The fishermen had left early as usual: a weathered wooden canoe and a tattered net. They had been working the same spot for over ten years. Everything appeared normal. One of them cast the net a bit farther, near the bend by the reeds, where people said the fish were abundant this season.
About thirty minutes later, some of the men were already putting their catch into the container when one fisherman spotted something unusual caught on the edge of the net — sleek, soft, wrapped in old fabric. At first glance, it looked like a bag filled with mud or garbage. He pulled it in, and the cloth stretched taut, showing the shape of something round and heavy. Silence fell over the boat. The others stood and watched as he carefully lifted the object from the water.
Through the wet fabric, a human face became visible. Everyone recoiled in shock.
— That’s… that’s a head… — one of the fishermen whispered.
They didn’t touch the item. They called the police, and within an hour, officers had flooded the shoreline. It turned out the victim was a man who had been missing for several weeks.
He was from a neighboring village. The investigation revealed he had been killed with extreme violence and dismembered. The rest of his body was found later at different locations along the river.
This discovery was the key to a high-profile case: a local resident, long mistrusted by others, was implicated in the crime.
He was arrested, and the investigation uncovered two other disappearances of a similar nature, previously thought unrelated.
The fishermen stayed away from the lake for a long time. For them, the word “catch” would never feel the same again.
