Skin - Chapter 1

Volume 1 Oriole

Chapter 1

　　It was April, so the sky was getting brighter and the sunrise happened a little early every day.

　　At around seven o’clock in the morning, Meng Zhao walked out of the city bureau building and squinted his eyes under the glare of the sun.

　　Meng Zhao was on duty last night and today, he had the day off. Being on duty was for namesake. In reality, he had just slept well in the duty room for one night.

Mingtan City had good security and a relatively low crime rate. It was rare for the Criminal Investigation Unit to dispatch police in the middle of the night.

　　His phone vibrated, and a message popped up: 【Brother, I have more stop left. Have you set off yet?】

　　The message was sent by Meng Zhao’s sister, Meng Ruoshu. As Meng Zhao walked to the parking lot, he typed three words and sent it out:
【I won’t be too late.】

　　After sending the message, he walked to his car, opened the door, and threw his phone on the passenger seat. Meng Zhao did not rush to get in the car. Instead, he straightened his back and looked up at a property not far away.

　　He didn’t know when, but he began to feel a gaze following him like a shadow. During the short walk to the parking lot, he noticed the presence of that gaze once again.

　　Judging by his instincts, the gaze seemed to be coming from the direction of that building. But, because it was quite far away, Meng Zhao could not identify the specific direction.

　　Could it be an accomplice of a criminal seeking revenge? Meng Zhao speculated on this possibility.

In the seven years since his graduation, he has been working in the Criminal Investigation Unit and has participated in solving countless major and minor cases. If someone really followed him to seek revenge, then the source would be difficult to investigate.

　　However, if the person was really seeking revenge, then they were too calm. When did it begin? Meng Zhao can’t remember the exact time, but it must have been happening a few months ago.

　　Meng Zhao had received anti-stalking training and was extremely talented in that field. He had a very keen eye for people. Because of this, at first, the gaze made him feel extremely irritated, like a thorn in his back. He even went through all the records of the cases he had participated in over the years, but no clues were found. It had been so long that he had now grown somewhat accustomed to the gaze.

　　”What are you looking at?” A car stopped nearby.

Zhang Chao, a colleague from the technical department, got out of his car and followed his gaze towards the building. “What’s wrong? Do you want to buy a house there?”

　　It was undoubtedly a joke. As a high-end residential area situated in the best location and the best prospects in the city, housing prices in Yuhuan Community had soared up pretty high in recent years. According to Mengzhao’s current salary, he had to work hard until he retires in order to buy a house in such a high-end community.

　　”Can you afford it if you sell me?” Meng Zhao looked away and smiled.

　　”Yes,” Zhang Chao looked Meng Zhao up and down in a dignified manner, “With your figure, Captain Meng, a flat is nothing. Have you seen the villa area?” Zhang Chao raised his hand and pointed, “Brother, I’ll give you a price estimate. If you don’t get a villa, you’ll be at a loss.”

　　”Go away,” Meng Zhao cursed with a smile, “The technical department has been busy lately, hasn’t it?”

　　”No, hey, to be honest,” Zhang Chao locked the car and came over to put a hand on Meng Zhao’s shoulder, “Your salary should be increased after you become a regular captain. Old Xu has been watching you for half a year. Why are you still worried?”

　　”How can I guess what the old man is thinking?” Meng Zhao stooped down and got in the car, started the car, “I’m leaving, I have to pick up my sister at the station.”

　　”Your sister is back?” Zhang Chao raised his voice and shouted towards Meng Zhao’s car, “Have you promised her?”

　　Meng Zhao said nothing, and the car drove away. Zhang Chao, who was standing there, was sprayed with car exhaust on his face.

　　It was the morning rush hour, and there were two long rows of cars at the intersection waiting for the green light.

　　All in all, Huai’an District had only developed in recent years. Five years ago, the area was still considered a fringe area of Mingtan City. Since the news spread that the city government was moving to Huai’an, the area had immediately become a hot spot in Mingtan City, and housing prices have also risen accordingly. After the municipal government and municipal bureau settled last year, the housing prices had skyrocketed, overlooking the entire Mingtan City.

