Chapter 15

Everything was charred black, with dry ice powder and water stains exposed on the ground. The smell of fire still lingered. Looking up, the ceiling was pitch black, the glass of the mall’s skylight had shattered, leaving it empty and desolate like a ghost town.

“How do we even begin?” Two Technical Police officers from the Trace unit stared at the massive mall, asking with a complete lack of direction.

They had almost never encountered a crime scene this large.

“I… I am truly fucked,” the forensic photographer muttered, raising the camera and snapping a photo of the hall’s doorframe. “I’m probably going to be shooting all day long.”

“Let’s look for signs of arson first. If we rule out deliberate ignition, we just need to cooperate on securing the evidence.” Lu Shimiao prayed silently, then pointed to the escalator. “We’ll climb up from here.”

The building’s entire electrical system had collapsed due to the fire. With no lights, the second floor was shrouded in gray dimness.

The group moved in a grand procession, cautiously making their way up to the second floor.

Wearing a Crime Scene Suit in the middle of summer was like being a bun in a steamer. Lu Shimiao glanced at her watch; barely two minutes had passed, and she felt like she was being steamed alive. By the time she reached the second floor, she was already panting. The dry ice powder on the marble floor was lethally slippery, and the minimal friction of her shoe covers nearly sent her sprawling.

“Be careful, you guys. Get a few Field Operations people to bring up some roving lights and set up lighting on the second floor.”

“Okay.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard movement from the floor above. Alert, she called out toward the third floor: “Is that the Fire Department’s investigation up there?”

“Yes.” Lin Shu, from the Fire Department’s investigation unit, was using a portable ethanol detector to search for accelerants. Hearing the shout, she immediately replied.

This person is a woman?

Lu Shimiao was taken aback.

She almost never encountered female colleagues in the Fire Department outside of Administrative Staff.

And this person’s voice was quite pleasant.

Lu Shimiao thought, then shook her head. No matter how pleasant, it wasn’t as nice as Xue Tong’s.

“How many bodies are up there?” Lu Shimiao hurried toward the third floor. “The Forensic Doctor won’t be here for another ten minutes or so.”

“The current count is three. The fire escape routes haven’t been fully checked yet.” Lin Shu’s fireproof Goggles were pressed down over her investigation suit, her entire form wrapped meticulously. Even so, one could still see her attractive eyes beneath the protective glasses.

Lin Shu stepped past two charred, ruined corpses, her gaze fixed on the doorframe area, paying no attention to the horrifying grimaces frozen on the bodies on the ground.

In contrast, when Lu Shimiao reached the third floor to meet Lin Shu and entered the scene, her eyes immediately fell upon the corpses.

The jawbone of one body had fractured, skull fragments scattered around, the skin carbonized black. Its death-struggle contortions were frozen in place, clothing fused seamlessly with the skin. The chest cavity had burned through, exposing internal organs the color of cooked pork liver.

Lu Shimiao felt the bodies on the ground were as fragile as a block of instant noodle cake, ready to crumble into dust at the slightest touch.

The smell of burned subcutaneous fat still lingered, similar to beef and leather roasting in an oven. The odor permeated the air outside her protective suit; even breathing through a mask, she could feel the agony of that roasting heat in every inhale.

Of all crime scenes, fire scenes were the ones she hated the most.

Even though Lu Shimiao had mentally prepared herself thoroughly, she was still uncontrollably gripped by a moment of dread, unable to snap back to attention immediately.

“Fire Brigade Forensic Unit Leader, Lin Shu.” Lin Shu walked up to Lu Shimiao. Since both were wearing gloves, a handshake was impractical; they could only nod in greeting.

“Public Security, Criminal Techniques—Lu Shimiao.” Lu Shimiao tore her gaze from the bodies and focused on Lin Shu. “What’s the current situation?”

“Let me give you some general initial assessments first.” Lin Shu gestured to the surrounding area, then pulled out an investigation checklist, speaking rapidly.

