How You Can Sue Me for My Crimes in Dreams

"Killing the victim, dismembering the body, then running to a fried chicken shop to fry the remains into nuggets..."

"The physical strength required just doesn't add up."

"It was most likely a man."

Murder is a physically demanding act.

Let alone a woman carrying dozens of pounds of human flesh.

"A revenge killing?"

Li Jianye looked up at Xu Huo, confused.

"In dismemberment cases, if the motive isn't to hide the body from investigators, it's usually a revenge killing."

"Is the killer trying to destroy the evidence by frying it?"

After a murder, there are only two paths: exposure or concealment.

Concealment means hiding or burying the body.

Was the killer trying to hide the body?

Admittedly, it seemed like a pretty good way to do it.

If Xiao Long and Xiao Hu hadn't come to steal bread, if someone hadn't followed them down the well, and if Niuniu hadn't used this discovery to beg Xu Huo to free Xiao Bai...

Then this case would most likely have vanished without a trace in two days.

Why?

Because they could have sold out of that much in a single day!

Anything that ends up in a stomach is completely digested within twelve to twenty-four hours!

There's no more thorough way to destroy a corpse than to have it eaten.

The only thing more thorough would be incineration—burning it to ash.

"I don't think so."

Xu Huo paused, his brow furrowed. "If I were the killer, I'd find a bone grinder, turn the body into a paste, and dump it at a livestock farm."

"Humans are capable of identifying a corpse, but animals don't have that capacity."

"Besides... what would he do with the harder-to-dispose-of bones, like the femurs and the pelvis?"

The femurs and skull are large and hard. Getting rid of them is a problem.

Fry them for people to eat?

That's wishful thinking. It's impossible, unless the customers were blind.

And a lot of them, with no one else around!

So, the bones would have to be disposed of separately.

But if he was going to dispose of them separately, there would have been no need to fry the flesh at all. He could have just gotten rid of everything at once. Why create a second disposal site?

'In that case...'

"Some kind of purpose?"

"A purpose that doesn't bring material gain can only be emotional."

Li Jianye glanced up, Xu Huo's words echoing in his mind.

A killer's motive is either psychological or material.

Frying the body parts provides no material gain, so it must be psychological.

'If it's psychological...'

"Revenge?" Li Jianye guessed.

"Who knows."

Xu Huo shook his head.

He paused, his eyes scanning the area.

The back kitchen was spacious but had few windows. The most prominent features were the ventilation ducts and several doors.

Police officers were currently searching every corner.

"Where did the killer get in?"

"We haven't found that yet."

Li Jianye shook his head.

Xu Huo paused. Frowning, he surveyed his surroundings and fell into thought.

The windows had no fingerprints, and the sills were free of footprints or dust.

'The ventilation ducts?'

'He could have come in that way, but if he did, the police would have definitely found a clue.'

Until...

Xu Huo stopped and walked toward the kitchen's back door.

"There are no signs the door was forced open."

Seeing him approach it, Li Jianye quickly spoke up. They had already checked the lock and found no signs of it being picked.

"Because he picked the peephole."

Xu Huo gestured to a faint scratch mark on the door and explained casually.

"The peephole?"

Li Jianye froze. He had heard of this technique.

"The goal of picking a lock is to open the door. You can achieve the same goal by going through the peephole."

"Aside from being more time-consuming and difficult, it's a far superior method to standard lockpicking or trying to fashion a key on the spot."

What did "picking the peephole" mean?

It meant exactly what it sounded like. Thieves generally had two ways of getting through a locked door: picking the lock cylinder, or popping out the peephole and using a long, thin metal rod to turn the handle from the inside.

If you were careful when removing the peephole, you could avoid leaving any trace at all.

"His technique is superb. You wouldn't notice it without a close look. The average officer would miss it entirely. He's far more skilled than your common thief."

Xu Huo unscrewed the peephole. In the spot where it sat, he saw an indentation.

