National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 774 - 717: Gathering Talents to Support Professor Su

Chapter 774: Chapter 717: Gathering Talents to Support Professor Su

"When I was in Baijiang Province and needed support with forensic botanical techniques, I would invite some botanists to participate. But working with Master really feels different," Pang Jidong suddenly couldn’t help but sigh after spending a day with Jiang Yuan looking through microscopes.

"Is the way Master does things different?" Zhan Kan, who was learning the Skull Restoration Skill, practically spent all his time at work beside Jiang Yuan.

"It’s too different, so much more relaxed with Master. The botanists from outside are really impressive, but I feel that none of them reaches Master’s level," admitted Pang Jidong, who hadn’t mastered forensic botany himself, so his claim of Jiang Yuan being the strongest was somewhat tentative.

Zhan Kan took it as flattery and silently praised his elder apprentice brother before saying, "It’s good to invite plant scholars from outside. Unlike the Skull Restoration Skill, where we have to do everything ourselves."

"There are some good botanists outside, like the ones from the Botanical Institute I initially contacted. They paid out of their own pocket to participate. But some are only briefly interested, and others just come to learn a bit about it. You communicate with them, and before you know it, they’ve left after a few days. Plus, these experts have a lot of things on their plate, like projects and meetings cropping up..."

"That’s also true."

"It’s a pity I can’t learn botany anymore. It’s good to be young, with infinite possibilities," Pang Jidong truly lamented.

The difficulty of forensic botany was immense. While it might not have as many prerequisite skills as the Skull Restoration Skill, it required an even higher level of expertise.

Botany itself was becoming somewhat obscure, with fewer people taking the initiative to learn it. Typically, only students who reach university and take relevant courses get involved in the field, which means that in terms of basic numbers, it’s not much better off than sculpture.

Pang Jidong was already fifty that year. He had a comprehensive understanding of forensic botany and could communicate basic concepts to botanists who had some exposure to the field, but if you asked him to get hands-on, it simply wouldn’t be possible for him to continue.

When Jiang Yuan first learned forensic botany, he was already aware of this situation, and he smiled as he said, "In this regard, all we can do is expand the pool of invitations and try to find botanists who are interested in this field. However, having a few botanists who collaborate long-term is enough; we don’t need too many."

"Indeed. After all, we can’t offer much money," Pang Jidong said with a bitter smile. "I’ve realized that the botanists who have the ability to work in forensic botany to the level needed to solve cases have many ways to make money. Our little travel allowance is nothing more than a courtesy fee."

"It’s the same with the Skull Restoration Skill," Jiang Yuan said nonchalantly. "Criminal investigation is a very interesting field. There are also people willing to take on social responsibilities and pursue a sense of achievement."

Pang Jidong looked at Jiang Yuan and reluctantly said, "Not too many rich second generations or demolition heirs are like that."

"Urban redevelopment has decreased in recent years," Jiang Yuan mused somewhat nostalgically. When he was studying, his family would have a property demolished from time to time, especially after buying some properties in the provincial capital, the houses and factories in Jiang Fuzhen would hardly last a few years before being demolished.

Pang Jidong’s eyelids twitched, Are we even talking about the same thing?

After Jiang Yuan finished speaking, he turned his head and continued working.

Pang Jidong watched for a while, then suddenly had an idea and took out his phone to engage in group chat.

Before long, Pang Jidong put down the phone and smiled, "Master, remember a botanist named Sulei that I mentioned before?"

"I remember her. A woman and an academic elite," Jiang Yuan naturally remembered her. There weren’t many female botanists, and Sulei, although in her forties, was still more striking than the unkempt men.

"There’s a group chat for botanists who often help out. I mentioned that I came here for further study with you, Master, and Professor Sulei immediately proposed she’d like to come along for further study, to watch and learn... I don’t know if that would be convenient or not..."

"I have no problem with that. I’ll talk to Tao later," Jiang Yuan said, his status at the Zhengguang Bureau was high, but he was still a guest, and it wouldn’t be right to invite friends over to someone else’s territory without so much as a greeting.

Pang Jidong immediately said, "I’ll ask Tao directly then. If it’s okay, I’ll call Sulei and the others over. They’ve already been involved in a few cases through forensic botany and want to see how you, Master, work on forensic botany. They feel it might lead to more insights."

"I have no problem," Jiang Yuan agreed readily.

That very afternoon, Sulei arrived in Beijing with her colleagues and students.

Sulei still dressed in a professional suit, with black silk high heels, as if she was here for a meeting or a business event.

Moreover, she brought along another student with long, black, straight hair, a broad chest, dressed in a tracksuit, carrying a backpack that left deep indentations on her shoulders.

"This is my new doctoral student, Qiao Shengli. I’m planning to lean her research direction towards forensic botany," Sulei explained, having done several favors for Pang Jidong without any return, accumulating quite a bit of academic material that should not go to waste.

"Hello, Doctor Jiang," Qiao Shengli greeted proactively.

"You’ve been working hard," Jiang Yuan, still carrying the identity of a police officer, expressed his gratitude for the help from society.

