National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 877 - 815: Keep up the effort

In just one day, the laboratory had identified the murder weapon from the 68 hoes collected.

This is also a major feature of rural cases; the motives may be complicated and confusing, but the villagers’ counter-surveillance measures are notably lackluster.

The family had merely washed the hoe, not even bothering to dispose of it or replace its bamboo handle. Moreover, they had stored the hoe in a warehouse, and it was only when the neighbors came to borrow a hoe that someone pointed out, "Didn’t your family buy a new hoe?"

This hoe was prominently marked by Lei Xin and sent to the laboratory, where it was immediately matched.

"The murderer is the victim’s uncle by marriage, and the root cause was a dispute over the families’ burial grounds..." Lei Xin explained briefly, then shook his head in confusion, adding, "In short, it was all about trivial, stale grudges. According to the murderer, the two were talking in the backyard and started arguing over a canal repair, which escalated into a brawl."

Lei Xin went on to detail parts of the case, then spread his hands and said, "If we were to look for clues in the motive, a lifetime wouldn’t be enough."

"So you mean if that family had properly dealt with that hoe, this case could have been different?" Wang Chuanxing, who was sitting nearby typing on a computer, couldn’t help but ask.

Liu Jinghui shook his head, "Not necessarily. As long as we figured out what the murder weapon was, it would not be difficult to ask around whose hoe had gone missing."

"That’s true. In the village, there aren’t many secrets that can be hidden. This time, the murderer’s next-door neighbor also helped out," said Lei Xin, who himself came from a rural background. While speaking, he couldn’t help but shake his head, "The two families argued over building houses, fixing canals, and even burial sites, but they never escalated to criminal cases."

"Heard quite a lot of gossip, have you?" Liu Jinghui asked with a chuckle.

Lei Xin sighed, "More than just gossip. Seeing us apprehend someone, there were those pleading for mercy, and others revealing dark secrets privately..."

"At least this case is considered closed," Jiang Yuan, who was from Jiang Village, said. As a child who grew up eating meals in many different homes, he received plenty of sympathy. After growing up, as the village grew wealthier, although shady dealings couldn’t be said to be absent, people didn’t only focus on sabotaging each other. Furthermore, having studied abroad, his impressions of the village were much better.

Seeing that Jiang Yuan didn’t like this topic, Lei Xin quickly changed his expression, laughed, and said, "Right, at least the case is finally closed. Oh, such a significant murder case usually takes three months to solve; in previous years, the whole department would have celebrated when it’s cracked. This time, it only took three to four days!"

As Lei Xin spoke, he became emotional himself.

The Ministry has special invited criminal investigation experts, and the first group of nine was known as the "Eight Tigers of Criminal Investigation," who were quite famous and participated in many significant national cases. Many of their cases couldn’t be told as stories due to their bizarre elements.

Following the first nine special criminal investigation experts, the Ministry supplemented eight more people in 2003. Up to now, there are 22 special criminal investigation experts and another 350 experts specializing in criminal techniques. Speaking of which, each of them is nationally known for swiftly solving cases.

Lei Xin had met a few of them. Although his contact with them was brief, he believed that Jiang Yuan’s efficiency and capabilities were no less remarkable than those of these renowned experts.

Of course, the experts were highly efficient too. In fact, criminal investigation experts rarely insisted on digging too deep into a single case; they often provided insights within a few days that could lead to breakthroughs to conclude the cases, and most cases did receive breakthroughs.

Especially since these experts mainly dealt with ongoing crimes, to them, criminals were like naïve teenagers embarking on their first love. No matter what sophisticated tactics or bizarre strategies the criminals imagined, in front of these seasoned experts who had spent twenty to thirty years solving hundreds of cases each year, they were easily handled.

So just like a naïve youngster should not provoke an experienced player, it’s best for regular criminals not to commit serious crimes to avoid attracting the attention of high-level criminal investigation experts. And then, they needed enough luck to avoid being charged by a young and energetic criminal investigation prodigy like Jiang Yuan, only then could they truly compete in the ordinary criminal arena along with those who weren’t particularly gifted but had still spent seven or eight, ten, or even twenty plus years at the front line of criminal investigation.

"With Captain Jiang here, the day when Qinghe City returns to peace and order is not far away!" Lei Xin, caught up in his emotions, racked his brains to vigorously praise Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan had saved himself and his team, comprising over a hundred people, months, or perhaps even more time, in just three days; Lei Xin truly felt an exhilarating sense of relief.

Liu Jinghui clicked his tongue twice and said, "’Peace and Order’ doesn’t sound like something you would say, Captain Lei."

"Surprised that a rough guy like me can speak so elegantly, huh?" Lei Xin laughed heartily. "My wife graduated from Changyang University, it’s easy to pick up what she says."

Liu Jinghui’s face darkened, "Better not say things that could destroy team unity."

Lei Xin laughed even more joyously, his built-up domestic frustrations vanishing in an instant.

Turning around, Lei Xin’s assistant refilled the tea in front of Jiang Yuan and smiled, "Captain Jiang, are you taking a day off today?"

