National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 700 - 643: Tidying Up

Chapter 700: Chapter 643: Tidying Up

In the following days, three more bodies were unearthed from walls and kang beds, and were sent to the forensic autopsy room. The number of bodies in the Chen Wanjia case rose to eight.

Two of the bodies were the familiar foremen, and the third, discovered by police in the old house of Chen Wanjia’s aunt Wang Lihua’s kang bed, was a mummified corpse.

No one had expected this body, because Wang Lihua had disappeared years earlier, and there was a record of the disappearance. A search team had sent two people with a portable X-ray machine to scan the area. They didn’t find anything in the wall, but when they scanned the kang bed, they detected a human figure.

The Chen family had used this kang bed for several years for eating, drinking, sitting, and sleeping, but not a single person had uncovered its secret. When the kang was dug up and a mummy highly suspected to be Chen Wanjia’s aunt Wang Lihua appeared, everyone in the area was shocked.

Chen Wanjia had been raised by his aunt Wang Lihua for a long time; he ate at her house and was cared for by her. After she disappeared, no one suspected Chen Wanjia.

It was during the time Chen Wanjia’s uncle was building a new house, a sign that the family’s life was improving. Chen Wanjia had contributed greatly, and the uncle’s family had nothing but praise for him, no discontent.

Wang Lihua’s disappearance was treated as an isolated case.

When Jiang Yuan saw the body of Chen Wanjia’s aunt Wang Lihua, he was quite surprised. The body, baked over the years, had muscle and skin tissue that had metamorphosed into a layer of dark brown crust, and the bones were brittle, crumbling at the touch. The trauma to the remaining bones and tissue suggested the victim’s chest cavity had likely been cleaved open with an axe.

That was probably the cause of death. To use the words from a storytelling script, "When that axe came down, the heart, liver, and lungs poured out, and couldn’t be gathered up."

The term "extremely cruel" seemed quite appropriate here.

"Extracting DNA from this one should be impossible, right?" Tang Feng, a forensic doctor from Changyang City accompanying Jiang Yuan, asked. He wore a continuous glucose monitor on his arm and was always cautious during autopsies, just as he was when eating.

Jiang Yuan silently nodded. If the body had been buried underground for a dozen years, it would still be possible to conduct DNA analysis, but being dried out in a kang bed, DNA really would give up in such conditions.

"Let’s start with a basic examination," Jiang Yuan said nonchalantly. To forensic doctors, DNA was a great invention that solved many problems and reduced their workload. On the other hand, the advent of DNA technology somewhat overshadowed the development of other areas in forensic science.

For example, Forensic Anthropology, which had been capable of identifying bodies decades before the invention of DNA.

"The deceased was a 54-year-old female, between 148 and 155 centimeters tall," Jiang Yuan said as he carefully touched and measured the bones, fearing he might accidentally crush them.

Tang Feng glanced at Jiang Yuan, saw an assistant taking notes, and just watched in silence.

He greatly admired Jiang Yuan’s way of speaking. Something that sounded so basic as a "basic examination" was, in reality, making a comprehensive assessment.

"Captain Jiang, is there anything to be mindful of with a body burnt to this extent?" Tang Feng asked cautiously, hoping to pick up a few techniques.

Jiang Yuan, having completed a round of assessments, pondered and said, "There are two things, I suppose. One is the choice of parts for testing. For example, the pelvis, which we commonly use, is hard to manipulate in this state, so it’s not the best choice..."

Jiang Yuan turned to Tang Feng as he spoke.

Tang Feng immediately responded, "Tooth enamel should be the prime choice?"

"Yes, normally, forensic odontology would be most suitable. Look at the victim’s teeth, they are relatively intact, with clear signs of wear..." Jiang Yuan had previously acquired a level 4 proficiency in forensic odontology.

Understanding, Tang Feng said, "Using the Demirjian system or Shogo Tsuchida’s tooth wear stage for scoring?"

"That’s right."

"But I didn’t see you score the teeth earlier..."

"Oh, I actually examined the pelvis, just in passing. It provides a lot of information, making it convenient to judge several aspects together." After answering, Jiang Yuan felt the temperature in the autopsy room grow even colder.

With a tactfulness perhaps expected from someone who had moved from a small county town to the provincial capital, Jiang Yuan coughed twice and added, "For a body charred like this, I think it’s worth referring to cases of bodies from fires, those burned alive or whose bodies were burned after death, and even those burned multiple times. Each case differs, but by focusing on common features, we can still draw useful conclusions."

As he spoke, Jiang Yuan wrote several regression equations on the spot. These were from publicly available literature, but Tang Feng immediately took photos of them.

Taking the opportunity, Tang Feng hurriedly asked several questions he had accumulated over the days.

Forensic science is a profession that places heavy emphasis on practice. In theory, as long as one conducts enough autopsies, they can develop their own understanding.

However, forensic science also demands a certain level of talent. With the same number of autopsies, some practitioners have a deeper and more accurate understanding.

