National Forensic Doctor

22: Chapter 22 Xue Ming’s Legacy 22: Chapter 22 Xue Ming’s Legacy Huang Qiangmin was in charge of the scene and, upon hearing what Jiang Yuan said, immediately walked over and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Looking at its shape, it’s a pubic hair from a female,” Jiang Yuan explained, using tweezers to pick up the hair and observing it under the light before placing it into an evidence bag.

Since the victim was male, the sudden appearance of a female pubic hair was obviously a very important clue and piece of evidence.

Director Guan Xi came over and asked, “You said looking its shape, can you determine it just from the shape?”

“Female pubic hairs are generally shorter and also a bit coarser.

Compared to the victim’s, they are easier to differentiate,” Jiang Yuan elaborated.

Director Guan Xi let out an enigmatic smile and coughed twice, “There’s some truth in that…”

One of the young technicians at the scene, still eager to learn, chimed in: “Armpit hair and beard hair are also curly.”

Yan, who was dusting for fingerprints, burst out laughing, “Xiao Yang, you’ve got a lot to learn.”

A mysteriously knowing smile appeared on everyone’s faces in the room.

Xiao Yang’s face fell, and he murmured, “Using experience to judge isn’t reliable, there should be some science to it.”

Director Guan Xi, agreeable and curious, asked Jiang Yuan, “Tell us, what’s the scientific basis?”

“Pubic hair is more elastic, the cross section of armpit hair is oval, and the cross section of a beard hair is triangular with higher hardness…” Jiang Yuan replied offhandedly.

Comrade Xiao Yang was stunned on the spot, “Someone actually studied this?”

Director Guan Xi smiled satisfied, then addressed Deputy Captain Huang Qiangmin, “Send the evidence to the lab as soon as possible, the evidence chain must be solid.”

Huang Qiangmin nodded immediately, he had also been worrying about the evidence.

To the police, biological materials provide high-grade evidence in physical proofs.

Especially DNA and fingerprints, which are highly specific and widely accepted.

During the litigation phase, physical evidence with DNA is also held in higher regard.

Nowadays, judicial departments are required to prioritize physical evidence over testimonies, which is an indirect way to emphasize the importance of DNA evidence.

Jiang Yuan passed on the evidence bag and continued to get on with his work.

The Director and others lingered for a while longer before stepping out to speak in hushed tones.

The scene investigation, trace evidence, and forensic doctors gradually left the scene as well.

After sunset.

Jiang Yuan and another young officer together lifted the body onto the Iveco and took it back to the morgue.

Wu Jun followed in the vehicle as well.

The mortuary at night was eerily terrifying.

The dark pine trees that looked robust in the daylight now seemed to induce all sorts of imaginings at night…

The elderly gatekeeper rubbed his eyes as he opened the gate for them, and with a mischievous grin, he gave directions, “Don’t take the left path, there are more ghosts there.”

The young officer accompanying him shuddered and couldn’t help asking, “What’s that about?”

The gatekeeper replied indifferently, “If you don’t believe me, go on take the left.

It makes no difference to me.”

“Let’s take the right,” Wu Jun said with emphasis.

The young officer released the brakes and turned the steering wheel to the right, but couldn’t help saying, “He must be displeased for having to open the gate for us at night and is just trying to scare us, right?”

“Perhaps,” Wu Jun replied.

“Are there any other possibilities?”

After thinking for a bit, Wu Jun suggested, “Maybe it’s a blessing from the Bodhisattva?”

The young officer was bewildered for a moment before understanding the pun Wu Jun was making and was left speechless.

Together, the three of them hurried to the autopsy room as fast as they could.

As the bright white light flickered on and the stainless steel autopsy table glinted with a silver sheen, it was remarkably comforting.

Wu Jun and Jiang Yuan busied themselves with the preparations for the autopsy.

In bigger cities, some busy districts might require queuing for a body autopsy.

