The Eyes of the Cave

As soon as I finished speaking, several police officers forcefully grabbed my shoulders.

The female officer coldly said, "Who allowed you to come in?"

"No one allowed me in, I just saw he made a mistake and couldn't help but point it out," I said.

"Nonsense!" The forensic doctor sneered, "I made a mistake? I'm the most senior forensic doctor in the criminal investigation team. I'm quite impressed by your courage. I've seen plenty of arrogant youngsters like you who think they're detectives after reading some Sherlock Holmes books. Xiao Tao, let him speak. I want to see what kind of ivory can come out of this dog's mouth."

"Doctor Qin, we have other things to do. No need to waste time with this kid," the female officer reminded.

"No problem, it won't take long. Kid, I'll give you a chance now to tell us how the victim was murdered. But you better think carefully. Obstructing police business can lead to administrative detention. You can still regret it now, hurry up and apologize to me, and I'll forgive your rudeness!" Doctor Qin said angrily.

I laughed to myself. I was being rude? I don't know who will be apologizing to whom later.

"What if I'm right?" I took a step back and asked.

"How could that be possible!" Doctor Qin laughed loudly.

"What if, by some fluke, I accidentally get it right?" I continued.

"If that really happens, I won't investigate this case anymore. You can take over, how about that?" Doctor Qin said. The police officers around him laughed too, looking at me with interest, as if waiting to see me embarrass myself next.

"Doctor Qin!" The female officer frowned and whispered for him not to speak recklessly.

Doctor Qin gestured for her not to interrupt. It was clear this old forensic doctor had seniority and carried more weight than the young female officer. She wouldn't question him easily.

"Come on, kid, say it!" Doctor Qin urged.

"Fine!" I walked to the old Chinese scholar tree where the victim hanged himself. To reach the branch when hanging himself, the victim had deliberately stacked some rocks below his feet. But next to the rocks, there was an easily overlooked indentation in the grass. I pointed to that spot and said, "See, there's an indentation here. It means when he 'committed suicide', someone was here stacking the rocks and propping him up. Have you ever seen a suicide that needed someone else's help? So if this isn't a murder, what is it?"

Doctor Qin laughed loudly: "I thought you discovered some major clue. Turns out it's just this. You have made a big mistake, kid! The victim was discovered by a school cleaner this morning. She took the body down after seeing someone hanged. This was the footprint left by the cleaner. What do you say to that?"

I shook my head. "This is not a footprint at all."

Doctor Qin suddenly fell silent. The female officer also looked at him doubtfully. He said, "I remember now. It was left when I carelessly put down my toolbox while moving the corpse. What's the big deal about this? You're treating it as an important clue?"

I thought to myself, this doctor is too stubborn to admit mistakes. Just to force an explanation, he actually claimed the perpetrator's trace was left by himself.

But the female officer seemed to believe this explanation. The fleeting doubt in her eyes faded away again. In her eyes, Doctor Qin was the authoritative veteran in the criminal team. There was no need to doubt him.

I knew that in the eyes of others, the indentation in the grass was not a significant clue. But to me, it was very different. During the time I was learning from Grandpa, he would make me drink a very bitter "Ming Tong San" every day for 49 days. After that I suddenly went blind. Grandpa told me not to worry, my eyes were just recalibrating!

Three days later my vision was restored, but what I saw was very different from before.

In my eyes, a sesame seed could be as big as a grinding disc. I could observe the flow of blood vessels by the subtle changes in skin. Even the wing beats of bees became slow motion to me. My eyes had become so sensitive that I could only stay in a dark room during that time. Even a slight amount of light, like the flame of a match, would make me feel like my eyes were being stabbed by needles, so painful.

I also gradually understood that grandpa was training me in some special ways! After a considerable amount of time, I finally adapted to the terrifying vision and reached the point of being able to freely control it. Grandpa said these were the unique "Insight Eyes" of the Song family, and would assist me like the eyes of a deity during future detective work.

With my "Insight Eyes," the shapes of crushed grass left by objects of different weights and shapes were as different as heaven and earth. Also, the broken grass stems had already withered. Based on my observation, these traces were left 8 to 10 hours ago.

