National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1013 - 949: Confirming the Murderer

"Captain Jiang, it’s been cut open."

Shen Yaowei sawed through three saw blades before finally opening the inner and outer tables of the victim’s skull.

Jiang Yuan put down his teacup, sighed, and began to put on his coat, gloves, and head cover, then picked up a T-shaped chisel and wedged it into the cut skull with a "crack," prying it open.

Only then did Shen Yaowei stand up, sought someone to help wipe off his sweat, and said, "It’s like sawing open two boxes of coconuts; my arms are sore."

This job is indeed quite similar to opening coconuts: first, cut open the skin on the outside, then saw through the hard shell, and then you can see the soft contents inside.

Jiang Yuan first carefully observed the dura mater beneath the skull. The dura mater is a thin layer of membrane similar to the white coconut flesh exposed after prying open a coconut.

The most common and basic operation in neurosurgery is the evacuation of a subdural hematoma, which involves cutting open the patient’s dura mater with the purpose of clearing clots or relieving pressure. It is a procedure that sounds sophisticated but actually has a moderate technical content, and many lower-level hospitals have voluntarily or out of necessity started performing this type of surgery.

Because the evacuation of a subdural hematoma is often an emergency procedure, in layman’s terms, it is needed when one hits their head, the head is smashed, kicked by a donkey, etc. Many local health commissions require that within a XX-kilometer radius of a city, there must be a hospital capable of performing it, to prevent patient deaths due to transfer.

For a forensic doctor, subdural bleeding is also a great indicator.

In most cases, the presence of subdural bleeding can be used to explain the cause of death. Even if the deceased had other conditions leading to death, a large clot inside the brain is still a factor to consider.

That’s the situation that Jiang Yuan currently observes.

"Blunt force trauma to the head, resulting in death," Jiang Yuan stated as he cut along the center line of the dura mater, using forceps to pull the dura mater away from the arachnoid, revealing the cerebral hemisphere. He concluded on the spot and instructed Wang Chuanxing to record the findings and called for the photographer to take pictures.

Click, click-click, click...

The photographer’s DSLR captured a rapid succession of shutters.

The light before dusk, at its softest and most beautiful, cast on the yellow, white, red, and black flesh, created a distorted, perverted stimulus — like the "Sour Toe Cocktail," where a legally obtained human toe is soaked in whiskey, the taste of the cocktail already transcends the actual requirements of flavor!

"Bag the body, ice it, transport it back, and then have Wang Lan perform the material examination," Jiang Yuan said after checking several critical areas, almost certain there were no other causes of death, and then had the body moved.

The conditions on-site were rudimentary, but performing an autopsy there could yield conclusions several hours earlier than if the body was transported back, which is very beneficial for advancing the case.

The case itself was actually quite straightforward: the victim died while participating in a group fight and fighting back under the watch of a group of people.

Therefore, as long as witness testimonies are collected and the participants in the fight are identified, the minimum threshold for the case is essentially secured. The slightly challenging part is identifying the murderer.

In ordinary people’s thinking, all participants in the brawl are, in effect, murderers, but legally, it is necessary to identify who dealt the fatal blow—the specific executor of the act that caused death.

For a forensic doctor, the task is to find the main cause of the victim’s death.

Suppose the victim, in his last fight, was strangled by Huang Zhong with a bowstring; had his abdomen pierced by Zhang Fei’s pike; had a gash dragged across his left thigh by Guan Yu’s Qinglong Yan Yue Dao; was stabbed in the chest by Ma Chao’s Tiger Head Golden Spear; took a blow on the head from Li Yuanba’s Purple Gold Hammer; had both wrists slit open by Liu Bei’s twin swords; was force-fed alcohol by Cao Cao; had Diao Chan writhing desperately underneath him...

Even if bystanders understand that the person was killed through a team effort, they still want to identify one most representative individual as the murderer. That’s where the forensic doctor comes in.

If a subdural hematoma can also be found, then Li Yuanba would be the prime suspect.

...

Su Shanming of the Chang Le City Bureau is the person in charge of searching for Li Yuanba.

Qi Mountain Stronghold is still within the jurisdiction of the Chang Le City Bureau, and Su Shanming, who followed Jiang Yuan here, has long been mired in an overwhelming number of cases. However, as this is a murder case, it naturally needs to be given ample resources immediately.

