Chapter 781: Chapter 417: The Formal Autopsy Begins!
According to the work arrangements Jiang An had just deployed, everyone quickly got into the right frame of mind, each performing their own duties and cooperating smoothly.
The originally noisy atmosphere at the scene soon became tense yet orderly.
Just as all the tasks were being carried out in an orderly manner, the dedicated corpse transport vehicle from the Forensic Autopsy Center approached the scene slowly, its police lights flashing.
The staff, well trained, carefully placed the two bodies into the transport compartment.
Jiang An stood quietly beside the corpse transport vehicle, his gaze lingering on the two bodies for a moment before slowly shifting to the distant, silent and unfathomably dark lake surface.
In that very instant, a thought flashed through his mind like a bolt of lightning.
He suddenly realized that in this seemingly clue‑less case, the information hidden in the bodies themselves was very likely far more crucial than any other physical evidence at the scene.
In most of the cases he had handled in the past, there had been a clearly defined primary scene, with plenty of bloodstains, fingerprints, and footprints to examine and collect.
They could even reconstruct a "dynamic" sequence of actions from the "static" trace evidence left at the scene.
However, in the case before them now, there were no such conditions.
Looking around, apart from a few sparse and blurry tire tracks by the shore, there were almost no clues to follow.
It was as if the entire case was shrouded in a dense fog.
If they wanted to break the deadlock, the breakthrough was very likely hidden within the bodies.
After pondering for a moment, Jiang An instinctively took his phone out of his pocket, his thumb hovering above the dial key, but he suddenly paused and put the phone back.
He shook his head slightly and muttered under his breath, "Forget it, I’ll go with you and do the autopsy myself."
The two forensic assistants, hearing this, immediately showed delight on their faces.
Long before they joined the Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau, they had already heard of Jiang An’s name.
He was not only one of the very few rare cases of someone promoted directly from a forensic position to the post of criminal investigation captain, but also the youngest captain in the criminal investigation system in the province, and even nationwide.
Ordinary forensic career paths generally ended at the position of forensic office director or technical squadron leader.
Someone like Jiang An, who, relying on solid professional skills and outstanding case‑solving ability, led an entire criminal investigation brigade, was virtually unheard of.
In everyone’s eyes, Jiang An’s growth trajectory was almost impossible to replicate.
What was especially admired was his investigative philosophy of "taking the body as the core, combining it with scene reconstruction, and integrating it into overall case analysis."
This had long been regarded by colleagues in the system as an important methodology in criminal investigation practice.
At this moment, the two could hardly conceal their excitement and quickly stepped forward to confirm, "Really? Mr. Jiang, you’re really coming in person?"
Jiang An nodded solemnly, his tone firm: "This case is out of the ordinary. I must be involved throughout the autopsy. Not a single detail can be overlooked."
Just as the words left his mouth, his phone suddenly rang in his pocket.
He took it out and saw the name "Zhang Yean" on the screen.
Zhang Yean had been away on professional training for more than two months; calling at this time—could it be that her training was over?
He pressed the answer button and said, "Hello? How’s the training going..."
"Just finished, I came back early to report to you."
Zhang Yean’s voice came over the line, carrying a hint of ease and a touch of laughter.
Holding the phone, Jiang An paused for a moment. "Oh? You’ve already arrived at the Municipal Bureau?"
"Of course I have!"
Speaking softly, Zhang Yean said, "I was going to report to you in person at your office, but I found the door locked."
"Are you out on some inspection work?"
"Inspection work, my foot," Jiang An sighed, his tone turning grave. "A case came in—we just took it."
"A case?"
Zhang Yean’s voice immediately grew serious. "What’s the situation?"
"It’s a long story, and extremely tricky."
Jiang An paused briefly, then his voice sank. "But you’ve come back at exactly the right time."
"You must have gained a lot from this training, right?"
"We can use this case to test what you’ve learned."
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.
Zhang Yean had originally prepared a lengthy report and had even brought back some local specialties from out of town to surprise her captain, but she hadn’t expected to walk straight into a major case the moment she returned.
She took a deep breath and quickly adjusted her mindset. "Mr. Jiang, this time I really did systematically study a lot of new scene investigation techniques and trace analysis methods."
"But from the way you sound, this case doesn’t seem simple, does it?"
Turning his head toward the lake, where the salvage operation was still being carried out in tense haste, Jiang An’s voice grew even lower. "Not only is it not simple, it may be extremely complex."
"At present, there’s very limited physical evidence left at the scene, and the difficulty of solving the case is very high."
"The new trace evidence techniques you learned might be exactly the breakthrough we need right now."
After pondering for a moment on the other end of the line, Zhang Yean spoke with resolve: "Since Mr. Jiang is giving me this opportunity, I’ll give it everything I’ve got."
"Where are you now? I’ll come over immediately."
"We’re just about to head to the Forensic Autopsy Center!"
Jiang An said, "Do you want to come over and take a look?"
"Even though autopsy work isn’t a trace engineer’s primary duty, understanding the examination of bodies often provides important references for analyzing scene traces and physical evidence."
"That’s also the biggest takeaway from my training this time—the injury patterns on the body and the traces at the scene often corroborate each other. Only by analyzing them together can we reconstruct the incident more accurately."
"Understood!"
Zhang Yean responded at once. "See you at the Forensic Autopsy Center."
Forty minutes later, Jiang An and his team arrived at the Forensic Autopsy Center.
As soon as they got out of the car, they saw that Zhang Yean was already waiting at the entrance.
Seeing Jiang An, Zhang Yean walked quickly up to him. "Mr. Jiang."
