Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 180: Professional Vs Amateur

The furry touch and the little creature's clumsy yet sincere comfort acted like a warm current, instantly dispelling the haze in Nancy's heart. She couldn't help but curve her lips, gently rubbing Snowy's small head with her fingertip. "Mm, with you here, I feel much more at ease," she whispered.

At that moment, Simon, now clad in shoe covers and a protective suit, walked over to her side. He gave her back a reassuring pat and briefed her on the situation. "The victim is Nora Hanson, female, 22 years old. She was a senior in the Sculpture Department at Townsville University's School of Art, preparing for her graduation project. She had applied for Art Room 01 as her personal studio."

Simon paused briefly. "Nora had a cheerful personality and a simple social circle; there's no word of her having any enemies." When she was discovered early this morning, the time of death was estimated to be over 48 hours ago."

Nancy gazed at the jarring contrast of white and dark red, nodding slowly. Her brow furrowed as she asked, "Nora was missing for over 48 hours, and no one noticed anything wrong?"

Simon's expression grew solemn as he explained, "According to her roommates and her mentor, Nora had mentioned recently that she wanted to 'go out and relax.' She told them she planned a short trip to gather inspiration before the semester started. "

"She often went out sketching alone, and it wasn't uncommon for her to stay out overnight, so when she didn't show up these past few days, everyone assumed she was still out in the field." He paused, adding, "Plus, with the new semester about to start, the campus is busy with complex movements of people. It wasn't until the janitor came in to clean this morning that she was found..."

Nancy let out a soft sigh. The killer's methods were incredibly cruel, but since she didn't come from a professional criminal investigation background, it was difficult for her to extract effective clues from the scene. She turned back to Simon. "What have you found?"

Simon's calm gaze swept over the scene, finally resting on the corpse encased in white sculpting clay. He spoke slowly. "From the way this 'sculpture' was molded, the killer's technique is very amateur. The clay thickness is uneven, the surface treatment is crude, and there are even obvious fingerprints and scrape marks at the joints. This suggests they don't possess professional sculpting skills and likely haven't had systematic training."

Simon paused slightly before continuing, "However, while the technique is amateur, the killer clearly possesses a certain artistic talent and aesthetic sense. The posture of the body—especially the shaping of the lower half—clearly shows a deliberate attempt to mimic the classic silhouette of the Venus de Milo. This isn't something just anyone could conceive."

Nancy stared at Simon's profile, her eyes shining with admiration. "You're amazing."

Several young officers nearby couldn't help but lean in, their eyes filled with respect. One of them couldn't resist asking in a low voice, "Mr. Simon, how can you tell if the sculpting is professional or not just by looking?"

Simon's expression didn't change, and his tone remained calm. "During university, in order to more accurately judge trauma marks and human structure, I specifically took a few weeks of human sculpture as an elective at the Academy of Fine Arts."

His gaze swept over the clay sculpture, his voice steady. "Though it was only basic, it's at least enough to distinguish between systematically trained molding techniques and amateur fumbling."

Simon turned slightly, pointing out several obvious connection flaws and rough scratches on the clay surface. "The handling in these areas is stiff and the pressure is uneven. It's clearly the work of a novice."

Before he finished speaking, the young detectives around him were stunned. Someone whispered in awe, "So that's it... Mr. Simon even knows about this."

Simon pondered for a moment and decisively issued an order: "Start the screening within the School of Art. Focus on students or faculty members who are not sculpture majors but have a certain foundation in fine arts."

The officers nodded one after another, quickly noting this direction as a priority for the investigation.

After carefully surveying the art room and the surrounding environment, Nancy slowly retreated to the corridor. At this point, the forensic doctor gave a preliminary report stating that the scene was abnormally "clean." Despite the victim's arms being severed, there was no obvious blood splatter.

Preliminary toxicology tests showed "no common poisons detected" in the heart blood and urine, basically ruling out death by poisoning, though the specific cause of death remained unclear.

Hearing the forensic report, Simon frowned and turned to Nancy, his tone grave. "The most difficult part right now is that the victim's two arms are missing. We urgently need to find those remains to get further clues and move the investigation forward."

Nancy nodded without hesitation. "Leave it to me!"

Nancy patted the little white puff on her shoulder. "Snowy, take a careful sniff around the Second Teaching Building and help us find some clues."

"Understood!"

With a whoosh, Snowy the ermine shot out like a bolt of white lightning. Its small nose twitched incessantly, focusing on capturing even the faintest scent of blood in the air, disappearing around the corner of the corridor in an instant.