What The murderer has already been caught

The officers were hoping that Xu Mo would lend a hand.

After all, everyone in the police station was well aware of Xu Mo’s capabilities and had witnessed them firsthand. With Xu Mo around, Han Fei’s workload in solving the case would be significantly lighter.

However, after the officer finished explaining the situation, Xu Mo showed no intention of heading over to assist. Instead, he looked at the suspect he had just apprehended with a puzzled expression.

“What’s this about a homicide? Give me a quick rundown,” Xu Mo asked the officer.

The officer then began to explain.

“The person who reported the crime is a garbage collector. While cleaning the trash at the dump today, he found dismembered body parts in one of the bins and immediately called the police.”

“Where exactly is the dump located?”

“Next to 489 Xihu Road.”

Xu Mo nodded silently after hearing this and glanced again at the suspect he had brought in.

What a coincidence, right?

When Xu Mo first heard about the homicide, he had wondered if the murderer he had just caught might be the perpetrator of this case.

And it turned out to be true! The suspect he had apprehended was indeed the killer in the homicide case the police had just received.

Who could have imagined that just as the police station received the report, Xu Mo had already caught the culprit?

Xu Mo’s inquiry about the location of the dump gave the officer the impression that he was planning to head over and help Han Fei with the case.

After all, why else would he ask for the address if he wasn’t planning to assist?

Concerned that Xu Mo might not be familiar with the area around Xihu Road, the officer volunteered,

“Captain Xu, if you’re not too familiar with the Xihu Road area, I can take you there. I know that place pretty well.”

Unexpectedly, Xu Mo waved his hand dismissively.

“No need,” he said, then continued, “I’ve already caught the killer. It’s this guy. Call Han Fei and tell him to bring the team back. No need to waste any more time.”

Hearing this, the officer instinctively thought Xu Mo was joking.

But seeing the serious look on Xu Mo’s face, with no hint of jest, he was completely dumbfounded.

It seemed like Captain Xu wasn’t joking… Could it really be that the person he had brought in was the killer?

But the thing was, the police station had only just received the report! By the time they did the math, Han Fei and his team had probably only just arrived at the scene and might not even have finished their initial investigation yet.

And yet, at this very moment, Captain Xu was saying that he had already caught the killer???

For a moment, the officer’s eyes widened in disbelief. Even now, he still found it hard to believe.

Seeing the officer’s stunned and incredulous expression, Xu Mo simply took out his phone himself and prepared to call Han Fei, telling him to bring the team back.

...

Meanwhile.

Near the dump next to 489 Xihu Road.

After arriving at the scene, the officers immediately set up a perimeter and began dispersing the curious onlookers who had gathered to catch a glimpse of the commotion.

The scene was simply too gruesome, and it was best to keep such sights away from the general public.

This time, Xu Mo happened to be absent, so Han Fei had brought along the coroner. At the moment, the gloved coroner was collecting the dismembered body parts, preparing to conduct a preliminary examination of the remains.

“The victim is a male, approximately 26 to 27 years old. The time of death was within the last 24 hours, and the cause of death appears to be excessive blood loss due to the severing of the carotid artery.”

Ever since Xu Mo joined the police force, the coroner’s workload had practically been lifted. The coroner was only called upon when a more detailed autopsy was required, and Xu Mo was too busy with the investigation to handle it himself.

The reason was simple: Xu Mo’s expertise in autopsies was exceptional. With just a glance at the body, he could often draw numerous conclusions.

With Xu Mo around, there was no need for the coroner to accompany them. Xu Mo could handle the job himself, and his autopsy speed was much faster than the coroner’s. In investigations, speed was crucial, and even saving a single minute could make a difference.

Having grown accustomed to Xu Mo’s speed, Han Fei couldn’t help but feel slightly dissatisfied with the coroner’s pace.

Xu Mo could arrive at the scene, take one look, and immediately draw conclusions. But the coroner had to meticulously examine every detail, almost as if he were using a magnifying glass to inspect the body inch by inch.

If only Xu Mo were here, the autopsy would be so much faster! Han Fei thought to himself.

“What else?” Han Fei asked the coroner.

“That’s it,” the coroner replied.

Seeing the coroner shake his head, Han Fei’s voice involuntarily rose.

“That’s all?”

You spent all that time examining the body, and all you could determine was the time of death and the cause?

Xu Mo, on the other hand, could often glean a wealth of information from the victim’s body. Sometimes, he could even deduce the victim’s gender, height, and weight, which could save a lot of effort in the investigation.

The coroner could sense a hint of dissatisfaction in Han Fei’s tone and quickly explained with a wry smile.

“Captain Han, this body is different from the ones Captain Xu has examined before. This is a dismembered body, and the difficulty of conducting an autopsy is much higher than with a complete corpse. Even if Captain Xu were here, he wouldn’t be able to extract much more information.”

The coroner wanted to make it clear that it wasn’t a lack of professionalism on his part.

Dismembered bodies were simply harder to examine. With the body in such a state, the autopsy process was naturally more challenging than with a complete corpse. Being able to identify the fatal wound from these dismembered pieces was already quite an achievement. Even if Xu Mo were here, he probably wouldn’t be able to do much more.

Determining the killer’s gender or even their height based on superficial wounds was something the coroner could also do. However, with this particular body, he couldn’t extract such information—the conditions simply didn’t allow it.

Han Fei nodded on the surface. “Alright…”

But deep down, he had already ranked Xu Mo’s autopsy skills above those of the coroner.

The body parts in the trash bin only included the torso. The head was missing, likely discarded elsewhere by the killer.

This meant that the police couldn’t even identify the victim.

The clues they had so far were pitifully few: the victim was a male in his twenties, and his time of death was within the last 24 hours.

Additionally, there were no surveillance cameras near the dump, so the officers couldn’t gather any leads from footage.

Just as Han Fei was feeling stuck, his phone suddenly rang.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, Han Fei pulled out his phone and saw that the call was from Xu Mo. Instantly, half of his frustration dissipated.

Help had arrived!

As soon as the call connected, both men spoke simultaneously.

“Xu Mo, you’ve called at just the right time. I was about to reach out to you…”

“Captain Han, you can call off the investigation on the dismemberment case. Just bring the team back to the station. I’ve already caught the killer.”

Upon hearing this, Han Fei fell silent for a long moment.

His brain needed time to process the information.

What did Xu Mo just say? That he had already caught the killer in this case?

I haven’t even pieced together any leads yet, and he’s already nabbed the perpetrator?!