“The aluminum alloy windows have melted, confirming temperatures exceeded 670 degrees Celsius. The infrared thermal imager has already scanned the area; these four square meters show the highest heat exposure. I’ve experimentally cut four residual sample specimens. This should give us a basic picture of the fire pattern traces.”

Lu Shimiao listened, circling around to observe her own position.

She and Lin Shu were standing inside the kitchen of a restaurant unit. Two bodies were located in the corner. The area Lin Shu indicated perfectly encompassed the position of those bodies.

A fire in a single enclosed space would lead to high temperatures, but how could the affected area be this vast?

“The ethanol detector picked up evidence of a massive explosion in this area. Based on fire pattern analysis, it should have originated from a gas pipeline rupture and detonation first.” Lin Shu gestured toward the area behind her. “But there’s a similarly located point of origin on the second floor.”

Multiple points of origin… Lu Shimiao immediately went on high alert. “There are no restaurants on the second floor, right? Have you been able to determine the cause of ignition up there yet?”

“Let me check.” Lin Shu picked up her Walkie-talkie and called out: “Second floor, what’s the situation?”

Lu Shimiao heard only the muffled voice through the mask coming from the Walkie-talkie: “Four points of origin identified. Estimated time of ignition roughly identical. Mainly located inside clothing stores on the east and west sides. Explosive residue awaiting lab analysis. Visual assessment suggests ethanol-based accelerant.”

Officer Lu frowned. She also pulled out her Walkie-talkie to contact her colleagues: “Have the Forensic Doctor prioritize identifying the bodies on the second floor. My preliminary assessment is that the victims up here died after the fire broke out.”

Lin Shu looked at Lu Shimiao. “We’ve only conducted an environmental survey. We’ll need a large-scale clearing of ash and water residue from the scene before we can follow up on specifics.”

“Have you inspected the fire suppression equipment?” Lu Shimiao urgently needed to classify the case.

“The fire equipment wasn’t tampered with; all of it was in operable condition.” As she spoke, Lin Shu pointed to a fire hose reel lying near a body. “Look, she even tried to save herself.”

“Alright.” Lu Shimiao nodded. “Continue the investigation. We need a direction for the detective work as soon as possible.”

Every police specialty had its professional focus.

Lin Shu investigated the dynamics of the fire itself.

Lu Shimiao investigated the traces left at the scene by people.

One investigated for the fire.

One investigated for the persons involved.

The two fell silent and began their work. Lin Shu continued her explosive compound analysis.

Meanwhile, Lu Shimiao mapped out an investigation transit route on the third floor, laying down indicator placards along the path to facilitate their colleagues’ entry.

Five minutes later, the Forensic Doctor’s voice crackled over the team’s Walkie-talkie:

“Little Lu, Specimen Body 01 shows signs of post-mortem burning. Death occurred before the fire. We can confirm it’s time to escalate to the Serious Crime Unit.”

Lu Shimiao looked up at her watch: July 18th, 10:20 AM.

She sighed heavily, pulled out her Walkie-talkie, and switched it to the external frequency to address the City Bureau’s Boss: “Report. Preliminary scene investigation reveals signs of deliberate arson. Requesting immediate case escalation to a Major Criminal Case.”

Just like that.

The City Criminal Police Unit’s 718 Arson Serious Crime Unit was officially formed the moment Lu Shimiao ended that transmission.

—

7:45 PM.

The mall was brightly lit. The perimeter cordon had not yet been removed. Specialist officers from various departments had rushed to the scene and joined the 718 Serious Crime Unit. The Team Leader was Li Siting, head of the City Criminal Police Unit’s First Squadron’s Serious Crime group. He was in the first-floor lobby alongside representatives from the Procuratorate, Fire Department, and Business Administration bureau, formulating the investigative strategy.

Lu Shimiao was immediately promoted to Forensic Unit Leader for the Major Crimes squad. The Procuratorate’s forensic investigators, the Fire Department’s forensic investigators, and the Forensic Doctor’s forensic investigators were all under her authority, busily collecting trace evidence.

