Chapter 209: Chapter 208: Could it be Theft and Robbery?_1
Qidong Sub-bureau autopsy room.
Zhou Ning looked around. This autopsy room was quite complete, even more advanced than their second autopsy room. The hardware conditions were absolutely top-notch, including an odor exhaust system with ports both above and below the autopsy table, although it appeared they had never been used.
"Has it just been renovated? Why does it look like it’s never been used?"
Zhang Haohao came over from behind, his face blooming like a chrysanthemum with a smile.
"Don’t ’look like’, it simply hasn’t been used. After you guys were transferred, I got a case, the one with the skeletonized corpse, where I only analyzed the skeleton and never actually performed an autopsy. As for traffic accidents, there is now a third-party appraisal, so many people go to the city to get that done. This has left me with even less to do."
Zhou Ning glanced over as Mr. Zhao came closer, patting Zhang Haohao on the shoulder.
"Don’t act clever because you’ve got it easy. When we were here, we were so busy we barely touched the ground. Being idle like you isn’t necessarily good either. Hoarding too many cases can lead to trouble, and here comes a big one."
Zhang Haohao nodded, feeling it made perfect sense and hurriedly pointed outside, saying:
"Oh right, the corpses have started to arrive. Do we work on them one by one in order?"
Zhou Ning thought for a moment.
"I’m going to grab a bite to eat first. Bring up two bodies at a time, you and Zhu Xingxing as a team, I’ll pair up with Sun Gaotie, and Mr. Zhao and Yang Xuetong one each at a table. Start with X-rays of the bodies and perform the analysis. People from my master’s lab will be here soon. After all, they need some time to install their equipment for the facial reconstruction."
Zhang Haohao took a deep breath, knowing he couldn’t escape but feeling reassured to be allocated an assistant. After all, the member from Zhou Ning’s team would provide solid technical support.
"Then let’s eat. To the office then, for the boxed lunches Mr. Liu has already brought. I’ll go find Mr. Cui to bring up the bodies."
Mr. Zhao reacted first, blinking with a puzzled face.
"What do you mean, you’ve even poached old Mr. Cui from the Eighth Hospital?"
Zhang Haohao waved his hand.
"The vehicles transporting the bodies, one belongs to the sub-bureau and one we borrowed from the Eighth Hospital. So, I asked Mr. Cui to come along since he’s more experienced, isn’t he? I’ll tell you, I haven’t done an autopsy in half a year, my hands are shaking, so don’t complain about my slowness, alright?"
Mr. Zhao made a face and dragged Zhou Ning to the office.
After bustling around all morning, it was already past one o’clock. They needed to eat well to work efficiently, otherwise, who knew when the next meal would be.
They wolfed down their boxed lunches, Mr. Zhao rinsed his mouth while Zhou Ning had already left to brush his teeth. Mr. Zhao wasn’t so particular. He looked around the office decor, shaking his plump head continuously.
"Who would have thought, in just over half a year after we left, they’ve upgraded everything here. Remember when Zhou Ning and the others’ office was so run down, with those bulky computers that needed a kick to start like a tractor."
Zhang Haohao leaned in.
"I didn’t expect it either. He’s several years younger than me, writing papers, developing software, solving major cases, his professional abilities are really impressive. At a meeting at the city bureau, people said his capabilities were on par with forensic doctors who have been in the field for decades."
Mr. Zhao lowered his voice.
"I’ll tell you, Zhou Xiaozhou even wrote a novel. Although it wasn’t published, I sneaked a peek. It’s all about the cases he has handled, quite interesting. Perform well and you might at least get a minor role."
Zhang Haohao was taken aback, immediately showing interest and bumped Mr. Zhao.
"What about you?"
Mr. Zhao crossed his arms and lifted his chin, his face full of conceit.
"Do you even have to ask? In a forensic novel, not a romance, of course, I’m the most important secondary character right beside the male lead!"
The two instantly laughed. Just then, Zhou Ning returned with a tooth bucket, wiping his mouth while looking at the two guys with cheesy grins on their faces.
"If you’re done eating, then let’s get to work."
The two got up. Just at that moment, the door opened and Zhu Xingxing came in quickly.
"Team leader, Dr. Liu and Mr. Xia have arrived. They’ve brought quite a lot of equipment. They asked me which office to assign to them."
Zhou Ning patted Zhang Haohao, and Zhang Haohao quickly went to the door.
"Is this place okay? There’s a computer, and the equipment is networked with the autopsy room. We can see the X-ray images from here too."
As he spoke, Liu Yongxin and Xia Momo walked in. Liu Yongxin looked around just like Zhou Ning, glanced at the office, shook his head twice with a tsk, and turned to Xia Momo.
"Mr. Xia, you decide."
Xia Momo smiled at Zhou Ning and gestured towards Zhang Haohao and Zhu Xingxing.
"Let’s just set up in the autopsy room. That way, we can communicate with Zhou Ning at any time and avoid some hassles."
Zhang Haohao blinked. He was pleased with the arrangement but wondered if such a beautiful female teacher could really withstand the visual impact of an autopsy.
But seeing Xia Momo smiling only at Zhou Ning, he seemed to understand something.
He called Zhu Xingxing and Sun Gaotie to help with the setup. Before long, they had completed the connection. Zhou Ning, fully dressed, checked on everyone.
"Zhu Xingxing, Zhang Haohao, and Yang Xuetong as one group, Sun Gaotie and Mr. Zhao with me in another, we’ll divide into two teams for the autopsies, carefully searching for residues under the nails, in the mouth, vaginal canal, wounds, and epidermis of the deceased.
