MTLNOVEL Chapter 119 U-shaped Female Corpse_1
Los Angeles is a big city. The amount of household waste it generates every day is enormous. This waste also sustains quite a few companies that specialize in waste collection. These companies arrange for garbage trucks to lift the contents of the bins with mechanical arms in their assigned areas, tip them into the back of the truck, and then instantly compress them into blocks before returning them to the waste treatment plant.
The place where Harry said they found the female corpse was one such recycling center.
Upon arrival, Dean noticed that this recycling center was really just a simple open-air sheet metal warehouse. The flat ground of the warehouse was covered with rectangular garbage-compaction blocks, each about three to four meters tall. Harry and the others were busy standing in front of one of the garbage blocks.
"Hey, guys, what's the situation?" Dean walked over enthusiastically, greeting everyone.
Robert looked astonished. "Dean? Weren't you in training?"
"It's over," Dean explained briefly, looking at the sweaty Harry. "Buddy, what's up? Did you run into a problem?"
"We're actually facing a big problem," Harry said, wiping his forehead and chuckling as he pointed at the garbage block before him. "Robert and I are exhausted. We need a strong man to take this pile of garbage apart."
Following his gaze, Dean noticed a twisted, deformed, delicate hand at the edge of the garbage block. Looking further in, he could also see sharp, broken bones piercing through flesh.
"Is this the female corpse you mentioned? Was she crushed by the compactor?"
"Pretty much," Holz, who was standing by offering moral support, explained, "The staff here discovered this broken arm compressed with the garbage when they were processing the blocks brought back last night, so they called the police. For now, we can only confirm it was a girl. She must have fallen into a garbage bin for some reason and then, without anyone knowing, got crushed by the compactor along with the rest of the trash."
This kind of situation wasn't uncommon. In winter, some homeless people might sleep in garbage bins for warmth. If they slept too soundly, or if they'd been drinking, they could end up being taken with the trash into the compactor. You could compare it to putting a piece of meat between two steel rollers and having it crushed by mechanical pressure into a lump... Anyway, it was gruesome.
Dean glanced at his brand-new clothes, then at the pile of garbage, and unhesitatingly refused Harry's invitation to sort through it.
He pulled Holz aside. "Can we determine the time of death yet? And what about the garbage truck driver?"
"The driver was shaken up; he's over there smoking. Besides, I need Harry and the others to get the woman's body out before I can determine the time of death."
Holz feigned concern. "Honestly, I'd rather she was dumped in the trash bin. Otherwise, her death must have been too painful."
"Then you should go help her find peace sooner, instead of just offering verbal support."
Dean gave Holz the middle finger. He saw right through him. For a forensic expert like Holz, who had seen countless tragic sights, he'd long since become numb. People with strong empathy skills can't last long in the forensics department.
The garbage was compressed tightly. Separating it took a lot of effort. Dean figured Harry and Robert would be busy for at least another half hour before they could extract the female corpse, so he walked over to the disheveled man sitting at the edge of the platform.
"Hello, I'm Detective Dean. I'd like to ask you a few questions."
"Huh?" The unkempt driver was taken aback for a moment, then said cautiously, "Detective, sir, I've already told your colleagues everything. I really don't know what happened."
Dean chuckled reassuringly. "Don't be nervous, buddy. I just want to ask, does each garbage truck have a fixed route? How often do you collect?"
"The routes are fixed. I cover three routes, one each day, so it's a three-day cycle. In the summer, when the garbage stinks more, we collect more frequently, usually every two days."
"Did you notice anyone calling for help when you were collecting garbage last night?"
The driver's pupils constricted. He avoided Dean's gaze and said firmly, "No. We've had tragedies before, so whether we're collecting garbage or starting the compactor, we have to make sure no one's around. I suspect someone stuffed the woman's body in the trash, and I didn't notice."
Lying!
Dean didn't call him out. After a bit more small talk, he got up to leave.
The guy lied. But it probably wasn't a big deal.