Lu Shimiao laboriously lifted her head and rolled her neck.

Inside her Crime Scene Suit, she was drenched in sweat. She had changed her protective face shield multiple times. Her colleagues taking photographs around her had already gone through two memory cards full of images.

Looking around, the scene specimens had already exceeded 500 items. Two large boxes of folding evidence markers had already been used up. The evidence storage bins were piled high and stuffed full.

“Will we be able to finish tonight?” The forensic photographer shook his aching hand. “If we don’t finish soon, the camera’s gonna burn out.”

“You’re complaining? Look how many footprint casts Team Lead Lu has made. The plaster casts are making me want to puke.” A colleague held a measuring tape, assisting the photographer in gauging and documenting suspected trace marks.

“The Field Operations Team just said the police interrogation rooms are jammed with over 200 mall employees getting questioned one by one. I heard Brother Zhu’s voice has gone completely hoarse from shouting.” The photographer shook his head, focused the lens on the measurement scale, and pressed the shutter. “This incident is too huge; it’s already trending online.”

“How much area do you have left?” Lu Shimiao’s back simply couldn’t hold out any longer. She supported her lower back with both hands, walking along the investigation access lane toward her colleagues.

“Ten square meters.” The photographer was full of bitterness, complaining: “Those Procuratorate people won’t lift a finger to help, they just walk around with a notepad and pen.”

Lu Shimiao checked her wristwatch. Nine hours had passed, and no one had eaten yet. A little complaining was only natural. “Are you hungry? I’ll go buy you all some food.”

“Don’t buy anything black. Just looking at cola gives me a headache right now,” the colleague instructed.

“Alright.” Lu Shimiao mentally counted the investigation personnel currently working in the hall: a full 21 people.

She frantically recited the number in her head, terrified that her brain might get confused and forget how many servings of food to buy, forcing her to make a wasted trip.

Many police cars were still parked outside the mall. The road had remained blocked since morning. It was deserted except for a few Community Police comrades standing guard.

Lu Shimiao strode quickly past the cordon line and started removing her protective hood.

Her sweat-drenched hair looked like she had just walked through a torrential downpour. Several rivulets of sweat pooled on the ground, forming a sizable puddle. A gust of wind struck her, causing a sharp pain in her temples and an involuntary shiver.

“I warned you about this problem before.” Xue Tong was walking quickly toward her, holding a clean T-shirt, her brow furrowed tightly. “Don’t take off your Crime Scene Suit outdoors!”

Lu Shimiao, who had been muttering the headcount to herself, was so startled by Xue Tong’s cold reprimand that her mind went blank. She looked back, searching for the figure in the darkness, and only then realized Xue Tong had stepped out of a police car.

The summer night wind was sticky and oppressive. The moment Xue Tong left the car, the hot air clung to her, suffocatingly damp.

Then she saw Lu Shimiao, drenched from head to toe, daring to stand in the drafty corridor intersection taking off her hood, getting chills from this kind of hot wind.

She had a death wish.

Lu Shimiao saw the irritation mixed in Xue Tong’s expression and looked down at her half-removed suit.

She truly hadn’t followed the contamination control protocols for removing a Crime Scene Suit at a fire scene. But there was no one around! Wasn’t Xue Tong being way too strict with her?

“Sorry,” Lu Shimiao quickly began to pull the suit back on, stepping backward.

“What are you sorry for?” Xue Tong stopped right in front of her. Seeing Lu Shimiao retreat, she reached out without a second word and pulled the person directly before her.

She pulled a tissue from her pocket and pressed it against Lu Shimiao’s forehead, slightly displeased. “Why are you so willing to say sorry all the time?”

“I thought you were going to scold me.” Lu Shimiao relaxed her posture, her voice sounding utterly exhausted.

Xue Tong crossed her arms over her chest. She thought of the phone call from the psychologist this morning.

She pursed her lips, deliberated for a long moment, and then said slowly: “Lu Shimiao, I just don’t want you to catch a cold. You know exactly what happens if you catch a cold at a critical moment, right?”