National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 420 - 420 387 You Call Him

420: Chapter 387: You Call Him 420: Chapter 387: You Call Him “Well, that was fast.

In the past, it was always us making the visit,” Shen Yaowei said after Jiang Yuan hung up the phone, whistling.

Tang Jia glanced at him and said, “We are handling a case from Luyang, and they reached out to us proactively after hearing about it.

That’s a positive attitude, so don’t offend them.”

“As long as they’re not here to point fingers,” Shen Yaowei said with a smile.

His comment sobered everyone up a bit.

“Luyang has been working on this case for a long time, but it shouldn’t be…

it’s always good to have someone help crack the case; we can’t just keep dragging our feet.

In the end, it would be their bad luck.” Liu Jinghui had more to say.

The new bureau chief, Chai Tong, hadn’t been in charge of criminal investigations during his tenure in Luyang, so choosing Jiang Yuan for Luyang’s case was probably part of some strategy.

“Let’s go meet them,” Jiang Yuan said, standing up to leave.

In Huang Qiangmin’s office.

Two criminal police officers from Luyang City sat with perfect posture.

As soon as Jiang Yuan entered, he could feel the heavy air pressure.

“Jiang Yuan, this here is Zhou Yuanqiang, the political commissar of the Luyang City Criminal Police Brigade, and this is Qu Hao, the team captain.

They’d like to coordinate with us on case 805,” Huang Qiangmin said with a smile.

“Wasn’t it Director Chai who was supposed to be in charge?” Jiang Yuan directly brought up Chai Tong.

“Director Chai spoke with our chief, and we came over right away.

I’ve heard Forensic Jiang Yuan’s name quite a few times this year.

I’m curious about your thoughts on how we should proceed,” Zhou Yuanqiang said, with an obvious hint of reluctance.

Of course, police officers are like soldiers in that they tend to have an air of superiority, as if they are the best in the world, so this attitude was not surprising.

Jiang Yuan looked at Huang Qiangmin, who indicated with his eyes that this move had been orchestrated by Director Chai.

Jiang Yuan signaled with his eyes that he understood.

Turning back, Jiang Yuan gave the two police officers from Luyang City another look, and as they grew impatient, he said, “How about I start by sharing our current progress?”

“Sure,” Zhou Yuanqiang said, unable to refuse the information.

For the Luyang City Criminal Police Brigade, case 805 had long been a thorn in their side.

Over the years, they spent months on it annually.

The more they invested, the more sensitive they became about the case.

Jiang Yuan somewhat felt their eagerness and decided not to play coy.

“Firstly, based on photos in the dossier, I re-assessed the time of death for the first body, that of the victim Li Yuan.

I believe the time of death should be moved back by two months, which means four months before the body was found, not six…”

“You can determine that just from a photo?” Zhou Yuanqiang could not help but interrupt, saying, “Even if Forensic Jiang Yuan you are well-known, this conclusion is quite presumptuous…”

“Commissar Zhou, you’re not a professional in this area, right?

Why don’t you call your medical examiner so I can talk to them?

We can discuss it with each other,” Jiang Yuan replied without taking offense, as he said, there was no point in arguing with Zhou Yuanqiang, who was neither a forensic doctor nor a forensic technician.

As for Luyang City’s medical examiner, Jiang Yuan had a vague impression of him.

In Shannan Province, there were WeChat groups for technical personnel to exchange information and consult with each other on technical difficulties.

They had become somewhat familiar with each other through these interactions.

Zhou Yuanqiang was slightly annoyed but glanced at Huang Qiangmin, who sat beside him with a smirk, and then dialed the phone.

The call connected.

“Dr.

Mei, it’s Zhou Yuanqiang.

Yes, I’m in Ningtai County.

The medical examiner here thinks the time of death for Li Yuan is off.

Could you discuss it with him?” Zhou Yuanqiang said, irritation evident in his voice.

“The time of death is wrong?” Dr.

Mei on the other end of the line repeated and immediately became serious.

