"This way, please!" Political Commissar Wang led Expert Chen toward the mourning hall.
The villagers followed behind, eager to see how the so-called experts would investigate the case.
Lian Xiao and several soldiers maintained order nearby, preventing the crowd from crowding around Expert Chen.
Xu Xinghe and Zhang Cishu walked a little behind.
She couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Don't we have any experts in this field in Heilongjiang Province?"
Zhang Cishu shook his head. "I don't know. There should be one, but this expert might be more capable, and finding an expert from the capital would be more authoritative. That way, when Political Commissar Wang reports to the higher-ups, he can use the certificate he provides. For Jiang Linchuan, it would be strong evidence."
"I see, then Political Commissar Wang has really worked hard." Xu Xinghe hadn't expected there to be so many twists and turns involved.
She quickly followed Expert Chen to the funeral hall.
Just as they arrived at the entrance of the mourning hall, Erlaizi suddenly appeared from the side, jogging forward to block the crowd with a grim expression. "What are you trying to do? Let me make this clear, you can't cut my dad up!"
Political Commissar Wang frowned. "You rascal, Expert Chen is just taking a look; he didn't say he wanted to dissect it. Don't do anything reckless!"
Dr. Chen wasn't angry; he simply nodded gently. "Don't worry, young man. I'll only do a surface examination, not an autopsy. I'll just see if there are any clues to help you determine the cause of your father's death."
Erlaizi stared at him for a few seconds, then glanced at the surrounding villagers' eyes before reluctantly making way. "Then hurry up, don't torment my dad for too long. Also, I want to stay here and watch, so you don't go back on your word!"
Expert Chen nodded, picked up his toolbox, and walked into the mourning hall.
The coffin in the mourning hall had no lid, only a white cloth covering it.
Political Commissar Wang stepped forward, lifted the white cloth, and revealed the charred corpse inside.
The corpse's skin had been carbonized, making it impossible to see its facial features.
The villagers crowded at the entrance of the mourning hall, but unfortunately the military personnel were at the front and they couldn't see the bodies.
"I saw it before, it was burned black, what else could I possibly see?"
"Exactly, even the experts probably can't do anything about it."
"What if they can figure it out? Otherwise, how can they be called experts?"
Without saying a word, Chen took out a pair of gloves from his toolbox and put them on, then took out a small silver instrument.
This is a magnifying glass specifically used to examine the body surface, and also a pair of specially made fine tweezers.
He squatted beside the coffin, first carefully examining the corpse's limbs and torso, occasionally using tweezers to gently touch the charred skin.
After observing for about ten minutes, he suddenly stood up, took out a metal bracket and a small lamp from his toolbox, and said to the soldier next to him, "Could you lend me a hand and help me pry open the dead man's mouth?"
The soldier hesitated for a moment, then quickly stepped forward and, following Expert Chen's instructions, carefully used a support to pry open the corpse's already stiff mouth.
Expert Chen turned on a small light, brought it close to the corpse's mouth, carefully observed the mucous membrane inside with a magnifying glass, and then gently picked up a small amount of mucous membrane tissue with tweezers and examined it under the light.
Everyone around held their breath, and Erlaizi clenched his fists tightly, his eyes fixed on his every move.
This wasn't an autopsy; he couldn't stop it even if he wanted to!
After a while, Expert Chen put down his magnifying glass, took off his gloves, looked at Political Commissar Wang and the people around him, and said, word by word, "The deceased did not commit suicide; he was murdered."
"What?"
Upon hearing this, the villagers immediately erupted in uproar!
"Not suicide? Then he was murdered?"
"My God, was that person from the other night really the murderer? Is he still in our village?"
"No wonder the military has been preventing the burial; now I know why!"
Erlaizi's face turned deathly pale, his legs went weak, and he almost fell to the ground. "You... what did you say? My father was murdered? Impossible, absolutely impossible! His body was burned like this, how could you possibly tell!"
"The key is the oral mucosa." Expert Chen pointed to the corpse's mouth and deliberately slowed down his speech to explain, "If the deceased committed suicide by hanging, during the asphyxiation process, the oral mucosa will show obvious congestion points due to lack of oxygen and airflow impact, and there may even be traces of teeth biting the mucosa. This is a typical characteristic of death by hanging."
"But now the deceased's oral mucosa shows no signs of congestion or damage, and the color of the mucosa is uniform, without the stress response that should be present in death by suffocation. What does this mean? It means that the deceased was already dead before being hanged. A person who is already dead will not struggle to breathe due to hanging, and naturally there will be no traces of suffocation left on the oral mucosa."
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
Erlaizi tightened his grip on the wall, his heart pounding like a drum.
Someone couldn't help but ask, "So, they killed someone first, then hung the picture up to make it look like a suicide?"
Expert Chen nodded, signaling to the soldier beside him to carefully lift the deceased's head.
"The real cause of death is here. Look at the area below this skull. Although it has been burned, you can still see an irregular indentation. This is most likely a fatal injury caused by a blunt force trauma. Considering the extent and location of the skull injury, the murderer must have attacked from behind, striking the victim's head hard with a rock or stick, causing immediate death."
"In other words, the murderer first attacked the victim from behind on the head, then hung the body to stage a suicide, and finally set the house on fire in an attempt to destroy the marks of blunt force trauma. Unfortunately, the fire didn't completely burn the body, and the oral mucosa retained evidence of being hung after death. These two points combined are enough to confirm that this was a complete murder!"
"My God, Erlaizi's father was actually beaten to death?"
"How vicious! To fake suicide!"
The villagers were extremely angry and discussed the matter extensively.
Erlaizi, the person involved, seemed to have all his strength drained away; his legs went weak, and cold sweat streamed down his forehead.
Of course he knew his father had been murdered!
But... he just can't say it!
This expert actually found out!
what to do?
What should he do?
Should I continue lying?
Political Commissar Wang's expression was grave. "Expert Chen, what's the next step in our investigation?"
"The best way is to perform an autopsy. First, extract the residue from the depression in the skull to see if the murder weapon can be found. Then, check for any suspicious blunt instruments that have recently gone missing or appeared in the village."
Expert Chen's gaze swept across the crowd, finally landing on Er Laizi, whose eyes were darting around. "In addition, the fact that the deceased was moved and disguised after death means that the murderer must have been very familiar with the deceased's daily routine and home environment."
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