The victim's head was relatively intact, revealing from the facial muscles that they had suffered immense pain before death.
Some of the younger officers had already vomited, but Angela walked up to the body expressionlessly, beginning her examination.
Her rich experience gave her ample understanding of serial killers. She could see many details that many, including Bruce and Lex, failed to see.
Angela had not seen the first two bodies, so she couldn't comment on whether the murder weapon was consistent. However, from the recorded imagery, she could tell they used different chairs to tie up the victims.
The chair used to tie up the bank's manager was an office chair used in banks. The chair used for the second victim, a female boss, was an ergonomic chair from Parlo Company. This time, the chair used to tie up the victim matched the ones used in Snow Mountain Company.
It aligned with Angela's understanding of serial killers; they always have unique pursuits. She could even imagine that if the killer couldn't find the particular chair, they might not kill this person.
After examining the body thoroughly, Angela stood up and began to ponder.
The first victim had their eyes mutilated, the skin and muscular tissue around the eyes ripped apart and a telescope plugged into the socket. Due to the lack of an autopsy, it was unclear if the wounds to the chest and abdomen were fatal or if it was the head wound.
Given the savage nature of the killer, the first victim likely had all tissue around their eyes torn off while alive then died with a telescope inserted into their brain. The wounds to the abdomen and chest were most likely inflicted post-mortem.
The second victim resembled the first, potentially had their ears sliced off and then had a signal receiver inserted through the ear canal into their brain, turning it into mush.
The third victim, Angela deduced, likely died from suffocation a few seconds before the explosion due to a rat obstructing the esophagus, leading to respiratory failure.
Angela stood still, took a deep breath, and a surge of rage she hadn't felt in a long time emerged. She hadn't encountered such audacious serial killers for a long time.
She immediately radioed, "Surround all the buildings immediately. The perpetrator could be among the crowd, watching from here."
Apparently, Angela was far more professional than Bruce and Lex. She knew that the perpetrator had carefully staged this carnage, even calculating the exact distance of blood splatter and time of explosion. Therefore, he must be nearby, observing the detective's reaction.
However, when the body exploded, the onlookers had already scattered, and the mental shock the officers received was significant. They failed to detain the fleeing crowd. By the time Angela issued her order, the spectators had dispersed.
Angela took a deep breath and slowly placed her gun back in her holster. The usually gallant female officer showed a rare sign of fatigue. As she turned and climbed into the police car, her tiredness was hard to disguise.
"Detective, don't stress too much. The killer has committed so many murders, they are bound to slip up," said the young officer driving the car.
Angela shook her head; she was not worried about the case. As a renowned detective specializing in major cases, she knew rushing against serial killers would only disrupt the investigation.
The best method to deal with them was to ignore their inventory of clues completely and to innovate. If they feel their theatrics are going unnoticed, they might get frantic and slip up.
At the beginning of such investigations, Angela never acted aggressively or said things like "I will definitely bring the murderer to justice."
She knew these killers lurk in the dark, eager to hear such words, see the police repeatedly fail, gather courage, and then get played by the killer.
Angela was patient; she had dealt with several harsh serial killers and knew their habits well. So she believed, as long as she persevered, she would win.
Her fatigue was actually due to a private matter. When the police car stopped in front of the station, before getting out, Angela told the officer, "Please don't take the car away later, I need to go out for an investigation alone tonight."
"Oh God, detective, you're so dedicated. You need to rest... I'll park the car on the east side, here are the keys if you need them," the officer handed over the keys without thinking twice.
After returning to the station, Angela went to the restroom and washed her face with cold water. Refreshed a bit, she returned to her work; she had the scene processed, collected any possible evidence, found witnesses, and continued with the unfinished questioning...
Busy until late at night, instead of going back to her apartment, Angela turned the car around and drove off from Metropolis towards Gotham along the freeway.