　　However, the development of new districts is always accompanied by large-scale construction projects. New buildings could be seen everywhere in Huai’an District. There were also many old communities that have been marked with the words ‘For Demolition’, waiting for the fate of demolition that could dawn at any time.

　　There were more than a dozen cars stuck at the intersection waiting to pass the traffic lights. Meng Zhao didn’t have much patience. He turned the steering wheel, turned right onto the small road, and drove to the high-speed rail station by taking a shortcut with lots of twists and turns.

　　Meng Zhao knew all the routes in Mingtan City very well, all thanks to his experience in the city’s traffic police department two years ago. At that time, when Meng Zhao was chasing criminals, he almost made a mistake because he struck too hard. Bureau Chief Chen was so furious that he seconded him to the traffic control bureau next door for a month to assist the traffic police in maintaining order.

　　In the eyes of all the leaders of the municipal bureau, Meng Zhao was good at everything – he had good looks, top-notch skills, and a flexible mind, but there was one thing bad about him: his temper was too explosive.

　　Meng Zhao, who was 22 years old at that time, had just graduated from the Public Security University. As soon as he entered the city bureau, he was noticed by many leaders because of his good appearance and was scheduled to be one of their daughter’s husband .

Unfortunately, later, as Meng Zhao gradually reached the marriageable age, all the way up to the title of the deputy captain of the Criminal Investigation Unit, his true face was exposed more and more thoroughly.

Among the three interns carefully selected by the city bureau in the past two years, one of them was scolded by Meng Zhao to the point of crying several times. The other one was scolded too but he had a trustworthy relationship with the seniors and was transferred to the administrative department. The last one was scolded to the point that he simply changed his career and said goodbye to the police career.

　　Director Chen, who was most optimistic about making Meng Zhao as his son-in-law, hated the fact that iron could not make steel. He persuaded Meng Zhao to change his temper several times. Meng Zhao responded perfunctorily every time. However, during the pursuit of a criminal two years ago, he punched a man who tried to attack the police. The two broken ribs of the rapist were almost suspected of violent law enforcement, which completely broke Bureau Chen’s mind. If such a son-in-law with violent tendencies was brought home, who would his daughter go to for an explanation if she was wronged?

　　As a result, Meng Zhao, who was the most popular candidate for Director Cheng’s son-in-law at that time, suddenly became an older unmarried young man.

　　Not only that, the position of captain of the Criminal Investigation Unit which had been vacant for more than a year was given away. Logically speaking, there was no more suitable candidate than Meng Zhao. However, Director Chen couldn’t swallow anger in his heart. On the pretext of observing Meng Zhao, he refused to let him be the Captain.

　　The car stopped at the station exit. There were still a few minutes until the high-speed train arrived. Meng Zhao took out his mobile phone to kill time and browse the news of the day.

　　As soon as he opened the news app, a notification popped up at the top interface of his phone: 【Horrifying! A corpse of a man dressed as a woman appears in the background of a female anchor’s live broadcast room!】

　　The city’s media always liked to use a sensational tone, but the content of the reports was often lacklustre, either exaggerated or references of old cases. The person involved was a live broadcast anchor. It had to be the kind of gimmick news intended to attract attention… Meng Zhao clicked on the notification and was a little surprised after glancing at the content. He didn’t expect that the case happened not long ago. And coincidentally, the location happened to be the demolition area he had just driven through.

　　Meng Zhao frowned slightly and swiped two fingers on the screen to enlarge the photo taken at the scene.

　　What the media said about ‘a male corpse dressed in women’s clothing’ was actually not accurate. The deceased did wear a pair of red high heels, but the red dress was actually draped on the body in a casual manner.

　　Because of that, the overall visual impact of the photograph was not that strong, but the close-up of the face of the deceased was shocking. The victim’s face was specially fixed up by rough makeup. The eyelids, cheeks, and lips were smeared with red, and the overall complexion looked purple and swollen… At first glance, it looked quite impressive. However, when had the media become immoral to the point that the victim’s photos were posted without any mosaic?

