Puzzle Madness

Chapter 43 Iron Ruler
At about 2:20 in the morning, the Mong Cai City Police Department discovered unusual movements in the morgue:

There were gradually drying red and black bloodstains on the ground, a hollow groove dug out by some industrial machinery on the wall - a large mass of brick and cement mixture leaning to one side - the collapsed ceiling, and the missing coroner named Liu.

In the entire city of Mong Cai, there were only twelve forensic pathologists working in the Forensic Science Department. Most of them were scattered across various jurisdictions, busy examining cases of physical assault. Only one remained at the bureau to perform the autopsy. And no one would approach the morgue in the middle of the night without provocation. Therefore, it took over an hour for the abnormality to be discovered.

It wasn't for some strange or horrific reason; it was simply because the air conditioning in the morgue was turned up too high, making people's stomachs churn, which left Liu, the forensic doctor, alone. Furthermore, Mong Cai was not peaceful that night, and most of the police officers were busy outside.

On summer nights, the people of Mong Cai always like to have a few drinks - but a few drinks can unknowingly turn into drunkenness, arguments with neighbors and even flying beer bottles; Mong Cai’s police force is often consumed in such places.

Near dawn, the officer on duty found the forensic doctor surnamed Liu performing surgery in the hospital across the street. According to eyewitness accounts, he was carried there by a young man in a yellow raincoat; the young man disappeared in the blink of an eye:
This undoubtedly makes the whole thing even more bizarre, and it cannot explain the inexplicable serious injury and disappearance of forensic doctor Liu in the police station. Other colleagues in the forensic department found the bullet that tore open the carotid artery of forensic doctor Liu in the wall of the morgue; but it only cast another layer of mystery over the whole incident.

Therefore, after this night, the installation of closed-circuit television in every department, including the morgue, was included in the budget of the Mong Cai City Police Department.

But what exactly happened in the middle of the night? Perhaps we will have to wait until the forensic doctor surnamed Liu wakes up from his coma to get an answer: but at this moment, not many people have had time to connect it with the four Eurasian postal employees who were murdered.

Four heavily armed and far better equipped Asia-Europe Post employees than the Mong Cai police officers – their bodies were picked up separately by a third party a few days later.

Of course, some people understand the strange inside story.
-
Doudou, the mathematician and their new friend [Li Chuck] - but it is still unknown in which of them the word "friend" exists.

Although they made a scene in the police station, they actually didn't go far away from the police station.

After leaving the police station through the door they had dug out, they turned two streets and set up a table in a dirty food stall.

Mong Cai is still very noisy at night. The drinkers and diners lingering in the food stalls and barbecue restaurants seem to be working in shifts. After one group has eaten and drunk their fill, another group comes to fill the vacant seats.

In the public restroom, the mathematician had already taken off his sweat- and blood-soaked, pink shirt, crumpled it up, and tucked it under his arm; the other arm still held the dirty cardboard box. He was wearing a vest underneath his shirt, which seemed quite appropriate for the sweltering midnight.

Richard placed his hands on the table covered with a plastic sheet, his fingers interlaced:
"It's best not to bunch up your shirt, right? Just open it and shake it out. It'll dry quickly in this weather. Holding your shirt in a ball will only make you look weird and draw attention."

Doudou stretched out his hand, pointed at the man named Richard, and then nodded at the dizzy mathematician:
"Hey, brother—your name is Richard, right? Are you here to hunt him down? I'm talking about my neighbor, the one wearing glasses. Oh, you wear glasses too, that's the skeleton with the thicker lenses."

The mathematician shuddered when Doudou pointed his finger at him:

"Doudou, why are you suddenly talking like that?"

Doudou looked around and put his palm to his mouth:

"That's how you talk when you're at a food stall. Be more enthusiastic. Got it? Learn from me!"

Richard turned his head and looked the mathematician up and down seriously:

"Did he offend anyone? Perhaps if you tell me the details, I can find a way to help."

Doudou stared at Richard steadily. Unlike his lively and enthusiastic words, Doudou had no physical movements or expressions.

"Oh! don't you recognize him? He's a famous mathematician—falsely accused, doctor; what were you falsely accused of?"

