Chapter 550: Chapter 520: Burial Ground_1
The security guard grunted twice.
"Those two, sly and sneaky, were hardly any chefs at all. Every time the boss came, he brought all sorts of pre-made dishes. They just provided service, then cleaned up. But sometimes they’d also go plant trees, something the boss required. If I offered to help, they’d refuse and wouldn’t even let me near."
"Plant trees? Where?"
Everyone stared intently at the old man, who seemed puzzled but didn’t think much of it and pointed towards a garden area below the villa complex:
"See that patch of rhododendrons? They planted all the trees there, big and small. I’d fish by the seaside and wouldn’t dare get close to those rhododendrons, or they’d get really mad."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ning turned to look carefully. Below was a moderately sized area with a terraced feel to it, bordered by huge rocks and planted with eye-catching rhododendrons, as well as more than a dozen Scholar trees with gnarled branches that, although not beautiful, were lush green and seemed well-nourished.
Without wasting words, Liu Yongxin and Zhou Ning hastened towards the area. Mr. Qu stood up from above and waved at them.
"Boss, we’ve finished our investigation. There are signs of soil disturbance both behind the villa and below here by the rhododendrons. Shall we try digging?"
Zhou Ning didn’t reply but looked at Zhang Ping as he was able to mobilize everyone. Rolling up his sleeves, Zhang Ping made a call and quickly gathered a sizable team.
"Director Zhou, shall we start digging at the back of the villa or here where the rhododendrons are?"
"Behind the villa where we found the suitcase yesterday. Let’s check the rhododendrons area first."
Zhang Ping nodded and directed the team to bring the excavator down and start digging.
An hour later, the rhododendrons and the Scholar trees had been excavated, revealing only soil and rocks underneath, with no discovery. This made Zhang Ping anxious; he looked up at Zhou Ning, dripping with sweat.
"We’ve dug one meter deep. It looks like there’s nothing buried here. Plus, there are many rocks below. Without tools, it would be hard to dig this deep."
Liu Yongxin tapped Zhou Ning’s arm and pointed towards the rocks on the edge.
"By those rocks, try digging there. I don’t think it’s necessary to bury something right beneath the trees. Too bad the poet didn’t come along; he could have given an assessment on whether these trees are thriving because of the ample fertilizer."
Zhou Ning nodded his head.
"Mr. Zhang, based on what my master said, dig near those edge stones. Burying a body by hand wouldn’t be very deep."
Zhang Ping spoke with the excavator operator, who kept shaking his head, as if too close to the edge, fearful of operating. Mr. Wang walked over directly.
"Let me try; I’ve operated an excavator in the military."
The operator quickly hopped down, and Mr. Wang took over, backing up the machine a bit before scraping shallowly along the edge of the rocks. Something seemed to be uncovered beneath the soil layer, especially at the edge of the excavator’s bucket, which hooked a piece of dirt-covered black-brown fabric.
Zhou Ning, with his sharp eyes, quickly raised his hand to signal stop.
"Stop, it looks like a bloodstained sheet."
Half an hour later.
In the area where the rhododendrons and Scholar trees were originally planted, six damaged sheets were laid out, each with either a skeleton or pieces of a corpse; the sight was quite shocking.
After inspecting, Zhou Ning stood up. Zhang Ping had just ended a call, excitedly approaching.
"Director Zhou, I’ve reported. Director Xu wants us to transport the skeletons back as quickly as possible for testing. As for the skulls, Director Xu asks if facial reconstruction is possible?"
Zhou Ning glanced at the skulls and nodded slightly.
"Yes, storage boxes won’t be enough. Go find cardboard boxes inside the villa. We will use large evidence bags to label and transport the bones and corpse pieces. Otherwise, the amount for DNA testing back home will be too vast."
Zhang Ping hurriedly sent people to fetch the items, and soon, six differently shaped, large boxes were packed. After thanking the paramilitary police leader profusely, Zhang Ping signaled for loading the vehicles. Zhou Ning patted Mr. Wang’s arm.
"Thank you for your hard work. Let’s load everything up and head back now."
...
Two hours later.
Forensics department, Dissection Room One.
On two dissection tables and four stainless steel carts, six sets of skeletons and corpse pieces were placed. Sun Gaotie cranked the filtration system to maximum. Zhu Zuozhang, Zhao Lijian, and Zhu Xingxing were all ready. Zhou Ning gestured.
"There are many remains, some fully skeletonized, some partially, and some recently buried. Samples have been sent for testing, and our task is formidable.
Zhao Lijian, you’ll handle corpse number 130214. Zhu Zuozhang, you take number 121101. Zhu Xingxing, you’ll handle number 120619. I’ll take care of the rest. Stay here if you like, or go to your dissection rooms, whatever you prefer.
I want accurate autopsy results, at the quickest pace, and the most complete autopsy process. There are only two requirements: first, try to find any items wrapped within the sheets that could indicate the victim’s identity, such as moles, tattoos, scars, ear piercings, rings, etc.
"Second, ascertain the cause of death, and whether the dismemberment occurred postmortem or while the victim was still alive. Make every effort to collect any residues on the sheets, such as urine stains and mottling. If there are no issues, start the operation."
