Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 226 Clues and Mysteries
"Good heavens, this is really good heavens."

Standing in the morgue, looking at the row of corpses lying in front of him, Li Wei was filled with emotion.

A total of seven bodies were discovered through the human-shaped bird.

Li Wei did not inform them immediately. Instead, he waited until the person in charge of the forest farm left before finding a place to call the Seventh Division to come and collect the bodies. The Seventh Division then sent people under the cover of darkness to stealthily bring back all the other bodies located in the forest.

Li Wei did this mainly to avoid leaks, since the people at the forest farm had little sense of secrecy and might even go to reporters to brag about it. But the death of an old woman in the forest farm wasn't news; reporters wouldn't bother reporting it.

But if a group of old women died in the forest, that would be a different story.

Including the one brought back from the police station, there are a total of eight.

Li Wei couldn't help but sigh, "What a spectacular sight it was to see eight people hang themselves together!"

Of course, what he said was beyond the understanding of others.

Several commonalities were identified based on the preliminary autopsy results.

First, all the bodies were elderly, between 90 and 110 years old.

Secondly, there were no external injuries or signs of poisoning; the cause of death was old age.

Third, none of the individuals exhibited livor mortis, rigor mortis, or decomposition, which would definitively determine the exact time of death.

Finally, all of them were foreigners. Three of them were identified through fingerprint comparison using a differential scanner. They were all women from abroad holding tourist visas, and like the first victim, their ages did not match.

What are your thoughts on this?

The old butler stood beside Li Wei, looking solemnly at the corpse before him. Perhaps this was the first time he had ever encountered such a thing.

"Well, it's quite simple if we deduce it from the intelligence."

Li Wei flipped through the test report.

"The targets were all young women, and all from abroad, clearly illegal immigrants. Apparently, they came to the Empire looking for work and encountered criminals. The criminals likely used some means to deceive them and bring them to the capital, then used some method to age them to death, and finally dumped their bodies in the suburbs..."

At this point, Li Wei frowned.

"The question now is, how did they dispose of the body?"

"You've already investigated the scene, haven't you?"

"It has been investigated. The clues indicate that these bodies all fell from the sky, but..."

As Li Wei spoke, he looked at the old steward.

"It couldn't be an airship, right?"

"Of course not possible."

The old steward shook his head with absolute certainty. It's hard to say about other places, but Fog City is the capital of the empire. How could they allow airships to fly around everywhere? In fact, the empire currently only has airships in the military, airlines, and some wealthy people.

But even they have to fly along a fixed route. Once they deviate from the route—do you think the anti-aircraft guns of the Fog City are just for show?

Although the forest farm is located on the outskirts of Fog City, there are no air routes passing nearby. If an airship were to dump a body there, Fog City's defenses would be held accountable first.

Moreover, Li Wei had inquired with the forestry workers, and no one had seen anything resembling an airship.

"It's not easy to find illegal immigrants in Chongqing."

The old butler sighed with emotion.

"When Her Majesty the Queen issued the ban to expel illegal immigrants, she did not clear out all the immigrants in the Fog City."

"On this point, I have a different opinion."

"Ok?"

"I think their lair might not be in the foggy city."

Li Wei shook his head as he spoke. But the old butler perked up upon hearing his words.

"What do you mean?"

“Actually, my thoughts were similar to yours before. After all, if it's just one victim, it's too easy to make someone disappear in a metropolis with tens of thousands of bodies. But... now that eight bodies have been found, the situation is different.”

"Um………………"

"Although we cannot determine the exact time of death from these bodies, based on the entry dates of some of them, I guess that these eight bodies were killed within the last two years. It would be difficult to go unnoticed if eight people disappeared without a trace in the same place within two years."

"That makes sense."

"Moreover, the other party threw the body from the air. Regardless of whether the murderer has wings or not, the chances of being discovered flying with a corpse over the foggy city are too high."

Even at night, Fog City is practically a city that never sleeps. If some monster were to fly over Fog City carrying a corpse, it would be easily spotted. Li Wei himself liked to stand by the window and look at the night view of Fog City before going to sleep. There were other people like him in Fog City, and it was hard to guarantee that no one would miss him.

"The magazine has not received any rumors about this."

