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🕑 Added 2025-03-19 08:20:32 +0000 UTCAnatomy of a Killer
Chapter 12 - The Girl in the Woods, Part 1
Larry felt the anger and tension building in his head, making his pulse race. There was nothing to study here—this crime was pure, unchecked brutality, nothing that a smart person would do.
A murderer this ruthless couldn't be left free for long.
"It looks like you need help, brother." Masuka approached, followed by Dexter, to analyze the crime scene.
"Ask us for anything. We'll help you."
Larry looked at Dexter, who said, "I have everything I need to analyze the blood."
"Then photograph and secure the murder weapon," Larry ordered firmly. Then he added, "Bring me the evidence bag. Let's see if we can get viable fingerprints. Don't worry—we'll find this bastard."
Ángel quickly handed him an evidence bag. Larry carefully grasped the upper and lower edges of the knife handle guard and, with a firm pull, removed it. Only then did he realize the impressive length of the blade—more than 20 centimeters of lethal edge.
"We're done. Find someone to transport the body back to the center. There's no point in saying anything more now—finding out where the body came from is the top priority."
Larry knew that staying in this place any longer wouldn't help, so he turned to Max, who was recovering, and asked, "By the way, what did you find when you were looking for clothing?"
Max, having collected himself, said, "Masuka and his team found the clothes, but there's no valid identification that could help us."
Larry's brows furrowed deeper. Although his expression remained indifferent on the outside, he knew the complexity of this case was growing more and more.
After a moment of thought, Larry suddenly widened his eyes as if he'd had an epiphany and grabbed Max's hand.
"Come on, show me the clothes."
Max immediately knew that Larry must have thought of something, so he quickly handed him a box containing several evidence bags.
Larry carefully peeled off a layer of latex gloves from his right hand, opened the evidence bag, and spread out the clothing to examine it closely.
He observed that, although each piece was in a deplorable state, most remained dry—except for the areas speckled with sand.
Among the garments, there was a pair of women's underwear and a bra adorned with white lace, along with a loose-fitting white shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of sneakers.
The pants were relatively intact, displaying tears that matched those on the body, except for some obvious bite marks.
Likewise, the damaged sections of the shirt bore traces of cuts made with a sharp blade, stained with blood.
Most of the underwear and bra were soaked in blood, further worsening the damage caused by the bite wounds.
Everything indicated that the victim came from a wealthy family and that the murderer had deliberately stripped her body of clothing.
Larry's face suddenly showed understanding. He stood up and, with determined steps, walked toward Lieutenant LaGuerta.
Ángel followed him and made a phone call, arranging for a vehicle to transport the body to the identification center.
Seeing Larry and Ángel approach, LaGuerta hurried over, looking at Larry with hope. In complex cases like this, the skills of a criminal profiler were more than essential to making progress in the investigation.
This "criminal profiler," despite all his flaws, had proven to have extraordinary abilities.
The last murder case had been solved in 48 hours thanks to Larry, which had shocked the homicide division. Everyone recognized his skill, which was why she had specifically ordered him to be here today.
"Forensic Doctor Luk! Give me some good news. This whole thing is a scandalous disaster." Lieutenant LaGuerta turned around and walked with Larry back to where the vehicles were parked.
Larry took a deep breath and tried to calm his deductive thoughts. Only then could he view the problem more objectively. "Even I can't work miracles in situations like this, Lieutenant."
"Just tell me what you have."
"Then…" Larry stopped in his tracks, catching in the corner of his eye how Ángel and Sergeant Doakes were preparing to take notes, and said, "This is the primary crime scene, so I conducted a preliminary examination of the body. Based on the initial evidence, I suspected that the motive for the crime could be revenge."
"From what I know, the victim is a woman approximately 162 cm tall, with an estimated weight between 45 and 50 kg. In my brief examination, I noticed the eruption of a third molar, suggesting her age to be around 16 or 17 years old."
"The body had mild staining with no signs of lethal wounds, suggesting that the cause of death was hemorrhagic shock."
"The victim was wearing a white shirt and a pair of Lee-brand jeans instead of a school uniform. That’s why the idea that she was abducted on her way to school is ruled out in our investigation. Her attire suggests she was out of the house, and her shoes—a summer model of Nike released this year—reinforce the idea that she came from a well-off family."
Larry paused, removed his mask from his face after taking off his gloves, and said, "Furthermore, last night was Sunday, and this type of clothing suggests the young woman was on her way home. If she was a high school student living in a boarding school, she should have returned to school that night to study on her own."
"The investigation could start by exploring this timeline and its possible connection to her school environment."
"Additionally, the victim had strangulation marks on her wrists and severe defensive wounds on both hands, indicating she fought against her attacker. The nature of the injuries suggests that the killer had similar physical strength to the victim, without an overwhelming advantage."