“Talk to whom?

The medical examiner of Ningtai County?

Forensic Jiang Yuan of Ningtai County?”

“Yeah, I’ve put you on speakerphone…” said Zhou Yuanqiang as he set the phone down and activated the speaker.

Immediately, an anxious voice came through the speaker: “No, no, I don’t need to talk to…

what am I supposed to discuss…”

“Hello, Dr.

Mei.

This is Jiang Yuan from Ningtai,” Jiang Yuan said, greeting the voice on the phone.

There was a sudden pause on the other end, followed by several coughs, and then a gentler voice said, “Hello, Forensic Jiang Yuan.

I’m Mei Fang from Luyang.

We have actually spoken in the WeChat group before.

You helped with a case that was just bones, determining the age and underlying diseases.”

“Oh, was the case solved?” Jiang Yuan said, his impression being quite vague as he mostly used WeChat to help people with bones and fingerprints.

The fingerprints were usually for complex cases, and the bones were because there were so few experts in forensic anthropology.

Most medical examiners came from pathology or clinical backgrounds and hesitated to claim expertise in forensic anthropology, which they often learned only in school before slowly accumulating experience on the job.

And truthfully, that meant fairly limited understanding.

After all, murders were rare to begin with, and cases involving dismembered corpses or skeletons were even less common.

Such cases didn’t provide opportunities for local, less-experienced medical examiners to practice.

Mei Fang from Luyang City actually belonged to the more capable category of medical examiners.

Therefore, he qualified to ask an expert like Jiang Yuan about forensic anthropology questions, as he was a medical examiner at the city level who, aside from major cases, continuously supported the districts and counties below him, encountering and understanding far more than the average county-level medical examiner.

Of course, he was not on the same level as an examiner like Jiang Yuan.

Mei Fang hesitated, “The case has been cracked, and the killer is a drinking buddy from the neighboring village.

Um…

Forensic Jiang, did you just mention there’s a problem with the time of death of a body?”

Jiang Yuan said, “For the Li Yuan case, Case 805, the first body that was found, I believe the time of death should be moved back by two months.

My assessment is mainly based on the larvae of Xinluan Fuying flies I saw on the photos.

You based your judgement on the time listed on the records, right?

There must be a discrepancy there.

During that time in Luyang, it was the rainy spring season and the temperatures were low.

The body wasn’t buried deep enough, which would reduce the hatching rate of fly eggs.

Also, a wet environment would affect maggots’ normal feeding behavior, and it’s common to see a delayed pupation…”

“Um…

That’s right,” Mei Fang’s voice was faint, lacking the usual boldness and decisiveness.

Zhou Yuanqiang couldn’t help but stand up and checked his mobile phone, indeed, it was the usually confident Dr.

Mei.

Jiang Yuan hadn’t elaborated in detail on his assessment method earlier in the office, but now, facing his peers, he continued to explain, “The forensic entomological model we use for estimating postmortem intervals through the development of necrophagous insects should be applied flexibly.

The variations in temperature, sunlight, even soil conditions in different regions must be taken into account.

The body in Case 805 was buried rather shallowly and was significantly affected by various factors.

Spring is actually a season of fluctuating temperatures, Luyang area experiences large temperature differences, and Xinluan Fuying flies develop much faster under fluctuating temperatures than under constant ones.

According to the literature, the development duration is 14.69 days shorter in fluctuating temperatures, of course, this is only supplementary evidence…”

Mei Fang spoke softly again, “You’re right.”

Zhou Yuanqiang couldn’t help himself at this point and took the opportunity to interject, “Dr.

Mei, didn’t we also ask Medical Examiner Zhai to review the case at the time?”

“That’s not…

I didn’t mean that…” Mei Fang could not stop him in time.

Zhou Yuanqiang said, “Not only was the time of death for the first body scrutinized by Medical Examiner Zhai from the provincial office, but the consolidation of the cases for bodies one and two was also determined by Medical Examiner Zhai.

