Life is in him, and this life is the light of man. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness does not receive the light.

- The Gospel of John, New Testament

introduction

"Remember, therefore, how you have received and how you have heard.

and obey, and repent.

But if you do not keep watch, I will come to you as a thief.

You will never know when I come......"

Early in the winter morning at the beginning of this century.

In the only Christian church in Huajiang City, believers are reciting the words of the Bible with devotion. When she was young, a female believer faintly heard a burst of music outside the window. The music was low and gloomy, like the solemn weather outside the window.

The woman subconsciously turned her head to look out the window.

The wind was chilling. The shadows of the trees are mottled. A few dead branches and leaves swept here and there on the old window lattice.

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed.

The woman blinked, and the shadow flashed again. Blink again, but it's gone.

The woman's hands trembled, and the Bible in her hand shook to the ground. The woman prayed heartlessly, packed her bags and quietly walked out of the church.

The church is built on the mountain, and there is a mountain road about a mile from the gate to the road, and the mountain road is covered with snow on both sides and dead trees. The woman hurried down the mountain. Just as she vaguely saw a bus passing by the highway and was about to take a long breath, the heel of her shoe suddenly broke, and the woman fell heavily on the path by the forest.

In the next scene, the woman first went into cardiac arrest for a few seconds, and then let out a terrible scream.

I saw a black figure in the woods hanging from a tree, with a cloak and heavy makeup, and it was impossible to distinguish its appearance, but the rose petal ring on the ring finger of his left hand was exactly the same as that on the hand of the woman who fell to the ground and fainted.

Chapter 1: A Sense of Ritual

At the foot of Cuifeng Mountain, the alarm bell stretches.

The blue and white cordon forcibly isolated the corner of the mountain forest from the outside world, but a large number of people eating melons gathered around the scene of the crime.

Forensic doctor Ding Xiaobai has arrived at the scene. Detective Zhou Kejian maintained order on the sidelines.

After some photographic evidence collection, the body was moved from the tree to the ground to lie flat, but still in its original form. Ding Xiaobai was wearing a white coat, a mask and gloves, and the autopsy was smooth and smooth, but the lace-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose looked a little inconsistent. The bearded Zhou Kejian looked a little over-energetic.

"Everyone, please give way."

A thick baritone squeezed in from the crowd, followed by a woman with long flowing hair and dressed in black.

Zhou Kejian called "Team Chen", and then handed him a pair of gloves.

The tall and capable criminal police captain Chen Nian nodded, put on gloves as he walked, and walked to the scene of the crime.

Fang Jinyu, a beautiful police officer with a delicate figure, followed closely.

Chen Nian didn't speak, but buried his head in a careful investigation. A few minutes later, he said to Ding Xiaobai, "Time of death? ”

Ding Xiaobai pushed his glasses: "Judging from the degree of corpse stiffness, it is initially estimated that it will be between 8 and 12 hours. ”

"How did you die?"

"The deceased had strangulation marks on his neck, cyanosis and swelling of his face, and spotted hemorrhages from his facial skin and ocular conjunctiva, which was an obvious mechanical asphyxiation death."

"Is it suicide?"

"It was preliminarily judged to be a suicide, but it is not ruled out that he faked it as a suicide after the killing."

Chen Nian glanced at the corpse, looked around the surroundings again, and then frowned and said, "The corpse will be brought back to the bureau first, and a detailed autopsy report will be issued as soon as possible." ”

"Yes." As soon as Ding Xiaobai's voice fell, the mobile phone rang. Ding Xiaobai said to the phone: "Fangzi, your call came at the right time, I just finished my work and was hungry, so hurry up and invite me to dinner." ”

The Internet police put it on the other end of the phone and ridiculed: "You guy, I will obey you if you don't accept anyone, you have to eat just after getting the corpse, and you can eat it?" ”

Ding Xiaobai shouted as he walked: "Don't talk nonsense, how many meals do you say you owe me?" ”

"Eat, eat, eat, eat to death, you stinky and shameless ......" only heard faintly from the phone.

After Ding Xiaobai left, Chen Nian asked Zhou Kejian: "Da Zhou, where is the reporter?" ”

Da Zhou pointed to a woman standing under a tree.

At this moment, Fang Jinyu was asking her. By the time Chen Nian walked over, their conversation was nearing its end. Fang Jinyu said softly: "Think about it carefully, are there any special details that you have forgotten to say?" ”

The woman who reported the case had a sad face, and the afterglow of horror had not completely dissipated, and she suddenly raised her left hand after thinking for a long time: "The hanged man wears the same ring as me." ”

Chen Nian and Fang Jinyu leaned their faces towards the ring at the same time, and when the two found that each other's faces were getting closer, they retracted in embarrassment. At this moment, a ray of sunlight shone in, and the light refracted by the rose petal ring blocked the two flushed faces.

It's night.

The conference room of the Serious Crime Group of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Huajiang Public Security Bureau was brightly lit.

The team leader Chen Nian, team members Fang Jinyu, Ding Xiaobai, Gao Fang, and Zhou Kejian all sat at the conference table.