I had just observed the forensic autopsy. From the lividity, rigor mortis, and degree of pupil dilation, I judged the time of death was exactly around this period. But this arrogant Doctor Qin claimed the death happened at least 10 hours earlier. I was too lazy to correct him on such details.

Unfortunately, no one else could see what I saw. The female officer impatiently said, "Alright alright, really a waste of time. Come, take this kid away!"

"Wait. Apart from the indentation in the grass, there are also handprints left by the perpetrator on the victim's body that you didn't notice, right?" I asked.

The female officer was stunned for a moment. With her eyes she signaled the police officers holding me to step back. Doctor Qin sneered, "Xiao Tao, this kid is just making things up randomly. I already scanned the body with an ultraviolet lamp, there are no fingerprints at all."

"I'm not talking about fingerprints, but handprint impressions! No matter what object, as long as an external force is applied, an impression will be left behind, be it a table or a rock. After death, the body's functions shut down completely, blood no longer flows, so although it's a bit disrespectful to say this about the deceased, a corpse is essentially an object in nature." I took a deep breath and explained.

"Kid, are you not fully awake or sleep walking? You can even make up nonsense about corpses being objects. I can't detect such traces with instruments, yet you claim to see it with your naked eyes. Stop exaggerating!" Doctor Qin looked at me contemptuously.

"What if I can make it visible?" I suddenly revealed a hint of confidence in my smile.

"Impossible!" Doctor Qin said. "I couldn't detect anything with my imported instruments worth tens of thousands. You can?"

"You have so much faith in instruments? Instruments are not omnipotent. Autopsies require different methods and tools. Sometimes a piece of paper can do the job, while those expensive instruments may not necessarily detect anything." I said.

The female officer looked me up and down, seeming interested in me. She asked, "Kid, what do you study?"

"It has nothing to do with my major. Although I don't study forensics, I think I'm better than him." I deliberately pointed at Doctor Qin provocatively.

Doctor Qin was predictably furious. "Xiao Tao, let him examine the body, let him! I've been a forensic doctor longer than this kid's age. I don't believe it. Something I can't detect, yet a child who read some extracurricular books can? If he can detect anything, I'll resign immediately!"

"Doctor Qin, isn't this inappropriate?" The female officer said hesitantly.

"Don't worry, I want to teach this amateur a lesson today!" Doctor Qin plopped down on the ground.

I laughed. "You have to keep your word!"

"I will! But what if you can't detect anything?" Doctor Qin glared at me fiercely.

"Then arrest me!" I shrugged.

The female officer sighed, "Young man, you've already delayed us for a long time here. I'm not joking with you. If in the end you can't detect anything, I will charge you with obstruction of justice and detain you. You need to think carefully. Judging from how you look, you should be a junior or senior in college. Even if the school doesn't punish you for a detention, there will be a stain on your record. Don't expect to find a job in the future."

"I'm well aware," I said calmly.

It's not that I'm arrogant, although my 'Eyes of the Abyss' can't see the traces on the dead, the clues of the murder are clear before my eyes. Unless the killer can make the corpse fly, there must be handprints on the deceased!

Make an analogy and generalize from one fact to another, that's called reasoning. I'm fully confident in my reasoning.

The female police officer smiled wryly, "Alright, if you want to examine it then go ahead and examine it, just ask if you need any tools."

"No, I don't need those tools." I looked outside the police tape, Wang Dali was still standing there watching, he looked very nervous. I called out, "Dali, come here for a second."

He lifted the police tape and ran over, nodding and smiling at the female police officer and Forensic Doctor Qin, then he quietly pulled at my clothes, "Yang Zi, you've really gone too far this time, how dare you brag like this! I always see you as a cute little guy, even blushing when talking to girls, how did you suddenly lose your mind? Did something happen to you? Hey, did you ask the lady cop her name? Does she have a boyfriend?"

I rolled my eyes at him, "Dali, run an errand for me, bring me the red oil paper umbrella from the bottom of my wardrobe."

"What do you need that for?"

"Don't ask, just bring it to me." I specially emphasized, "Remember, don't mess with anything else in my wardrobe!"

"Okay, wait for me." With that, Wang Dali ran off.

Forensic Doctor Qin lit a cigarette and said, "Well I'll take a break first and wait to see the show!"

"Okay, just wait and see the show!" I raised my head confidently.