The line of thought for this kind of case was actually quite clear. Under normal circumstances, it's rare for a young girl to sleep in a garbage bin, so it's very likely she was dumped there.
Next, as long as Holz confirmed this, they could follow the trash bin route to determine the origin of the female corpse and proceed to the next step.
Of course, it would be even better if the corpse had some form of identification on her.
「Amidst the hustle and bustle.」
A twisted body, hard to describe in words, appeared before them. Because of the compactor, the body's flesh and bones had turned into a rubber-like material, looking deflated and horribly mangled. And because of rigor mortis, it also retained its compressed, fixed shape, looking both bizarre and horrifying.
Holz stepped forward and analyzed briefly, "The body's face is flattened, making it difficult to discern her original appearance. Judging by the rigor mortis, she died more than twelve hours ago. The exact cause of death will require an autopsy."
"Crushed to death!" Dean added from the side. "The driver collects this trash every three days. Add the time it takes him to tip these garbage blocks, and it means the woman was alive when she was crushed by the truck's compactor. And she must have been conscious at the time!"
Seeing the state of the body, he dismissed the speculation that the girl had been dumped after being murdered.
This information came from his Trace Tracking skill.
Upon hearing this conclusion, Harry and Robert, the two muscular men who had personally carried out the female corpse, shuddered. The current state of the body was enough to show how agonizing her death had been.
Holz, however, looked at Dean with puzzlement, "Dean, I can understand your previous conclusion, but how did you ascertain that she was conscious at the time?"
Harry and Robert also looked on curiously, wanting to know the reason behind Dean's conclusion.
Dean gave a faint smile, "Because I saw the scene of her death."
"Cut it out!" came the triple scoff. They clearly thought he was treating them like idiots.
The twin assistants beside Holz chuckled, "Holz said you went to the FBI training center for further studies. It seems the FBI is now teaching spirit communication."
"Yeah, not only do I practice spirit communication, but I also have Mind Reading Technique. For example, I can tell you two are very interested in me," Dean said, blinking at the two sisters until they hid behind Holz. Then, he pointed at the body and explained,
"The female corpse is in an inverted U-shape, meaning she was facing away from the compactor. Her feet were pulled in first, then her face was forced towards the ground as she was completely compressed.
"If she had already been dead, you would see a relatively intact body, not the contorted limbs we see now.
"This is because she was trying to escape.
"But the surrounding trash restricted her movement. In the end, her wails and struggles only served to permanently fix her twisted, grotesque form into its current state."
"But... if that's the case, how could the driver not know someone was inside?" Robert hesitated. "We asked the driver. He said he followed procedures strictly, only operating the mechanical arm to dump the trash into the truck after getting out. If the woman was conscious, he should have heard or seen her."
"That's because he lied!" Dean pointed at the wet ground outside. "It was pouring last night, buddy. If it were you, would you willingly leave your clean driver's seat, get soaked in the rain, and then come back to get your seat all wet?"
"Well..."
Robert was stumped. He realized he had asked a foolish question.
"Also, look at the garbage truck parked up front. With that kind of heavy-duty compartment, if someone unlucky got in, it would be difficult to catch the driver's attention even on a clear day, let alone during a rainstorm."
Dean lit a cigarette and concluded, "The dumpster might be large, but it's easy for an adult to get out. So, this woman must have fainted inside the dumpster for some reason. It was just her bad luck that the driver came to collect the trash then, leading to this tragedy."
"Fuck!" Holz exclaimed, looking at Dean in surprise. "Is FBI training really that good? It's only been a day, and I already feel like I'm about to lose my job."
"It's not the FBI that's impressive, it's me." Dean smiled faintly. "Alright, Harry and Robert, go change your clothes, then come with me to find the dumpster the girl was in. As for you, Holz, I need an accurate cause of death, and it would be even better if you could confirm her identity."
"No problem," they agreed.
Watching everyone get busy with the tasks he had assigned, Dean felt extremely gratified.
With the enhancement from his Mind Reading Technique and Trace Tracking skills, solving cases was, in a word, thrilling!