National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 458 - 458 421 Reliable

458: Chapter 421: Reliable 458: Chapter 421: Reliable Kang Zhichao picked up the photo handed to him by Jiang Yuan and read it carefully.

After looking for a while, he took out his laptop from under his seat, logged into the intranet, and reviewed the previous autopsy report and photos.

Feng Qiong waited for him for almost ten minutes.

During this time, not a single person spoke in the meeting room.

The answer given by Jiang Yuan had a really big impact.

Determining the time of death is not only extremely important in forensic science but also in criminal investigation practice.

In detective novels, the famous “perfect murder” often utilizes “alibis,” which are based on manipulating the time of death.

Killers use refrigerators, air conditioners, tamper with clocks, take shortcuts…

Most of these killers encounter overly meticulous forensic doctors of average level, leading them to always provide an exact time of death, which facilitates police misjudgment.

In reality, a forensic doctor of normal ability can hardly pinpoint the time of death to the hour.

To say a death occurred 8 to 10 hours ago, or 3 to 5 hours ago within a 24-hour frame, is already quite a stretch, even with data like liver temperature to back it up.

Once death surpasses 24 hours, it becomes difficult to provide more accurate estimates.

It’s not entirely impossible, but the techniques required are not within the grasp of an average forensic doctor.

For cases with even longer post-mortem intervals, the more precise the requirements, the higher the difficulty.

The information forensic doctors can rely on is mostly non-standardized.

Liver temperature, the species and generational relationships of insects, rigor mortis and livor mortis, changes in microbial communities, the degradation of red blood cell ATP, and even the infrared Fourier transform of skin after death can all be used for estimating the time of death.

But from another perspective: if there was a simple and straightforward technique that could determine the time of death of a corpse, why would scientists bother with various methods?

There’s a saying that fits well here, “Bad students have lots of stationery.” The more technologies and methods developed for calculating a figure, the more it indicates the difficulty in getting an accurate measurement.

In the case of incident 503, if the first victim is an armed police officer, then it’s highly likely that the crime involved two perpetrators stealing or snatching the gun, then killing the victim and taking the firearm for more efficient robberies.

At this point, if you want to investigate the case in a forward direction, more consideration should be given to the first victim.

It can be assumed that the criminals were after the gun.

If it was a murder plot, they could have chosen the time when the officer was unarmed to act and would not have needed to commit multiple robberies afterward.

There are many similar cases, like the notorious outlaw Bai Baoshan, who started his robbery journey by attacking sentries to steal their guns.

Therefore, when investigating with the theory that the crime was committed to steal the gun, naturally, you consider the disposal of property, the perpetrator’s familiarity with armed police officers, the planning of the robbery route, the planning of the robbery method, and the plans for subsequent robberies, and so on.

However, if the first person the killer actually killed was the second victim, the situation would be instantly reversed.

If the second victim was killed first, followed by the first, it suggests that the killer’s original target might have been the second victim.

And the first victim, an armed police officer returning home from work, was more likely to have encountered the killer and was then killed during the ensuing conflict.

As such, the investigative direction based on the theory of killing to steal the gun would be a complete waste of effort.

The investigation into the second victim would have to be rethought from the perspective of whether it was a murder for money or murder for other reasons.

All sorts of emotions, thoughts, and realities flowed through the meeting room.

Feng Qiong could no longer wait and turned to ask Kang Zhichao, “How is it?”

“Are you asking me?” Kang Zhichao was still looking at the photos on his laptop carefully.

“Yes.

Who else?” Feng Qiong knew his colleague was somewhat slow-witted, but there was nothing he could do.

Even in the ministry, you couldn’t expect a colleague to be skilled, personable, emotionally stable, good-looking, have lofty ideals, and be hardworking—a so-called impossible hexagon.

Kang Zhichao looked up and realized everyone was looking at him before he said, “I’m asking someone else, too.”

“Who?”

“Tao,” Kang Zhichao paused before adding, “I’m a half-baked forensic doctor, learned it later in life; I’m having Tao take a look.”

Feng Qiong sighed in resignation and asked, “What does Tao say?”

“Tao,” Kang Zhichao glanced at the laptop and said, “I’m quoting his exact words here, just one sentence: ‘That’s fucking amazing?

A question.'”

“And then?”

“That’s it.”