"I planned to grill a steak today, but it seems you all might need to keep busy for a while," Jiang Yuan said with a smile after taking a sip of tea.

Lei Xin was momentarily stunned before realization dawned, and he hurriedly said, "Are you thinking of starting a new case immediately? That would be great..."

"Yes, I dug this out while you were busy with that hoe a couple of days ago," Jiang Yuan turned and picked up a box, continuing, "This case is actually quite old; I see it’s been six years, a male body wrapped in plastic, dumped in the Tai River. The special case team back then was..."

"Special Case Team 411." Lei Xin was familiar with the backlog here; as soon as Jiang Yuan mentioned six years ago, he roughly knew which case it was and said, "It had just passed Qingming Festival, and the body was fished out from the Tai River. Then came the May Day holiday, which was practically wasted, alas... sadly, the case was never solved."

"Yes, this case has a few details that I think deserve attention," Jiang Yuan paused, took out the file, flipped through a few pages, and said, "The body was wrapped with white nylon rope and semi-transparent white plastic sheeting. Also, the other end of the nylon rope was tied to a 1-centimeter diameter green nylon rope. The outer side of the plastic sheet around the body was of two kinds, one new and one old, and it seems that these items were prepared in a rush, not prearranged."

Lei Xin nodded as he recalled the details of the case.

Jiang Yuan continued, "From the nylon ropes and plastic sheeting used to wrap the body, it appears that the killer acquired the materials on hand, suggesting that the killer was probably in the same area as the first scene, where it would have been easy to obtain these materials. That was your initial assessment, wasn’t it?"

Lei Xin continued nodding and took notes, then tentatively asked, "Was this assessment wrong?"

If it had been a police captain who didn’t know Jiang Yuan, he might have started by questioning Jiang Yuan, but Lei Xin had been subtly influenced by Jiang Yuan and immediately wondered if his own assessment was at fault.

Jiang Yuan shook his head, "I have no problem with that judgment; your main mistake was in the autopsy."

Lei Xin’s spirits lifted; a mistake meant there was a chance for revision and thus hope for solving the case. As for the forensic doctor making a mistake, such errors in the presence of Jiang Yuan, in Lei Xin’s view, were just part of the process. When standards are set too high, those who make no errors become the minority.

In fact, Jiang Yuan often pointed out errors while solving cold cases. Otherwise, without differing conditions, dreaming of a different outcome would be like trying to fetch wood from the water.

Jiang Yuan took out the autopsy report and said, "When the body was discovered, it appeared gigantic, with rigor mortis already starting to relax. During the autopsy, the right temporal bone was found shattered, the dura mater intact, brain tissue autolyzed, hyoid bone intact, subcutaneous tissue and muscles in the neck, chest, and abdomen appeared emphysematous..."

After reading part of the autopsy report, Jiang Yuan continued, "The cause of death was cranial damage with additional mechanical injuries. The forensic analysis suggested that the weapon matched a blunt object that was long, rigid, and easy to swing, likely a metal rod. Additionally, there were strap-like skin injuries around the neck with some areas showing subcutaneous bleeding, consistent with injuries from a soft, rope-like object used for strangulation. This part of the judgment was quite good, but..."

Lei Xin knew this was the crux of the matter.

"The forensic age estimation of the body was incorrect. From the report, the pubic symphysis was relatively flat, seemingly with ridges, the anterior inclined plane not reaching the upper end, the lower corner appearing, the anterior margin mostly formed, and the posterior margin not significantly everted... this observation was problematic and significantly off," Jiang Yuan tapped the desk, slightly hesitant at this point.

Age estimation of a body is basic, but being basic doesn’t mean it’s simple.

Especially when assessing through bones—even in the context of having a pelvis—the estimation remains highly ambiguous. Many factors, both experiential and subjective, play a role.

Essentially, assessing bones is like assessing faces; under normal circumstances, most people can estimate age based on someone’s face.

Assessing bones is similar, but forensic doctors refine it further, attempting to provide various specific parameters. However, when encountering unusual individuals or bodies in unusual environments, it is like facing someone wearing makeup—the accuracy of age determination drops significantly.

And with the age wrong, pinpointing the origin of the body becomes even more challenging.

"I need to take another look at the bones and make a more detailed assessment. But based on the current information, the original forensic estimate of 28 years old, plus or minus one year, was a misjudgment," Jiang Yuan quickly provided a partial answer.

"How much off was it?" Lei Xin immediately asked.

"It should be quite off," Jiang Yuan said.

"Great, great, great... I mean to say, this constitutes a new lead," Lei Xin replied. When previously searching for the source of the body, they naturally had to consider age; if the actual age differed significantly from the estimated age, it explained why they couldn’t pinpoint the source.

The police instructor present didn’t hesitate and pulled out his phone, saying, "I’ll call Chief Medical Examiner Niu to bring the bones over; he was involved in this case."

"That’s possible," Lei Xin said, pulling the instructor aside, "Tell Niu not to feel burdened, let Doctor Jiang point out the errors—it won’t be counted as a mistake. First, get his attitude right, and do some ideological work on him."

"Understood," the instructor nodded gravely, realizing this task was far more critical than comforting a divorced officer.