"So, since the other side can fly, I tend to think that... their base might not be in the Fog City."

Li Wei made this judgment mainly based on his experience from watching horror movies and reading horror novels. Indeed, as the saying goes, "the greatest hermits hide in plain sight." In a metropolis with a million inhabitants, the disappearance of hundreds or thousands of people every day does seem to be no problem. Because there are so many people, they can't all die, so no one pays attention.

Conversely, a larger number of people means a higher chance of being discovered. For one thing, if someone in the gang has a change of heart and goes out to find someone to report it to the police, it would only take a few blocks or even just a phone call.

If the police come to arrest you and you fight back, the whole thing will instantly make the front page of all the news in Chongqing.

But conversely, why do many horror movies set their stories in places far from civilized cities?

It's because transportation and communication are inconvenient here.

For example, in a small town in the desert, or a motel, if the motel says their car is broken and they can't take you anywhere, and there's no cell phone service nearby, and the phone lines are down, you're just left there to die.

Not to mention that in this era, many remote areas don't even have telephones. Even if someone wants to escape, it's not as convenient as in big cities. They might have been running for hours and still be wandering in the deep mountains and forests.

As for who dumped the bodies, Li Wei even doubted whether they were human. The locations of the seven bodies found so far were quite scattered and random. One was even in the woods by the roadside; it seemed like the person just threw them anywhere, wherever they wanted, as long as it wasn't a populated area.

This leads to another question: if that's the case, why not just hide these bodies in their own place?
After all, these corpses won't decompose and therefore won't smell. Wouldn't it be more convenient to bury them somewhere deep in the mountains and forests?
Was it necessary to dispose of the body?

Or is there something else wrong with these corpses?
"Can these bodies be cremated?"

"Cremation is not a problem, and it's not like they're invulnerable to swords and bullets."

Li Wei shrugged.

"In addition, we have indeed obtained some clues."

The more corpses there are, the more clues there are, which is why criminals are more likely to be caught by the police the more crimes they commit.

Among these corpses, Li Wei discovered a tattoo on the neck of one of the bodies. It wasn't an ordinary tattoo, but a tattoo of a gang. Li Wei decided to continue investigating based on this clue.

"Ah, these are tattoos from the Black Duck Club."

They found Inspector Lestrade and questioned him, who immediately recognized the truth.

"Black Duck Club?"

"That's right, a small gang, mainly composed of foreigners, running casinos and taverns in the lower city. They don't have much influence... Well, you've come at the right time."

"Ok?"

"Actually, we just happened to arrest a member of the Black Duck Society a while ago."

Inspector Lestrade stood up with a chuckle as he spoke.

"Go see him."

"Of course that's good."

Li Wei nodded. With someone readily available to interrogate him, he wouldn't have to go to the Black Duck Society anymore.

So Lestrade led Levi out of the office, and at the same time, he began to speak.

"Actually, if you're talking about the missing Black Duck Society members, I suspect it might be related to this matter."

"Oh? What do you say?"

"Here's what happened. That guy got arrested because he was assaulting someone, and then the patrol officers found him and arrested him. Then, during questioning, he got very angry and complained that we should have arrested the guy who got assaulted."

"Generally speaking, the police should take both parties back to the police station for questioning."

Levi looked at Inspector Lestrade, who patted his stomach.

"There was nothing I could do. As soon as the police arrived, the guy who got beaten turned tail and ran. Do you think I looked like I could catch him?"

"That certainly doesn't seem like it."

Looking at Inspector Lestrade's Buddha-like belly, Levi silently rolled his eyes. "And then?"

“When we asked him why, he just said it was a minor conflict, but nobody believed that, so we decided to lock him up for a few days and see if he would confess anything.”

Well, the police in this era aren't exactly law-abiding either.

As they spoke, the two arrived at the detention center next to the police station. Inspector Lestrade led Levi to the second floor and then to a cell where a man was lying. He was wearing a plaid shirt stained with oil and looked no different from an ordinary worker. Levi noticed that there was a black duck with outstretched wings tattooed on his arm.

"Hey!"

Lestrade shouted gruffly, banging his baton against the railing.

"Get up, kid!"

"what………"

The man, who had been woken up, rubbed his eyes, stood up in annoyance, and yawned.

