The police station does not have a dedicated forensic autopsy room, and all autopsies are performed in the funeral home. The funeral home is located in the westernmost part of the city. It takes more than 30 minutes to get there by taxi from the police station if everything goes smoothly.
The original owner had never been to a funeral home, let alone an autopsy room.
Xie Qing asked several people before she found the right place.
The corridor was long and dimly lit, and the hot and humid air was filled with a faint stench of corpses.
Although it smelled bad, this was an area that Xie Qing was familiar with and good at. When she entered it, she felt a sense of security in this strange world.
"Knock knock." She knocked on the door twice, and after hearing someone say "Come in," she pushed the door open.
The room was not big, and the stench was strong. There were
two autopsy beds, and a male corpse was lying on the one by the window.
There were three people standing beside the bed, one of them was a middle-aged man with a long face, white skin and a tired look. He was the original owner's master, Cao Haisheng.
"Master." Xie Qing greeted him.
Cao Haisheng turned his head, glanced at Xie Qing, and introduced her to the other two, "This is the new little Xie."
The two male forensic doctors nodded to Xie Qing together, and the younger one even joked, "Great, this time we have a beautiful forensic doctor too."
Cao Haisheng ignored him and said indifferently, "These two are forensic doctors An and Ding from the Development Zone Branch. You should get ready quickly."
Xie Qing saluted, "Hello, forensic doctors An and Ding."
She had been dealing with male forensic doctors for many years and knew that Cao Haisheng had given up on her - she was wearing a light blue dress and a pair of white mid-heeled leather sandals. The original owner had a sunny and beautiful face, with long hair that reached her waist, and she looked like a dainty girl at first glance.
She wanted to change her clothes, but the original owner didn't have any suitable ones, so she didn't want to end up with a new one.
Her appearance was criticized, but her work ability could not be questioned.
Xie Qing put down her bag, took off a white coat and put it on quickly.
Cao Haisheng said, "Let's get started."
Forensic Doctor Ding took the razor first, "I'll shave your head."
"Master, I'm pretty good at shaving, let me do it." Xie Qing put on a mask.
Small matters like shaving are usually done by assistant forensic doctors like Xie Qing. Forensic Doctor Ding stopped and exchanged glances with Cao Haisheng.
"You?" Cao Haisheng was surprised. After a moment's hesitation, he finally agreed, "Okay, you shave my head, Xiao Ding will record it."
"Okay." Forensic Doctor Ding agreed.
Xie Qing put on gloves, walked to the head of the deceased, and shaved skillfully.
The deceased was a male in his 40s or 50s, with a Mediterranean hairstyle and little hair. She shaved it clean in no time.
Cao Haisheng had just checked a whole set of clothes at this time. He was surprised and said, "Have you practiced?"
"Yes." Xie Qing lied, "When my grandfather was alive, I often shaved his head."
The original owner had never shaved his head, but his grandfather had indeed passed away.
Cao Haisheng said nothing more and glanced at the idle camera next to him.
Xie Qing understood the spirit, picked up the camera, found the right time and position, and started taking pictures. By the way, she also looked at the body's appearance.
The deceased had a wound on the back of the head, and there was a bone rubbing feeling when pressing, but the reaction was mild. The face was swollen and cyanotic. There were two obvious strangulation marks below the thyroid cartilage, one shallow and the other thin and deep, which should be the fatal injury and also the injury inflicted before death. The strangulation groove was smooth and discernible, with a consistent depth and a dark brown leather-like appearance.
The abdomen was obviously bulging, and there were clusters of eggs on the eyebrows, face, and indescribable parts - flies and larvae that had been cleaned.
There were no large contusions on the front of the body.
Xie Qing inferred that the injury on the head of the deceased was caused by the murderer when the deceased was about to die, and the murder weapon should be a 2.5-inch electric wire.
...
The forensic doctor used a bone biting forceps to clamp the ribs and opened the chest and abdominal cavity of the deceased: there was severe internal dirt and blood stasis.
Cao Haisheng dissected the neck. His cuts were steady and accurate. Various tissues were peeled off layer by layer, and soon the thyroid cartilage and annular cartilage were exposed. Both had longitudinal fractures.
The above two points and the strangulation marks on the neck corroborated each other, and the deceased did die of mechanical asphyxiation.
Forensic Doctor Ding put down the autopsy form and said, "Let me take care of the stomach."
Extracting stomach contents is a very disgusting thing, and it is also one of the assistant's jobs.
Xie Qing looked at Cao Haisheng and took the initiative to ask for help.
Cao Haisheng asked, "Can you do it?"
Xie Qing said, "Yes."
Cao Haisheng agreed.
Xie Qing took out a container and a spoon, and used the spoon to scoop out the contents of the stomach.
The stomach contents exuded a sour and rancid odor, mixed with the smell of alcohol and fish, which was clearly discernible.
