As he approached the morgue, where the dismembered body of the woman had been placed, a young man of the same age as Max appeared, who at first glance seemed to be a student.
"Forensic Doctor Luk, I was sent here under your care for field training. I'm the best in my class, and I aspire to work alongside you," the young man acknowledged Larry. In fact, many knew Larry due to his remarkable ability to solve crimes during his student years, which others had never managed to do before.
Someone like Larry was a legend in the criminology and pathology school, a person many students aspired to follow. Of course, he couldn't accept everyone.
Larry nodded slightly and said, "Alright, you'll observe the way I work, and after a week, you'll enter training. During the process, I may ask you questions, just one thing: if you make three mistakes during your process, you're out."
"Oh, that sounds good. By the way, my name is Dean Interest. I'm excited to work with you," said Dean with an enthusiastic smile.
"Since you're here, why don't you participate in the autopsy of the second corpse in the case we're working on?" Ángel asked, quite friendly with this new student who would be working with Larry, provided he was ready for it.
Larry walked directly toward the autopsy room. Max smiled and nodded slightly in greeting, then quickly followed.
"Welcome to the team. Since you'll be working with Larry, let me give you some advice. You need to understand one very important thing: if you don't know something, you need to say it before it causes problems," Max kindly advised Dean, who was new to the fieldwork.
As they said this, the two hurried to catch up with Larry, who seemed to be in a hurry.
At that moment, the second body discovered in the fridge of the first victim had been sent to the autopsy room.
"Forensic Doctor Luk, will you be doing the autopsy with me today, or do you want us to leave Dean to assist?" Max knew that what pathology students wanted most was to work on a real case.
The reality of the world would be in their hands in the first official case they participated in, and depending on their performance, they would know if they were ready for this work.
Dean's eyes lit up.
"Are you sure? Remember, three mistakes—I detest inconveniences." Larry didn't have time for games.
"I'm ready. I didn't come to play."
"Alright! We'll be your assistants!"
Larry didn't respond. He simply approached the body, covered with a silver-white waterproof sheet. The photos from the crime scene had already been taken, so it was time to observe with more detail.
He put on the protective gear and carefully removed the sheet. Before them lay the naked body of a woman, dismembered into equal parts.
Unlike the previous case, the body still showed slight traces of freezing. That detail, though subtle, already spoke of the environment where it had been kept before being found.
Larry examined each section meticulously. His expression remained calm, though his eyebrows furrowed slightly when he identified certain patterns. There were clear marks of strangulation and scratches along the torso and neck, accompanied by subcutaneous hemorrhages in patterns resembling stripes and scales. An uncommon signature.
The livor mortis stains were also unusual. Only areas like the buttocks, feet, and elbows showed deposits of dark purple. The rest of the skin appeared pale, with a greenish tone in the abdomen, indicating the onset of decomposition from the inside.
But what truly caught his attention were the feet. The marks there were unmistakable: the victim had been hung upside down, probably to drain her. A deliberate, methodical method. It was not improvised.
But how is it possible that a frozen corpse shows signs of decay?
Larry furrowed his brow slightly. It seemed the corpse had been stored at room temperature for an indefinite period of time before being placed in the freezer; otherwise, there wouldn't be green putrefaction stains.
Dean seemed inexplicably excited. He pointed to the wrists and neck of the body with a twisted smile. "Strangulation marks?"
Then he looked down at the victim's painted nails.
"She had her nails done... She also seemed very beautiful. But something tells me she wasn't involved in a very honest job."
"Do you think she was a prostitute too?" Max suggested, leaving the question hanging in the air.
Larry raised his gaze, serious. His voice didn't rise in tone, but each word was filled with coldness: "Don't make hasty assumptions. Judgments must be based on facts, not prejudices. How can we determine the cause of death without an autopsy? We're not here to guess. We're forensic doctors."
Larry would never think of insulting a victim. To him, every corpse had a story that needed to be told with respect. Especially because he knew that pain up close. His own parents and siblings had died in similar circumstances, and he still carried those scars deep inside.
Maybe that's why he treated the bodies so carefully during the autopsies. Not as evidence... but as people who deserved justice.
"Science is not done with assumptions," Larry said calmly as he put on a new pair of gloves. "It's done with facts. Alright, enough with the theories. Let's begin."
It wasn't common to see Larry upset. He didn't raise his voice. His nature was calm, almost unshakable. But in those moments, when conjectures replaced evidence, something inside him would tense up.
It wasn't anger toward Max or Dean, not exactly. It was frustration. Because he knew that poorly made assumptions, in the past, had derailed investigations, left killers free... and multiplied the dead without justice.
"Max, take photos of the marks."
"Dean, take care of recording." Larry bent over and pointed out the external marks on the victim's body, speaking one by one.
"There are multiple restraint injuries on the wrists and ankles," Larry said as he observed carefully.
There is exfoliation and subcutaneous bleeding concentrated around the neck, with clear signs of a struggle.
"The victim fought before being subdued."
Larry paused and continued with the same calmness: "Bruises in the shape of cords are distributed across the chest, abdomen, neck, and limbs. There are no foreign objects in the wounds. Some bruises are deep, others more superficial. The size and thickness vary, suggesting different methods of aggression were used."
Larry looked again at the victim's face: "There are scratches all over the body. The face shows redness, swelling, and the conjunctiva is congested. Signs consistent with slaps before immobilization."
After saying that, he leaned forward slightly, analyzing the chest in more detail. "There are also small points of bleeding on the upper chest and in the pubic region. These correspond to puncture wounds, likely caused by a thin instrument like a needle."
Then, Larry gently turned the victim's arm.
"There are puncture holes in the vessels on the inner side of the arm. These marks are recent, with no scab, indicating the injection occurred shortly before death. Something was administered to her."
Larry straightened up slightly, crossing his arms as he observed the body as a whole. His voice, though always calm, took on a particular gravity. "This combination of torture methods, the types of wounds, the pattern... all points to a planned aggression. None of this was improvised. The marks, the cuts, the order... they're identical to the previous cases. Same author. Same modus operandi. This case is identical to the murder of the prostitutes."
At that moment, Max's voice sounded beside him: "Forensic Luk... I need a close-up of the nails."