A shocking murder case occurred in SaltTown.

Early in the morning.

The female owner of Room 1204 was sound asleep. It was a quiet and chilly weekend with misty surroundings and mild sunshine. Covered by a thin blanket, she felt neither too cold nor too warm, making it the perfect time for sleeping in.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

The rhythmic sound of chopping meat gradually drilled into the female owner's ears. Perhaps due to her body clock, her sleep would gradually become lighter at this time. The "knock, knock, knock" sound entered her ears and naturally became louder and louder until it woke her up.

The female owner covered her head with the blanket, turned over a few times, and finally couldn't bear it anymore. She uttered a classic curse and then opened her phone to @ her upstairs neighbor in the owners' group: "Your family was noisy all night yesterday, the sound of shoes rubbing against the floor kept me up until the early hours of the morning. And now, early in the morning, you are chopping pork ribs again. Can't we have a peaceful weekend and sleep in peace?"

Perhaps the upstairs neighbor didn't check their phone. After half an hour, not only did the chopping sound not stop, but even the sound of bones being broken could be heard clearly.

The female owner was infuriated and cursed in the group: "The more I tell you, the more you act up? Who are you? I'll ask the property management to talk to you."

The chopping sound stopped quickly. After a while, the male owner of Room 1304 replied in the group: "Miss, please calm down. I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

The female owner was looking for the property management phone number, but after seeing the message, her anger subsided by half. She was still hesitant about whether to contact the property management when the male owner upstairs sent another message in the group: "I drank too much and wasn't paying attention."

Immediately afterwards, a homeowner named Sophie also sent a message in the group: "Is there any neighbor who wants to adopt a kitten? I'm relocating for work and want to entrust my kitten to a caring neighbor."

Whether intentional or not, Sophie appeared at just the right time and successfully diverted the attention of the conflicting parties, especially with the adorable photos of the cute little kittens, completely eliminating the last trace of anger in the female owner's heart.

"Forget it, let's go back to sleep," the female owner said in the group.

Immediately after, a message from the male owner popped up on the phone screen:

"I was just chopping up my girlfriend."

Both the WhatsApp group and the disturbed female owner fell into a dead silence. People seemed to be frightened by the male owner's casual remark, while also suspecting whether what he said was true or false, and whether he intentionally said it to intimidate the female owner downstairs.

Not long after, a photo from the male owner appeared on the screen.

In the photo, the first thing that catches the eye is a shiny white bone chopper. The wide back of the blade gives off a sense of heavy power, and it is being held by a man's hand. There are obvious bloodstains on the sharp edge of the knife. The blade occupies one-third of the picture, and behind it is clearly half of a female body. The half body is wearing a light gray cotton T-shirt, which has been cut off at the waist. The rough cut marks at the cut-off point are clearly visible. Through the cut-off point, you can see that the body cavity is empty, and there is nothing above it. On both sides from the shoulder position downwards, there is also nothing. Half of the body is on the chopping board, and the other half is on the kitchen floor. The kitchen floor has been washed with water, and there are a few strands of black hair and clear bloodstains scattered on the damp floor.

Soon, the whole community was filled with the sound of men's roars and women's screams, and even the sound of doors slamming shut.

Police cars drove into the community and parked directly below the crime scene. The police officers looked grave as they walked to the entrance, but before they could even enter the building, a black plastic bag, tightly tied and heavy with contents, fell from the sky and landed on the ground in front of them.

When they opened the bag, they found neatly cut and arranged chunks of meat.

The detectives looked up and saw a man standing on the balcony, waving to them as if greeting them. The plastic bag was thrown down from the suspect's own balcony. This man waving to the detectives was none other than the suspect.

Before the detectives could respond, the suspect had climbed over the balcony railing and then, with arms open, jumped.

The suspect's name is LEE, 36 years old, with no fixed occupation. The crime scene, unit 1304, was registered under the suspect's name. According to preliminary clues, the suspect and the victim should have been in a romantic relationship and had just moved into the Baitu community less than a month ago. Neighbors near unit 1304 said that the two often quarreled, and the day before the incident, they had a loud argument. The crime scene was on the sofa in the living room of unit 1304, and the crime occurred at around midnight today. The suspect is believed to have slit the victim's throat while they were asleep and then dismembered the body in the kitchen. Therefore, the resident of unit 1204 downstairs only heard the sound of shoes scraping on the floor and what seemed to be the sound of chopping ribs, but no other noises.

In the conference room, detective Wuben stood in front of the screen, pointing to the constantly changing images and giving a brief introduction of the case.

