"Cutting off fingers, huh..." Lin Qiye mused.
Many mysterious beings have perverse hobbies. For example, the masked man would first gnaw on the face of a murderer until it was blurry before eating the rest of the body.
A creature that likes to cut off people's fingers... He'd never heard of such a thing before.
"Where's the bloodstains at the scene?" Lin Qiye pondered for a moment, then looked up and asked.
"There wasn't much blood left at the scene; most of it was from bleeding caused by the severed fingers. The blood flowed from the wall to the floor, as documented in the photos."
Xiao Hei bent down, picked up two photos from next to the number plate, and handed them to Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye examined it carefully for a while, then frowned slightly. "Strange..."
"What's wrong?"
"Don't you think the amount of bleeding is a bit small?" Lin Qiye pointed to the bloodstains in the photo, which were only on the wall and a small pool under the deceased's body.
"There aren't that many blood vessels connected to a person's finger, so even if it's severed, it won't cause a massive arterial hemorrhage. It's understandable that there isn't much blood," Xiao Hei said.
Lin Qiye narrowed his eyes but remained silent.
"Anyway, let's take a look at that video camera first. It might be the only clue we can find that 'mysterious' creature." Wen Qimo led Lin Qiye into the tavern, and Xiao Hei took out a video camera from the evidence bag and handed it to the two of them.
Turn on the VCR, and the video will start playing.
The first thing that catches the eye is a greasy man with a receding hairline, curiously fiddling with a video camera, his cheeks flushed slightly, looking like he's had too much to drink.
"This is the tavern owner. They were having a party the night before last, it was quite a lively affair," Xiao Hei explained from the side.
The tavern owner seemed to have figured out the video camera, holding it in his hand and filming the lively scene of the entire party. It must be said that the party was indeed very well organized, with many guests attending, and many of them were young and beautiful girls.
"The next few hours were just unimportant footage of the party; you can skip to the later parts." Xiao Hei pressed the fast-forward button.
The party ended quickly, leaving the tavern in a mess. The owner took down the video camera; his face was flushed, indicating he had drunk quite a bit, and he was even walking unsteadily.
It was for this reason that he absentmindedly tossed the video recorder onto the bar, forgetting to turn it off or even stop recording. He briefly explained a few words to the waiter, Sun Xiao, before staggering out the door.
For the next half hour, Sun Xiao was cleaning up the tavern.
Suddenly, the video camera's screen began to fluctuate strangely, as if it were being interfered with by something, flickering between bright and dark before finally plunging into complete darkness.
Lin Qiye frowned, looked up at Xiao Hei, who shook his head, indicating that he should continue watching.
The screen went black for about ten seconds, then the image reappeared. The camera's angle seemed to have shifted slightly—no, the entire bar counter's angle had shifted slightly, as if something had bumped into it.
The footage shows the backyard through the door leading to it, but the backyard is open-air and dark without any lights. So, while the tavern is brightly lit, the backyard in the distance is somewhat blurry.
But that doesn't prevent them from seeing what's going to happen next.
Sun Xiao, dressed as a waitress, was seen being held down by an unseen force and pressed against the backyard wall, as if someone had grabbed her by the throat and was slowly being lifted into the air.
His limbs flailed wildly in mid-air, as if he were struggling.
Immediately afterwards, iron nails sprang up from the ground in the distance and plunged into his body, pinning him to the wall. Sun Xiao opened his mouth wide, as if howling in pain.
Although the distance was great and the lighting was poor, making it difficult to see details from the camera's angle, they could still see that Sun Xiao's fingers seemed to get shorter and shorter until they disappeared completely.
Then, the last nail flew up and pierced directly into Sun Xiao's heart.
Sun Xiao's body trembled, and he lowered his head, remaining motionless.
A minute or two later, the screen went completely dark, presumably because the camera's battery had run out after a long recording session.
After watching the video, Lin Qiye walked to the spot where the video camera had been placed and looked towards the backyard, seemingly deep in thought.
Something's not right...
Wen Qimo and Xiao Hei exchanged a glance. "Something's not right?"
"In the video, the deceased's fingers weren't severed all at once, but disappeared little by little... However, the autopsy report stated that his fingers were smoothly cut off by some kind of sharp instrument."
Wen Qimo pondered for a moment, "The scene is too far away; we can't see all the details. Perhaps it was done with a knife, like slicing a carrot, cutting off the finger bit by bit until it reached the base?"
"What about the finger?" Lin Qiye narrowed his eyes. "Where did the severed finger go?"
"Perhaps it was eaten?"
"Like eating steak, cutting off a piece and taking a bite?" Lin Qiye shook his head. "If that's the case, this mysterious one is far too romantic."
Then, Lin Qiye asked again, "What time did the party end last night?"
"2:30 a.m."
"The timing matches..." Lin Qiye pondered for a moment, "Are there any security cameras nearby?"
"The only security camera is at the street corner on the east side, but it can only capture the exterior of the pub from a distance, not inside. We've reviewed the footage, but during the time of the incident, no other suspicious individuals approached."
"Judging from the footage, the deceased was shouting. Did any residents in the vicinity hear him? Could this information help determine the exact time of death?"
Xiao Hei shook his head. "This area is all commercial. At the time of the incident, all the shops were closed, and there was nobody around."
Lin Qiye fell into deep thought again.
For some reason, he felt that... this incident was strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was strange about it.
He needs more information and more thought.
"In any case, it's now confirmed that a 'mysterious' creature is roaming around here. Based on the video footage, we can deduce some of its characteristics," Wen Qimo said.
"Possesses the ability to become invisible or manipulate objects, enjoys severing people's fingers, and can have a minor impact on surrounding electronic devices."
Wen Qimo sighed, "This scope is too broad. I wonder how long it will take to filter out the 'mysterious' items that meet these criteria..."
Just then, Lin Qiye seemed to have thought of something and spoke again:
"Didn't you say there were three other similar cases before? Where are the relevant case files?"
"The previous three cases didn't reveal any 'mysterious' characteristics, so they were all handled by the local police station and investigated as ordinary serial murder cases. We also have the relevant files; I'll show them to you in a bit," Wen Qimo said.
Lin Qiye thought for a moment, "If possible, I'd like to see their bodies myself."