National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 472 - 472 434 Round 1

472: Chapter 434 Round 1 472: Chapter 434 Round 1 Jiang Yuan spent another day completing the skull restoration of Subject #2.

Compared to the male body tagged as #1, the complexity of restoring the female body of #2 was slightly higher.

The two bodies that died from high-altitude falls, where the male landed feet first and the female landed on her knees.

Due to the height, most of their long bones were driven into and above the pelvis, piercing through the organs.

So, both of them likely died soon after hitting the ground, but the decay on the female body was more severe.

It’s a well-known fact that when males and females die at the same time, females typically decompose faster.

This is because most decomposing bacteria prefer fat over muscle, and females especially have a higher fat content.

Moreover, as fat decomposes, it expands more and more rapidly than muscle, which is why female bodies balloon up more quickly and start to stink and rot faster.

Nevertheless, Jiang Yuan’s challenge was mainly in detailing the reconstruction.

After all, he had just started learning the Skull Restoration Skill.

He handled typical cases smoothly, but faced difficulties with atypical ones.

He could get it done by constantly thinking and using other skills to assist him.

From this perspective, a level 3 Skull Restoration Skill is very difficult, but not yet strong enough.

He probably needs to reach a level 4 to handle it with ease.

“Shang Chuting.

23 years old, from Kangzhou…

High school graduate, very little other records…

Right, she must be related to Shang Feng.

Distant cousins, it seems,” Wang Chuanxing said, waiting for Jiang Yuan to reconstruct the face.

As usual, he snapped a photo with his phone, uploaded it to the police network, and the identity card came right up.

Taking a picture of a face reconstructed from a skull is almost as accurate as taking a photo in person, much clearer than pictures from highway surveillance or the like, with a higher recognition rate.

In modern society, unless one makes a specific effort with their appearance and preparations, it’s increasingly difficult to hide one’s identity.

In any slightly crowded area, there are bound to be facial recognition checkpoints, and facial recognition technology is advancing rapidly.

Against this backdrop, the value of Skull Restoration Skill has indeed increased.

Medical Examiner Zhai looked at the photo on the ID card, then at the picture of the restored face of Body #2 that Jiang Yuan had produced.

Although they weren’t identical, the key features were very similar.

Marking characteristic points on the skull is somewhat like fingerprinting; it’s not necessary to mark all points precisely, hitting some of them is enough.

Since the regression equation can’t be completely error-free, the face produced by the Skull Restoration Skill can’t be perfectly accurate.

The key is to stay within a certain range to improve the chances of a match.

Medical Examiner Zhai seemed relieved.

With the identities of the two bodies confirmed, his learning session was coming to a close.

He needed it to end; lately, even drinking goji berry tea set him on edge.

Medical Examiner Zhai said, “It seems there is a connection after all.

Distant cousins hiking together lowers the probability of suicide.

We need to consider the possibilities of an accidental fall or homicide.

However, that’s for the detectives to busy themselves with now.”

“Why?” Shen Yaowei, sitting nearby, asked subconsciously.

Medical Examiner Zhai was taken aback, “What do you mean, ‘why’?

Dual suicides are usually due to relationship issues, right?

The two deceased being distant cousins, there wouldn’t be such issues between them.”

“Because they were cousins, that’s precisely where the issue lies,” Shen Yaowei said, his expression turning scholarly and serious, much like Medical Examiner Zhai’s from the day before, and he began to theorize earnestly, “The two fell in love, but faced external pressures and internal torment because they were cousins.

So, they planned a trip together, traveled, hiked, and experienced happiness.

But as the time to return home drew closer, they became anxious again.

On their final hike, standing at the edge of a cliff, they suddenly decided to jump off together…”

Medical Examiner Zhai gave Shen Yaowei a strange look that made the latter somewhat embarrassed.

Then Zhai said, “Are the thoughts of you young people so feudal now?”

Shen Yaowei sensed something amiss and furrowed his brows, “What do you mean?”

“If they were in love, they could just elope.

How many young people nowadays stay in their hometowns?

Is there really a need for a lovers’ suicide?” Medical Examiner Zhai shook his head, “However, if you harbor such feudal thoughts and want to include romantic suicide as a consideration, I suppose it’s necessary.”

“No, how am I feudal!” Shen Yaowei couldn’t accept such criticism.

He could be accused of being a philanderer, a playboy, but he couldn’t stand being called ‘feudal.’ Anxious, Shen Yaowei retorted, “They were distant cousins, and even separated by a generation, that’s still close kin, right?

It’s not feudal…

it’s a matter of ethics, morality, and science!”

“Preventing consanguineous marriages is required not just for ethical reasons but also for reproductive considerations,” Medical Examiner Zhai stated scientifically.

“If you’re concerned, you could simply choose not to have children.

Isn’t it true that young people nowadays aren’t having children anyway?”

“What do you mean ‘we’?

I’m not included in that!” Shen Yaowei almost shouted.

…

Hou Le’s family quickly sprang into action.

There’s a saying, ‘Those close to the water get the moon first.’ Naturally, Jiang Yuan and the others, working in Longli County with the CT machine he bought, the computers he provided, and in the office he decorated, would be the first to catch wind of any developments.

Hou Le’s family also gained the first round of selection rights.

However, sometimes having too many choices can be a kind of torture.

Both victims were from Kangzhou, and the investigation would likely involve traveling to another jurisdiction.

Calculating based on the budget for two lower-end vehicles, the expenses would be considerable from the start.

The results of the investigation could go two ways: if it were a murder case, even if the expenses turned out to be significant, the Longli County Criminal Police Team would be rewarded with points on the battle strength leaderboard.

But what if it were not a murder case?

If the two had truly committed suicide or died from accidental fall, all the painstaking investigation would amount to nothing.

“I’ll do it,” Hou Le said through gritted teeth.

The opportunity had presented itself on his doorstep; it would be unreasonable to refuse it.

Jiang Yuan was indifferent; he couldn’t prevent Hou Le from taking on any case.

But…

Before Jiang Yuan could speak, Yu Wenshu’s call came through.

There was no way Jiang Yuan’s Cold Case Squad could keep secrets from Yu Wenshu.

“Have you made progress?” Yu Wenshu’s voice sounded very gentle.

“Yes, we’ve identified the body source,” Jiang Yuan replied.

“Good job…

Well, that’s good.

Having the case lying around, not being able to continue and yet unable to close it formally—the funeral home’s expenses have been quite considerable…” Yu Wenshu rambled briefly, seemingly connecting emotionally, before reluctantly hanging up.

Next to him, Hou Le furrowed his eyebrows: “Does Changyang City want to conduct its own investigation?”

“It’s their case to begin with,” Jiang Yuan responded casually.

“That’s easy to say, but the body source was confirmed in our Longli County.

With Changyang City’s vast jurisdiction, do they really lack such trivial matters?

Not generous, not generous at all…” Hou Le pondered internally, his mind racing with calculations.

With the body source of the unknown corpse identified, the case details usually aren’t too complicated.

But how ‘usual’ it gets is now Hou Le’s concern…

“It’s rare to have a murder cold case that might be solvable,” Hou Le said, reinforcing his own decision.

After uttering these words, he took out his phone and began assigning tasks to his subordinates.

Watching this scene, Shen Yaowei couldn’t help but think of a phrase and voiced it: “Welcome to the road of confrontation.”