The two were speaking openly in front of everyone, and the content was not meant to be hidden, leaving a bunch of officers from Miaoheshire Bureau looking at each other in bewilderment.

Could it be that the leader from the ministry can’t progress with the case and is passing the buck in such a manner?

“Have a smoke.”

The Bureau Chief handed Feng Qiong a cigarette, his mood seemingly not bad.

If the case proceeds as Jiang Yuan suggested, Feng Qiong and the others would return to Anhai City and use the manpower of Anhai City Bureau to investigate and collect evidence locally in Anhai.

For Miaoheshire Bureau, it would certainly mean less opportunity for distinction, but truth be told, with such a headless case and the kind of opportunity it presented, could the small Miaoheshire Bureau really handle it?

It would probably be better to disengage early.

Bureau Chief Guan Xingfu couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Yuan and thought to himself: Compared to this, asking Jiang Yuan to find a dog might be more reliable.

Whoo whoo…

Kang Zhichao’s phone started vibrating.

He picked it up and looked, then said, “It’s Tao’s.”

“Put it on speaker,” Feng Qiong said, rubbing his eyes, no longer pretending.

The case had now come to a crossroads.

If they could prove that Jiang Yuan was talking nonsense, they could clearly push it back to Miaoheshire for further investigation.

On the other hand, if Jiang Yuan was not talking nonsense, it was time for them to leave Miaoheshire County.

At this moment, worrying about image and authority didn’t make any sense.

After answering the call, Kang Zhichao said, “It’s Tao, I’ve put you on speaker, we’re in a meeting.

Feng Qiong is here, as well as a few leaders from Miaoheshire Bureau and relevant officers.”

“That’s quite a crowd,” Tao hissed, then asked, “Is that forensic doctor Jiang Yuan there?”

“Right beside me,” Feng Qiong replied directly, “Tao, just give us the conclusion, don’t hold back.”

Tao said with an “Ah,” “But I don’t have a conclusion, if you ask me if I can see a time difference between the two, from the photos, I really can’t be certain.

However, if you want me to rule out this judgment, I cannot do that either.

I know I’m speaking in circles here, but, well…”

Tao paused for a moment and then said, “Relatively speaking, I’m more inclined to believe that victim number two died first.

But as for the specific judgment, especially regarding the time of death, I think I should discuss it with forensic doctor Jiang Yuan, Doctor Jiang?”

“I’m here,” Jiang Yuan responded, then immediately added, “Looking at the photos, the times of death for both appear quite close, differing by only about an hour.

For a more precise judgment, I believe we can compare the condition of the corneas.”

“I’ve seen the two photos you sent.

Regarding the corneas…” Tao was evidently looking at the photos on the other end of the line, his voice uncertain.

Jiang Yuan said, “If the states of the corneas are similar, then that’s actually where the problem lies.

Take a look at the other photos.

The police officer holding the gun had his eyes open after death, and victim number two’s eyes were closed after death.

Moreover, victim number two was presumably put into the rear compartment after death, where, in a relatively anaerobic environment, excessive lactic acid produced by the corneal epithelium would lead to swelling and clouding of the corneal stroma.

The trunk is enclosed, so clouding of the cornea would occur relatively fast.

Furthermore, since victim number one’s eyes were open, the evaporation of moisture from the cornea would be faster, and clouding of the cornea would occur slower.

We need to compare considering these changes in the degree of corneal cloudiness…”

He knew Tao’s pain points.

Forensic doctors, although very practical, when it comes to such meticulous details, ultimately, it’s an academic matter.

At this moment, Jiang Yuan, with his Level 6 death time determination skill, was obviously well aware of the difficulties forensic doctors of a lower caliber faced in making such judgments.

It was like a savvy teacher who knows the pain points of their students.

The elder on the other end of the phone gave an “Oh” and then fell into a long silence.

After a few minutes, Feng Qiong, feeling helpless, said, “You tech folks, why do you stop talking in the middle of a sentence?”

Tao made a “hiss” sound as if coming back to his senses and said, “Kang, what do you think?”

When Kang Zhichao, who was asked, did not answer, he said, “I do trace evidence.

You’re the one to decide.”

Tao then didn’t shy away and chuckled twice, saying, “Then I’ll just give the conclusion as Director Feng requested, ‘Fucking A!'”