But for a place like Ningtai County, there were virtually no civilian autopsies and few cases of homicide or abnormal deaths, so having one body meant they could work uninterrupted.

As for pulling an all-nighter, faced with an unexpected homicide, everyone was on edge, not just those who were already up or about to be.

Similar to the last autopsy, after getting the victim’s brother-in-law who arrived later to sign the document, Wu Jun still let Jiang Yuan carry out the procedure.

He hoped to give Jiang Yuan some practice, but of course, he was also too tired from the field work to stand up straight.

Watching Jiang Yuan pick up the scalpel, Wu Jun advised, “We forensic doctors make large incisions on the body; you can confidently make larger movements; it doesn’t matter.”

Jiang Yuan nodded and first looked over the body carefully.

While the body was at the scene, though it was cooling down, it still felt warm to some extent.

Now, relocated to the stainless steel autopsy table, the body’s human attributes seemed greatly diminished.

Jiang Yuan also felt slightly uneasy.

This was the second body he had handled since beginning his job, and a completely unfamiliar one at that…

Reflecting on it, Jiang Yuan felt the body of his Uncle Seventeen was a bit more familiar.

Grasping the scalpel tightly, he pulled it in one smooth motion from the neck of the body down to the pubic symphysis.

The skin that had peeled back showed red, white, and yellow tones, which lessened Jiang Yuan’s tension significantly.

The deceased’s brother-in-law, who had come to bear witness, couldn’t handle it; he glanced once and his expression soured.

The young officer, who had just helped lift the body with great vigor, also bowed his head, frowning tightly and reluctant to look closely.

Wu Jun handed a trash can to the brother-in-law of the deceased to prevent him from getting upset and said, “Nowadays, people are eating all day without exercising, resulting in a high body fat percentage, which means more fat…”

There seemed to be an apologetic tone in his voice, which only twisted the brother-in-law’s expression even more.

Wu Jun shook his head and returned to the autopsy table, commenting to Jiang Yuan a body away, “I’m not good at comforting people either.

It would be better if we had a female forensic doctor.”

“Would a female forensic doctor be more gentle?” Jiang Yuan reflected on his student days when half of his classmates were female, but when it came to job hunting, most chose to take the civil service exam or to interview at forensic institutes, with the remainder typically targeting forensic positions in the prosecutor’s office.

Wu Jun looked down at the cut on the body and, while assisting Jiang Yuan, said, “Definitely a better talker than me.

Just not as durable when it comes to lifting bodies.”

Jiang Yuan, too busy to talk, sliced along the rib with the scalpel, then lifted the sternum and began making incisions along the dorsal side of the sternum.

Unlike the careful maneuvers of physicians, forensic doctors are less delicate and more forceful in their actions, leading to the sound of flesh being cut echoing in the quiet autopsy room.

The victim’s brother-in-law didn’t dare lift his head, wishing he could cover his ears.

“If you really can’t stand it, just wait outside the autopsy room,” Wu Jun said, unable to force someone to watch an autopsy and disliking the smell of vomit from family members.

The brother-in-law of the victim shuffled his feet twice, then froze.

“There’s nobody outside, I…

I’m scared…”

“Make your own decision,” Wu Jun said, his attention always on Jiang Yuan.

He assisted Jiang Yuan seamlessly, their cooperation almost instinctive.

“A single stab into the chest cavity.

There are scratches on the ribs; it must have been with great force.” Jiang Yuan opened the chest cavity, observed the inside, and made his judgment synchronously.

Wu Jun nodded in agreement, “A lethal blow.

A slight deviation could have hit the ribs…”

After verifying the fatal wound and allowing Wu Jun to take photos, Jiang Yuan lifted the peeled chest muscles, found the other end of the skin wound, and continued taking photos.

Then, Wu Jun handed Jiang Yuan a soup ladle, “Scoop out the blood in the chest cavity and weigh it.”

Jiang Yuan used an ordinary ceramic soup ladle to gradually scoop the accumulated blood from the chest cavity into a stainless steel basin.

