Chapter 46: Reward! The Leatherworker!

According to Chen Songshi's original plan, the boatman's entire family was supposed to be killed.

However, during the operation, Chen Songshi caught sight of the baby girl, and his heart softened.

It wasn't out of any great kindness, but rather because it reminded him of his seriously ill younger sister.

He wanted to accumulate some hidden virtue for his sister, hoping she would recover as soon as possible.

Furthermore!

During the execution, one of the members was ambushed and injured by a bodyguard.

In their anger, the twins ended up torturing that bodyguard to death.

This was precisely why the forensic pathologist discovered numerous fractures and physical injuries on the bodyguard's charred corpse.

In addition to that!

Disagreements had also arisen within the team regarding the one billion in gold vouchers.

Chen Songshi's original plan was to rob only ten million, using the one billion in gold vouchers merely as a smokescreen.

However!

Seeing how smoothly Liu Furen had been kidnapped and how the police had failed to locate them for a long time, someone in the gang grew greedy for the one billion.

The robbed wealth already amounted to over two million per person, far exceeding expectations.

Yet with one billion, each person could receive nearly two hundred million.

These were completely different magnitudes!

Ultimately, however, the greed of the members was suppressed by Chen Songshi and the older twin brother.

This was because Chen Songshi had researched that, since modern times, almost all bandits involved in kidnapping and extortion had been caught.

And that was back when surveillance was underdeveloped and police technical capabilities were extremely poor.

With the conditions of 2012, pulling off a clean getaway after taking one billion in gold vouchers was simply too difficult.

"This Chen Songshi is truly not simple.

Not to mention his high intelligence, what's even rarer is his self-awareness.

He was actually able to restrain his own greed!"

Smart and self-restrained—that was what made him terrifying.

Still, the kidnapping case had a significant impact on him.

After all, he had previously been just an ordinary student. Now, having killed four people, it must have dealt a heavy psychological blow to him.

Following the distribution of the money, his sister's illness was successfully cured.

Yet he dropped out of school!

He returned to his hometown, built plastic greenhouses, grew his sister's favorite strawberries, and stayed by her side.

Kiko: "( •̥́ ˍ •̀ू )

Chen Songshi was right. Everyone has to pay the price for what they do.

Liu Furen paid the price with his life for the accident back then.

After the kidnapping case, Chen Songshi's mindset was affected, and he paid the price of a bright future.

Now, he's going to pay an even greater price!"

Guan Hongyu: "I actually used to think Liu Furen was a good person, and I even felt a bit regretful when he died!

I never expected that he wasn't clean either."

Jigsaw: "The only difference between certain bosses and murderers is that they wear the disguise of a 'corporation,' using rules and regulations to kill instead of cleavers, axes, or hammers.

With this disguise, they cause people to die without having to pay with their own lives, and can even go unpunished and walk away unscathed.

That's not fair!"

Seeing that the discussion was about to veer into cynicism, Guan Hongfeng changed the subject:

"This case can be considered resolved.

The previous doubts—such as why the criminals didn't kill the boatman's family, why they didn't take the one billion in gold vouchers, and the meaning of the '冂' character—have all been explained.

Now the only remaining mystery is the meaning of the black little flower imprint on the cement pool in the copper-smelting plant!"

Qin Feng from Detective Chinatown: "That's right!

Although the case has been solved and this clue isn't as crucial anymore, I'm still quite curious."

Shen Ting actually already had a vague answer, but he still contacted Director Ma for confirmation.

Upon receiving a hint from Shen Ting, Director Ma stopped viewing the ten-petaled 'little flower' as an actual flower.

After expert identification, it was confirmed to be a strawberry hull!

Naturally, Director Ma was extremely surprised by this.

Over the phone, he repeatedly asked Shen Ting how he managed to figure out that it was a strawberry hull.

Shen Ting then instructed the interrogation officers to verify this with the three suspects.

They had indeed eaten strawberries at the Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant.

