National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1345 - 1271: Residual Matter

Chapter 1345: Chapter 1271: Residual Matter

A tweed check suit jacket, beige deep V knitted vest, blue and white striped tie, pure white Oxford shirt. This was Jacob who greeted Jiang Yuan at the entrance of the forensic dissection room.

He was small and thin, his skin was dark and rough, but his British style was authentic.

Jiang Yuan, surrounded by a group of people, arrived at the rough, chipped door of the dissection room. Looking at the formally dressed Jacob, he suddenly felt like seeing the last comrade in a shelter after the Third World War.

Jacob was even more excited, tightly gripping Jiang Yuan’s hand, and said: "God Jiang, the body is ready, please come in."

As he spoke, he pulled Jiang Yuan’s hand and led him into the dissection room.

The bright white light hit the stainless steel dissection table, causing the freshly thawed deep red body parts to emit a tuna-like sheen.

Two forensic assistants stood by, looking very young yet strong.

"I didn’t call Hardy and the others this time because I felt you are like Zhuge Liang. You need obedient subordinates to execute your orders, so young forensic assistants might be more suitable! Besides, for tedious tasks like slicing, you can delegate them to me," Jacob explained to Jiang Yuan, emphasizing that he put thought into it.

Jiang Yuan nodded with satisfaction, this decision indeed suited his preference, and said: "You know about Zhuge Liang?"

"I thought that to understand God Jiang and your forensic skills, I should delve into cultural aspects. So, I specially invited a Chinese master to introduce Chinese culture to me. My favorite is Zhuge Liang; I believe you are his embodiment, God Jiang," Jacob bluntly said, sounding a bit awkward, like someone newly learning Chinese culture.

Jiang Yuan smiled: "Zhuge Liang is too grand to describe a living person."

"Oh? Why?" Jacob was eager to learn, just like during his study abroad in Britain.

Jiang Yuan thought for a moment, then said: "In Chinese history, Zhuge Liang is a nearly perfect figure, perhaps... analogous to a textbook-like anatomical structure."

A textbook-like anatomical structure implies optimal proportions of bones, organs, muscles, implies zero pathological variations, implies the most functional solutions...

Jacob nodded in realization: "Too perfect?"

"Let’s change clothes," the forensic assistant reminded Jacob.

"Right, right, I’ll take you to change clothes," Jacob quickly led Jiang Yuan out of the dissection room to the changing room, stepping on glossy black, carved Oxford shoes.

The two young forensic assistants saw off the big wigs, their expressions expectant. Although Jacob’s actions seemed a bit redundant, the British manner added a touch of style.

Jiang Yuan quickly changed into a full-body protective suit, wearing a hood, protective goggles, and mask, etc. By domestic standards, this level of protection is excessive, since the body was frozen promptly, preventing decay. The smell was even slightly fresh, but being abroad, where this level of protective equipment is provided; maintaining appearances is important. free\we\bnov(e)(l).com

Jiang Yuan returned to the dissection table, briefly observed, and started examining the body parts one by one.

The body parts had been moved several times, showing some surface changes. However, the size of the body parts was valuable. At the very least, the weight of the largest body part was within the disposal range of the perpetrator.

It’s a simple inference; if there were two people involved in transportation, they could avoid dismemberment or simply divide the body into sections. The same logic could imply the murderer was a strongman.

Particularly minute dismemberment often points to special reasons, such as concealing the distinctive features of the body or facilitating burial locations.

Much like this case, where the body parts were dumped into the sewer, so the chunks were relatively small, including the head, which was chopped multiple times but not split open—perhaps not due to insufficient strength but possibly because the tools were inadequate or lacked experience.

Jiang Yuan lifted the head to align it with his own height and scrutinized it closely.

The deceased was a woman, her mouth, nose, and eyes smashed beyond recognition, exposing much of the white bones, especially the exposed tooth roots, resembling a creature with buckteeth.

Compared to the red muscles and white bones, the yellow fat on her face was more psychologically nauseating, especially mixed together, like badly chopped dumpling filling, making one feel increasingly queasy.

"Chopped with an axe," Jiang Yuan placed the head back onto the dissection table.

"Agreed," Jacob had also given the same answer before.

Jiang Yuan: "The wounds are mostly wedge-shaped, with neat edges, indicating a sharp axe blade, with few bruising traces; possibly a newly bought or newly sharpened axe."

Jacob nodded: "Indicating a likely premeditated dismemberment."

Jiang Yuan: "Incision angles are sharp, exit end shows a tapering and branching due to axe blade thickness, indicating a thicker axe, possibly 3 to 4 millimeters."

Jacob pondered: "Hmm?"

Jiang Yuan thought briefly, then said: "This thickness exceeds that of a regular axe blade, belonging to a chopping axe, similar to those used for splitting logs. The bevel angle of the blade edge is large, roughly 40 degrees."

Jacob looked at Jiang Yuan, then at the body parts, suddenly chuckled.

