The Three-Armed Man

Original Story

Puzzle situation

In an abandoned apartment, the body of a "boy" is found. His upper body lies face down on the floor, three arms of different lengths reaching in different directions. Yet his lower body lies face up, toes pointing at the ceiling, buttocks on the ground. The scene is sealed off with police tape. On the wall, written in blood so dark it is almost black: "THEY ARE COMING." You're reading the briefing when a cry rings out from the far end of the hallway: "...Why... why did you only send a robot?!" A woman is being helped down the corridor, her anguished question echoing off the walls. She must be the victim's family. "Ma'am, don't worry. I'm here." You are one of the last human detectives in this city who haven't been replaced by machine partners. Logos, your AI partner, has been waiting at the scene for a while. It reports: dead roughly 12 hours. The floor beneath the body is soaked in a wide patch, and there's a small puddle just inside the threshold. The access log shows the door hasn't opened in 3 days. The floor bolt on the inside of the door is shot all the way home. Every exit is sealed from the inside. Harper, the human police captain, stares at the body, his voice dry. "A perfect crime. No human could have done this..." Logos hands you a supplementary report: the body bears suture marks, the stitches extremely fine. The head belongs to the "boy." 3 days ago, he posted on a paranormal forum: "Help. I've seen it too..."