Chen Songshi had bought them for his sister, but because she was too sick to eat them at the time, he brought them to the smelting plant and ate them there together.

Liu Furen must have secretly collected the strawberry hulls and, while being poured over with molten copper, protected them in the palm of his hand to leave evidence for the police.

Shen Ting shared this deduction with the chat group members, and everyone felt a deep sense of emotion.

Liu Furen was also a ruthless man; being able to become a billionaire meant he truly wasn't ordinary.

The agony of being poured over with molten copper is unimaginable, yet even under those circumstances, he still managed to leave behind a clue.

That kind of relentless grit is something ordinary people simply cannot match.

...

"This case is practically wrapped up!"

Shen Ting stated directly: "Time to distribute the rewards!"

[Congratulations to the host, you have successfully solved the Luohe Kidnapping Case in four and a half days.

The five-day time limit requirement has been met!

Reward distribution is commencing...]

[Reward One: Ten basic case-solving skill points.

The host's performance was exceptionally outstanding, granting an additional five bonus skill points.

Total accumulated skill points: 15!]

[Reward Two: Deceased's Gift, Enterprise Management - Top Tier.

Deceased's Gift, Driving Skills - Top Tier!

Deceased's Gift, Jeet Kune Do - Top Tier!

Deceased's Gift, Sanda - Top Tier!]

As many as 15 skill points awarded, with a full 50% bonus on top—not bad at all!

Shen Ting was very satisfied.

His remaining skill points now totaled 17.

Although not a huge amount, it was plenty for now!

As for the deceased's gifts...

Enterprise management obviously came from Liu Furen.

Driving skills naturally came from the driver.

Jeet Kune Do and Sanda came from the two bodyguards.

The crucial part was that they were all top-tier!

To learn these skills from scratch up to the top tier would definitely cost tens or hundreds of thousands, not to mention requiring a massive investment of time.

And now, Shen Ting had mastered them instantly.

"After solving a case, every deceased person can grant me a gift.

Does that mean solving serial murder cases offers the highest cost-effectiveness?

However, the difficulty of serial murder cases must also be extremely high!"

Shen Ting couldn't help but think of the human-skin shoes from the National Highway Skull-Crushing Case.

"I wonder how the identification is going, whether it has been confirmed as human skin."

The forensics lab had been completely buried in the Luohe Kidnapping Case lately, so they probably hadn't had much energy to examine those shoes.

Letting his thoughts wander, Shen Ting looked over at the case-solving chat group.

The system was also issuing rewards, though it was doing so in the name of the group owner—which was Shen Ting.

It had even taken Shen Ting's previous suggestion and publicly displayed everyone's contribution rankings.

Group Owner: "Calculating group members' contributions for this case..."

Group Owner: "Contribution calculation complete!

For this case, contribution values are divided into three tiers.

The highest contributor is Yoshikage Kira.

Followed by Guan Hongfeng, Shen Xu, Jigsaw, and Hannibal.

Followed by the rest of the group members.

The greater the contribution to solving the case, the better the reward!

Rewards are being distributed..."]

Yoshikage Kira had deduced the criminal's method of discarding the vehicle and, alongside Jigsaw and Hannibal, located the disposal site.

Bringing a breakthrough to the case, his contribution was naturally the highest.

Team Leader Guan had proposed the line of thought for finding Liu Furen's body and the killer.

Shen Xu had assisted in confirming the peculiarities of the Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant and the graveyard.

Their contributions were on par with Jigsaw and Hannibal.

The other members had relatively smaller contributions.

[Reward distribution is commencing...]

Peeking behind the scenes, Shen Ting saw that Yoshikage Kira received a bow and arrow that could temporarily unlock Killer Queen's fourth ability.

He couldn't help but worry for Josuke Higashikata; would Josuke actually get beaten to death by Yoshikage Kira?

What Team Leader Guan received was once again medication to cure his fear of the dark, but the medicine's duration increased from one day previously to one full week.

Hannibal received a recipe once again!

The system's rewards were custom-tailored based on personal preferences and needs.