Su Shanming carefully selected a few officers, hurrying over while instructing, "From now on, you will be fully responsible for this homicide case. Let me clarify; a homicide is a homicide, and it takes precedence, no matter how chaotic things get here, who the deceased is, or whether the murderer is already facing the death penalty, those are not your concerns. Your sole focus is to solve this case!"

"Yes," the officers responded with composed affirmation.

The Criminal Police Brigade is actually considered a higher-level investigation unit, with the municipal-level brigade even regarded as the top-tier frontline investigating authority, effectively an elite major case squad. They generally handle cases that district and county-level units can’t tackle. Homicide cases are not only familiar to them but can even be called a specialty.

Upon arriving at the scene, each of their expressions was solemn.

At this point, Jiang Yuan had already changed his clothes, washed his hands, and drafted a preliminary informal report.

Seeing Su Mingshan arrive, Jiang Yuan greeted him with a cheerful smile, then asked Wang Chuanxing to bring something over and said, "The cause of the victim’s death was a blunt force trauma to the head, likely from a beer bottle or a cylindrical club. The assailant must have been taller than the victim by at least 10 centimeters, based on the standing height, and also relatively heavier..."

The officers were initially prepared to read the preliminary autopsy report filled out by Jiang Yuan, but as they listened to his words, they gradually stopped and turned their attention to Su Mingshan.

Su Mingshan’s brow furrowed; to those unaware, it might seem like he was angry.

In reality, Su Mingshan’s forehead was indeed buzzing.

Mu Zhiyang had seen many police captains like this; he interjected, "Captain Su, our Captain Jiang is very efficient, you’ll get used to it in time."

"Is that so?" Su Mingshan recalled previous cases, which, after all, were not led by him. His impression wasn’t as strong...

Mu Zhiyang chuckled and asked, "What’s the next step?" freeweɓnøvel.com

"Next?... There’s not much left to do," Su Mingshan sighed, and offhandedly added, "We’ve recorded most people involved in the brawl. Now it’s about identifying the person with a club or a beer bottle. We’ll need to ask in detail about the assault. If someone saw him hit the victim’s head, then we’re pretty much set."

"There’s also the murder weapon," one of the subordinates reminded.

"Oh, right, the murder weapon. It will be a bit difficult to find a beer bottle, but a wooden stick is easier. Could it be a stick? Or something like a steel pipe?" Su Mingshan came to his senses, starting to verify further; with the discovery of the murder weapon, the case’s evidence chain would be more complete, essentially resolving the investigation.

Compared to a beer bottle, items like wooden sticks or steel pipes are obviously easier to retain.

Jiang Yuan slowly shook his head, saying, "It’s most likely a beer bottle, deduced from the form of the lacerated wound..."

Having said only this much, Jiang Yuan looked up at Su Mingshan, his desire to explain waned significantly, and after a pause he added, "This isn’t any advanced technique. Mentioning wooden sticks and steel pipes only means there’s a very slim chance. You should primarily consider a beer bottle for now."

Injuring or even killing someone with a beer bottle is not a rare occurrence in our country. People who drink to excess, already prone to fighting and injuring others, might grab a recently consumed large green bottle or a full one to strike someone, which could be said to be a common pattern in nightlife.

Therefore, among the forensic community, those with some experience tend to closely observe and record characteristics of some common injurious items. A beer bottle, for instance, is something that many forensic doctors could recognize at a glance.

Jiang Yuan had previously dealt with a homicide caused by a beer bottle; encountering another felt like he was well-trodden in solving such cases.

However, as Su Mingshan’s relief subsided, he began to feel a strong sense of anxiety and couldn’t help saying, "This beer bottle used as a murder weapon will probably be hard to find as well. It might have been smashed to pieces..."

"According to the witnesses, the murderer drank local beer that day, didn’t suspiciously smash the bottle, but threw it into a trash heap," Jiang Yuan stated, pausing for a moment, then continued, "Luckily, the trash here isn’t really processed. If we search carefully, there’s a good chance we can still find that beer bottle."

Su Mingshan frowned, glanced at the several officers he had brought along, then turned to look at the vast mountains of garbage.

The officers were taken aback and incredulous, "Captain Su, you didn’t say it would be like this when you came..."

"If you don’t have enough hands, I can lend some people to you," Jiang Yuan coughed twice and suggested, "But since we’re dealing with garbage, how about we do some trash sorting while we are at it?"