Chapter Six: Indistinguishable Between Male and Female

After the corpse and the small tricycle were brought back to the police station, the most urgent task, of course, was to conduct an autopsy on the headless female body and test the bloodstains and the soil on the tires of the tricycle.

After seeing the half-decayed female corpse, Qin Ruonan had been visibly dispirited. When she returned to the Major Crimes Unit, her downcast demeanor prompted everyone to offer her words of comfort, each in their own way. Yet, Qin Ruonan’s personality seemed somewhat solitary, and she wasn't used to the warm camaraderie of the unit. Her polite and reserved responses only heightened the sense of distance between her and her colleagues.

An Changpu, having learned his lesson after being rebuffed by Qin Ruonan earlier that morning, refrained from approaching her again. While others expressed their concern, he chose not to join in.

“You handled yourself impressively! When I first saw a corpse, I was unlucky enough to encounter one that had been submerged and was severely deformed. It was beyond recognition—I vomited so much I thought my insides would turn out! Even now, the memory makes me nauseous.” Tian Yang, a seasoned detective second only to Cheng Feng in seniority, spoke kindly, hoping to help Qin Ruonan overcome this hurdle.

His good intentions, however, went unnoticed; as he described the grisly scene, the color drained further from Qin Ruonan’s face, which had only just begun to recover.

An Changpu couldn’t help but sigh. He walked over and patted Tian Yang on the shoulder. “Enough, if you keep painting such vivid pictures, I’ll be haunted by my own memories!”

He gave Tian Yang a discreet look, and only then did Tian Yang notice Qin Ruonan’s pale silence. Realizing his blunder, he chuckled awkwardly and hurried off to attend to his own business.

“I’ll go check in with Dr. Zhao,” An Changpu said, noting several hours had passed. The autopsy should yield some results by now, and the investigation into missing women was nearly complete. He intended to see what progress had been made.

To his surprise, Qin Ruonan stood up as well.

“I’m going too,” she said firmly, her tone brooking no discussion.

An Changpu frowned, his gaze lingering on her pale face. He asked, somewhat doubtful, “Are you sure?”

“If I don’t overcome it this time, I’ll never get past it,” Qin Ruonan nodded.

Not wanting to argue further, An Changpu simply cautioned her not to push herself. Yet, inwardly, he found himself impressed by her determination and unwillingness to concede.

Together, they found Dr. Zhao, who had just finished the autopsy and was taking a brief rest with a glass of water. Noticing Qin Ruonan’s presence and recalling her earlier discomfort, Dr. Zhao offered a few words of concern, which made Qin Ruonan feel slightly embarrassed.

“Dr. Zhao, did you find anything?” An Changpu asked urgently. While waiting for the autopsy results, he had been investigating whether there were any reports of missing women in City C besides the missing men, but he’d found nothing.

When the male body was discovered, the man had died less than two days prior, and his family and friends likely hadn’t yet noticed his absence. But now, with the female corpse found, the time of death was not recent, and the male corpse had been dead nearly a week. How could a living person disappear for so long without their family searching for them?

Even if the victims were migrant workers with no local relatives, wouldn’t employers or colleagues investigate a week-long absence? Now, with a female upper body and a male lower body uncovered, and no reports of missing persons, the situation seemed increasingly suspicious.

“The time of death for this half-female corpse coincides with that of the male body we found earlier,” Dr. Zhao explained, sharing his findings with the two young detectives. “They were likely concealed for several days before being dumped. The storage environment was cooler than outside, but not cold enough for refrigeration, which led to the decomposition. There’s another remarkable coincidence: both bodies have the same blood type, and bone age testing shows they’re of the same age group. The blood found in the tricycle matches, confirming it was used to transport the bodies.”

“Are there any fatal wounds on the female body?” An Changpu asked, surprised by Dr. Zhao’s account.

Dr. Zhao shook his head. “No fatal wounds were found. In the stomach, I discovered partially digested food containing trace amounts of toxins. Someone seems to have attempted poisoning her, but the dose was insufficient—not enough to be lethal, and likely not the true cause of death. I suspect the fatal injury was to the head, but unfortunately, it’s missing.”

Qin Ruonan listened quietly, several times on the verge of speaking. Dr. Zhao noticed her hesitation and asked, “Do you have any ideas?”

Prompted, Qin Ruonan decided to share her conjecture. “Two half bodies, one male and one female, coincidentally of the same age and blood type, who died almost simultaneously, dismembered and dumped in the river in the same manner. Besides the possibility of the same perpetrator or group, the sheer number of coincidences leads me to a bold hypothesis—could it be possible that these two halves actually belonged to the same person?”

Her suggestion was both bold and unexpected. As soon as she spoke, both An Changpu and the experienced Dr. Zhao were stunned.

Their reaction made Qin Ruonan uneasy. Clearing her throat to mask her embarrassment, she said, “It’s just a hypothesis. If it’s too far-fetched, you can disregard it.”

“No, not at all! Your idea is fascinating—bold, yes, but very interesting!” Dr. Zhao regained his composure, not finding her proposal outlandish, but rather exciting. “I’ve never encountered two halves with so many similarities. The possibility you raised can’t be dismissed! Don’t go anywhere; wait here!”

With that, he hurried out, leaving An Changpu and Qin Ruonan in his office to await news.

An Changpu was equally intrigued by Qin Ruonan’s theory, wanting to discuss it further, but Qin Ruonan remained aloof, leaving his thoughts unspoken.

After a long while, Dr. Zhao rushed back in, immediately announcing, “I found a silicone implant in the chest of the female half, with no thymus tissue! Qin’s hypothesis is very likely correct!”