A mark left by a metal rod!

It was a common trick among burglars.

Xu Huo was different. He was a master thief.

"The police didn't find the footprints or blood that should have been outside the door..."

Li Jianye's brow furrowed.

"But could you find them anywhere else?"

Xu Huo pushed the door open, looking at the street and the trash cans by the road, and shot back a question.

Li Jianye was speechless.

True, there was nothing in the surrounding area either.

Security footage ruled out the front door.

The ventilation duct was secure, with no signs of being tampered with.

That left only the back door and the windows. But the windows were small; it was impossible he could have climbed through carrying chunks of meat without leaving a trace.

Which left only the door.

"Check the nearby trash cans and slaughterhouses."

"The condition of the body suggests it wasn't done with just a kitchen knife."

"There must be a place nearby, not far from here, where he could have dismembered the victim."

"Of course, it's also possible he drove here."

Xu Huo gave two instructions.

Li Jianye nodded. He had already given those orders a moment ago.

"What else did the killer do at the scene?" Xu Huo walked back into the kitchen and looked down at the deep fryer.

The oil in the fryer had been reused many times. It wasn't gutter oil, but it contained some unidentifiable residue.

'It might be human remains.'

'Did he just come to the fried chicken shop, toss the body parts in the fryer, and that's it?'

'No other moves?'

Li Jianye paused, then said:

"Actually, there was."

"What was it?" Xu Huo stopped and turned to look at him.

"He took the money."

"That's exactly why we haven't classified the motive yet. The killer went to a blind spot in the security camera's coverage and emptied the cash register."

"It introduces the possibility that this was a murder for money, rather than the revenge killing we initially suspected."

"He took the money?"

Xu Huo frowned.

Based on the body disposal and the frying, the murder wasn't for material gain. It wasn't about money.

Rule that out, and the case points toward revenge.

But then, inside the fried chicken shop...

He also stole the petty cash from the scene!

The first act wasn't for money, but the second one was. It was a contradiction.

Xu Huo narrowed his eyes, his brow furrowed.

He walked over to the cash register. Seeing it completely empty, not a single coin left behind, a look of surprise crossed his face.

'He really is a thief!?'

'The expert way he bypassed the lock via the peephole, and the fact that he took the money...'

'This is without a doubt the M.O. of a thief!'

'Why?'

'He commits murder and still has the presence of mind to steal money?'

'Is he a thief? Then why did he kill someone? Why dismember the body and fry it...'

'The more you do, the more mistakes you make. More actions mean more clues, and clues could cost him his life. Is he really risking his neck for a bit of cash!?'

'Who is this killer? And how did the victim get on his bad side...?'

A thief who doesn't forget to steal, even after committing murder?

'Such a professional thief!?'

'Or is it that the killer is desperate for money? If so, did the victim put him in that situation?'

'If not...'

'Then what does he want the money for!?'

A long moment passed.

His train of thought was broken when Li Jianye's walkie-talkie crackled to life.

Li Jianye took the call, and his expression changed dramatically. After he signed off, he looked at Xu Huo with a grave expression.

"What is it?" Xu Huo asked.

"Something's happened..."

Li Jianye's face was grim, the words leaving his mouth heavy with dread.

"A second dismemberment..."

"...has been found!"

'The killer...'

'He's still killing!?'

Xu Huo froze, his expression turning to one of shock.

'This is...'

'A serial corpse-cooking case!?'

'A cannibalistic maniac!?'

'What in the world is this madman thinking?'

'He can't possibly be addicted to eating people, can he!?'

"And the victim... a man in his forties, from a lower-class background... what could an ordinary middle-aged man do to provoke someone this much?"

'Or... is it related to his job?'

'If it is, what kind of job?'

A sense of dread settled in Xu Huo's chest, an invisible pressure squeezing his heart. He reined in his racing thoughts.

"To the second crime scene..."

"Investigate!"

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