National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1030 - 963 Fly Identification

Chapter 1030: Chapter 963 Fly Identification

"Captain Jiang. All the fly species are here."

Multiple technicians from the Changyang City Criminal Science and Technology Center placed glass vials onto the black leather-covered laboratory table, arranging them even more densely and neatly than a preserved fruit shop.

Surveying the scene, one could see vials containing fly eggs, larvae, pupae, and a few containing adult flies.

Among these, the number of adult flies was the smallest since they can escape quickly. The remaining mass consisted mainly of various larvae and pupal stages.

"Quite a number," Jiang Yuan nodded satisfactorily.

Wan Baoming chuckled and said, "Captain Jiang, as per your request, we collected as many of these insects as possible."

"Well done," praised Jiang Yuan, using up his daily quota of emotional intelligence with that comment, then continued, "Our Criminal Science Center doesn’t have a professional entomologist, right?"

Upon hearing that, Wan Baoming realized that the compliments had ended and hurriedly replied, "You know, domestically, insect identification and authentication are generally performed by professionals. If we need assistance, we usually ask experts from the Changyang University Department of Biology. Our previous reports were handled by Professor Li from Changyang University Department of Biology. He’s quite renowned and often collaborates with us."

"Yes, I’ve seen the report. He determined the death occurred between 28 to 42 days ago," Jiang Yuan nodded.

The body parts were discovered 20 days ago, so considering the state of decay, the estimation of death occurring 28 to 42 days ago is relatively accurate.

"Right," nodded Wan Baoming, then hesitantly asked, "Do you have any doubts?"

The personnel at the crime scene, mostly lacking entomology knowledge, were quite blunt. In fact, considering the current state of Changyang City Bureau, saying that no one at the crime scene knew entomology wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

It’s not disgraceful; entomology is a specialized field requiring substantial time and effort, with more complexities than botany.

In the current academic climate domestically, biology is a highly competitive field. Traditional areas such as botany and entomology are considered highly specialized and even more competitive.

A doctoral graduate in entomology might still hesitate to claim any significant contribution in the field even after three to five years of practice, let alone being adept at identifying insect species.

For professionals in entomology, identifying insect species might be simple, but it’s not that straightforward, considering the accuracy police demand. Those entomology graduates confident enough to assert, "I can do it," are even rarer.

After all, in the world, if problems are ambiguous, countless experts can provide a myriad of answers. However, if there is an accurate and unique solution, very few can offer the correct answer.

But considering the current pay and demand at the police department, they can’t even attract top-grade experts.

Even if a biology doctoral graduate is willing to work in the police system, they would prefer research institutes or sought-after bureaucratic positions rather than frontline duties. If they wanted better employment prospects through public exams, why endure hardships on the front line?

The very least for biology doctoral graduates is usually research involving model organisms like mice, not the digging of graves or exhuming corpses, which though requiring high expertise, doesn’t necessitate research capabilities.

Jiang Yuan was merely confirming the situation in Changyang City Bureau, being the Criminal Science Center of the provincial capital. However, it’s evident that although doctoral graduates are no longer scarce, they have not become common to this extent.

"You’re not wrong in your judgment, but with such a long period of time, it’s unmanageable on the front lines, right?" Jiang Yuan said, causing his fellow police officers beside him to nod repeatedly.

Academics aside, a 14-day interval makes it exceedingly difficult for frontline officers to gather evidence. Not to mention, securing surveillance footage for two weeks is challenging, let alone reviewing it. If there was one specific footage, it would be manageable, but during extensive surveillance, reviewing dozens or even hundreds of videos can easily lead to missing crucial details.

"Then... should we consult another entomologist from somewhere else?" Wan Baoming knew that Jiang Yuan had expertise in Legal Botany and was acquainted with many botanists. He guessed that Jiang Yuan was looking to leverage his personal connections to find others to help examine the insects.

Naturally, there would be some costs involved. Not to mention the expenses for transportation and accommodations for a few days of work which always need to be reimbursed. If the expert is notable, one might even need to accompany them and treat them to a few good meals.

Therefore, unless it’s a major case, the police wouldn’t readily invite experts for assistance. Moreover, many experts are actually reluctant to cooperate. At the very least, it requires a police station of a certain level to have the qualifications to invite them, making it difficult to match with frontline police officers in terms of detail.

Jiang Yuan was well aware of the complexities involved, waved his hand and said, "As for identifying Dipterans, I can do it myself. I initially meant to find a few people who know a bit about entomology to lend a hand. No need to invite remotely, it takes too much time."

Inviting experts also depends on their availability, and the more renowned the expert, the less free time they naturally have. This is especially true for experts who are from other places, which might require waiting for several days.

Jian Yuan doesn’t have several days to waste. If we wait a few more days, the body will have decomposed significantly.

Moreover, he has a Level 6 proficiency in Dipteran identification which, although not covering all insects, is more than adequate for this case, similar to how a deceased cryptographer with Level 5 in Cryptography could influence the academic field.

Wan Baoming hesitated slightly, then said, "Then I’ll ask Professor Li to see if..."

"No need, getting a few people to give us a hand will suffice." Jiang Yuan changed into a lab coat, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "Let’s start by sorting out the Dipterans in these bottles. Separate the non-Dipterans into different bottles and group similar Dipterans together."

This was something fairly experienced technical staff could handle. Jiang Yuan himself sat down and took a bottle mixed with larvae and began sorting.

Once Jiang Yuan began, the technicians at the Criminal Science Center naturally did not say much.

Wan Baoming set aside his questions, rolled up his sleeves, put on gloves, and stood next to Jiang Yuan, ready to help and watch as Jiang Yuan lined up the maggots.

Wan Baoming started to look befuddled again: "Can you recognize different species of maggots?"

Jiang Yuan chuckled, "Don’t you recognize them?"

Wan Baoming laughed, "How can you tell?"

"Mostly by counting." As Jiang Yuan worked, he explained, "For instance, this one with 6 peritremal openings and a single basal branch at the eighth abdominal segment is a third larval stage of Fannia canicularis, and this one with 9 peritremal openings..."

Jiang Yuan pointed out a maggot covered in hair, with sharp ends, somewhat resembling an elongated croissant, explaining to Wan Baoming.

Wan Baoming quietly bowed his head, "I might not be of much help after all..."