Chapter 63 Chapter 63 Teacher Lu’s heart was violently...

After sending the homeless man Zhao Liu away, Ji Yinhe came up from downstairs and saw Lu Zheng standing at the door of the autopsy room, talking to Lu Xiaoyan.

"... Director Lu, if possible, I'd like to trouble you to perform another autopsy. Can I assist you?"

His tone was calm, his long legs stood straight, his cuffs rolled up neatly, and he could put on his gloves at any time as long as the other party nodded.

Lü Xiaoyan was not happy. "I've already finished it and put it in the freezer... Expert Lu, what do you think? I don't dare ask for your help!"

"I just want to examine the skin tissue of the first three victims again."

Lu Zheng finished his words in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, and stood quietly in front of the door of the autopsy room. The morning sun just rose outside the window, covering half of his face in a pale golden light.

Lu Xiaoyan looked at him, then at Ji Yinhe who had just walked up the stairs.

"No." She raised her chin with a stern face. "I've made it very clear to Xiao Ji before: the autopsy is complete. It can only be re-examined under special circumstances. Otherwise, if everyone keeps cutting in line like you two, will I still be able to do my job?"

Ji Yinhe blinked, not knowing how the matter came back to her.

Lu Zheng didn't argue with her. He saw Comrade Xiao Ji standing a few steps away and suddenly had an idea.

"Wait here for a moment, don't leave." He checked the time and quickly ran towards the stairs. "I'll be back soon."

Ji Yinhe: “……?”

Seeing that the person had left, Lu Xiaoyan did not ask any more questions. She walked back to the autopsy table leisurely and continued to work on the case handed over by the Municipal Bureau.

Ji Yinhe walked around twice with his hands in his pockets before Lu Zheng came back in a hurry.

He flashed a few sheets of paper at the door of the autopsy room. Lü Xiaoyan glanced at them reluctantly, then widened her eyes in surprise. "Director Zu, will you sign?"

"Can we start now?" Lu Zheng didn't answer her, but calmly took out a pair of latex gloves from his pocket and handed them to Ji Yinhe who was standing diagonally behind him.

Lu Xiaoyan sighed, "Okay, come in."

Ji Yinhe followed Lu Zheng into the room and asked him quietly, "How did you get the director's signature?"

Lu Zheng glanced at her with a smile and answered irrelevantly: "He is used to arriving at work early. When no one disturbs him before work, he should be reading the newspaper in the office."

"I mean, why would he sign..."

Comrade Xiao Ji was a little confused, but when he thought of his identity as a specially appointed expert in public security, it seemed as if the explanation had been given.

Over there, Lv Xiaoyan had already put on a mask and asked the forensic assistant to open the freezer and push the body out. Lu Zheng immediately surrounded them. Ji Yinhe knew that he was not a professional, so he stood aside and took notes.

After comparing the three dead bodies for a moment, Lu Zheng quietly focused on the task at hand, saying nothing the entire time. Lu Xiaoyan's tone was somewhat smug:

"Look, I've checked everything I can. What else is there to worry about, the expert?"

Lu Zheng was silent for a moment, then asked in a deep voice, "Have you done any tests on these indigo dots?"

"Indigo?" Lu Xiaoyan frowned. "Why didn't I notice it?"

"Look." Lu Zheng humbly stepped aside and pointed at a very, very hidden spot with tweezers. "This one has a wound on the upper arm."

He turned around and flipped the palm of the second corpse, "Here."

Lu Xiaoyan was shocked and hurried to check the third deceased.

Sure enough, a tiny mark was found in the little toenail.

The three bodies were sent separately according to the time of discovery. She only checked the condition of each limb and inferred their process of death, but she may have overlooked one point - there may be commonalities that are difficult to detect in different parts of each deceased!

As Ji Yinhe recorded, Lu Xiaoyan took a deep breath.

Without waiting for Lu Zheng to make a move, he picked up the tray and tweezers, gently picked out the three indigo dots that were so tiny that they were difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, and placed them under the microscope.

"What do you think it looks like?" Lu Xiaoyan completely lost her previous arrogant attitude and asked with a serious face.

Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes. "It looks a bit like paint, or maybe a plant. Where did it get from?"

"Plants..." Ji Yinhe, who was standing nearby, slapped his forehead. "Director Lu, Teacher Lu, when I was looking through the files the other day, I noticed the crime scene where the second victim's body parts were found was in a park in the western suburbs. They weren't in a plastic bag, but scattered on the ground. Guan Ye collected a bag of the burnt ashes around the remains. Have you examined them all?"

Lu Zheng looked at Lu Xiaoyan, "I hadn't come to help at that time, Director Lu..."

"No." Lu Xiaoyan pinched her brows, "We only extracted part of the test."

Lu Zheng snapped his fingers, "Without further ado, where is the bag of ashes?"

Lu Xiaoyan immediately ordered people to retrieve all the physical evidence and send it to the laboratory.

Ji Yinhe didn't want to disturb them at work, so he sat on the bench in the corridor, swinging his legs and waiting for news.

An hour later, Lu Zheng came out holding a piece of paper and taking off his white coat.

He looked at Ji Yinhe with bloodshot eyes and said, "A small amount of indigo substance was also detected in the ashes. It is the residue of a traditional Chinese medicine called Indigo Naturalis."

"...Traditional Chinese medicine?" Comrade Xiao Ji stood up immediately. "I'll tell Captain Tan the results right away!"

Tan Li had just watched Luo Yong being sent to the detention center, and when she saw the new clue, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"I thought the case was going to hit a dead end again, but luckily you and Director Lu were quick-witted!"

Lu Zheng smiled gently, "It was Ji Yinhe who suggested checking the ashes. I just did the test according to her suggestion."