"The victim is female, name unknown, age unknown, occupation unknown."

As expected, the room immediately filled with whispers and murmurs. A day had passed and the crime scene investigation team had only turned in such a brief report?

Captain Marco of the detective squad was short, sturdy, and dark-skinned, with small eyes that made it hard to tell whether they were open or closed when he wasn't speaking.

Captain Marco signaled for everyone to be quiet and said expressionlessly, "I heard something today. Our second-hand housing market in SaltTown suddenly had over a hundred new listings in a single day, all of them from the BaiTu neighborhood."

"BaiTu neighborhood" was like a virus that silently infiltrated millions of homes, spreading far and wide throughout the city.

"The suspect dismembered his girlfriend's body, cut it into pieces, and put it in a bag, which he then threw down from the balcony in broad daylight, right at the feet of the investigators. What was the suspect trying to do? Was he welcoming us, provoking us, or mocking us? Or is he simply a perverted psychopath? These are not my words, but the words of the residents in the Bai Tu community and the general public."

"The severity of the Bai Tu case is unprecedented and terrifying. There are all kinds of rumors spreading throughout the city. Some say it was a crime of passion, some say it was a revenge killing, some say it started as a robbery but turned into a rape and murder, and some even say that there is a serial killer on the loose in Bai Tu. In short, rumors are flying everywhere and people are scared. The residents of Bai Tu are too afraid to live there anymore, and they are all trying to sell their houses."

"The city requires the bureau to release an official announcement as soon as possible to clarify the situation. What does "clarify the situation" mean? It simply means to close the case as soon as possible, give the owners of Baitu Community a satisfactory reply so that they think they don't have to sell their houses, and give the general public an explanation."

"But what about us? What are we doing? Up until now, besides knowing that the victim was a woman, we don't know anything else."

The meeting room fell silent, everyone holding their breath.

Captain Marco's anger still lingered, he opened his small eyes and scanned the room with a sharp gaze, and asked, "Where is Simon?"

Simon is the head of the criminal investigation team, and it was his responsibility to lead the team to conduct field investigations for the "Baitu case". But now, he not only handed in a blank report with no useful information, but also delegated the task of reporting the case to the detachment to Wuben.

This guy has become increasingly unreliable since his wife went missing.

Seeing that Wuben was hesitant to speak, Captain Marco said, "If you have something to say, just say it." Perhaps considering that Wuben had just started working not long ago, Captain Marco changed "let it out if you have a fart" to "speak up if you have something to say".

"Simon is still at the crime scene," Wuben said tremblingly, "He asked me to report to you that the 'Baitu case' is not a simple one and cannot be hastily concluded."

"What is the reason?" Captain Marco asked expressionlessly.

"In room 1304, besides household appliances, furniture, and daily necessities, there is no evidence or information related to the victim. There is no ID card, bank card, medical insurance card, no phone, and no photos. According to feedback from neighbors, the victim and the suspect moved into room 1304 about a month ago, but no one knows the exact date or time. It was only about a month ago that neighbors began to see LEE entering and leaving room 1304, and often heard him arguing with a woman inside, indicating that room 1304 was probably occupied by a couple or lovers. And in this month, almost no one has seen the victim leaving the room. The surveillance cameras of the community property have never captured the victim's face. In other words, up until now, we not only do not know the identity information of the victim, but we also do not even know what she looks like. Captain Marco, it's not that we haven't been working, but so far, the amount of information and evidence we can grasp is really too little."

Captain Marco remained silent, his small eyes unfocused, and no one knew what he was thinking. The others in the conference room wore expressions of understanding. When they first heard that only the gender of the deceased was known, they vaguely guessed that the 'Baitu Case' was probably not that simple. Wuben's words further confirmed their suspicions.

'What about the head and hands of the deceased? Can't we extract the face and fingerprints?' asked Chris, the deputy captain in charge of criminal investigation.

Wuben tried to suppress the urge to vomit and said, 'They were all boiled to pieces.'

At this point, the screen displayed images of the fragmented body parts pieced together, followed by images of the boiled meat-like head and hands.

The conference room fell into a brief silence.

After adjusting his emotions, Wuben continued:

"In addition, the outdoor anti-theft windows of room 1304 are made of metal, but they are all welded shut and cannot be pushed open. Between the balcony where LEE jumped and the living room, there is also a sliding metal anti-theft net with a lock. In other words, as long as the anti-theft net leading to the balcony is locked, room 1304 becomes a prison, and the person inside cannot reach out or throw anything downstairs."