With numerous victims in this case, none of them have clothes or various markers, making identification the most challenging. As for Mr. Xia and Doctor Liu’s team, they will analyze each victim’s X-rays, reconstruct facial features, and search in the household registration system. Of course, the Public Security Brigade will later send over some personnel information."
Everyone had no objections, except for Xia Momo who raised her hand, and Zhou Ning gestured for her to speak.
"Please give me the victims’ basic information along with the X-rays, such as skin color, height, weight, age, and preferably moles or scars. Emphasize this point; it’s more beneficial for the search."
Zhou Ning nodded, addressing this to Zhang Haohao and Zhu Xingxing, as it was their first collaboration, and it was better to have procedural matters clear from the start.
"Since there are no problems, let’s start the autopsies."
Zhou Ning finally nodded toward Liu Yongxin, which clearly meant for him to keep an eye on Zhang Haohao.
After all, Zhang Haohao himself had said that since May, he hadn’t performed any autopsies, so his proficiency wasn’t as good as Zhu Xingxing’s, which worried Zhou Ning a bit.
Liu Yongxin glanced at Zhang Haohao and gave a blink, obviously understanding Zhou Ning’s intent.
Looking away, Zhou Ning nodded toward Mr. Zhao, who began recording the video, then began to describe the condition of the corpse. At the other table, Yang Xuetong did the same, while Zhang Haohao, looking a bit stunned at first, quickly adapted.
The body in front of Zhou Ning was the number one body on top, with very severe rigor mortis. Compared to the scene, the current state of rigor was at its peak, suggesting that the time of death wasn’t long ago.
"Gao Tie, measure the rectal temperature of the deceased."
The body was in a prone position, and Zhou Ning checked the back of the deceased to find that the livor mortis had shifted, which further proved that the time of death wasn’t long, likely within 24-36 hours. Otherwise, such handling wouldn’t affect the positioning of the livor mortis; it would have set completely.
At this moment, Sun Gaotie reported:
"Team leader, the number one deceased’s rectal temperature is 13.5 degrees Celsius. Applying the formula, the time of death was 19.8 hours ago."
Zhou Ning nodded. In winter, this was just a reference since the temperature can’t be calculated based solely on basal levels in the well. Combining the state of rigor and livor, the time of death was roughly 24 hours earlier, around 13:00 on January 2nd.
This analysis made Zhou Ning pause momentarily. Discarding a body in broad daylight?
Could he have miscalculated?
Zhou Ning meticulously reviewed again to confirm his judgment.
"Record this; based on rigor mortis, livor mortis, and the rectal temperature, it is determined that the death occurred before one day ago."
After speaking, Zhou Ning gestured to Sun Gaotie, and they together disrupted the rigor mortis of the deceased.
Then, holding up a magnifying glass, he raised the deceased’s hand for close examination. The deceased had manicured nails with a layer of applied nail tips that were gradient colored — simple, yet they looked quite pretty.
Especially at the base of the nails, there were no hangnails or dead skin, meticulously trimmed. Lifting it to his nose, it seemed to carry a strong scent.
However, no residue was found on the inside of the nails, but Zhou Ning still gestured to Sun Gaotie.
"Sample the nails."
"Pull or cut?"
Sun Gaotie asked seriously, and Mr. Zhao shuddered. The young man seemed timid, but he could act decisively when needed.
"Cut along the edge."
Zhou Ning turned his attention to the deceased’s mouth, prying the jaw open to position the head as if looking upward. There was no residue in the deceased’s mouth, unlike the second victim, who had a thread glove in their mouth and a broken incisor.
Aside from the temple injury, the deceased had a peaceful expression on their face, clearly attacked by surprise. After sampling from the wound, he examined the vaginal canal — no injuries were present, and it was completely closed. However, there were old scratch and bite marks on the inner thighs and vulva.
Zhou Ning pointed to several areas, signaling Mr. Zhao to take photos, then proceeded to the autopsy.
The deceased’s stomach contents were abundant, containing undigested meat, fish, and vegetables — it seemed they had just eaten a meal before death, and a hearty one at that, as more than a dozen types of ingredients were found.
At the site of the injury, Zhou Ning made an incision, and after separating it, took photographs.
The temple was completely collapsed. With such a heavy blow, even if the deceased didn’t die instantly, it would cause cranial brain injury, and without timely treatment, they wouldn’t last half an hour.
After removing the pubic symphysis, Zhou Ning released his hands, signaling Sun Gaotie to begin suturing, then addressed the camera:
"The cause of death was intracranial hemorrhage caused by cranial trauma, fractures of the right humerus, ulna, tibia, and fibula — post-mortem injuries from falling into the well. There were old scratch and bite marks on the thighs, buttocks, and vulva, tattoos on the ankle and wrist. The deceased is estimated to be between 20-30 years old, nulliparous, with a thin uterine wall, cervix in a linear shape, and has a history of multiple curettages."
As Zhou Ning uttered the last word, he ripped off the outer gloves, Mr. Zhao turned off the camera, and Sun Gaotie labeled all sample jars clearly and placed them on the tray before calling someone to transport the body.
Liu Yongxin then approached and whispered in Zhou Ning’s ear.
"Go take a look at body number two."
Zhou Ning paused; Liu Yongxin wouldn’t speak so lightly, he must have found something conspicuous yet inconvenient to reveal. Zhou Ning hurried over and saw the number two body had already been autopsied, but the blood stains on the ears caught his attention.
The lobe of the deceased’s ear was torn, and there were two bloodstains flowing toward the back of the head. This wasn’t noticed at the bottom of the well. Zhou Ning whispered in confusion.
"Could it be robbery?"