"Oh?" Tan Li raised one eyebrow, with deep approval flashing in her eyes.

She lowered her head and looked at the paper. "Then Xiao Ji, you can go with Teacher Lu to look up the Chinese medicine line."

"Uh, I..." Ji Yinhe glanced at Zhao Zhuoqun who had just walked into the office.

This master was already a little prejudiced against her, and now she was searching for clues with Lu Zheng. Wouldn't he be unhappy?

Besides, it has been a long time since I have performed on stage alone with Teacher Lu...

Comrade Xiao Ji was lost in thought, and Tan Li didn't hear her usual straightforward response. So she raised her eyes, followed her line of sight, glanced in the direction of Zhao Zhuoqun, and said with a smile:

"Don't worry about Lao Zhao. I know what's going on. This line involves physical evidence, and Mr. Lu is an expert. You can get twice the result with half the effort by following him."

"Okay, let's go to several major Chinese medicine clinics in Jingzhou City and ask." Before Ji Yinhe could respond, Lu Zheng grabbed her sleeve and took her out.

After getting in the car, he asked softly, "What were you thinking about just now?"

Comrade Xiao Ji patted his slightly red cheeks, coughed, and got down to business: "Just now, when you were examining the ashes, I looked at the three bodies and suddenly had a new idea."

Lu Zheng raised his eyebrows, his eyes serious, "You say."

Ji Yinhe took a deep breath and said, "I think the criminal's motive for murder may be related to sex."

“…”

Lu Zheng suddenly felt a puff of steam rising from the car. It was still early spring, but the breeze on his face carried the warmth of the floral scent, making his ears feel hot.

He paused for a breath before saying, "Tell me more about it."

Ji Yinhe looked straight ahead, sorting out his thoughts calmly.

"The foreign files you gave me previously mentioned that dismemberment, a heinous act, was likely a substitute for sexual dissatisfaction... Look, all the victims' torsos are missing. This suggests the key lies in the missing body parts. The killer might have kept some of their organs for personal enjoyment, while discarding other unimportant parts."

Lu Zheng was speechless for a moment. Honestly, if someone else had made this inference, he might have thought they were fanciful.

But Ji Yinhe has already proved his talent with the four major cases in Jiangtan.

He steered the car and said in a questioning tone, "I have a question. We know the victims were all men. If the killer was sexually perverted, leaving that part would have been enough. Why the entire torso?"

"Teacher Lu, your thinking is a bit old-fashioned." Comrade Xiao Ji coughed. "I've seen on some videos that sometimes, between men, the larger part is actually more important."

"..." Lu Zheng felt his heart being violently impacted. "You mean the murderer is... a man who attacked? But didn't Zhao Liu see the woman in the red dress?"

"I've always felt that Zhao Liu's words weren't entirely believable. We caught the copycat this morning, and we're probably getting close to the truth. The real killer was frightened, so he deliberately let Zhao Liu out to divert our investigation. That's why I think the clue that the murderer is a woman is unreliable. Although Wei Manli, a woman, was capable of murder in the Gong Xie drug trafficking case, killing so many people and brutally dismembering them doesn't seem like the soft image of the 'woman in the red dress'."

Lu Zheng digested her words for a moment before answering, "Your idea is a bit absurd, but it's also logical... But which videotape did you see this on?"

He narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the bulging messenger bag she carried every day, "That... five-fold bag?"

"It's not important!" Comrade Xiao Ji waved his hand. "I can only share this idea with you. Let's get down to business first. Let's pursue the clue of traditional Chinese medicine!"

The Grand Cherokee slowly drove into the busy traffic of Jingzhou during the day. Unexpectedly, just as they drove past two Chinese medicine clinics, the pager on Ji Yinhe's waist rang.

"...It's a pager from Captain Zhao." She blinked. "I'll go call him back."

After saying that, she turned around and was about to find a public telephone booth, but Lu Zheng pulled her clothes and took out a mobile phone from his pocket.

Ji Yinhe opened his eyes wide. The one in front of him was obviously a newly bought high-end product, even smaller than Tan Li's.

"Do you know how to use it?" Lu Zheng asked.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Ji Yinhe answered repeatedly, thinking that this is much simpler than the five-fold fold!

She thanked Lu Zheng, carefully held the cell phone, walked outside and dialed the office number.

Zhao Zhuoqun's voice sounded calmly, "Your uncle and aunt are here at the provincial department looking for you."

Ji Yinhe almost choked on his own saliva: "...What???"

"Well, your uncle Ji Jianhua and aunt Qian Fang are looking for you specifically, saying something serious has happened at home," Zhao Zhuoqun said. "I don't know your situation, but since they're family, I can only bring them in and put them in the meeting room. You'd better come back quickly... Captain Tan won't be happy if he finds out."

The last sentence was a kind reminder, and Ji Yinhe quickly replied, "Okay, okay, thank you, I'll be right back!"

It was already lunchtime. Lu Zheng glanced at the time and said, "The Chinese Medicine Hall has to take a lunch break anyway, so I'll take you home to do your chores first."

Ji Yinhe was a little troubled. He really didn't understand what this distant relative was doing in the provincial department.

...You don't want her to pay for supporting grandpa, do you?

She rushed back to the provincial office with a heavy heart. When she opened the door to the meeting room, she saw her aunt Qian Fang rushing up to her, crying and wailing.

"Your brother is missing in Jingzhou! You have to help us find him!"

"...missing?" Ji Yinhe had wanted to simply write down the situation and deal with it later, but at this moment, his heart suddenly stopped and he frowned and asked, "When did he disappear? Did he tell you where he went?"

"Three days ago!" Uncle Ji Jianhua's face turned pale with anxiety. "In Tongrong River Park!"