　　The phone buzzed. It was a call from Cheng Yun, an intern from the unit. Meng Zhao pressed the connect button, guessing that the call might be related to the case.

　　As expected, Cheng Yun asked in a hurried tone: “Brother Zhao, have you gone home?”

　　”No, I’m at the railway station.”

　　”Look at the news I forwarded to you. A male body was found in the demolition area near Yuhu Bay this morning…”

　　”I’ve seen it,” Meng Zhao interrupted her, “Is this case under our control?”

　　”Ordinarily, it should be under the control of the branch, but the anchor kept broadcasting this morning, causing photographs of the deceased to spread all over the place. In addition, the city government had just moved here not long ago. It is said that the leaders above paid special attention to the case, and called just to ask specifically about it. The thing is, Director Chen said that you will be responsible for this case…”

　　While the other party was talking on the other end of the phone, the car window was knocked. “Tuk-tuk-tuk.”

　　Meng Zhao remembered that he had forgotten to unlock the door. He turned to one side and stretched out his arm to unlock the passenger door. Meng Ruoshu then opened the door and got in.

　　Cheng Yun continued to say on the other end of the phone: “Brother Zhao, I will send the location to your mobile phone…”

　　”No, I know where it is.” Meng Zhao hung up the phone and turned to Meng Ruoshu, “You didn’t bring a suitcase?”

　　When he raised his eyes, he saw Meng Ruoshu’s red eyeshadow. The photograph of the deceased from the news flashed in Meng Zhao’s mind. The corner of his eye twitched, “What’s wrong with your eyes?”

　　”What’s wrong?” Meng Ruoshu immediately took out a small mirror from her bag and looked around. She felt that her makeup was perfect, and said inexplicably, “Isn’t it looking good?”

　　”Why did you paint your eyes like rabbits for no occasion?” Meng Zhao couldn’t understand, started the car, and merged into the vehicles leaving the station.

　　”This is brown-red eyeshadow, okay?” Meng Ruoshu stuffed the small mirror back into her bag and argued, “This is the most popular girl group makeup this year. Straight men should not express their opinions on women’s makeup so casually!”

　　”Okay,” Meng Zhao didn’t bother to argue with her and drove into the driveway, “I have something to do at the moment. I will drop you off near Yuhu Bay in a while. You can take a taxi back.”

　　”Is that the case?” Meng Ruoshu opened her eyes wide, “The internet celebrity one?”

　　”What internet celebrity?”

　　”Isn’t it the case of a man’s dead body dressed as a woman? My roommate just sent me a link, saying that the broadcaster looked like a music blogger. She had also joined the blogger’s fan group. I heard that there’s a fierce discussion going on in the group…”

　　Music blogger? These days, the Internet is sometimes better informed than the police.

　　However, if the identity of the victim could be confirmed so quickly, the case should not be very difficult to solve.

　　Meng Zhao said: “Ask your roommate for the blogger’s homepage address and send it to me.”

　　On the way back, Meng Zhao still took a shortcut and stopped the car near Yuhu Bay. Meng Ruoshu got out of the car, closed the car door and said, “Brother, I sent you the address on my mobile phone.”

　　Just as Meng Zhao was about to respond, he glanced at the rearview mirror and suddenly noticed a figure reflected in the rearview mirror.

　　The man was about the same age as him. At first glance, he looked tall. He had probably just returned from walking his dog. He was wearing casual sportswear and holding a medium-sized dog in his hand. A name flashed in Meng Zhao’s mind. Lu Shichen?

　　Seeing that Meng Zhao had no reaction, Meng Ruoshu followed his gaze and turned back: “What are you looking at?”

　　Only then did Meng Zhao return to his senses, looked away and said, “It’s nothing, go back quickly.”

　　”The homepage address,” Meng Ruoshu tapped the phone screen with her finger, “I’ve sent it to you.”

　　Meng Zhao responded, and when he reversed the car and turned around, he couldn’t help but glance in the direction from earlier. The man was no longer in his sight.

　　It probably wasn’t that person. Meng Zhao thought to himself, besides, hadn’t Lu Shichen gone abroad?