Fang Jinyu was responsible for explaining the facts of the case: "The deceased was a female, 1.66 meters tall, weighing 55 kilograms, aged between 20 and 30 years old, the cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation, and the time of death was between 20 and 24 o'clock last night. ”

Ding Xiaobai further added: "There are two kinds of strangulation marks on the neck of the deceased, and the fatal scars should be caused by tools such as iron wire, which do not match the hemp rope hanging from the tree. Therefore, it can basically be concluded that it was not suicide, but homicide. In addition, the deceased suffered abrasions of varying degrees on his chest, jaw, wrists and thighs, and the results of the autopsy determined that the deceased had had sexual intercourse before his death. ”

Chen Nian gestured to Gao Fang: "How is the identity of the deceased?" ”

Gao Fang made an Ok gesture: "Lin Yang, 24 years old, a native of Huajiang, a cashier in the sales department of the city oil company, is the only daughter in the family, has a relatively simple social relationship, and has a boyfriend who works in a taxi company. ”

When Gao Fang spoke, Fang Jinyu had already combed the timeline of the case on the whiteboard, and as soon as Gao Fang finished speaking, she went on to state: "According to the introduction of Lin Yang's family and colleagues, yesterday, that is, November 28, at half past 12 noon, Lin Yang went to work at the oil company after having lunch at home. At 8 o'clock in the evening, Lin Yang's father saw that Lin Yang had not returned home, so he rode to Lin Yang's unit to find Lin Yang. According to the winter season, the oil company's off-duty time is 4:30 p.m., and Lin Yang's colleague said that Lin Yang left the unit at about 4:20 p.m., and there were still unfinished ledgers and bills on his desk. Lin Yang's father remembered that Lin Yang said at noon that he was going to watch a movie with his boyfriend at night, so he didn't care about it and didn't look for it again until someone found the body today. ”

After Fang Jinyu finished speaking, Chen Nian glanced at Da Zhou, and Da Zhou made a shrug and raised his eyebrows, which meant that he was speechless.

Chen Nian asked Gao Fang to list the photos of the scene, and then he came to the screen: "According to what we just inferred, the murderer is likely to strangle Lin Yang to death first, and then move the body to a tree to create the illusion of hanging himself." Lin Yang left the unit at 4:20, and after that, where had she been and who had she seen......"

"Grandma's bear!" Da Zhou suddenly spoke, "Boyfriend, Lin Yang asked her boyfriend to watch a movie last night." ”

Everyone was silent, and the atmosphere was slightly awkward.

"I know," Da Zhou's tone was even higher, "it must be that the two of them watched the movie, and they couldn't get enough of it, and then ......"

Ding Xiaobai looked disdainful: "What happened to the abrasions on Lin Yang's body?" ”

The corners of Da Zhou's mouth crooked: "This, maybe these two little couples are having a good time, young people now, hehe!" ”

"And what's the matter with the strangulation marks on your neck?"

Da Zhou's eyes widened, and he wanted to argue, but was interrupted by Chen Nian: "This kind of argument is meaningless, no matter what, you have to find Lin Yang's boyfriend." Then he said, "Jinyu, you and Da Zhou will go to a taxi company tomorrow." Xiaobai, you will check the body again tomorrow. Fangzi, you can check Lin Yang's social relations again and see if you can find other clues. ”

Everyone nodded.

Outside the window, the night is getting darker.

"Do you have any doubts left?" Chen Nian suddenly broke the silence, "The deceased's dress is not normal. It is now the tenth winter moon, but the deceased is wearing a gauze skirt. ”

"That's right, I thought something was strange before, and the rose petal ring seemed to have some meaning." Fang Jinyu seems to have been inspired by something.

"The bride." Chen Nian said calmly.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Fang Jinyu raised her long hair, "The deceased is wearing a white gauze skirt, red high heels, and a rose petal ring, isn't this the shape of a bride?" ”

Ding Xiaobai took off her lace-framed glasses, frowned and said, "Although that dress is a gauze skirt, there is still a gap between it and the real wedding dress!" ”

"Maybe the murderer couldn't afford to buy a real wedding dress, so he found an ordinary gauze skirt instead?"

"That ring is also fake, coaxing children to play!"

"The deceased's hair is scattered, and the makeup is too ugly, isn't it?"

Fang Jinyu paused for two seconds: "The hair is probably draped because the murderer has an obsession with women with long hair and fluttering, as for the makeup ......"

"The murderer is a male who doesn't know how to wear makeup." Chen Nian said on the side.

"So the murderer actually killed people first, and then created a corpse dumping scene similar to a wedding?" Fang Jinyu thought about it and said, "According to criminal psychology, the murderer must have been stimulated in some way, has a reverse personality, and designed the scene of the body dumping as a wedding explanation......"

"Ritualistic." Chen Nian said, "The murderer is looking for something with a sense of ritual. Everyone will act separately according to the assignment just now, and I will go to the scene of the crime again tomorrow. ”

"Roger." The four of them said in unison.