Then, without intending to engage in much small talk and still holding a mouse, he said, "I’m about to process some pollen samples we’ve collected. Take a seat and feel free to look around and get acquainted with the situation."

Jiang Yuan was handling a murder case, and with Cui Qishan and others already dispatched to the victim’s hometown, not to mention the immediate pressure from the family, they had to consider the risk of alerting the culprit. Time was of the essence; while it wasn’t exactly a race against the clock, there was no spare time to waste on the reinforcements.

Sulei had worked with Jiang Yuan before. She smiled gently and said, "We’re here to learn. Sitting in the back and watching is fine, right? Is this a homicide case?"

"Yes. Anything related to the case is confidential. No photography allowed, no information can be disclosed to the outside world." Pang Jidong said with a smile, giving up his seat.

Zhan Kan also quickly made way, glancing at Qiao Shengli before swiftly averting his eyes.

"Are you currently analyzing diatoms?" Sulei asked soon after she sat down, having confirmed Jiang Yuan’s operation and actively joining in.

Jiang Yuan, too, was willing to have an academic discussion. He nodded and said, "The evidence collection is basically complete now. I want to determine the body’s point of entry into the water through the diatoms first. Then, based on that, we can search for the primary crime scene."

Using algae, especially diatoms, to determine the location of a body’s immersion or drowning is already considered a mature technology.

The principle is actually similar to that of legal botany, but in comparison to terrestrial plants, algae are simpler, and community compositions in different bodies of water show more significant disparities, so this technology has been applied earlier. Most cities have already developed relevant techniques.

As soon as Sulei heard this, she laughed and said, "Ah, then there’s no need for satellite remote sensing image processing."

She was referring to their last meeting, when Jiang Yuan had people use drones to crawl a large area for images, which were then enhanced through image processing.

The girl beside them, Qiao Shengli, had obviously also heard this story and laughed, saying, "The plant scientist who excels in satellite remote sensing image processing turns out to be a forensic doctor."

"Excel is a bit much. The field of satellite remote sensing image processing is too broad. I just know a bit about image enhancement technology," Jiang Yuan said, looking at Sulei, "Are you willing to go to the field?"

"Of course. Little Qiao is longing for such a practical opportunity. Are we going to collect samples from the river?" Sulei asked.

"Yes, samples along the river need to be taken a little more densely."

"No problem. We are quite adept at that."

"Then I will assign a few people to go with you. Let’s split up and sample, one person per section. It’s imperative to sample strictly according to regulations. The more meticulous the case, the fuller the evidence, the more likely it is to result in the death penalty." Jiang Yuan specifically reminded.

Sulei agreed and then asked curiously, "What method do you plan to use to process the samples when they’re brought back?"

Unlike the criminal police who were more focused on the outcome, Sulei was more interested in the examination process.

"The hydrogen peroxide method," Jiang Yuan said.

"That’s better than the strong acid method," Sulei agreed with a nod, "The strong acid method can easily damage the diatom frustules and also causes more contamination."

"And it could also lead to false negatives," Jiang Yuan added.

Sulei couldn’t help but smile, then said, "However, I’ve read in the literature that now there seems to be a microwave digestion method using nitric acid combined with hydrogen peroxide, under vacuum ultrafiltration conditions, and using scanning electron microscope to analyze. They say the detection rate of diatoms could be significantly improved."

Jiang Yuan: "No vacuum. No ultrafiltration. No scanning electron microscope."

In the corner of the office, Huang Qiangmin, who was resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes.

...

Guan TianHe.

The unending river flowed from west to east, with no end or origin in sight.

The sky was filled with clouds that stretched from far to near, impenetrable, indecipherable.

The yellow-leaved trees appeared dense from afar, but upon closer inspection, they were scattered and sparse. A minibus stopped, and the slightly overweight Zhan Kan led the way straight to the riverbank.

The bank of the wild river was overgrown with weeds and covered with muddy silt. Zhan Kan deftly stepped on a few rocks and easily jumped to the river’s edge.

Zhan Kan smiled triumphantly. Despite his slightly out-of-shape body, he had undergone training and was a regular at crime scenes. The muddy banks, favored by lazy dumpers of bodies, were the forensic doctors’ home turf.

Zhan Kan turned his head, intending to call for someone to throw the sampling containers over, but before he could speak, Qiao Shengli, who had redone her hair into a bun, appeared, already in her rain boots, crunching her way through the mud.

"Let me do it." The spot chosen by Qiao Shengli was more than a dozen meters away from Zhan Kan. To reach her target destination, she did not hesitate to step further into the water, immediately sinking in.

Qiao Shengli appeared unconcerned as she stood firmly, regaining her balance before casting out her sampling bottle.

Once she obtained the water sample, Qiao Shengli bent down to dig out two cobblestones, throwing them too into the evidence bag and marking their labels. Her actions were so smooth, they seemed part of her regular routine.

After completing the task, Qiao Shengli struggled to pull her legs out of the mud, clutched the backpack tight to her chest, and painstakingly made her way out. One deep step, one shallow, deep, shallow, deep...