NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6: ch6
Before I could figure out which witness it was, I heard Alex Johnson's rapid shout.
"Ryan! Come back quickly! It seems to be just as you guessed; the X-ray shows that he... he..."
"What do you mean 'he'? What happened?" I became even more anxious when I heard Alex's hesitant tone.
"The eyewitness said that beggar... something started to sprout in his liver. Something was growing inside him!"
Hearing this, I fell into thought again. Since Michael Bloom's death, this beggar has been detained in the police station and has never come into contact with anyone. Why did such a strange thing suddenly happen?
Suddenly, as if I realized something, I asked anxiously:
"Are you sure that something is growing inside him...?"
It could be heard that Alex was trying his best to control his emotions, and then he answered with three words with great certainty: "I'm sure!"
I handed over the on-site investigation to others and rushed directly to the bureau with Lucy.
On the way back to the bureau, Lucy asked me what happened. I shook my head and asked her, "Under what circumstances can a seed remain in a person's body and grow?"
Lucy was stunned by the question, but then she sighed and said, "Chief Carter, have you ever heard of a plant that grows in graves? And it will keep growing."
I frowned and looked at Lucy, letting her continue.
"It's also been shown in movies. This plant is called the corpse-smelling arum, also known as the corpse-smelling arum. It has huge flowers that bloom only once every seven years and are incredibly smelly. It simulates the stench of rotting animals to attract scavenging insects to help it spread pollen. When it spreads pollen, it produces a mixed smell of disulfide and trisulfide. The attracted insects land on the leaves and are covered by the pollen. After the insects lay eggs and the larvae mature, they can spread pollen."
I looked at Lucy and said, "But you also saw that the first body not only did not have the stench of decay, but also had a strange fragrance. The same was true for the second dead person."
"Let's assume that the three cases were committed by the same person. The body parts found today should also have a similar smell. In order to cover it up, they can only be soaked in an irritating liquid, that is, hydrogen peroxide. But what is the purpose of doing this? Is it used to preserve the body? Or is it for financial gain?"
Lucy shook her head to indicate that she would not participate in the hypothesis. It can also be seen that she is very rigorous and does not want to jump to conclusions based on her own guesses.
On the way, I looked up some information about "Corpse Amorphophallus." In addition to the standard answer of a certain subject on a certain website mentioned by Lucy, there is another one.
The corpse amorphophallus is brightly colored, can cause hallucinations, and has a long lifespan. It grows in ancient tombs in cemeteries, preventing corpses from rotting and giving off a fragrant aroma.
The hallucinogenic phenomenon mentioned in the movie is also fictional. A more scientific explanation is that the corpse konjac may produce hallucinogenic substances. The corpse buried under the rhizome will produce a strange fragrance to prevent it from rotting. Ancient kings or people of noble status would even secretly cultivate this plant to save face for themselves after their death.
This strange fragrance will stimulate dopamine in the brain and cause hallucinations, but it does not create hallucinations itself.
Although Michael Bloom had been killed, there was a smell similar to this strange fragrance on his body, which should be from the murderer. The reason why Michael Bloom was knocked down easily was probably because of the hallucination caused by the strange fragrance and he had no ability to resist.
And because of the conversation with Lucy, I began to prepare to verify it again. What she said is not non-existent, but it may be different from what people know.
"Ryan, this beggar has a high fever that won't go away. His body temperature has always remained at 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. He has also gone crazy several times during this period. Most importantly, there are signs of germination in his internal organs. However, Doctor Lin also found that there are unknown insect eggs in his blood, subcutaneous tissue, and internal organs."
This news did verify my guess, but in fact, it also added another difficulty to solving the case. It is also a very rare case in human medical history.
The beggar has been given a sedative, but it doesn't work very well. The dosage of anesthetic has been doubled, but it can only barely keep him going. But we can't do anything rash in the hospital, and it's even more unlikely to have synesthesia by lighting a cigarette, as smoking is not allowed in the hospital.
I borrowed a women's makeup mirror from Lucy, and then asked Alex to keep watch while I stayed alone with the beggar.
After holding the mirror upside down on the beggar for a few minutes, I pressed my palms against the mirror surface and closed my eyes to experience synesthesia.
——Thank you, you are a good person, hehe...
——Do you want more?
——Yes, it's delicious…
This was a man, but this man was not Michael Bloom, it was just that I couldn't see what he looked like. Then I saw another man, with a slightly fat figure. This time it was definitely Michael Bloom, but he threw a lot of things directly in front of the beggar.
"You stinky beggar, I don't want these junks anymore! Take them and go! Go, go, go... the farther the better!"
But when the beggar opened the bag, he found clothes for all four seasons neatly stacked inside, as well as five hundred dollars and several packets of dry food.
It can be seen that Michael Bloom is a man with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Although the beggar has low intelligence, he can feel Michael Bloom's kindness and helps him take out the trash every day. However, the beggar did not ask for money and returned the money to Michael Bloom, leaving only clothes and food. From then on, Michael Bloom only gave food to the beggar.
The scene then shifts back to the day of the crime, when the beggar was sleeping next to a trash can, the same alley where Michael Bloom was dragged after his death.
Michael Bloom's appearance scared the beggar, but the beggar recognized him. Michael Bloom then directly covered the beggar with the trash can, and looked through the gap, but it was not clear, there was only a crack. Michael Bloom staggered, as if he would fall down if a gust of wind blew. After waiting for a while, he could no longer stand up.
Until a man in black clothes and a black hat appeared, the beggar watched Michael Bloom being beaten to death.
I tried hard to see the face of the man in black clearly...
Things came to an abrupt end here, and I suddenly opened my eyes!
The beggar also stared at me with wide eyes, and our eyes almost met. He had heavy dark circles under his eyes, and kept muttering that he was very hot. His face was pale, but I could vaguely smell that fragrance on him. It was very faint, and people who had never smelled it would not notice it.
The beggar suddenly pounced on me with terribly great strength. He grabbed my neck and pressed me to the ground. Alex, who came rushing over after hearing the noise, knocked the beggar down with one punch. Lucy helped me up, and then several doctors came in and pressed the beggar down on the bed.
Because of this incident, I was given a day off today. I fell on my bed at home and couldn't figure out a few questions…
First: Why did they kill Michael Bloom? What was the connection between the first victim and Michael Bloom? And was there any necessary connection between the third victim and the two of them?
But as for the third death, there is no definite evidence, so I am just making an assumption.
Second: Why did Michael Bloom protect the beggar instead of running away before he died?
Third: There was no poisonous substance in Michael Bloom's stomach, and the blood on his face and the identification of the technical department confirmed that there was no ether. Why did he do this?
Fourth: Why does the beggar keep saying it's so hot?
Even if the body temperature of a normal person reaches 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, he or she will not feel very hot. This is not a symptom of fever. The beggar's fever may be the heat in the body?
It just so happens that the flower body of the corpse konjac is 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. According to records, the cultivation method of the corpse konjac is complicated, and the chance of survival in artificial cultivation is also very low. The normal temperature of its flower body is maintained at 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The flower and leaves grow very fast, and can grow to about four inches a day at the fastest.
So is it possible that the plants in the beggar's body could also reach this state?
So, Michael Bloom was killed because he knew some secret of the murderer, and he protected the beggar because he saw that the beggar might be the next one?
Thinking of this, I quickly called Alex and asked him to help me discreetly acquire something.