bookbashuk Chapter 22 Subway Station
Chapter 22 Subway Station
Rockston subway station.
Located ten kilometers southeast of the city center, it is a medium-sized transfer station. The station building above ground was built more than a hundred years ago, with red brick arched roofs and cast iron window frames, making it look quite old.
However, there are usually quite a few people here.
In the afternoon, office workers carrying briefcases hurried down the steps, women carrying shopping bags said goodbye to each other, and newsboys weaved through the crowd, shouting at the top of their lungs:
"Breaking news for Alicia... Tickets sold out..."
Luo Qiu arrived here at this time.
The vintage car was parked in a narrow spot. Smith, who was in the driver's seat, got out and came to Luo Qiu's side, asking in confusion:
"Senior, what are we doing here?"
Smith was pulled over from the headquarters canteen by Luo Qiu without his knowledge.
Although the agents' work can sometimes be very urgent and they don't have the habit of taking a nap, this sudden rush made Smith realize that something was unusual.
However, Luo Qiu did not offer any further explanation at this point.
"There's a case. Ellis and Cole arrived this morning. Let's find them first."
……
The Rockston subway station is not very big.
Entering through the main entrance, there are ticket windows on both sides, with a corridor about three meters wide in the middle. Ten meters ahead in the corridor are the ticket gates. Further ahead is a staircase leading to the underground platform.
In the small space of the corridor, Luo Qiu spotted Ellis and Cole at a glance.
A tall man with meticulously combed hair was squatting in front of an old homeless man huddled in a corner, asking him questions with a serious expression. This was Ellis. Another man, slightly shorter and with a round face, stood to the side, quickly copying something into a notebook, holding up half a half-eaten hamburger. This was Cole.
The two men were assigned to investigate the homeless case that morning. After finishing their work, they received orders from headquarters to return here to continue their work.
It looks like he didn't eat a good lunch either.
"Senior Luo Qiu."
Luo Qiu walked towards the two, and was quickly noticed by Cole. Then, he pulled Ellis up as well and greeted them together.
Only then did the two of them finally feel a sense of relief.
"Have you been busy until now? Have you found any clues?"
"Yes...we searched the area around the crime scene again this morning, but found nothing."
"Ellis then suggested asking the other homeless people here. However, it was noon, and most of the homeless people who lived here had gone out to find food, so we didn't gather much information."
"The victim was nicknamed 'Old Nick,' but nobody knew his real name. All we knew was that he had lived here for at least two years and had always been in poor health. Because he couldn't compete with others, his territory fell into that abandoned tunnel. It was noisy there at night, and nobody else wanted to go there..."
"To be honest, we don't know if collecting these clues will be of any use."
"It's alright, I also got some information from Andrew... Now, does anyone here know any staff at this subway station? I want to go back to the scene of the incident and take another look to understand the situation there."
"I know someone, I'm going to find him."
After a brief exchange, Agent Ellis left in a hurry.
During this time, Smith learned about the details of the case from Cole.
A homeless man was bitten so badly by rats that his face was unrecognizable, and yet a reporter noticed him?
To be honest, it's common for homeless people to be bitten by rats. But to be bitten to the point of being unrecognizable is indeed unusual. Of course, this could also be explained by the homeless person dying first, and then being eaten by the rats.
Cole then mentioned this idea to Luo Qiu. However, Luo Qiu shook his head, rejecting the idea:
"First of all, that's not what Andrew said in his report to me."
"Furthermore, the main focus now is not on the homeless issue, but on the rat problem. The Investigation Bureau participated in a rat extermination operation some time ago, so in theory, the rat tracks should have decreased significantly. It's very unusual to see people being eaten beyond recognition by rats."
……
Agent Cole was a veteran of the Bureau of Investigation, and he quickly grasped what Luo Qiu meant by that explanation. As for Smith, investigating why the rats were so rampant also seemed quite reasonable.
After these words, the group tacitly reached a consensus.
At this point, Ellis also brought over the subway station staff.
He was a manager who seemed to know some of the inside story of today's events. After meeting the group, he led Luo Qiu and the others to the scene of the crime without saying much, then pointed to the abandoned tunnel and explained:
"This abandoned tunnel was originally a siding built 60 years ago for temporary vehicle parking and maintenance. Later, the line was rerouted, and this area was abandoned."
"About 400 meters ahead, the tunnel is still like this. Arched ceiling, brick walls, and gravel floor; it's fine for people to walk through."
"But things change once you get to the end. There's a downhill slope, quite steep, and it gets lower and lower as you go down. At the lowest point, you have to crouch to get across. During the rat extermination operation a while ago, our people put out rat poison, and they had to stop there."
"After that section, it becomes the city's main sewage road."
"The main road for sewage disposal?" Luo Qiu asked.
"Yes, it's a main sewage pipe in the city, about four meters wide. The bottom of the pipe carries sewage, and there are walkways on both sides, but they are very narrow and difficult to walk on. If you walk along the walkways for another hundred meters or so, you'll reach the lower reaches of the Darlington River."
"Okay, thank you, sir."
With the staff's explanation, Luo Qiu quickly understood the situation. The other agents also seemed thoughtful after listening.
Having just realized that their main task was to investigate the rats, they were still figuring out where to begin, but now their thinking is much clearer. As we all know, rats love dark, damp environments, and sewage pipes are practically paradise for them.
In addition, staff explained that the recent rat extermination operation did not reach that area, which was no longer just an implication.
The rats that attacked the homeless man are probably still there.
Their main task now is to investigate the area, find out the cause, or at least eliminate the rats there so that this kind of thing doesn't happen again anytime soon.
Having figured this out, Smith, Cole, and Ellis all looked at Luo Qiu at that moment.
Now all they need is a clear command.
However, Luo Qiu did not rush to speak at this moment.
His earlier conversation in the autopsy room had made him realize that the rats here might be more than they seemed. At this point, he certainly wouldn't let his guard down.
His gaze swept past the crowd and landed on the area surrounding the crime scene.
A small bedding set up—that was the homeless man's dwelling. Since the incident, it has been searched by two detectives no less than three times.
Broken wine bottles, old newspapers, a few wisps of cotton wool drifting out...
Besides these, there seems to be nothing else.
But when Luo Qiu blinked and her pupils opened again, everything here was quite different.
Tiny grains of sand on the ground, lice struggling to crawl on a tattered quilt, a drop of water about to fall from the grate of the sewer.
He noticed every subtle change here.
He quietly activated the Clarity spell.
……