Once it was nearly clear, he placed the stainless steel basin on an electronic scale to weigh it.

The scale wasn’t specialized either; in other words, it was just an ordinary electronic scale Wu Jun had bought from the market.

If one ignored the presence of the body, the entire process was actually quite ordinary and acceptable.

“Around 850 milliliters.

Plus the blood left in the room…

How much blood would there be in the room?” Jiang Yuan asked Wu Jun while making his assessment.

“At least that much,” Wu Jun estimated from experience.

Jiang Yuan said, “Then added together, that’s about 1700 milliliters, enough to cause death.

So, the cause of death was the stabbing through the aorta leading to severe blood loss and death?”

“Hmm,” Wu Jun looked at Jiang Yuan as he finished examining the thoracic cavity, then pointed at the dark spots on the body and said, “Can you estimate the time of death?”

“Roughly 8 to 10 hours ago?

So, the person died around four or five in the afternoon?” Jiang Yuan pressed the hypostasis, which faded but recovered, indicating it had reached the second stage of diffusion.

Combined with other factors such as body temperature, he then offered a judgment on the time.

Estimating the time of death can be easy or difficult.

For today’s corpse, which was in a room at ambient temperature and hadn’t been dead for long, various methods could ascertain the time of death without much difficulty.

But if the time since death were a bit longer and the environmental temperature more complex, determining the time of death would become a scholarly pursuit.

The accompanying police officer, a young recruit sent by the second squadron, quickly sent a message to the team leader after hearing Wu Jun’s words.

“Make sure to clarify the cause of death,” Wu Jun reminded, then said to Jiang Yuan, “Continue, please.”

Jiang Yuan uttered a sound of acknowledgment and silently continued to open the abdominal cavity and proceeded to remove and weigh the internal organs.

While doing so, a shiny object fell out of the kidney.

Jiang Yuan had encountered a similar shiny object once before.

Last time, he had received a legacy from his great-uncle, a level 3 special fried rice dish.

Frankly, Jiang Yuan found it quite practical.

Even in his generation, where there was no longer a need to set up a street stall to make money, occasionally cooking for oneself was a skill worth having.

And this time…

Jiang Yuan lightly touched the shiny object, and a system prompt flashed before his eyes:

Xue Ming’s legacy: Camping (LV2) — This was Xue Ming’s favorite hobby and something he excelled at.

Whenever he drove to an unfamiliar place, what Xue Ming wanted to do most was to pitch a tent and brew a pot of ordinary tea.

However, most of the time, driving was Xue Ming’s job, and he could only fantasize about the pleasure of camping in his mind.

After switching jobs, the chances for Xue Ming to go camping had become even rarer.

Xue Ming’s most proficient skills, in order, were: using various tools to start a fire, determining wind direction with any tool at hand, stopping blood with a sanitary tampon, collecting water with a variety of tools, building a tent with various tools…

Jiang Yuan smoothed out Xue Ming’s abdominal cavity with his hands as a way of saying thank you.

Turning around, Jiang Yuan began to open the cranium of the deceased.

In theory, a forensic doctor doesn’t need to perform a full autopsy on a body if the cause of death is clear.

Like today’s body, the cause of death was almost certain: exsanguination due to a ruptured aorta caused by a sharp weapon.

In theory, after opening the thoracic cavity, perhaps only opening the abdominal cavity was needed to complete the task.

However, Jiang Yuan, still a novice forensic doctor, did everything by the book.

Wu Jun was also keen to let him practice, even if it meant staying a few extra hours.

After opening the cranium, finding no brain hemorrhage or cranial base injuries meant there was no need to slice the brain as if slicing foie gras.

Even so, the time they spent was considerable, and by the time everyone emerged from the autopsy room, daylight had broken.

After hurriedly stepping over a fire basin, news gradually came back from several squadrons—no progress.

Even the unique hairs found by Jiang Yuan in a special location yielded no matches.

The atmosphere within the detective unit became taut.