The Snake’s Proposal (4)
“One of the shoes was missing, so we were looking for it.”
Snap- Snap-
As if he was accustomed to corpses, the Team Leader was casually hanging around and taking pictures.
He was taking photos because we needed to leave the evidence as intact as possible until the forensic investigation team came to remove the body.
Mong-Doo passed over a mask for me to wear.
“A report came in about a corpse some time after lunch. Some grade-schoolers were playing with a ball nearby when they found it.”
“Looking at the body’s condition, it seems like it’s been a day or two since he drowned.”
“Aren’t there too many wounds on the exterior for that? These are the marks of a physical assault.”
“Especially this. The depression in the occipital region here.”
Black pointed his finger at the back of the corpse’s head.
Although I couldn’t see it very well from where I was standing.
“There are traces of being struck here, but it’s hard to see while it’s swollen from the water.”
The three of them put their heads together and examined the state of the corpse from head to toe.
My brows were furrowed, but no one seemed to notice.
“Although we’ll need an autopsy to know for sure, there’s a good chance this is a homicide.”
“First we’ll need to see if the background check works out. Since his fingerprints are ruined.”
“Get me a copy of the latest missing persons report.”
“Yes.”
Although the body had become swollen, the features hadn’t collapsed.
Aside from the clothes that had been stained by foreign substances, the hair and facial hair were in a clean and tidy state. That meant he couldn’t have been a wandering homeless person or the victim of an organ harvesting.
If there weren’t any issues, they would probably be able to identify him soon.
“It looks like he was carried here by the river current, right? So the actual crime scene should be somewhere else.”
“Until the autopsy results from the National Forensics Institute comes out, let’s start by focussing on checking his identity.
“Okay. Oi, Newbie. Are you okay?”
“Yes? Ah, yes. I’m fine.”
Since I was standing there silently, it must have created the false impression that I was feeling unwell.
Of course that might have been part of it, but I just couldn’t tear my eyes away from the corpse’s head trauma.
From the skin that has collapsed inwards and the pale, blood-drained flesh surrounding it.
While frowning, I asked.
“Team Leader. About the wound on the back of his head. By any chance, could you tell what kind of weapon caused it?”
“The murder weapon? Hm. Give me a sec.”
Team Leader, who was seated in a squat, nodded his head.
He might not be a coroner, but he was someone who had seen countless corpses during his career.
That meant he was able to make a rough guess by drawing on his accumulated knowledge and experience.
“Unlike a knife’s sharp profile, it looks like it was made by something that was heavy and narrow. If I had to give an example-”
The end of Team Leader’s sentence suddenly cut off, as if he couldn’t think of the word he was looking for.
Unable to withstand the short silence, I blurted out.
Like a hammer?”
“That’s right. A hammer. That’s it exactly.”
“Wow, newbie. How did you guess?”
This was the corpse Ma Eun-Tae was talking about.
He was serious when he said that it would be discovered soon.
It looked like that bastard also knew how the body had ended up here and where it had come from.
It seemed that the person he had placed in the Fork Gang had found themselves in quite an important position.
They must be one of Song Dae-Ak’s right-hand men if they could retrieve the hammer from the aftermath of the murder.
“-Newbie?”
I wordlessly handed Black the paper bag.
Inside was the hammer that was covered in blood.
He gave me a curious look.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a hammer. The murder weapon for this corpse.”
“What?”
Black froze just as he was reaching in to grab the hammer.
Both Mong-Doo, who was scribbling something in his notebook, and the Team Leader, who was still circling the corpse, turned to look at me.
Then even the other investigators in the vicinity followed suit.
The members of my team furtively edged closer to me and loudly whispered.
“-just what is that supposed to mean?”
“No way. Did you kill him, newbie?”
Was he messing with me?
However Black’s eyes looked serious.
For someone like this to be my senior.
With a sigh, I shook my head.
“That’s not it, instead…”