National Forensic Doctor

Chapter 1304: Chapter 1230: I Can Too

Jiang Yuan was at the scene, first checking the lower body of the corpse, then taking swabs from the vagina and rectum of the body, before returning with the corpse to the forensic center of the Beijing Bureau.

Although it had been more than a week since the incident occurred, the body was relatively dry and had developed a leathery appearance, which actually slows down DNA degradation. If luck was on their side, some complete DNA might still be retained, and a round of amplification in the machine might yield results.

Alternatively, if the perpetrator was a pervert and did something like necrophilia, traces might be left behind.

Of course, the likelihood of not finding anything was high, and it was more likely the perpetrator wore protection or something similar. Everyone, even laymen, understood these things, and naturally, the forensic doctor did too, but they bet on the chance of the perpetrator making a mistake. The worst thing would be if the perpetrator made a mistake and the police missed the chance!

One hour later.

The body bag was placed onto the autopsy table.

"Just cut the bag open," Jiang Yuan said, having already changed out of the disposable protective clothing and shoe covers he wore at the landfill. He changed into a new set; in short, personal protection expenses alone today were several hundred yuan.

Miao Ruixiang put on latex gloves, nitrile gloves, and cotton gloves all at once, then picked up scissors and started working vigorously.

The body looked like a whole in the landfill, but when it was being transported out, the decayed muscles and skin could no longer provide support. Whether it was the gnawed, half-eaten neck vertebra resembling a duck neck, the already bitten-off limbs, or the abdomen decayed into something resembling fried liver, they each had to be placed into separate bags.

"Liver, stomach, and pancreas are all gone, leaving mostly intestines," Miao Ruixiang carefully poured the remaining organs into a bucket.

Xiao Si had been helping all along, and at this point was filthy. Watching Miao Ruixiang colleague straighten and pull at the remaining intestines, Xiao Si couldn’t help but laugh, "A battle of intestines, huh."

"Go help," Cui Qishan said, following Xiao Si, knowing he had a sharp tongue and didn’t expect him to speak recklessly.

Xiao Si snorted and went to help Miao Ruixiang with the intestines.

Jiang Yuan shifted his position and began prioritizing the examination of the thoracic cavity.

The knife wound on the deceased had decayed into a cavity, but due to the surrounding decay, slight traces could still be seen.

Jiang Yuan gently felt around for a while and found a cut on the rib where the knife had gone through. The evidential value here was greater than at the decayed muscle parts, proving it was a knife wound.

Jiang Yuan simulated the knife’s entry path with a sidestep, then said, "It went directly into the heart. The accuracy is okay, but the technique seems not very skilled."

"Because it hit the rib?" Liu Jinghui stood a few steps away, wearing a mask and observing.

Jiang Yuan acknowledged with a "hmm," and added, "The knife edge got notched, it’s a bit risky. If they were professional, they wouldn’t insert the knife like this. But for an amateur, it’s not bad; they’ve at least used a knife before."

Liu Jinghui hummed in thought.

Wei Shikan asked with some curiosity, "How would a professional insert a knife?"

"Oh, they insert parallel to the rib, reducing the chance of touching it," Jiang Yuan explained with gestures, then continued, "Amateurs naturally grip the knife, whether stabbing from the front or from behind, they’re usually inclined to keep the blade vertical. The same was done by the perpetrator, but it managed to cut through, as evidenced by the state of the rib break.

"I see... If stabbing parallel to the ribs, it might be hard to apply force with a regular grip. That’s also the advantage of a reverse grip," Wei Shikan pondered, "Even professionals wouldn’t always use a regular grip, right?"

"No need to apply force," Jiang Yuan’s voice was muffled, "The victim was likely controlled, in which case, if unsure, you could just feel along the rib with your hand and slowly deliver the knife, ensuring not to hit the rib. With better technique, it might even avoid causing excessive bleeding."

"Did the victim not bleed much?" Liu Jinghui paid close attention to this.

"Uncertain, based on the wound’s position, if the heart is punctured, causing cardiac tamponade, ventricular fibrillation, or a rapid shock from the aortic rupture, death could occur, with little external bleeding," Jiang Yuan did not elaborate on the many possibilities of massive bleeding. Massive bleeding itself could have been fatal, and thus was not provable anymore.

The issue with a decayed corpse lies in such difficulties, yet it can provide substantial information.

Jiang Yuan started from the head, dissecting downwards while extracting as many biological samples as possible.

"Brain tissue liquefied, skull without fracture."

"Deep area of the neck, hyoid bone intact, muscles without bleeding."

"Lung tissue decayed, dark red color."

Having enabled "Temporary +1" at the crime scene, forensic pathology couldn’t be activated at this moment, but for the current corpse, Level 4 or Level 5 skills were more than sufficient, not needed at all.

The autopsy progressed quickly, with few contentious issues. Jiang Yuan spent more time in the chest area to provide as accurate a form of the murder weapon as possible: single-edged, over 12 centimeters.

With this conclusion, as a forensic doctor, he had perfectly fulfilled his duty.

But as a team leader, Jiang Yuan’s work had just begun.

"Has the garbage been brought back?" Jiang Yuan left the remaining work to Miao Ruixiang, moving over to the adjacent autopsy table.

"The trash around the body has been brought back," Cui Qishan responded, "It’s only because of you, under normal circumstances the forensic center wouldn’t allow so much trash to be brought in." noveldrama

"It’s all the same kind of smelly," Jiang Yuan didn’t even take his mask off, only slowly changed a pair of gloves.

"What are we looking for?" Cui Qishan showed some anticipation.

"I don’t know," Jiang Yuan answered straightforwardly, "What would be the difference between things thrown in a landfill by the perpetrator versus by residents?"

"Uh..." Cui Qishan was a bit stumped by the question, muttering, "After the victim died, whether it was dumped together with some stuff... after exposure to wind, sun, insects and rodents, differentiating does become tricky."

Jiang Yuan nodded, probing through a newly dumped bag of garbage on the dissection table.

In front of him lay various vegetable leaves, fruit peels, bones, paper, mineral water bottles, broken glass, cans, shredded woolen fabric, plush toys, along with batteries and expired medicines, bricks and wood scraps...

While rummaging through, Jiang Yuan sorted the garbage into different categories.

Level 4 waste classification was quietly put into use.

Cui Qishan tilted his head to watch, initially thinking Jiang Yuan was randomly placing different types of garbage, but quickly realized something else was at play.

"What’s the method behind your sorting?" Cui Qishan watched for a while before asking.

"Based on the condition of the items," Jiang Yuan’s reply partially coincided with what Cui Qishan had in mind, though he wasn’t sure.

Xiao Si gave a "hiss," "That’s right, the items residents discard are mostly unwanted, categorized as waste. But for the perpetrator and the victim, the reasons for discarding aren’t because something is broken or undesired. So among the items found near the body, those more intact and usable are the most likely ones discarded by the perpetrator."

"That’s what I mean." Jiang Yuan nodded.

Cui Qishan slapped Xiao Si on the back, "Show-off!"

Jiang Yuan turned his head, "I didn’t think it through earlier, the trash collected is from around the corpse. Scanning through now, intact items are quite few. I reckon the landfill isn’t too big, let’s go through the entire area using this principle."

"Uh... alright," Cui Qishan couldn’t refuse, turning to Xiao Si, "You take the lead."

"Shen Yaowei is still at the landfill, I’ll let him coordinate with you," Jiang Yuan turned to Wang Chuanxing for this task.

At this point, Wei Shikan couldn’t help saying, "Master, you’ve recently been assigning tasks to Shen Yaowei a lot lately, I can handle this too!"