Chapter 21 The Unusual Scene
Let alone a woman, even a strong man, if he suffered repeated blunt force trauma to his chest and back, with broken ribs and internal injuries, wouldn't last half a minute.
Jin Shu's question truly stumped Li Jin and Yun Fei. The two exchanged a glance, their expressions extremely serious.
The morgue at Xiaolin County Government Office was in much worse condition than that in Dingzhou Prefecture.
The small house was dilapidated and smelled musty. In addition, Xiaolin County itself had a small population and little industry, and the entire county government was extremely poor, unable to hire a coroner for many years.
As a result, the tools inside the box were in a pitiful state, having been neglected for years.
Bathed in the morning sun, Jin Shu's gaze fell on the girl. He held a coarse cloth in his hand and wiped the knives and axes back and forth many times.
"The deceased was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He was wearing a nightgown at the time of his death. The clothes were intact and there were no signs of tearing. He wore a hoop earring in each ear, which, judging from its greenish color, was made of coarse copper. He also had a necklace around his neck with a longevity lock pendant."
Then, she walked to the girl's head and bent down to wield the knife with complete focus.
First, she used a little force with her wrist to shave off the long hair stained with blood, bit by bit. As the strands of hair fell to the ground, the previously unclear head wound gradually came into view.
"Multiple blunt force injuries to the head, with prominent concave triangular lacerations at right angles." She lowered her head even further, her gaze more focused. After a moment, she put down the small knife in her hand, reached for another, and lightly scraped it from bottom to top.
"There are multiple triangular bone impressions on the outer surface of the skull. Based on the contusions and bleeding, the hypothesis of a fatal injury cannot be supported."
In other words, the few blows the killer struck her head would not have caused the girl's death.
So, what exactly is the fatal wound?
Jin Shu stood up, looked at everything in front of her, and took a deep breath.
She needs an assistant.
Thinking this, she glanced back and forth between Zhou Zheng and Yun Fei, pursed her lips, and was about to speak when she saw Li Jin fasten her handcuffs, put on gloves, and naturally stand on the other side: "I'll do it."
Yunfei was taken aback.
Their two subordinates are still standing here, so why is it that it's Prince Li Jin's turn to personally take the field?
Seeing Li Jin about to make a move, Yun Fei hurriedly raised his hand to stop him, but Zhou Zheng grabbed it the instant he reached out. This inexplicable action made him look at Zhou Zheng in surprise, his eyes full of doubt.
Li Jin observed this, glanced at his face, and said calmly, "The magistrate of Xiaolin County is personally carrying the corpse, so why should I put on airs?"
After saying that, he lowered his head and, following Jin Shu's instructions, reached out and restored the body to its original position, lying on its side as it had been at the scene.
Yunfei widened his eyes and swallowed back what he wanted to say.
Magistrate Xiaolin had no one to command, so these two situations are not comparable.
The reason Li Jin was so eager to help was simply because Mr. Jin was a truly talented person whom he valued highly.
Once the woman's pose was secured, Jin Shu put down the knife in her hand and took out the painter's box from the antique shelf next to her.
With a small wolf-hair brush, I gently stirred the ingredients in the grooves above, and in the light of the morning sun, I made a small mark on each of the girl's bluish-purple bruises.
As they worked, they counted, and the more numbers they counted, the more their brows furrowed and their expressions became more serious.
When she stopped, the number had reached forty-three.
“Not counting the head, the woman has abrasions, contusions, and lacerations all over her body, widely distributed on the front and back, totaling 43.” As she spoke, she gestured to Li Jin to come over, then laid her flat and gently pressed and kneaded the marked locations with both hands. “...but there are relatively few fractures, concentrated in the ribs, with an initial assessment of about two.”
She stood up straight, did a chest-expanding exercise, and then, in front of everyone, picked up the saw and axe, ready to strike.
This time, not only Yunfei and Zhou Zheng, but even Li Jin subconsciously took two steps back, their expressions slightly frightened.
Having seen many refined young ladies in the capital, Li Jin didn't expect Jin Shu to be as gentle and elegant as a young lady from a prestigious family, but she never expected her to be so bold and unrestrained.
The situation at this moment even made him wonder if it was a bit presumptuous of him to categorize her as a woman.
Could there really be a woman in this world like her now? So composed, so direct, so decisive…
Li Jin gasped and raised his hand to shield his vision. He wondered if Liu Cheng'an's squeamishness about blood was also acquired.
This fifteen minutes was an incredibly agonizing time for the three people watching.
Li Jin and Zhou Zheng, who had been on the battlefield, were in good condition, but Yun Fei, the young master from a noble family, was having difficulty breathing, his face was pale, and his hands behind his back were clenched into fists with sweat on his palms.
After a short while, Jin Shu straightened up, glanced at them, then wiped all the knives clean, scorched them with fire, and put them aside.
Bathed in the golden morning sun, she leaned on the edge of the bed and summarized, "Based on the digestion of the stomach contents, the woman's time of death should be between 1:15 and 1:45 AM. Furthermore, based on the physical characteristics and anatomical findings, the victim suffered more than forty blunt force injuries, without any obvious fatal wounds. Although there was a severe blunt force injury to the head, it was not fatal. Two ribs were broken, and the internal bleeding was not severe, with no signs of assault. In conclusion, the cause of death was shock due to excessive blood loss."
After saying that, she raised her hand and used a piece of linen to cover the woman's body from bottom to top.
Li Jin stood in the corner of the room, looking at the victim who had been covered with a white sheet, and pondered for a long time.
"What are your thoughts on the murder weapon?" After a long pause, he looked up at Jin Shu and asked.
"I initially thought the weapon might be soft, like a drumstick, wrapped in a thick layer of cotton cloth, which would explain why the victim's reaction was slightly delayed during the repeated blows."
At this point, Jin Shu shook her head: "But that's not right. According to the autopsy, this hypothesis has been overturned."
"Her head wound was a concave triangular laceration with right-angled edges, a very typical mark left by a blunt object, such as... a square-headed hammer."
She raised her hand and used her index finger and thumb to draw a circle about the size of an egg: "The kind with edges, the smaller side is about this big, and the other side..." She lightly touched her index fingers and thumbs together to form a rectangular ring, "The other side is about this big. Only a square hammer like this would fit the appearance of the wounds on the victim's body."
“But that brings us back to my original question.” Jin Shu paused: “Under what circumstances could a victim maintain a certain level of intense fighting ability while being subjected to such a concentrated attack?”
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