"Although the internal organs and some wounds were consumed by wild dogs, the remaining injuries showed signs of being inflicted while she was still alive. All the wounds consisted of cuts and lacerations, with no deep injuries caused by a lethal blade."
"In my prior examination, I found no significant damage to the main organs, reaffirming that the cause of death was hemorrhagic shock."
"As for the murder weapon, it is a knife with a handguard, a type of regulated blade similar to a Mongolian knife. However, no registered mark was found on the knife's accessory, though the blade showed clear signs of burning and hammering. This suggests the weapon was modified or even handmade."
"The victim's perineal area had a stab wound with an abnormal reaction. However, the incision did not affect the vulva, the hymenal membrane was intact, and no signs of sexual assault were found. This detail reinforces the hypothesis that the killer might be a woman, although there is also the possibility that it was a young male underage."
"Rigor mortis was present throughout the body, but the stiffness in the leg joints was noticeably low. Although wild dogs had torn apart part of the clothing, it was dry, which, along with the rectal temperature and the state of rigor mortis, allowed us to determine that the victim was murdered between 5:00 PM and 5:30 PM the previous day."
Ángel widened his eyes and stared at Larry, who was holding the evidence bag containing the victim’s clothes along with the murder weapon, causing the hairs on his skin to stand on end.
"Are you saying the deceased was a high school girl?" LaGuerta could have sworn that the victim was at least of legal age.
Larry nodded and said in a calm tone, "Mmm... The victim must have been a pretty high school girl. Based on my initial assessment, the killer is a young girl of the same age as the victim or, alternatively, a male under sixteen."
After handing the evidence bag to Max, who had just arrived, Larry removed his one-piece investigation suit. His clothes were already soaked in sweat by then. He took Ángel’s camera and showed the photos to Lieutenant LaGuerta, who remained silent, still processing everything she had just heard.
"You can see that the victim had restraint injuries and defensive wounds. But there were no stab wounds to vital organs; all the injuries were cuts and lacerations, and preliminary statistics indicate she suffered up to one hundred wounds."
"This confirms my hypothesis: the killer harbored deep hatred toward the victim and committed an extremely brutal murder. A simple conflict could not have escalated into such cruelty."
"The wounds on the face and the stab wounds in the perineal area reinforce my belief that this was a revenge crime motivated by love. First, we need to investigate the nearby schools to check if any students are missing."
Larry paused briefly and continued, "Only when we determine the victim's identity can we move on to the next stage of the investigation."
Lieutenant LaGuerta patted Larry on the shoulder, looked at Sergeant Doakes, who stood beside her and no longer had a concerned expression, and suddenly felt a bit more confident that a criminal profiler would be the key to solving this case.
"You surprise me, Larry. You usually seem very quiet. I didn’t expect such a thorough case analysis. Now, let’s retrieve the body and investigate the origin of the murder weapon," Sergeant Doakes said with evident hostility.
Larry curled the corners of his lips slightly but still said, "Alright! We’re also leaving to prepare for the autopsy and will send you the results as soon as they’re available."
Several people filled the investigation box and evidence bags, and Larry led them back to the Evaluation Center.
It took them forty minutes to arrive. Larry and the other two quickly entered the center.
Ángel, who initially seemed relaxed, started to feel nervous. He followed Larry’s steps and wondered if it was a good idea to accompany a criminal profiler in his investigation.
Back in the autopsy room, Larry had already put on the isolation suit and looked at Ángel, who seemed uneasy.
"How’s Max? If he hasn’t recovered yet, can you ask Masuka to perform the autopsy with me?" Larry didn’t have time to waste with a pathology student, especially when all he had was theoretical knowledge.
Ángel, who was in the same room as Larry, looked at Max, and when he saw the young man’s pale face, he quickly advised, "I think it's best if Max sits this one out. It seems this case affected him more than the previous one."
"I’ll only allow him three failures. Today will be his first mistake; by the third, I’ll remove him from the pathology division."
"Sorry, boss..."
"No, you’re my student. You begged me to let you learn from me, but now all I see is a scared child."
Max looked embarrassed. Larry put on an isolation suit and two layers of gloves, nodding slightly. "But don’t worry, I don’t blame you. After all, you just arrived, and what you see in school is completely different from real-life situations. Besides, the victim’s state was too gruesome, and even for a forensic doctor, it’s hard to process."
Max immediately lifted his head and looked at the thin man who was half a head taller than him.
Although Larry usually seemed serious and indifferent, when it came to mentoring, he still took good care of his intern.
"Thank you, professor..."
Larry gestured with his hand and said, "Fill out the necessary forms and then head to the monitoring room to privately study what we’ll be doing here. The video has less sensory impact, and you can still learn something that way."
