National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 813 - 755

Chapter 813: 755

The soil contained not only rings but also necklaces, bracelets, and anklets as well as some fabric residues whose composition couldn’t be discerned.

The police officers digging the hole became more vigorous as they worked.

Having personal belongings was best since they might determine the source of the body through these items. As is widely known, the primary factor in establishing the source of a corpse is the objects around it—based on the corpse itself? This task is not only difficult but also subject to chance.

For instance, even if Jiang Yuan was ninety percent certain that he had found human remains, he wouldn’t immediately announce it. Because there was still a ten percent chance that the remains could be from an animal, and a forensic doctor cannot afford to gamble on that chance just once in their lifetime.

Nor would anyone want to work with a forensic doctor who was right nine times out of ten. When police detectives asked forensic doctors questions, they expected answers beyond a doubt.

The detectives couldn’t start operating under the assumption of a murder case, only for the forensic doctor to suddenly apologize, saying he had made a mistake, that it was actually an orangutan!

Even one such incident occurring out of ten times, or even once in ten years, was an unforgivable major error.

By contrast, identifying a person through their belongings was a more familiar pattern to the detectives.

"It must have been a rather young girl; her necklace and rings are the unique kind," guessed one of the excavating officers as he worked.

The older detective across from him, digging with his hands, grunted an acknowledgment: "Nothing strange about that; usually, middle-aged women wouldn’t end up here."

"You’re being somewhat discriminatory with that statement."

"The jewelry wasn’t taken; this wasn’t a theft. And buried this far away, this group, even if not professional, is nearly so. How would an ordinary middle-aged woman come into contact with such people? A beauty’s fate is a fragile one, as the saying goes."

"So it was for love or lust, huh? It could also be a romance from the previous generation or a vendetta!"

"It could also be a random killing."

"If it were random, there would be no need to bury it here. A body buried here is as good as disappeared; this place is quite remarkable. It wouldn’t be wasted. Those who kill on a whim would just dump the body anywhere."

"Is there such a thing as cost-effectiveness when burying someone? If there’s a place and a time, of course, you bury it in a safe place."

As the detectives talked and worked, they eventually fell silent.

"Jiang Yuan seems to have marked a position in front as well."

"There are several spots; our team is just covering two, and Team Seven has at least two as well."

"This month’s vacation is down the drain."

"This month? It’ll be good if we get any vacation time this year."

As they spoke, the detectives dug up some more soil, and when they saw bones, they stopped. Their task was essentially complete; what came next would wait for the arrival of the forensic doctor.

Some took off their gloves, others stopped to get water from a distance, but no one felt relaxed.

Meeting room.

Everyone’s focus had already shifted to the second marked location.

The vegetation at the second site was sparse too. Anyone educated or who had buried a body knew that the plants above a corpse didn’t grow well in the early years due to the effects of decomposing fluids, electrolyte imbalances, and so on.

Thus, the poorly grown plants were uprooted from this area.

Not requiring special explanation by Jiang Yuan, the botanists present had already made their findings clear.

"There are also broken trees nearby, and this tree stump has mushrooms growing on it. Based on the growth cycle of the mushrooms, we can estimate the time of the event," said an excited scholar specialized in mycology upon seeing the mushrooms.

Listening from the side, Qi Changye immediately communicated: "The mushrooms on the tree stump must be protected; they can help determine the time."

For cold cases, the time of death is a major hurdle; if the source of the body can be established alongside the time of death, the case’s investigation would then have a solid foundation.

Jiang Yuan, of course, would not hinder this. Even with his Level 6 death time assessment, he still required various factors as a basis for his judgement, with fungi being an excellent indicator.

Soon another large pit was dug out.

When the bones appeared, several people stood up.

"These don’t look like human bones," said the botanists, who didn’t need to be as certain as a forensic doctor before speaking up. Some botanists, aside from their main research, also dabble in more grisly studies. At that moment, they looked at the bones and said, "They’re too thin. This length couldn’t be a rib, and the bone quality seems off too, right? Is it a change that bones undergo in soil?"

Botanists belong to a branch of biology with a different focus; during their undergraduate or even graduate studies, they usually learn about various other fields. Their lack of familiarity was more with underground environments, not knowing what kind of changes a bone would undergo after several years.

Jiang Yuan enlarged the image a bit, did some image processing on the fly, and then said, "Does it look like the remains of a dog?"

"Yes, yes, yes, it looks like an animal."

The botanists who had stood up breathed a sigh of relief. They felt reassured that their assessment was correct and, more importantly, that there was not another human body.

Qi Changye also rubbed his temples, "This is too intense. Why would these sickos bury a dog’s body here."

Jiang Yuan ignored him, looked at the processed image, and then called the police at the scene, "Please continue to dig further, protect the crime scene. There may be another body beneath the dog’s remains."

He spoke very clearly and did not play coy, all to avoid any misjudgment by the criminal police at the scene.

Qi Changye’s face swelled with anxiety, hastily asking, "Are the dog and a person buried together?"

That would make sense. Otherwise, why bury just a dog’s body so far away. If the purpose was to prevent the body from being discovered, consuming the dog would be more sensible than burying it. As for whether it could be eaten or whether it was edible, those issues were not concerns for a criminal.

"Possibly," Jiang Yuan pointed at the screen and added, "The number of carrion insects is too high. A dog’s flesh wouldn’t sustain so many carrion insects."

His answer was quite fresh, and the botanists started looking at the image more closely.

The criminal police at the scene also began digging with renewed vigor.

At this point, Jiang Yuan turned the screen to the third site and said, "Let’s continue to the third crime scene..."

"Hey, let’s take a look at the second site first."

The botanists were eager, many standing up, desperately wanting to see if what was buried in the earth was indeed a body.

Someone plainly said:

"Don’t rush, let’s look at them one by one."

"Let’s review the previous one first."

Jiang Yuan cleared his throat twice and said, "There are several more sites; we should review them quickly because I need to go to the site to see the bodies."

The botanists looked somewhat forlorn but did not want to interfere with the work and sat down one by one.

Jiang Yuan nodded and then began showing the third site, the fourth site...

Qi Changye’s heart was pounding.

This time, Jiang Yuan spoke very quickly, as most of the content was a repeat of what had been discussed before. Now, it was more about examining the instances, observing the variations across different crime scenes.

The third and fourth sites also unearthed bodies.

Jiang Yuan went back to the second site, where under the remains of the dog, there indeed was another body.

It was only at the fifth site that there was a deviation. The animal remains in the underbrush proved that the changes to the vegetation there were due to other reasons.

Then came the sixth and seventh sites.

In the end, Qi Changye’s team had found six bodies.

"Let’s all rest for today; tomorrow, we’ll start work," Jiang Yuan said, having exceeded the expected outcome at the site, but he had no more time for the botanists.

The discovery of six bodies in one go meant many people would have trouble sleeping that night.

Jiang Yuan ended the meeting and got into a special forensic investigation vehicle, heading toward the burial site. Qi Changye got into another car, a Passat, and formed a convoy with Jiang Yuan, only he spent the journey continually making phone calls.