Jiang Yuan was lost in his own thoughts and analyses, saying, "Combining the previous information, with a 40-degree blade edge and approximately 4 millimeters of axe blade thickness, this axe certainly isn’t in a polished state, because this thickness is quite substantial for a chopping axe. Axes that are frequently sharpened should become thinner, so... the murderer likely bought a new chopping axe, commonly seen like an American chopping axe."

Jiang Yuan reviewed the marks on the smashed head again, saying, "The back of the axe is about 30 millimeters. In that case, what we’re looking for is an axe with a blade edge between 3.5 to 4 millimeters, a blade edge slope angle of 40 degrees, and the axe back around 30 millimeters—most likely an American chopping axe. Probably newly purchased."

Two forensic doctor assistants instinctively stretched their necks to look over.

Jacob also stretched his neck, unnecessary but needed.

The thickness of the axe back is easy to determine, but the thickness of the axe blade isn’t so easy. Jacob hadn’t even seen Jiang Yuan measure it with a ruler, but this ability to gauge length by sight alone was quite astonishing, because the axe blade was measured to millimeter precision. Needless to say, Jiang Yuan was confident in the millimeter-level accuracy of his judgment. free.web(n)ove(l)(.)c(o)m

Jacob subconsciously considered several angles: the more he thought, the more questions arose, his mind becoming flustered not knowing what to say.

At this moment, Jiang Yuan set down the head of the corpse and began examining other body parts.

Tool mark examination is his specialty, and Trace Examination-Tool Mark Examination Level 6 was a top skill on Jiang Yuan’s skill list. And the chopping by the axe was just too evident, hardly requiring a Level 6 expertise.

Jacob contemplated deeply for a long time, finally regaining clarity, hastily grabbing his notebook to record, and said, "In that case, we can investigate the recent sales of American chopping axes, thereby looking for the murderer?"

"Highly likely it’s an American chopping axe, but not absolutely. If doing a sweep, I suggest being very thorough." Jiang Yuan said, bringing up Xu Taining’s heart study, then continued, "Do you have a way to check all axe sales records? Online and offline purchases... A new axe doesn’t necessarily mean newly bought."

Jacob was thrown off by Jiang Yuan earlier, now hearing this, was further confounded, asking, "In that case, the axe information... can’t be directly used?"

Jiang Yuan opened his hands, which were messy with blood.

He didn’t expect to conduct a sweep in Dama, just continued examining the remaining body parts.

Jacob gradually calmed down, and followed Jiang Yuan, re-engaging in an immersive autopsy.

Strictly speaking, this could be considered a second autopsy.

Moreover, since it was an autopsy conducted by Jacob, it was quite comprehensive, and Jiang Yuan did not find any overlooked areas.

After examining all the way through, Jacob inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, then turned slightly frowning.

Under these circumstances, it seems there are no new clues...

At this moment, Jiang Yuan picked up several pieces of the body originally belonging to the chest area, put them together, and said, "The cuts here are exceptionally fragmented."

Jacob turned his head to look, seeing Jiang Yuan piece together a gruesomely pale and yellowish fruit.

"You mean... the murderer is a pervert?" Jacob didn’t know Jiang Yuan’s line of thinking, so he could only let his mind wander.

"Get a microscope to take a look." Jiang Yuan saw the state of the body parts and immediately knew samples had not been taken before, so he began sampling himself.

Jacob hurriedly arranged for that, then stepped forward to assist, watching Jiang Yuan scrape off a layer of flesh and blood, involuntarily asking, "What do you suspect?"

"What is the cause of death?" Jiang Yuan asked Jacob in return.

Jacob hesitated for two seconds: "Death by chopping trauma? Multiple chop wounds throughout the body leading to hemorrhagic shock death."

"Hmm...can’t rule it out," Jiang Yuan responded.

After the victim was dismembered, some evidence was lost, Jiang Yuan didn’t deny this possibility.

Jacob asked, "What do you think?"

"I feel the size of the chest area body pieces doesn’t fit the murderer’s dismemberment rhythm, there’s a possibility of concealment. The chest has ribs and the spine, chopping them isn’t easy, there’s no need to cut so many pieces. So, the chest, especially the marks around the heart, might hint at the cause of death. Specifically, I haven’t seen particularly obvious axe chop marks that predate the dismemberment. Let’s check under a microscope." Jiang Yuan said as he handed the sampled material to Jacob.

Jacob had no further argument, quickly preparing the high-resolution microscope.

Jiang Yuan gently operated it, scanning through to the fourth sample, pausing, and yielded the position saying, "Take a look at this."

Jacob hurriedly stepped forward, without need for Jiang Yuan’s help, immediately spotting apparent non-muscle residues within the familiar cellular world.

"What’s this..." Jacob strained to see but couldn’t tell clearly.

"Bring a centrifuge over, centrifuge the sample, then look using an electron microscope." Jiang Yuan’s Level 5 chemical analysis skill started its function.