What’s more was that a person who hated dogs would never take a leisurely walk with a dog early in the morning. Furthermore, since they hadn’t seen each other for more than ten years, his impression of Lu Shichen was still from that time in high school. There were so many people coming and going that he couldn’t possibly recognize him at a glance.

　　The quality of sleep in the duty room was indeed average. No wonder, he was having such an outrageous hallucination early in the morning.

　　Meng Zhao clicked on the link sent by Meng Ruoshu, took a quick look at it, and sent it to his colleagues in the city bureau, asking him to help check the blogger’s real identity and current situation.

Chapter 2

　　A police cordon had been set up around the crime scene, and the onlookers were busy discussing the murder.

　　Meng Zhao parked the car on the side of the road and walked towards the crime scene while looking for the surrounding cameras.

　　The residential area had been built too early when the concept of real estate had not become popular. Since it was built, it seemed to have been in a state of self-destruction, not to mention the security measures and cleaning services. Once any house had quality problems, no one knew who to talk to for an explanation.

Therefore, in recent years, all residents who had some savings at hand had tried their best to move to other places. The buildings were empty, and the few remaining residents were eagerly waiting for the government to issue a demolition order so that they could get one or two new houses.

　　Meng Zhao took a quick look and saw that there were only two cameras placed on a row of low walls in front of them. But looking at the weather-beaten appearance, it probably only served as a deterrent better than nothing.

　　Meng Zhao walked near the cordon and was about to take out his ID to confirm his identity to the station police who were assisting in the investigation. Not far away, Cheng Yun, who was looking forward to his arrival, trotted over and said, “This is our Deputy Captain Meng, let him in quickly.”

Cheng Yun handed over a pair of plastic gloves and said, “There is a traffic jam. I thought you would have taken a while to arrive.”

　　Meng Zhao crossed the cordon and walked towards the victim’s location while putting on his gloves. Cheng Yun followed him and introduced the situation to him: “The bodies were discovered by two junior high school students who were going to school this morning. One wanted to hide and scare the other, but he unexpectedly found the body here. He was so frightened that he howled out. The sound attracted all the morning joggers nearby, including an anchor who had come out early in the morning to find filming material. Thus, by the time we got the call and rushed over, the area around the scene had been almost completely destroyed…”

　　In front of the community, there was a round arch door embedded in the mottled protective wall. The door was not too high. Meng Zhao bowed slightly and walked in. Then he turned right. The westernmost corner of the building was where the body was— the location of the crime.

　　There were several abandoned cabinets piled in the corner, and the body was hidden in the blind spot formed by the cabinets and the wall.

　　Meng Zhao approached the victim and squatted down to observe the scene.

　　It was even more shocking to see the deceased’s face at a close distance with heavy makeup smeared on it. The face was bruised and swollen, and several strangulation marks on his neck overlapped each other. There was a large amount of bleeding at the strangulation marks, indicating that he had struggled violently before his death.

　　”Li Jin is still stuck in the traffic.” Cheng Yun said. Li Jin is the head of the forensic department. She usually went out to work on such strange cases. Unfortunately, she had received the news of the case on her way to work today. She was probably stuck in traffic at the moment.

　　”Yeah.” Meng Zhao reached out and picked up the tag on the dress to look at it. The price was 699 yuan, which was not a bargain.

　　He moved the victim’s ankles slightly, and there were large areas of severe wear and tear on the backs of his legs and heels, with the traces extending to the waist of the deceased.

　　Meng Zhao put the victim’s legs back in place, and used his fingers to twist a piece of hair on his trouser leg. It was grey and white, about five centimetres long. Cheng Yun came up to take a look: “It doesn’t look like human hair, does it? Dog hair?”

　　Meng Zhao asked Cheng Yun for a tissue, wrapped the hair and put it in the evidence bag: “See if the anchor is still there. I have something to ask her.”

　　”Oh, got it!”

　　Cheng Yun ran away quickly, while Meng Zhao stared at the victim who was wearing make-up and a dress with malicious intent… It looked like a symbolic approach. Was the murderer a targeting towards a vendetta or was it an indiscriminate revenge on society?