Are you going to let me out?

"It depends. If you cooperate honestly, we might let you out sooner."

Inspector Lestrade snorted coldly. At this moment, he was completely devoid of his usual kind and gentle demeanor. Or rather, this was the true appearance of a police officer in front of criminals.

"I've already told you everything that needs to be done. I got into an argument with that guy, and then we got into a fight because I didn't like him..."

"I didn't come here for this."

Li Wei interrupted the man, then stepped forward, indicating that he was the one in charge.

"I want to ask you something. In your Black Duck Society, has any woman with a black duck tattoo on her neck gone missing?"

"………………………"

Upon hearing Li Wei's question, the previously nonchalant man's expression immediately changed, and he stared at Li Wei with a serious look.

Where is she?!

"Answer my question first."

Li Wei completely ignored the other man's threatening gaze, simply staring at him calmly. The latter gritted his teeth and spoke after a long while.

“I can tell you, but you must guarantee her safety.”

"I cannot guarantee that."

"Why!"

The man rushed forward and reached out to grab Li Wei, but Li Wei took a step back and straightened his clothes.

"Because she is already dead."

"...Dead?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's reply, the previously aggressive man suddenly froze, staring blankly at Li Wei as if he had no idea what he was talking about.

“When we found her, she was already a corpse. We are currently investigating her identity because she had a Black Duck tattoo on her neck, which is why I came to you to find out more. Of course, if you don’t know, I can also go to your boss.”

Li Wei didn't really care whether the man would talk or not. If all else failed, he could just go to the other side's hideout and talk to the boss. They were just a bunch of gangsters; Li Wei had plenty of ways to deal with them.

The man, looking utterly disoriented, took a few steps back and then knelt down on the ground.

"How could this be... How could this be... Why..."

He muttered to himself, then looked up again and stared at Li Wei.

"How did she die!"

"Based on the current situation, it is possible that it was murder."

Li Wei looked at the man, his expression calm.

"asshole!"

The man slammed his fist on the ground, gritting his teeth.

"Who did it! Who did it? I'll kill him!"

"We're here to find the killer, so... can you answer my question now?"

"Ok."

Upon hearing Li Wei's question, the man stood up listlessly.

“I think…that must be my sister…”

"younger sister?"

“That’s right, my sister and I came to the Empire two years ago and joined the Black Duck Gang. My sister was just a child back then…”

"Please specify her current age and physical characteristics."

"?"

The man looked at Li Wei with a puzzled expression, as if to say, "You've already found her, why are you still asking this?"

However, I'll still tell you the truth.

"She is 17 years old and has brown hair and green eyes just like me."

"Um……………"

He was 90 years old, with gray hair, but his eyes were definitely green.

It's barely a match.

"go on."

"Then, not long ago, she said she had found a good job, and then she disappeared."

"disappeared?"

"Yes."

At this point, the man clenched his fist.

"After making many inquiries, I finally found that damn bastard... He was also from out of town, and he spent his days introducing jobs to other outsiders. I heard from a friend that my sister had gone to his place before she disappeared, so I confronted him, but he claimed he knew nothing! I got furious, so I beat him up, and then..."

As he spoke, the man glared at Inspector Lestrade with displeasure.

"He was arrested by the police."

"If you wanted to say your sister was missing, wouldn't it have been better to tell us sooner?"

Lestrade grumbled, but the man snorted and remained silent.

However, Li Wei understood the man's thoughts. They were illegal immigrants, and even if the police accepted the case, they would naturally deport them after the man was rescued.

The reason he's now willing to speak honestly is because he's learned that his sister has died.

Of course, you can't deport a dead person.

"So, you believe that person sold your sister?"

"Of course, that's definitely the case!"

The man immediately flew into a rage when the topic was brought up.

"Everyone around here knows that buck-toothed guy is always acting mysteriously, always lying to people like us. He claims he can find them good jobs, then they just disappear. I've suspected him for a while, but I never thought my sister would fall for his tricks... Damn it!"

The man angrily slammed his fist on the iron railing, gritting his teeth.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m angry or in pain.

However, for Li Wei, this information was already sufficient.

"One last question."

"what is the problem?"

Where does that person live?

For the man, this was clearly not a problem at all.

(End of this chapter)