The difficult part is that many forensic doctors rarely get the chance to correct their methods. Once an issue like that arises, it’s the start of big trouble. Normally, the reports written by forensic doctors have a wide margin of error, making it hard to learn just by reading others’ reports.

Jiang Yuan wasn’t secretive; if Tang Feng wanted to listen, he was willing to share.

Wang Lihua’s autopsy was complicated in nature, but fundamentally it wasn’t complex, and it could essentially be determined to have been Chen Wanjia’s doing. Under such circumstances, the autopsy of Wang Lihua’s body actually didn’t carry that much pressure.

However, the condition of Wang Lihua’s body itself was very challenging, which made it quite suitable for teaching purposes.

Since Tang Feng was eager to learn, Jiang Yuan conducted a thorough autopsy from start to finish, and by the end, a glowing blue orb coalesced.

Wang Lihua’s legacy—Wild Vegetable Identification (LV2): Wang Lihua came from a life of hardship, foraging for wild vegetables in the mountains and fields since childhood. If she found them, there would be vegetables to eat at home; if not, there would be none for the day. After growing up, Wang Lihua’s life improved slightly, but wild vegetables remained a significant aid in her household. After she was forced to adopt Chen Wanjia, food became even scarcer, to the point where the entire village, young and old, started to rely on wild vegetables as a side dish, and Wang Lihua kept searching tirelessly. Perhaps leaving this world just meant one less suffering for her.

Jiang Yuan sighed quietly to himself. From Wang Lihua’s legacy, it was clear that Chen Wanjia also had a tough upbringing, which wasn’t the issue. This was because serial killers often make excuses of childhood traumas. Sadly, Wang Lihua didn’t need to suffer as much as she did.

She adopted Chen Wanjia, which made the food situation at home even tighter, but clearly, Chen Wanjia was not grateful. His act of murder was proof of this.

Wang Lihua didn’t have a chance to explain, and perhaps she didn’t know how to. It was highly likely that Chen Wanjia would not have accepted any explanation anyway.

Some people will never consider others’ perspectives; when they do wrong, they only leave judgment to the King of Hell.

...

The Shang family made a lot of noise as they presented a silk banner, accompanied by several prominent figures from Changyang City.

After all, Shang Geyong had been rescued and brought back. No matter how emotionally shattered he was after returning, being alive meant having another chance.

Shang Geyong himself was extremely grateful to Jiang Yuan and his team.

He had lived with Chen Wanjia, and had even been forced to help him handle bodies. As his hope of survival dwindled and his outlook on the future grew increasingly pessimistic, he was suddenly rescued from the lowest point in his life. Shang Geyong himself was more than willing to visit the police station.

Especially under the skylight in the lobby of the police station, with the warm sunshine beaming down, Shang Geyong wished he could just close his eyes and fall asleep.

Shang Geyong’s older sister stood from afar, wiping away tears with a worried heart, and then gave a bitter smile to the leaders from Changyang City beside her, "Geyong has hardly slept these past few days, always waking up from nightmares. Maybe he feels safe at the police station."

"No problem, let him sleep if he wants," Yu Wenshu said cheerfully, "We welcome people to come and sleep at the Criminal Police Brigade. Their restful sleep is positive proof of our effective work."

Everyone laughed.

The laughter from Shang Geyong’s family was a bit forced.

After a while, Shang Geyong’s sister, gritting her teeth, said, "Our family Geyong is planning to go abroad. The trauma from this period has been a bit too heavy, and the doctor also advised him to change his environment."

"Shouldn’t he stay closer to his family?" someone asked with concern.

"With his current state, our family can’t help much. All he does at home is sleep; he doesn’t even touch his phone, and he can’t keep the factory running. It might be better for him to go abroad."

The crowd fell silent.

...

After the autopsy of Wang Lihua’s body, no bodies had been sent over for the next two days. Jiang Yuan asked Huang Qiangmin for permission, gave his team members and himself time off, and went home.

Solving two murder cases in a row, one of which involved multiple victims, was enough reason for any detective squad to crack open beers in celebration.

Even for Jiang Yuan’s Cold Case Squad, which often solved major cases, the complexity of this case was sufficient. In comparison to the other team members, Jiang Yuan hadn’t gone out much, but the others had run through seven or eight cities and regions just to recover a few more bodies, not to mention the energy previously exhausted. They were all thoroughly worn out.

Jiangcun Residential Area.

Amidst the sound of firecrackers, another banquet was happening today.

Jiang Fuzhen specifically asked Jiang Yuan to come through the main entrance, using both the electronic ceremonial cannons and black gunpowder firecrackers borrowed from the host, to celebrate his return and cleanse him of dust.

Once completely enveloped in the smell of gunpowder, Jiang Fuzhen led Jiang Yuan to a table, where they peeled red eggs and chatted together.

Since becoming wealthy, Jiang Fuzhen had started paying more attention to Jiang Yuan’s spiritual welfare. From his own experience, he knew that satisfying material desires was easy, but filling the void of the spirit was difficult.

Jiang Yuan enjoyed the spiritual pampering from his father, Jiang Fuzhen, on the spot. By the end of the banquet, he felt much more relaxed.