Chapter 264: Chapter 261: Bruises Behind_1
The following day.
Xia Lirnin’s body had been thawed out and was ready, placed on the table in the autopsy room.
Xu Guanhai followed beside Liu Yongxin, Mr. Qu was not present, and neither were Xu Dayuan and his team. Usually, in such autopsies, Xu Dayuan would at least make an appearance, but this morning, he seemed to be nowhere in sight.
Zhou Ning thought about it and guessed that perhaps Xu Dayuan had taken Mr. Qu and the others with him to check related surveillance footage, as those materials still needed to be processed. Moreover, the person who used Xia Lirnin’s sister’s phone card had not been found.
Zhou Ning put his thoughts aside and walked up to the autopsy table, where Zhu Xingxing and Sun Gaotie stood on either side, and Yang Xuetong held a camera. As for Mr. Zhao, he had already set up the recording device and was waiting for Zhou Ning’s command.
He didn’t rush Mr. Zhao to start recording. Circling the autopsy table, he carefully observed the body’s surface. Of course, the deceased’s clothes, pants, and shoes worn in life were laid out on the adjacent table.
They were wet and then dried, each stubbornly maintaining their own posture like dried fish.
The deceased had shoulder-length curly hair, a popular pear blossom haircut, dyed a reddish brown. There were a few very long eyelashes, clustered and glued at the base of the lashes—a technique Momo had explained to him before, a new method of eyelash extension that was more expensive and more realistic than simply applying a strip.
The deceased was not particularly striking in appearance, the kind of girl with delicate features. There was no swelling on her face or hair, no strangulation marks on her neck, but there was a transverse bruise on her arm, 3.2 centimeters in length and 1.7 centimeters in width.
The fingernails were very clean. Zhou Ning scraped one and lifted it up to look before raising his eyes towards Xu Guanhai.
"Doctor Xu, had the deceased’s fingernails already been sampled?"
Xu Guanhai nodded with a smile.
"They have been sampled. There were only sand and algae, no blood or skin cells, which I found strange. After all, it’s difficult for an adult to drown in water that’s 1.4 meters deep unless someone deliberately pushed her head down."
Zhou Ning nodded slightly and continued the examination. There was a barb-like wound under the dead woman’s left armpit, which appeared, based on the tissue response, to be a postmortem injury.
He looked up and examined the deceased’s clothes. Sure enough, he found a similar cut in both the trench coat and the shirt under the left armpit.
Xu Guanhai leaned in and hurriedly explained:
"When the body was delivered here, we found a fish hook and a piece of fishing line attached here. I think it was the fish hook that caught the victim, causing her to flip over and even float to the surface, which led to her being discovered by the person who reported it."
Zhou Ning kept nodding, finding this analysis quite acceptable.
He then returned to the autopsy table. With no other marks on the body, he moved back to the head of the deceased. The deceased’s skull had not been cracked open. Seeing Zhu Xingxing hand over a razor, Zhou Ning shook his head slightly.
"Let’s work together, flip the body over."
Several people gathered and flipped the body over. On the first thoracic vertebra on the right side of the first rib, there was an egg-sized bruise that was swollen.
Yang Xuetong hurried over to take a photo. Zhou Ning waved at Mr. Zhao, who passed over a ruler. Upon measuring, he found that the bruise was perfectly round, with a diameter of 3.1 centimeters.
Zhou Ning squinted his eyes and glanced at Mr. Zhao, who quickly said:
"To me, it looks like it was caused by the handle of an electric scooter. This bruise appears solid, with clear boundaries. I remember photos of the deceased’s electric scooter when it was recovered had relevant data. The handle of that scooter is thicker than usual. However, the very edge is solid, which matches this diameter."
Xu Guanhai put on his reading glasses, came over for a look, and then began to review the previous autopsy report and a copy of the case file.
He had marked this bruise in the autopsy report, but at the time he hadn’t figured out what had caused the injury, speculating that it was due to the deceased hitting something while struggling, causing the bruise.
"Mr. Zhao is impressive; I hadn’t noticed these two measurements were the same. You’ve taught this old man something new," Xu Guanhai said.
Liu Yongxin waved his hand, his face calm.
"Don’t praise him too much; it makes him arrogant."
Zhou Ning glanced at Liu Yongxin. His master loved to show off at every opportunity. He shook his head slightly and turned his attention back to the body.
"If the deceased had fallen into the lake while riding her scooter, even if she flipped over and the scooter pinned her feet so she couldn’t move, there wouldn’t be a bruise on her back. I think it’s more likely that she was at the bottom and the scooter on top, and the forceful collision caused the bruise."
Xu Guanhai paused for a moment, then remained silent, seemingly not agreeing with the assessment.
Zhou Ning didn’t bother with idle talk. A second autopsy was really about checking for omissions. The deceased’s toxicology tests had already been performed, and the organs had already been observed in slices—there was no need for a second dissection.
He gestured to Mr. Zhao to scan the skeleton. Mr. Zhao quickly operated the new device to perform a spiral scan. On an adjacent laptop, images began to appear. Yang Xuetong moved the laptop over.
The small screen wasn’t enough, so Zhou Ning focused intently on the image, enlarging it and moving to the first thoracic vertebra on the right side. A crack in the first rib was clearly visible.
