WebNovels

Chapter 105 - Everyone is in danger

When one wonders if their life is safe, many things must be questioned, such as, for example, who should I protect? One must be prepared to protect their loved ones, have the mindset that if things go wrong, we can respond in a firm way.

Larry knew from a very young age that he had to be strong because no one was safe, life was a path of constant danger that would subject him to very tough trials.

Looking at the bones of unidentified people in front of him, his thoughts became colder, his goal of continuing to hunt evil people became stronger, and he told himself that he would carry on.

Who can guarantee that justice was done for those who were murdered?

Larry truly brought justice to the living; at least he would always make sure it was that way, and if he ever made a mistake, when he fulfilled his revenge, he would be willing to pay the consequences.

Larry's statements made all the police officers near the scene quite nervous.

"Look at this." Larry handed the molar to Max, who had put on the gear. "The root of the molar is intact. Judging by the wear, the tip of the tooth is flattened, slightly concave, and the dentin is exposed in some spots. It belongs to the fourth level of wear. The estimated age of this victim is between 25 and 35 years."

Max nodded and crouched down toward the pile of bones. He began carefully measuring the length and diameter of each bone, then started applying the formula. After a while, he got the result. "It is estimated from the statistics that the height of the deceased is between 155 and 160!"

"Female?" Jane subtly asked.

Larry nodded and looked at Max, who seemed somewhat surprised.

"Yes."

"Alright, we have to go down and take a look. Let the plumber show us the way, give him gear so he doesn't contaminate the scene."

Max nodded, turned around to make arrangements, then approached and joined the professional guide the police had hired. "I'll go down with you to take a look."

Larry didn't stop him. After all, personally observing the scene would help solve the case. "Max, if you have pharyngitis, don't go down. Wait for news with Jane up there. Also, go to the municipal department to get the drainage map of this area. I want to know where the water is coming from. Jane, if you're resistant to bad smells, you can come along."

Jane twisted her mouth. Was resistance to smells really an advantage?

Seeing that Larry had already put on a one-piece inspection suit, boots, and latex gloves, she also took the gloves Max gave her and put them on.

The three were ready, and after equipping gas masks, they turned on the lights and began to descend into the well.

The well's ladder was extremely damp and sticky. After passing through the narrowest entrance, the well was quite spacious. After landing, they also lowered the reconnaissance box and the basket to collect bones.

The two followed the worker and walked toward a fork in the passage.

It was Larry's first time visiting this city's underground. He did not expect this place to be similar to an overpass and have different passages.

The central canal was very wide, with a one-meter-wide path on one side that came out of the canal. Maintenance personnel could walk along these paths. Under the light of the headlights, the passage was not completely dark, but the smell of rot remained very strong.

There was a fork in the road ahead. At this fork, debris stuck in the ditch had accumulated in a large area.

The worker pointed to the spot and said in a low voice: "The bones were found here! On the side that had been cleaned."

Larry nodded and looked at the direction of the water flow. "Sir, based on your experience, where did these stuck things come from?"

The worker crouched to observe the direction of the water flow and pointed to the two opposite and right-hand passages. "These two branches could flow into this place."

"Then do you know where these two branches lead?" Jane asked as she lit up the canal.

"Right in front of us is the direction of the pedestrian street. Here, the sediment only needs to be cleaned once in spring. After all, there are many restaurants and the oil content in the wastewater is high, so there's more sediment. The canal on the right comes from the three residential areas on the other side of the street. When they connected to the power grid, the part they built was higher than the main line."

"That's why sometimes the water flows back to the pedestrian street. Both sides often argue over this issue, which has caused us several complaints."

"Then, based on your experience, how long have these bones been dragged here?"

"Are you referring to this pile?"

"Yes."

"It is estimated that these bones on the side have been dragged here for no more than a week. You can see there is no sediment around them, but the bones are long, so they got stuck."

Larry nodded, understanding everything he needed.

Jane had already started searching the excavated area and immediately found something: some ribs.

Larry gave her a thumbs-up and looked at the guide. "Looks like we need to sift the sludge from these two passages. You can organize some people to come work with us! There are over a dozen suits in the car."

Jane didn't try to act brave. She knew the workload would be huge, so she pulled out her phone to organize everything.

The sludge from the two passages was sifted manually. A dozen workers and police officers, along with Larry and others, began the search.

The secondary passage was already very narrow, and there were no paths on the edge. It was necessary to wade through the water to search. It was called water, but the smell wasn't much better. Many police officers were vomiting in the back.

Larry walked in front. Perhaps because this passage led to the community, there was less grease in the sludge, making it more bearable for the senses. Hearing the vomiting coming from the pedestrian street in the distance made them feel much better.

The viscosity of the sludge was astonishing. There were two moments when it seemed their boots had been pulled off, and every step was hard to take. After walking about 150 meters, Larry tripped and fell against the wall. Luckily, Jane, who was next to him, quickly caught him.

Max, who was behind him, exclaimed, "Boss, look at your feet!"

Larry looked down and the light from the headlights immediately illuminated his feet. Due to the commotion, some intestines floated up, but from his perspective, he could see a body underneath.

Larry moved his foot off the body and leaned firmly against the wall to avoid slipping again.

Jane came to help, and the two forcefully pulled the body from the mud. They rinsed the mud with the clearer water from the upper layer.

Larry's eyes lit up, and the full image of the body was revealed.

It was a female corpse, only the hip section, from four fingers above the navel to the entire perineum; the femoral head had not been violently severed and all the sections were located at the joints.

The organs that had come loose belonged to the part cut in the upper body, and the intestines had expanded to about double and had turned light green.

Jane raised a larger evidence bag, but at first glance, it wasn't big enough.

"Bring that basket, lay the evidence bag underneath and come help."

A police officer behind Max approached, clinging to the wall and wading through the water. "I'll do it!"

Larry looked at him and warned, "If you're going to vomit, don't do it near the human remains."

The man nodded, and the three of them worked together to place the remains and the fallen organs into the basket.

Jane looked at Larry with hope that this would be over.

Larry knew she was anxious, but it wasn't a problem that could be solved quickly.

"The deceased is a woman, and the time of death was between 72 and 120 hours ago. The temperature in the sewer is lower than outside, and everything is soaked in water, so the decomposition rate slows down."

"The rest of the body is very large, so it won't be far away. We'll search carefully ahead, especially the area with the manhole cover."

"The bad news is that the bones found earlier and this body part are not from the same deceased."

"Two people?" Jane was surprised by what she heard.

Larry nodded and adjusted his glasses with his right arm. "The previous one had been there for more than a month, and this one for three to five days."

"Alright, send this in, and we'll keep looking," Larry said and kept walking. Just after taking seven or eight steps, he suddenly stopped and slightly lifted his head.

Those behind him unconsciously stopped and stretched their necks to look at Larry's feet.

Not finding anything, Jane took two quick steps, approached Larry, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Why aren't you moving?" Larry raised his hand and pointed to the manhole cover above his head.

"Look, what's that?"

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