-strike kill? The victim wouldn't just stand there and let herself be hacked," Lucas Lutz said, staring at Dr. Maren Frost. His glasses reflected the light.
Dr. Maren Frost said, "You weren't at the scene, so you might not know. The entranceway was dark, and just inside the threshold there's a small vestibule. The killer likely hid against the wall in the shadows, waiting until the victim stepped over the threshold before striking. She wouldn't have expected anyone there, so naturally she couldn't dodge."
Viktor Dunn nodded vigorously. "Right, right, that's what I think too. Isn't that right, Marcus?"
Nudged by him, Marcus Shaw sat up straighter and said, "Based on the blood spatter pattern at the scene, it's roughly as the lady here described. The killer attacked from behind. After the kill, he rotated the body about a quarter turn—head facing inward, feet facing outward—then committed the sexual assault and stole the wallet."
As he spoke, he produced several crime scene blood spatter photos and spread them on the table. Lucas Lutz reached for them, examined them, then passed them to Captain Reed.
"One question—have you noticed this?" Lucas Lutz said. "Even if the killer knew the victim's routine inside out and set an ambush, how could he be confident of a single-strike kill? What if he missed? If the victim fought back or screamed, even a follow-up strike wouldn't guarantee success. And even granting all that—even supposing he had supernatural precision and killed with one blow—the crime scene was a residential building entrance. What if someone came in or out, or even just walked past outside? He'd be discovered instantly. Where would he find the time to commit sexual assault? And why take the risk of committing the assault in such an exposed location instead of following the victim upstairs to her apartment?"
He stared straight at Marcus Shaw, unblinking. Captain Reed took a sip of tea and immediately praised, "Good question." Dr. Maren Frost nodded involuntarily.
Everyone looked at Marcus Shaw, waiting for him to speak. He didn't avoid Lucas Lutz's gaze but met it directly, his mind rapidly organizing his thoughts.
It was Viktor Dunn who broke in: "Maybe the killer just wanted the thrill—like outdoor sex. Or maybe he knew he'd be done quick and could finish fast."
The moment he finished, Captain Reed started coughing as if he'd choked. Dr. Maren Frost pressed a hand to her forehead. Another male colleague outright laughed.
Viktor Dunn only then remembered there was a female colleague at the table, and his face flushed red.
Fortunately, Marcus Shaw quickly redirected: "The killer chose to strike at the entrance because it allowed for quick evacuation if anything went wrong."
He turned to glance at Viktor Dunn. "And Viktor Dunn's speculation isn't entirely impossible either."
Viktor Dunn eagerly chimed in, "Exactly, exactly."
This time it was Lucas Lutz who fell silent. He rested one elbow on the table, pressed a finger against the bridge of his nose, and squinted at Marcus Shaw as if brewing something.
Marcus Shaw looked away from him and continued: "The victim was one meter sixty-two tall. Based on the angle of the head wound and the direction of blood spatter at the scene, we can infer the killer was over one meter seventy-five."
He produced more photos.
"We collected five sets of clear shoeprints at the scene. Based on the killer's estimated height, four sets were eliminated. Only one remains: leather shoes, approximately size forty-two."
The photos were passed around.
"This set of prints has another characteristic," Marcus Shaw paused. "The trailing edges are all slightly blurred, as if the heel lands unstably and drags outward." He paused again. "From this, we can infer the killer may have a limp or some leg impairment."
Lucas Lutz was about to speak when Captain Reed's phone rang. He held up a hand, signaling silence.
He turned away and said in a soft voice, "Okay, okay, just wait a bit, I'll come with you." He hung up, turned back, and his face was stern again.
Reed was silent for a moment, cleared his throat, and said, "Let's summarize the killer's profile."
Marcus Shaw picked up his folder, looked down, and read: "Preliminary assessment: the killer is male, over forty-five years old, over one meter seventy-five tall, relatively strong and powerful, with a limp in his right leg. He is cautious, possesses counter-surveillance awareness, and carried out detailed planning before the crime. In addition to sexual assault and robbery, he may have had some grievance against the victim; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so brutal. Next steps: continue seeking eyewitnesses, locate the murder weapon and the victim's wallet, and focus on investigating the victim's interpersonal relationships to dig up any grudges until we identify the killer's motive."
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3. Overt and Covert Investigation