The Huaicheng police brought over a small boat, and everyone crossed to the small island. At the riverbank, there was another small boat, old and worn with peeling paint – though the hull was intact, it had been abandoned for a long time. Several police officers were examining the boat, hoping to find any traces of the victim or perpetrator.

They said when the water rose, this small island would be mostly submerged. Combined with its remote location, it rarely saw visitors. If it weren’t for a fishing family taking a shortcut home this morning and spotting that thing on the island, who knows when the body would have been discovered?

Called an island, it was merely a few hundred square meters of a small earthen mound, overgrown with weeds and scattered with rocks. At the island’s center was a depression containing a black suitcase.

It was a 20-inch suitcase, old and dirty, now open with a person folded inside.

“Folded” was the right word. Because a 20-inch small suitcase couldn’t normally fit an adult, even a slender woman. The victim was naked and fair-skinned. The limbs appeared intact at first glance, but something seemed strange upon closer inspection.

“Fan Datou, aren’t you a yoga expert?” Xu Mengshan asked Fan Jia, “Could you fold yourself to fit in this suitcase?”

Fan Jia gave him a look.

You Mingxu lifted the victim’s lower leg – sure enough, it was broken inside. Most likely all the major joints had been broken; otherwise, how could the body be folded so neat and square?

Yin Feng crouched beside her, staring at the body, frowning in thought.

You Mingxu asked, “Has the victim’s identity been confirmed?”

Fan Jia said, “Confirmed recently. The victim’s name is Liu Yisha, 23 years old, a student at Huaicheng University of Technology, who graduated this year. From Chenxi County, currently living alone in Huaicheng, unemployed. Parents are in their hometown. That’s why until today, no one had reported her missing.”

“What did the medical examiner say?”

Xu Mengshan answered, “Preliminary determination puts the time of death at 2 days ago. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, the murder weapon is still unconfirmed. The victim has multiple other soft tissue contusions, but none fatal. The body was cleaned very thoroughly, and no fingerprints or DNA found so far. She was sexually assaulted before death, with severe vaginal tearing. Multiple joints were broken by blunt force trauma after death.”

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Suddenly, a strong voice spoke up: “So, the killer repeatedly raped her many times, then killed her, cleaned her thoroughly inside and out, then methodically broke her joints to fold her neatly into the suitcase?”

You Mingxu thought a novelist would always be a novelist – the same circumstances described through his mouth immediately became bone-chilling.

You Mingxu looked at the surroundings and said, “Although traffic isn’t heavy here, cars pass by constantly, and there are several households up the mountain.

The killer must have used a car to transport the body here. I think he wouldn’t choose to dump the body during the daytime, as carrying a heavy suitcase, crossing the grassland, and getting to the small island would surely be noticed.

Check if any drivers passing through last night or the night before, especially in the late hours, saw any suspicious vehicles or people stopping nearby.”

“Yes!”

When the scene investigation was nearly complete, You Mingxu looked up to see Yin Feng sitting beside the body, hands pressed against the ground, in a pose as if gazing into the distance.

You Mingxu walked over and kicked him: “Let’s go.”

He didn’t move, looking up at her: “What kind of person do you think he is?”

You Mingxu took a second to respond: “Cruel, violent, perverted, meticulous.”

Yin Feng nodded: “From the perspective of how they view victims, rapists fall into three categories. The first type sees victims as ‘people,’ will converse with victims, attempt to establish relationships, and even pretend to be dating. This type lacks confidence the most. The second type treats victims as ‘objects,’ viewing themselves as professional criminals, perhaps disguising their identity, perhaps preparing many tools to torture victims to achieve their goals.

The third type… views victims as ‘tools.’ These perpetrators are violent criminals with strong aggressive tendencies, who will humiliate victims and force them to participate in various sexual acts. Their main purpose is to release their anger.”

You Mingxu was now quite used to his randomly emerging psychology expert abilities, and nodded: “The third type.”

Yin Feng said: “Yes, he’s truly very angry, at women, at his own life.”

You Mingxu remained silent.

Yin Feng continued: “He has both a crude, street-wise side and craftsman-like qualities.”

You Mingxu frowned: “What do you mean?”

“I asked the medical examiner. An ordinary person couldn’t possibly break bones and joints so precisely with almost no other external injuries. And he folded the body cleanly and neatly, showing signs of OCD. But he’s not a doctor, because doctors aren’t that dirty and poor. He used the cheapest, lowest quality suitcase, and though it didn’t leave any evidence, it has lots of old stains and signs of use – meaning it’s one he uses regularly. A doctor wouldn’t likely use this kind of suitcase. And if the inside was cleaned so thoroughly, a doctor would habitually clean the outside too. He and doctors have completely different professions and lives.”

You Mingxu thought this was a bit far-fetched, and smirked: “You mean… the killer is a butcher?” How else could someone be both crude and skilled at manipulating bodies?

But Yin Feng shook his head, saying: “Ah Xu, sometimes your brain shouldn’t be so linear in its reactions. That’s just one possibility. Concluding the killer must be a butcher based on this would be nonsense. He could also be a veterinarian, carpenter, blacksmith, or plumber. I just think he’s very likely a craftsman from humble origins, with low education but excellent manual skills. You can look around the victim’s residential area for such people.”

You Mingxu listened for a while but had no intention of pursuing his suggestions as an investigative direction. Too fantastical. She would naturally follow traditional criminal investigation methods, based on physical evidence and logical reasoning, following leads to conduct a comprehensive investigation.

You Mingxu gave him a flick on the forehead: “If my brain is a linear reaction, yours is mush reaction!”