Zhou Ning rotated the image of the skeleton, noting that the bone fracture was severe. If it hadn’t been the first rib, which was shorter and more robust, any other bone would have likely snapped completely.
It seemed that the impact of the electric scooter was much greater than anticipated.
Given the extent of the bone fracture, could it be that someone lifted the electric scooter and smashed it down at the drowning victim?
Zhou Ning didn’t voice this thought.
While Mr. Zhao started the recording device, Zhou Ning methodically described each discovery from the examination and autopsy. The victim’s hair had been shaved off, and upon peeling back the scalp, they found a mild subcutaneous hematoma on the top of the skull.
The autopsy had ended, and the recording device was switched off. Yang Xuetong came over and took lots of photos. Xu Guanhai’s face betrayed some embarrassment, while Liu Yongxin patted him on the shoulder.
"What’s the matter? You’re feeling awkward about this? Finding a clue is a good thing. We’re all grown-ups here; it’s great to see capable young people. I’m telling you, you definitely owe us a meal."
Xu Guanhai chuckled and let out a small sigh, giving Zhou Ning a thumbs up.
"Your mentor has such a good attitude. I’ve been narrow-minded. However, this finding indicates that someone pulled the victim’s hair, pressing her head down into the water. It’s a shame we didn’t find anything under her fingernails."
Zhou Ning pondered for a moment.
"Mr. Zhao, check the weather."
Mr. Zhao fiddled with his smartphone, and soon after, he lifted his head and showed his phone, saying,
"On May 11, 2011, Rudong City had northeast winds at level 4-5, with temperatures ranging from 22 to 11ºC. It was mostly cloudy during the day and clear at night."
Zhou Ning glanced at the clothes next to the autopsy table. The victim was dressed in a light sky-blue short trench coat, a slim-fit white blouse, jeans, and low-heel court shoes—stylish clothing that suited her petite figure and made her appear taller.
Upon further examination, Zhou Ning noticed a set of red lingerie beneath the trench coat, which was a transparent lace design with barely any sponge padding, and the back was just a thin elastic band. The lower garment was merely a small triangular piece of semi-transparent fabric, connected by a few thin straps, giving off the impression of a novelty sex garment.
To wear such an outfit for cycling practice sixteen kilometers away at Yue Lake—such a claim clearly didn’t add up.
Xu Guanhai coughed, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"It is said that the victim was newly married. My assistant mentioned that young people today are into this kind of thing, so I didn’t think much of it. Could there be a problem with it?"
Clearly, Xu Guanhai’s attitude had changed significantly, and Zhou Ning looked at him seriously and nodded.
"Perhaps there are couples who enjoy this style, but that would be limited to wearing at home. According to the husband’s statement, she went out to practice riding. I think the victim deliberately dressed this way because she had received that mysterious phone call before heading to Yue Lake. I’m not sure if the scene where the victim was found at Yue Lake is still preserved, but I would like to take a look."
Xu Guanhai naturally had no objections. With someone from the city bureau so eager and proactive to visit the site, he was more than willing to agree.
"I’ll contact Zhang Da right now to have someone accompany you. The scene is cordoned off, and the construction has been redirected away from that spot for now. Yue Lake Park management has been in touch with us many times, and Zhang Da believes we should keep the primary scene closed until the case is solved."
Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief. For a case from last May to still have its primary scene preserved, Rudong City was doing quite well. Both Zhang Sannian and Xu Guanhai were effective workers.
"Doctor Xu, there’s no need for them to come pick us up; it’s too much of a fuss. We can just drive there directly. If we need someone’s guidance to get through, we can arrange to meet them there. That way, we won’t cause any delays, right?"
Xu Guanhai smiled and showed a look of envy toward Liu Yongxin.
"You have a great student—not just good-looking but also talented. The modesty alone is refreshing to see. Alright then, I’ll take advantage of my seniority today; let’s go directly, and I’ll update Zhang Da on the way."
...
Twenty minutes later.
The car stopped on the east side of Yue Lake Park, an area inaccessible to vehicles. Checking the map and surveying the scene, Zhou Ning completely understood the frustration of the Yue Lake Park management staff—most of the park was nearly complete except for the northeast side of the bridge.
Even though it was early spring, the park was not lacking in evergreen plants. Still, the water level in the lake was low, and it was apparent that an excavator was being used to clear the silt along the edges. The southeast bank was already finished, and an excavator sat idle on the east bank.
Upon seeing so many people in police uniforms, several foremen and a man who looked to be in charge quickly approached.
"Officers, are you here about that case? That’s great. Please hurry with the investigation. We only have this section left in the construction. If it’s finished, we can get paid sooner."
An elderly man spoke frankly, and a foreman briskly drove away the others, while Zhou Ning nudged Mr. Zhao, who quickly reassured the workers with a nod.
"Don’t worry, everyone. We’re from the city bureau, and we will investigate as quickly as possible. However, we might need to use the excavator shortly, so we’ll need your assistance!"
The foreman laughed and nodded in agreement. Providing the excavator or even just manpower wasn’t an issue for him since the delay in construction meant delayed payment and unhappy workers—juggling tasks between two homes was not easy.
"Never mind using the excavator; I’d even be willing to dive down and help you search if needed."