Xie Qing sifted through the stomach with a sieve. "The deceased drank alcohol. There was meat, fish, and vegetables. The contents were clear and almost undigested. Judging from the fullness of the stomach, the deceased should have died after his last meal."
Forensic Doctor Ding wrote it down.
Forensic Doctor An continued to operate in an orderly manner. "The duodenum is almost empty. Let me take a look at the small intestine and large intestine."
There was undigested food in the small intestine, but nothing could be seen.
The large intestine was empty - the contents were all on the pants.
Cao Haisheng concluded, "Based on the length of the larvae on the corpse, we can determine that the time of death was three days ago. Combined with the stomach contents, it should be the evening of September 3rd. Does anyone have any questions?"
Forensic Doctor Ding stopped writing, "I agree with Brother Cao's opinion. Eating in the evening and dumping the body late at night is consistent with the behavioral logic of ordinary people."
Forensic Doctor An nodded silently.
Cao Haisheng continued: "I didn't find anything in the clothes, but the deceased had one molar on each side repaired and wisdom teeth removed. We can draw a portrait and go to the hospital and clinic to ask."
Forensic Doctor Ding asked: "Brother Cao, what if he is not from this city?"
"Then we can only send a formal letter and ask for cooperation from all places." Cao Haisheng leaned on the edge of the autopsy bed and examined the right hand of the deceased. "The nails of the deceased are clean, and there are no old scabs on the fingertips and the pen holding place of the right middle finger. There are quite a few old scabs on the feet. Guess what this person does?"
Xie Qing understood that this was an unknown body, and the first thing to do was to find the source of the body.
She took a few photos of the clothes.
The top is a light blue short-sleeved shirt, the bottom is matched with khaki casual pants, the shoes are 70% new crocodile leather sandals, and there is a yellowed dirty hand silk.
The quality of the clothes is good, and they are fashionable items for middle-aged men nowadays.
Even if the deceased is not a rich man, he is well-off.
So, what does he do?
Forensic Doctor Ding provided two answers, "A physical education teacher who sells things on the streets?"
Xie Qing: "A salesman?"
Cao Haisheng smiled with satisfaction, "Judging from his age and the way he is dressed, he is more likely to be a salesman."
"The little girl has a quick brain." Forensic Doctor Ding praised Xie Qing and said, "Oh, wouldn't it be even harder to find him? He could be from this city or from other cities."
Cao Haisheng pondered for a moment, "It has been three days and the police stations in various places have not received any reports. It is very likely that the deceased was a salesman from another place. The murderer had premeditated murder and it is very likely related to robbery."
Forensic Doctor An also spoke, "Is it possible that he is a wholesaler and it is time to settle the bill?"
Forensic Doctor Ding gave a thumbs up.
Cao Haisheng said: "This is more likely. It is reasonable to add charges for ordering and replenishing goods. In addition..." He pointed at the clothes, "There is no sign of tearing or deformation on the top, no signs of trampling on the shoes, no large-scale contusions on the body surface, and only two grooves on the rope, which shows that the murderer attacked the deceased. The deceased struggled violently, and the rope moved, so the murderer increased his strength and immediately gained the upper hand. The murderer is very strong."
"I agree with Brother Cao's opinion." Forensic Doctor Ding gestured on the body, "It may not be so easy to easily control a drunk big guy. Should we test the stomach contents?"
"Of course." Cao Haisheng took off his gloves. "What do you think, Xiao Xie?"
Xie Qing thought that he asked her instead of asking Forensic Doctor An, which must be a test of his authority, so she said, "I see that the nail gaps of the deceased are very clean. Could the murderer have cleaned them?"
"Oh, it's true." Forensic Doctor Ding tapped Xie Qing with the hand holding the pen. "That makes sense."
"Very good." The smile in Cao Haisheng's eyes grew a little bigger. "Take the sample and send it to the technical room immediately."
"Yes." Xie Qing put the camera away, took the sample and put it in Xiao Kun's bag.
After taking off her white coat, she hesitated for a moment, and finally asked, "Master, what should I do?"
Cao Haisheng said, "Take it home and wash it, and then hang it here again."
"Okay." Xie Qing took it off, rolled it up, took it in her hand, bowed slightly to the three forensic doctors, and left the autopsy room.
The door closed.
Forensic Doctor Ding asked, "Brother Cao, is Xiao Xie really a newcomer?"
Cao Haisheng said, "Of course, today is her first day."
Forensic Doctor Ding and Forensic Doctor An looked at each other and said, "Wow, she is amazing, every step is correct, and she looks more skilled than those who have been here for one or two years."
Cao Haisheng smiled and said, "It's just a haircut and more detailed observation, so don't exaggerate. Besides, it's not convenient for girls to do this job. She looks like she has a good family background, but I don't know how long she can last."
Forensic Doctor Ding agreed and said, "Indeed, this girl is well dressed, and she doesn't look like she can last long."