National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 516 - 516 474 Digging Graves

516: Chapter 474 Digging Graves 516: Chapter 474 Digging Graves Bai Jian’s face was bright red, as if it were smeared with oil.

He was dressed in plain clothes, his police uniform washed clean, his leather shoes polished to a spotless sheen.

He was truly happy, to the point that he didn’t even care who had solved the case.

The case in Ma Jiazhuang had weighed heavily on his mind for a long time, and no matter the reason it was solved, it was a beautiful thing for him.

The police officers dispatched to other places gradually returned; those who came back early caught the photo session, posing and twisting alongside Bai Jian,

Huang Qiangmin watched with a chuckle, standing on the sidelines and enjoying the happiness of the Shi Ting County officers, turning to Liu Jinghui with a smile, “Young people nowadays are so different from us.

Back in our day, we were reluctant to take photos and had to be coaxed three times before we’d hesitantly step onto the stage.”

“Back then, maturity and stability were valued,” Liu Jinghui added a line to go along with him.

“Yeah,” Huang Qiangmin sighed, “When we cracked a big case, almost like this one, the whole team took photos at the train station; it took us half an hour just to take one picture.

We were afraid this wasn’t appropriate, felt that wasn’t done well…”

“Those people, until now, maybe only you have been promoted to a full-head position,” Liu Jinghui argued with a rather novel reasoning, “Cases are endless, but positions like deputy director are scarce.

In the end, you can only outsmart yourself.”

Huang Qiangmin laughed heartily, but after laughing, he felt a bit of a pang and sighed, “I was also pushed up by Jiang Yuan, if it weren’t for him, I’d probably be no different from Bai Jian in this life.”

“Is Bai Jian so bad?

Look at how triumphant he appears.”

“Triumphant at times, the more he smiles now, the more desolation he’ll face with the next case.”

“You have quite the insight.”

“Less insight now, with Jiang Yuan,” Huang Qiangmin shrugged with pretense.

Seeing Huang Qiangmin’s smug look, Liu Jinghui wanted to needle him a bit, so he said, “Jiang Yuan’s ability to manage upwards is indeed growing stronger.”

Huang Qiangmin was startled before breaking into a grin, “Then I’ll have to cultivate my own Jiang Yuan well, to talk back to any difficult superiors in the future, toughen him up.”

“Um…

managing upwards doesn’t mean that.”

“It could mean that,” Huang Qiangmin retorted casually, “It’s just a matter of seniority now, but solving cases is tangible evidence, and the requirements are getting stricter.

It’s easy to find a toad with two legs, but a three-legged case-solving genius is much harder to come by.”

Liu Jinghui looked at Huang Qiangmin, thinking that sometimes someone needed to manage his brain.

…

Jiang Yuan did not participate in the celebration downstairs.

For him, the difficulty of the Ma Jiazhuang case was not high.

To use an exam as a metaphor, if one wanted to score satisfactorily on this test, it was only necessary for the related skill level to reach a certain level and then to be meticulous.

The inability of Bai, the captain of Shi Ting County, to handle it was a reasonable reflection of the case’s difficulty, and the perfect resolution by the officers under his command also logically matched the case’s challenge.

In truth, there was no part that needed celebrating.

Of course, Jiang Yuan could understand the celebration of Bai Jian and others.

It was like when he followed his father in his younger years enjoying meals provided by others, and the joy he felt when the host family made meat dishes.

As he grew older and their property was redeveloped, Jiang Fuzhen had meat dishes every day, available to any villager who wanted to eat, even to be given away to those who wanted to take some as gifts.

Times change, today’s feelings cannot override those from the past, but it does not mean that Jiang Yuan wants to empathize with everyone.

He had tasted the bitterness of communal meals, and he did not want to taste it again.

He had also experienced the despair of being at a loss with a problem, and he did not want to continue that experience.

In fact, if it were not for the system interface, where the task progress had gone from 335/X to 347/X, meaning 12 people sincerely admired Jiang Yuan, he would have already been ready to withdraw.

Even as the most basic second-generation beneficiary of property redevelopment, Jiang Yuan was not willing to warm his seat for their cold indifference.

Thankfully, some people understood.

Just not many.

The forensic doctor from Shi Ting County was one of the enlightened ones.

Frankly speaking, the 38-year-old forensic doctor Wei Qun should have been in his prime, but from what Jiang Yuan had seen in the autopsy reports and pathology slides, Wei Qun was only at a level LV1.1.

Useful, but really not adequate.

The requirements for forensics in criminal cases are ever increasing.

A LV0.9 trace examiner might still handle petty theft cases, blending in with entry-level criminals.

Entry-level trace examiners meet entry-level criminals—a fair match—like a toad squaring off with a mung bean, a Miss with her bootlicker, each with their own shortcomings, but fitting together like pieces of a puzzle.

But a forensic doctor deals with homicide cases.

Despite the fact that unnatural death is the current mainstay, determining the nature of death is a forensic doctor’s expertise.

Moreover, homicides are bound to be encountered throughout the year.

At such times, a Level 1.1 forensic doctor is really not up to par.