Doudou's voice was neither loud nor soft - it was drowned out by the noisy sounds of finger-guessing games, clinking of bottles and shaking of dice around him.

The mathematician tilted his head slightly and glanced around. No one seemed to be interested in their little conversation. He shook his head.

“Nothing.”

Richard put his hands on the table and crossed his fingers:
"Doctor—I'll call you Doctor too, just like DouDou." "Don't worry, nobody around here is very curious about what you're going to say; even if they were, the place is noisy enough right now, and at most they'd think it's just drunken ramblings. Speak freely, I happen to know a bit about this."

"Hmm—famous. Something to do with mathematics. Framed. Ah, I think I know who you are: you're disguised by changing your body shape, but I recognize you. You seem to be in the news all the time these past few months?"

Doudou tore off the plastic wrapping the tableware and rinsed the dishes, bowls, and chopsticks in the boiling water brought by the boss, while responding with surprise:
"Look, look, Doctor! I told you, everyone knows you! You're a big star!"

He suddenly turned his head back to Richard, and the topic was cut short:

"You both wear glasses. But your temperaments are quite different. What do you do for a living, Lao Li? You said you work in special affairs. Well, come on, tell us."

At this moment, Richard accidentally made eye contact with Doudou--
Richard's body suddenly stiffened and tensed; then he turned his head and looked in another direction.

"Oh my—we just rescued someone together, so we're friends now. Don't be shy, don't be shy. This is the first time someone has asked me if they can kill me. You're really funny."

Doudou was grinning, his eyes almost curved upwards into a semicircle—but it seemed that no one present noticed he was smiling.
"So, do you have anything more fun going on? Come on, tell me."

Richard's hands remained on the table. He didn't inhale deeply, nor did he tremble like a mathematician; his forehead was covered with sweat, perhaps from nervousness, but that was normal on the hot night in Mong Cai. He nodded, his features tense, like an intern going for a job interview.

"..I..I'm- sorry, it's so hot; a little breathless."

His previously smooth and fluent speech became fragmented and intermittent after he looked into Doudou's eyes. He ripped open the collar buttons of his shirt. The sweltering night seemed to make Richard breathless:

"I am a former field agent of the Asia-Europe Post. However, for some reason, I am being hunted by the Asia-Europe Post."

Doudou seemed completely oblivious to the emphasis Richard placed on the word "before":
"Hey—agents! What about the FBI, CIA, KGB, Mossad, or anything like that? I heard on the radio about these intelligence agencies and stuff, and I thought it was just a conspiracy theory! This is the first time I've seen it in real life—let's not talk about that for now; Doctor! Doctor, listen to this!"

"Hey! What a coincidence, what a coincidence! Doctor, not only do you both wear glasses, but you're both being hunted now. What a coincidence! How about it? Can you two be good friends?"

In the bustling food stall, there is a somewhat strange scene--
At the table of three, two of them stared down at the table in front of them, as if there was some kind of code hidden in the plastic tablecloth, which was worth pondering and deciphering.

The mathematician nodded vigorously, but it might just have been a shiver down his spine.

"Oh—you're all so shy! Agent Li, please continue. I'm sorry for interrupting you."

Richard nodded and continued the conversation:
"It doesn't matter. In fact, my current predicament has a lot to do with the doctor—"

"If I remember correctly, he should be the 'Iron Ruler Murderer' that the radio often talks about. My daily work also includes listening to various radio stations, so I have some impression of this incident."

The mathematician said in a muffled voice, his head buried in the cardboard box:

"I'm not some iron-clad killer."

Richard took off his glasses, blew on them carefully, wiped them with the hem of his shirt, and put them back on. Now, he no longer looked into Doudou's eyes:
"Well, I know you're definitely not."

It wasn't a tone of agreement, but a resolute determination—
"Because I just ran into the real Iron Ruler Killer during the day. This guy was hiding in my safe house, a secret hiding place, and wanted to kill me. The so-called iron ruler is that kind of iron triangle ruler, long and wide, right?"

The mathematician suddenly raised his head from the cardboard box, and his cervical vertebrae made a cracking sound.

(End of this chapter)