Hannibal had received recipes both times, which showed his obsession with culinary arts.

The rewards for everyone else were also things they individually desired and needed.

Shen Xu, who had just joined the group for this case, was clearly surprised:

"There are actually rewards after solving a case?

Pills that enhance observational powers? Interesting, though a pity they can only be used three times!"

Kiko: "(,,•́ . •̀,,)

I only got a big mouse this time. Although it's pretty useful, it's way worse than last time!

I need to keep up the good work!

Group Owner Boss, when is the next case? I can't wait!

(◔◡◔)!"

Qin Feng from Detective Chinatown: "Another stuttering medication that only lasts for one day.

Next case, I... I need to work hard too to get a more efficient medicine."

Tang Ren: "Why is it photos again?

I want fragrant bath videos~~

╰_╯╬"

...

The temptation of rewards really was effective!

Watching the group members get hooked by the rewards until they practically grinned from ear to ear, Shen Ting smiled knowingly and plunged into the busy work of case closure.

Up until now, it had all been the process of investigating the case.

Once the investigation concluded, one needed to straighten out the logical chain and evidentiary chain, compile a complete case report, and submit it to the procuratorate before the case could be considered officially closed.

This was the most tedious and grueling work, even more painful than staying up late to investigate.

If investigation was like cooking a dish!

Then closing a case was grocery shopping, picking vegetables, washing them, and chopping them all up!

As a consultant, Shen Ting technically wasn't required to handle this part of the work.

Other tasks could be handed over to Xu Xinyi and the others.

But the spore and pollen identification report was something no one else could substitute for him; he had to complete it personally.

The knowledge points used during the identification process, the basis for determining pollen types, and even the references utilized all had to be cited as meticulously as possible.

Nearly a week after the case was solved, the case-closure paperwork was finally finished!

Evening!

Off-duty time!

Shen Ting left the Chaoyang Public Security Bureau right on schedule.

Facing the orange-pink sunset filling the sky, Shen Ting glanced at the crystal bracelet on his wrist and smiled:

"It's time to return the bracelet to Teacher Xiao Gao.

And time to treat her to a meal!"

He hopped onto his electric scooter and launched off...

"Shen Ting, wait!"

Huh?

Shen Ting turned his head at the sound; it was Captain Zheng Yuanqiao?

"Captain Zheng, something up?"

Holding an identification report, Zheng Yuanqiao walked quickly to Shen Ting's side and smiled:

"That clue you provided earlier has been confirmed.

The material of Song Xiaoqian's leather shoes really is human skin!"

Though he had expected it long ago, Shen Ting's expression still tightened as he took the report.

Flipping through it briefly, he saw the final conclusion right away—

The shoe leather materials were entirely human skin!

And they were human skin from more than one person!

The forensics and pathology labs collaborated on the identification and preliminarily estimated that skin from at least three different human beings had been used!

All taken from soft areas such as the thighs, abdomen, and face.

Shen Ting's scalp instantly went numb.

With at least three victims, this was no longer an ordinary murder case; it was likely a serial murder case indeed!

The criminal was probably of the same type as Hannibal, Yoshikage Kira, and Jigsaw!

"Captain Zheng, is this case currently under investigation?

Can I participate?"

"It's estimated that the investigation will be reopened..."

As Zheng Yuanqiao spoke, he suddenly remembered that Shen Ting had just arrived at the bureau and didn't know about this case yet.

He sighed and patiently explained:

"Shen Ting, this actually isn't the first time human skin products have been discovered in Dajing.

Human-skin hats, human-skin gloves, human-skin scarves, and other items had been found in other districts previously.

Each item came from the skin of two to five different humans.

This case can be traced as far back as eight years ago!

It mainly took place in the neighboring Xinyi District!

Last year, I even participated in the joint crackdown campaign!

Unfortunately, the criminal hasn't been brought to justice to this day.

For criminals with such horrifying crimes who operate over long periods of time, we sometimes assign them a codename.

This criminal's codename is—the Skinner..."