Jiang Yuan read the forensic report of the corpses found in a Qing Dynasty tomb and found it extremely distressing.

It seemed that Wei Qun also knew his skills were lacking and said apologetically, “For this case, I initially wanted to request support from the city.

You know, Qinghe City has always had forensic support.

But because the bodies were discovered in a tomb…

Well, bodies discovered in a tomb are quite normal, so the notification wasn’t very timely.”

Jiang Yuan didn’t come to pick a fight; instead, he was somewhat curiously asking, “Two bodies were found in the tomb, one inside the coffin dating back to the late Qing period, and one outside the coffin, still in modern clothing.

Why do you think that’s normal?”

“Tomb Robber?

The Candle in the Tomb?” Wei Qun laughed twice and said, “There were other cases at the time, and I didn’t have a clear head, so I checked it later.”

“The origin of the corpses was ultimately not determined.”

“Uh…

Later on, a forensic doctor from Qinghe City also came to look.

The bodies had been in the tomb for several years by then, making it indeed quite difficult to determine their origins.”

“What about your trace evidence analysis?” Jiang Yuan asked.

Wei Qun, who was contemplating his forensic work, was taken aback, “Trace evidence analysis?”

“Yes, what did the trace evidence say?”

“Well…

We found some traces and analyzed the deceased’s clothes, and it seems some soil samples were also collected…” Wei Qun described.

Jiang Yuan nodded in agreement.

He had also seen the trace evidence report.

Coupling it with some of Wei Qun’s responses, he could generally judge that the level of trace evidence analysis in Shiting County was on par with the forensic expertise—both mediocre at best.

It wasn’t actually surprising; Shiting County is the poorest county under Qinghe City.

Even if young people are keen on public service exams, they still prioritize big cities, Changyang City, Qinghe City, and less so Ningtai.

Very few actively choose to work there.

It was difficult enough to attract people, let alone retain them, especially those with technical expertise.

Without the possibility of growth because the previous generation of forensic and trace evidence technicians might not be that skilled.

And even if the skills were developed, it’s even harder to keep them around.

Nowadays, institutions like judicial appraisal offices offer salaries that are double or even more than those of big city forensic doctors, which is much more than what small-town forensic and trace evidence technicians earn.

Someone young like Wei Qun, who is willing to settle in Shiting County, is likely to share similar origins with Jiang Yuan.

They are probably locals who don’t want to stray too far from home.

“I noticed the trace evidence report was very simple, solely analyzing the traces found inside the tomb chamber?” Jiang Yuan continued to inquire.

Wei Qun, not as good at reading the faces of the dead as he is the living, nodded first then asked, “Did the trace evidence miss anything?”

“Possibly,” Jiang Yuan said.

“Please tell me,” Wei Qun’s expression suddenly became animated,

The omission of trace evidence wasn’t his concern as a forensic doctor, and it would be best if it eclipsed his own forensic mistakes.

Jiang Yuan had already entered his professional mode and didn’t care what Wei Qun was thinking.

He took out a few photographs and said, “The tomb is still there, right?

I could take a look.

The way this tunnel was dug, it’s actually quite skillful.”

“That’s why at first we all thought it was a Tomb Robber who had died inside…” Wei Qun hurriedly tried to justify.

“But inside the tomb, there are still funerary objects, albeit not many,” Jiang Yuan countered, then added, “Tomb robbers usually work in groups, never alone.

If they can carry away a body, they would certainly do so.”

“Yes, that’s what we thought at the time.

We did indeed get it wrong.

We also thought…

maybe it was because someone died, which they considered bad luck, so they just withdrew?”

Jiang Yuan said, “You could still find something valuable in a late Qing tomb if you’re lucky.

They wouldn’t leave without taking anything.

If they were superstitious, they wouldn’t be robbing tombs in the first place…”

Jiang Yuan paused, then continued, “These are not the key issues.

The key issue is that the robber’s tunnel was dug cleanly and directly above the tomb owner’s coffin, which does seem like the work of a professional Tomb Robber…”

Wei Qun listened, perplexed, “Is it a Tomb Robber, or isn’t it?”

“Yes.

But a Tomb Robber who only discards bodies and doesn’t rob tombs is somewhat strange,” Jiang Yuan said.

Wei Qun said, “Our Shiting County has always been a poor county since ancient times.

The tomb’s accompanying artifacts have never been abundant.

Moreover, families with the Shi surname are scholars and don’t place much emphasis on funerary objects.”

“In that case, the murderer wouldn’t make much money robbing tombs in Shiting County?

Is there a tradition of tomb robbing around here?”

“It’s more casual digging.

The tombs here aren’t worth much, but there are a lot of them.

As you said, occasionally they’ll find something valuable.

The most I’ve heard of are some calligraphies and porcelains that could sell for tens of thousands, but the rest isn’t worth much.

This particular tomb contained only pottery jars,” Wei Qun said with a chuckle.

Ever since he saw the photos of the case a few days earlier, Jiang Yuan had been considering the issue of the digging traces.

Now, as if talking to himself, he said, “If digging things up isn’t profitable, what about putting things inside?”

“What do you mean?” Wei Qun actually understood but needed a moment to digest it further.