Ammon's Great Adventure (3)

On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, when the festive atmosphere should not yet have faded from the city, it was instead stained by the wail of police sirens. In an old residential complex, more than a dozen officers had sealed off a room on the second floor. Two young-looking policemen leaned against the wall, clutching paper bags as they dry-heaved, while the older officers wore grave expressions and discussed something in low voices.

They were the local precinct officers. In this neither large nor small city, such a vicious case had not occurred in years.

"Where are the bodies?" A steady voice suddenly came from the stairwell entrance. The old policeman standing by the door immediately went over and said,

"They're still inside. According to the caller, he passed by this morning on his way out, smelled a strong odor of blood, and noticed the door was open, so he took a look. Although someone had vomited all over the doorway, the inside hadn't been disturbed."

"Mm." The newly arrived major crimes detective nodded and gave his companions a look. Everyone immediately took out shoe covers and gloves before entering the room through the foul smell. The coroner carrying a small case stepped forward and began examining the two bodies.

(PS: Writing the autopsy in too much detail could easily get this removed, so I'll just give a rough conclusion. Please understand.)

"The time of death was within the past twenty-four hours. The cause was excessive blood loss. Both victims had the tendons in their hands and feet severed, and the cuts were extremely clean. One of them had been repeatedly whipped across the face until it was mangled. They were likely first deprived of mobility, then tied up and tortured until they bled to death."

"What