National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 730 - 673: Show of Strength

Chapter 730: Chapter 673: Show of Strength

They had fish for dinner.

Having collected bodies from a sewage pond during the day, which left many feeling unwell, they could only manage to eat aquatic creatures that evening, such as coral trout, grouper, mantis shrimp, crabs, squat lobster, and deco pod squilloids from the Decapod Squilla Family. This meal was on Jiang Yuan’s tab, and not expensed to the Zhengguang Bureau, to lift the spirits of Tao Lu and the others a bit.

Tao Lu seized the chance and heartily chatted with Huang Qiangmin, arms linked and faces flushed, for a good fifteen minutes.

The case had to progress no matter what, such that even if Huang Qiangmin’s demands were a bit more stringent, Tao Lu might have agreed to them. So, when the final terms were agreed upon, Tao Lu even felt that Huang Qiangmin’s demands were not so outrageously excessive.

Jiang Yuan didn’t pay them much mind, devouring nearly half of the coral trout in a whirlwind, followed by cracking open a mantis shrimp, and then pairing half a bowl of shrimp, two spoonfuls of Lao Gan Ma, and a touch of mustard with half a bowl of rice. Wiping his mouth, he said, "I’m off to check on the bodies."

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless one; the task force needed the autopsy reports before the next morning’s office hours, otherwise, the rest of the team would have to wait for the report to proceed with their work.

Staying up late didn’t bother Jiang Yuan much, similar to how doctors always admonish their patients to rest well and eat light, yet they often binge and stay up all night themselves. Many doctors have seen too many cases of people getting sick mysteriously.

Forensic doctors are similar to some extent, as with the six bodies this time. Although they hooked up, drank, stayed up late, and some may even have smoked, they were all in the prime of youth, far from the clutches of death under normal circumstances.

Yet each of these six people had no definitive reason to die.

They merely chose a certain lifestyle.

Strictly speaking, one could argue that the murderer also chose a lifestyle, but his way of living erased the lives of others. At that point, it was necessary for someone to step forward and exact an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

"Any findings?" Jiang Yuan brought a large food container over, placing it on a vacant table.

The veteran Zeng Lianrong smiled amiably and said, "We’ve just completed some examinations and measurements; all the data is in the notebook. The two victims, number five and six, are both female. Number five’s knee also shows significant wear and tear, suspected to be sports-related injuries..."

Zeng Lianrong didn’t even look at his notebook as he recounted the conclusions he had drawn, then stepped aside to give Jiang Yuan space.

Jiang Yuan nodded and unhesitatingly stepped up to the autopsy table.

With bodies stripped down to bones, there was no need for sharp objects like scalpels. The autopsy tables themselves were spotlessly clean, glistening metallically.

But few forensic doctors would prefer such corpses.

Everyone rather deal with fresh bodies, which tremble when touched; they are simpler to work with and conclusions are more easily drawn, unlike stark white bones. Clean, yes, but often of little use, a waste of effort.

Jiang Yuan inspected the bones on the autopsy table one by one, and when he reached the knees, he remarked, "Victim number two’s knee wear is also very severe."

"Yes, and it looks like it’s due to a sports injury," said Zeng Lianrong, who had specifically mentioned this because he had also considered the possibility.

Out of the six bodies, four were female, two of which had sports injuries on their knees. Though the numbers were too small for a definitive conclusion, they certainly couldn’t be ignored.

After carefully examining victim number five’s knees, Jiang Yuan asked for number two’s knees to be brought for comparison and added, "The type of activity they engaged in feels different. The injuries on number two are more consistent with weight training, while number five’s are more indicative of running or race walking."

Zeng Lianrong could see it too and immediately agreed, saying, "I concur. However, if the exercise was done in a gym, both could fit the profile."

"Indeed," Jiang Yuan responded noncommittally. Assuming the victims were lured through a social app, the likelihood of them being from the same area or even the same gym decreased, unless they were all locals, but that conflicted with the reported missing persons’ information.

To the side, the junior forensic doctor Zhan Kan and others listened to Jiang Yuan and Zeng Lianrong’s conversation while also craning their necks to examine the knees, pondering their line of thought.

Forensics, like the antiques trade, is hands-on. Many things require examination by touch and continuous affirmative stimulation to form concepts.

For instance, sports injuries to the knee—without handling the actual object, relying solely on textbook descriptions is almost akin to guessing blindly. Only with extensive experience and observation can one confidently make a judgement, of course, this is provided that there’s a foundation in anthropology.

Zhan Kan had just started examining the knee when Jiang Yuan picked up several vertebrae from body number five and began inspecting them.

Zeng Lianrong was the first to lean in, moving even faster than the young forensic doctors.

"You’ve noticed it too," Zeng Lianrong didn’t wait for Jiang Yuan to speak before he revealed the answer.

The few young doctors looked over, not understanding.

"Are you referring to the scratch marks?" Jiang Yuan set the first thoracic vertebra aside.

Zeng Lianrong laughed heartily and nodded, "Exactly, the marks are very fine; they can’t be detected without close inspection. What tool do you think caused them?"

"A boning knife, I’d guess. The single-edged kind with a bit of curvature, pointed, with a thin and sharp blade..." Jiang Yuan listed the various characteristics of the knife blade that caused the marks all in one breath.

Zeng Lianrong’s smile gradually faded.

"How can you tell it’s single-edged?" Zeng Lianrong asked.

"Look at the indentations, they’re uneven." Jiang Yuan handed over a magnifying glass.

Zeng Lianrong inquired, "And the point?"

"There’s a nick," Jiang Yuan pointed out a spot where the bone had a slight dip downwards, nearly indistinguishable from normal indentations due to corrosion from sewage.

Zeng Lianrong looked for quite a while before he sighed, "Your eyesight is really exceptional."

"Youthful," Jiang Yuan modestly added.

Zeng Lianrong smiled again, his expression gradually becoming serene. He could see that the marks were fine and had speculated that they were probably made by a single-edged knife with a very thin blade, judging from the width of the scratch marks, but that was all he could deduce. He hadn’t noticed whether the knife had a point or a curvature.

And these two points, in fact, greatly determine the type of knife.

Just like how Jiang Yuan quickly mentioned "boning knife," those two words could save a significant amount of time in the investigation and police resources, which is extremely meaningful in the race against the clock during an investigation and absolutely exemplifies the expertise of a forensic doctor.

"A boning knife used at the location of the thoracic vertebra doesn’t seem like it was stabbed in..." With at least a LV2.0 skill level in forensic pathology, Zhan Kan gestured twice and noticed something unusual.

Zeng Lianrong glanced at Jiang Yuan and then said, "These are the marks of dismemberment."

"Wait, number five was dismembered?" Zhan Kan was surprised.

"It’s possible that when the body was being put into the bamboo basket, it had already stiffened a bit, so it was cut into pieces to fit inside," Zeng Lianrong, who had seen a lot, immediately suggested a possibility.

Jiang Yuan then said, "It would still be somewhat difficult to dismember with a boning knife."

"Maybe someone with a medical background, or experience in butchering?" Those who have killed know that without the right technique, dismemberment is best done with an ax, or at the very least, a thick-handled cleaver. To daringly use a boning knife for dismemberment and leave only very shallow knife marks required superior skills.

Jiang Yuan slowly nodded.

Zhan Kan appeared slightly excited, "At least that narrows down the scope."

"Check the other bodies for signs of dismemberment." Jiang Yuan changed into a new pair of gloves and continued, "If all of them were dismembered with a boning knife, the marks could be very shallow; any similar knife marks should be examined carefully and noted."