We didn’t arbitrarily calculate the time…”

From Zhou Yuanqiang’s perspective, although Jiang Yuan was quite famous and seemed to be authoritative now, Medical Examiner Zhai had been famous for a long time and was a well-known forensic expert in the provincial office.

Shannan Province had solved countless cases over the years with Medical Examiner Zhai at the helm, and with this backing, Zhou Yuanqiang naturally did not feel inferior to Jiang Yuan.

From his viewpoint, Jiang Yuan might be an expert, but Medical Examiner Zhai, another provincial office expert, was even more renowned and hence, more authoritative.

Jiang Yuan had cooperated with Medical Examiner Zhai before, too.

When Liu Jinghui disappeared, the forensic doctor dispatched by the provincial office for support was Medical Examiner Zhai, indeed a famous forensic expert.

So Jiang Yuan suggested, “Let’s start a group video call and bring Medical Examiner Zhai into the discussion.”

This time, Jiang Yuan didn’t use Zhou Yuanqiang’s phone, but directly initiated a group call on his own phone and added both Dr.

Mei and Medical Examiner Zhai.

Medical Examiner Zhai, puzzled by Jiang Yuan’s invitation, joined the call.

Jiang Yuan then briefed Medical Examiner Zhai on the situation, raising the level of complexity out of consideration for Zhai’s expertise and began elaborating, “The insect development model you’re using is the isomorphen diagram, isn’t it?

Actually, that model in itself isn’t problematic, but I found something akin to manure in the photos.

At that point, I tried both the isomorphen diagram and the accumulated degree days model.

The former seems alright, but the latter definitely shows discrepancies…”

Since the assistance with the Liu Jinghui case, Medical Examiner Zhai had kept an eye on and stayed in touch with Jiang Yuan.

They were also in several groups together, discussing topics like the determination of time of death, and in fact, Medical Examiner Zhai did not need multiple discussions—just occasionally paying attention to the group chats was enough for him to acknowledge Jiang Yuan’s expertise.

Now, Medical Examiner Zhai weakly said, “Forensic Jiang, when it comes to determining the time of death, you are more authoritative than I am.

You don’t need to explain to me…

I did indeed use the isomorphen diagram, and I didn’t thoroughly consider some of the variables.

This really is…

I will look into it more and learn from you, follow your line of thought…”

“Then for case 805, the time of death for the first body, victim Li Yuan, I will revise it to four months before discovery,” Jiang Yuan asked.

“Of course.

No problem, I also agree with your assessment,” Zhai, a skinny little old man, said tiredly, “I’m actually in the middle of an autopsy right now, so is that all for now?”

“Yes.” Jiang Yuan said a few more words to Dr.

Mei and then completely ended the video conference.

Jiang Yuan put away his phone and looked at Zhou Yuanqiang, asking, “Political Commissar Zhou, shall we adjust the time of death to four months?”

“Uh…

Alright…” Zhou Yuanqiang could no longer muster any objections at this point.

Meanwhile, the squad leader Qu Hao sent a discreet message to Dr.

Mei, asking: [Dr.

Mei, what was that just now?]

Dr.

Mei: [Are you with the political commissar?

What are you trying to pull?

Did you drag me in to get a beating?]

Qu Hao: [It’s just that there’s some disagreement on the time of death…]

Dr.

Mei first sent several angry emojis, then messaged: [Why do you have a disagreement with Jiang Yuan?

If you want to embarrass yourselves, do it on your own, why drag me into it?

And Medical Examiner Zhai, you even pulled him into the beating?]

Qu Hao: [It wasn’t like that…]

Dr.

Mei: [Next time you ask for Medical Examiner Zhai, you go.

I’m out of face!]

At this point, Jiang Yuan had already started discussing the manure, the murder weapon, and more speculative details regarding the bodies.

Qu Hao sneakily glanced at Zhou Yuanqiang and silently ducked his head.

This feeling of being dominated in a discussion was by no means pleasant.