A few people nodded, each leading their own assistants and interns, pushing stainless steel gurneys to their respective dissection rooms.
Zhu Xingxing stayed at another dissection table in Autopsy Room One. Liu Yongxin, without wasting words, went to assist Zhu Xingxing. With him there, Zhu Xingxing was not at all flustered and quickly started the autopsy.
Zhou Ning gestured, and Sun Gaotie approached.
"Assemble the skeleton, Mr. Zhao, check the sheets for residues, start the recording equipment; Mr. Qu, how long will you need?"
Mr. Qu kept tapping on the keyboard; upon hearing Zhou Ning call him, he quickly responded:
"I need an hour. The skulls of the four victims have damage; I need to restore them before I can begin facial recognition. Boss, I don’t think the deformations and fracture traces on these skulls were caused by blunt force."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"I’ve already examined them just now. The deformed skulls all belong to the four victims who have been dead the longest. According to the on-site analysis, the locations where they were buried were originally weighed down by stones, but the stones were removed. The ground where the bodies decomposed collapsed, and the subsequent filling and tamping down of the soil caused the deformation of the skulls."
Mr. Qu had an epiphany, though his hands didn’t stop working.
"Call me when you’re done!"
By this time, Sun Gaotie had completed the assembly of the skeleton of this victim. Zhou Ning glanced over and said:
"If you have looked it over, speak up quickly. Do you know the cause of death? Hurry up with the answers to the two key points I just mentioned. There’s rarely an opportunity to deal with so many bodies."
Sun Gaotie exhaled deeply, calming himself down, his gaze becoming more resolved.
"The cause of death was mechanical asphyxia. The victim’s hyoid bone is fractured, and there is dislocation between the third and fourth cervical vertebrae. It appears that the victim was forcefully strangled with an additional forceful twist to the right side, causing death.
The victim is missing a hand. A fingernail was found in the sheets; it’s not manicured, and it has a broken edge, not naturally shed after death. It’s due to a tearing force, causing the injury. I can’t determine whether it happened before or after death."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Continue, estimate the victim’s height and weight, how many parts were the body dismembered into, what tool was used? What else did you find in the sheets?"
Seeing that Zhou Ning didn’t criticize, Sun Gaotie gained confidence and quickly proceeded with the measurements, then examined the location of the cut bones. Mr. Zhao also came over to help. After about half an hour, Sun Gaotie finally looked up and said.
"I estimate the victim’s height to be between 165-168 centimeters, age between 18-24 years old. The body was dismembered into five parts, with each arm and leg being separated, and the torso and head as one piece without a cut throat.
The dismemberment tool was an electric saw; here and here, one can see the cutting marks, and on the femurs and humeri, there are probing wounds—probably due to unskilled operation.
Additionally, I found a used band-aid in the sheets with blood on it, severely contaminated by the decomposing fluid. I’m unsure if DNA can be recovered, but I suspect it was left by the murderer or the person who dismembered the body."
After speaking, Sun Gaotie breathed a sigh of relief. Mr. Zhao gave him a thumbs up, and Zhou Ning glanced over, his expression still serious.
"Modify the record; the victim’s height is under 165 centimeters. Based on the analysis of the pubic symphysis, the age is around 18 years old. Calluses on both sides of the tibial plateau, severe on the left, slight on the right; no signs of joint injuries on either upper limb were found.
I suspect these were bone fractures caused by a car accident or lateral impact three or four years before death, but no surgical realignment was performed, just conservative treatment. So I suspect a hit-and-run case.
Those cases where the driver hasn’t been caught and considering the victim’s poor family conditions as the left side, though healed, has an excessively large callus. The victim could walk without problems, but couldn’t run fast."
Sun Gaotie listened with a start and hurriedly took down notes in his notebook.
Apparently, hearing what Zhou Ning said, Mr. Qu quickly stood up.
"Found it, this 100901MAY is found; Boss, come take a look."
Zhou Ning pulled off his gloves and walked towards Mr. Qu. Sun Gaotie wanted to follow and see himself but was stopped by Mr. Zhao, signaling him to quickly arrange the dissection table, placing the skeleton of another victim on it.
Without needing a reminder from Mr. Zhao, Sun Gaotie had already begun the preliminary autopsy according to the method just used.
Zhou Ning glanced at the two of them; he saw the small movements, but he was still very satisfied that Sun Gaotie could get to grips so quickly. Frankly, Zhao Lijian and others might not be as fast as Sun Gaotie in that analysis.
Approaching Mr. Qu, he already had a person’s information pulled up.
"The connection with the large screen has some issues; Boss, you take a look at this person’s information first."
Zhou Ning looked at the screen. Although it was an identity card photo, the delicate and vivid features were unforgettable at a glance—the girl was exceptionally beautiful and bore an exotic charm.
At this moment, Mr. Zhao also came over, and upon seeing the name, exclaimed:
"I finally understand why this is tagged MAY. Her name is Wu Yue, which sounds like ’May’. My goodness, she is indeed from a minority ethnic group, from Erguna Province. But at this age, to go missing in Qindao, didn’t her family file a missing person’s report?"
