National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 879 - 817: Follow and Feel

Rui Xiang watched Jiang Yuan with admiration and aspiration as he efficiently directed operations.

This was his ideal image of a forensic doctor! He just didn’t know how many years it would take for him to catch up with Jiang Yuan’s pace.

Rui Xiang silently recalled Jiang Yuan’s experiences, who had been unremarkable during his five years at the medical university, only showing his true capabilities after joining the Ningtai County Criminal Police Detachment; his career advanced rapidly, and within just a few years, he had become nationally renowned.

Rui Xiang felt it would be incredibly satisfying if he could just reach the level Jiang Yuan was at, regardless of the years it might take, being his fellow disciple.

The instructor next to Rui Xiang seemed to see right through him and chuckled, then casually took the opportunity to flatter the junior disciple of Jiang Yuan by saying, "Rui Xiang has also worked hard, Ningtai County produces talented forensic doctors. Let’s add each other on WeChat, so if I have any forensic-related questions in the future, I can consult you..."

This flattery was a bit overdone, making Chief Medical Examiner Niu’s expression change, but this was where the instructor excelled. For young officers like Rui Xiang, if you didn’t lay it on thick, they wouldn’t catch on. It’s a rookie move in the realm of flattery; just one hook and they might get overly excited. But if you show too much sentiment, they might ask you "What are you staring at?" and feel proud of successfully catching a joke.

At that moment, Rui Xiang was indeed hooked. Being a rookie forensic doctor in a county criminal police team, he wasn’t used to this sort of attention and excitedly exchanged WeChat contacts with the instructor from Qianjin District, proclaiming modestly, "It’s not about consulting. I don’t know much, but I will do everything I can if needed."

"Just don’t brush it off..." the instructor said, casually throwing out pleasantries. With Captain Jiang having the backing of the detachment commander, he thought why not hook in two people from Jiang Yuan’s circle as well.

This task wasn’t difficult, but it was tremendously useful. It was like arranging a perfect time with a super combine harvester during harvest time—a truly delightful prospect.

The instructor had now fully realized that the capabilities of his side weren’t important anymore. In the future, unless a 96-inch cake fell out of the sky onto their heads, Qianjin District couldn’t possibly gain any strong criminal investigative technology, at least none that could surpass that of Changyang City.

As for Jiang Yuan’s capabilities—taking him to Changyang City was like delivering a cake to Qianjin District. Even though most of Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team were temporarily transferred from the Changyang City Bureau, Yu Wenshu still felt it was a profitable exchange...

"Let’s start with the missing persons," Lei Xin suggested, targeting the direction that was easiest for solving cases without spreading their efforts too thinly.

If they widened their coverage, many unidentified bodies actually weren’t missing persons. Most homeless, scavengers, or scrap collectors often died unnoticed, with nobody to report their deaths or take care of their bodies.

Of course, such individuals were frequently targeted by violent criminals. There had been a serial killer who murdered ten scrap collectors within just three months, making a dismemberment table after the sixth murder to increase efficiency, and after killing nine, rented a new house to enhance secrecy. The case was cracked when the killer blocked the doorway with a bicycle, obstructing two auxiliary police on a motorcycle.

Before being caught, the local authorities hadn’t even known that nine people had been dismembered into twenty-nine bags of bones.

But from another angle, like the homeless or scrap collectors, these individuals on the fringes of society lacked close relationships. Not only did their disappearances go unnoticed, but their cases were also tremendously difficult to investigate. The crimes were nearly always random, with no information available, and the victims had no records...

Lei Xin internally hoped not to encounter such cases. Additionally, bodies being wrapped in tarp and discarded wasn’t typical for such groups. There were many places for discarding bodies; there was no need to specifically dump them in the Tai River. Often, the killers wouldn’t even bother to dispose of the bodies, making the cases even harder to solve, or perhaps, they simply didn’t care about being investigated.

Jiang Yuan had no objections to the screening plan proposed by Lei Xin.

Investigating missing persons wouldn’t take too long, of course, based on the manpower of two middle-sized squads. If results were unsatisfactory, they could always expand their scope.

Two squads consisted of one squad from the Qianjin District Criminal Police Team, plus the members of Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team, both forming groups of more than twenty people. Excluding those already engaged in tasks, there were almost forty left. Lei Xin and Meng Chengbiao briefly coordinated, and the teams quickly got moving.

This was all routine work for them, nothing new to discuss.

Being a detective was a job that required high proficiency, especially when solving murder cases. Detectives with over six or seven years of experience were still referred to as junior officers. In private companies, similarly experienced employees would be considered very senior, with salaries close to being capped due to optimization.

From this perspective, the national police force, comprising over two million officers, truly represented years of accumulated achievements. Starting from the inception of the country, where it was necessary to recruit former regime military and police for maintaining public order, it has evolved into its current state.

Now, officers like Wang Chuanxing, with university degrees, could create PPTs, conduct raids, flatter superiors, manage subordinates, work exhaustively without marrying or having children—essentially covering two people’s workload. They are considered an anomaly in reforming the workplace, using their high education and youth to extend their college diligence into the professional sphere, causing the older generation of detectives to face marriage crises and health issues.

Of course, there were also those who chose to ’lie flat’, but such individuals would never find a place in Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team or any homicide-specific team.

Solving every murder case wasn’t just a slogan but a political promise passively taken on by every police bureau’s chiefs; it was the lifeline of the detective teams. As for the ranking of combat power with full marks being 100, some might scoff at it, but there were those who genuinely fought hard for it.

Those who fought hard, and cared about such nebulous collective honors, wouldn’t easily let go of the power in their hands to those who scoffed at it.

"Captain Jiang, it’s all set up," Rui Xiang had been arranging the body on this side of the conference table where the fake flowers were located, as a form of practicing the basic skills of forensic anthropology.

Before working as a forensic doctor, the teachers in school could only provide a few human skeletons, so there wasn’t much exposure.

The bones of different people have their distinct features, like the body we have today, whose bone density among other attributes, is somewhat unusual, which is why Niu Tang had overturned the van.

Captain Jiang let Rui Xiang arrange the body himself, which was akin to letting him feel the body all over.

This sort of thing is a cumulative experience, where the brain records the related information. Whether or not it gets used is another matter, but without passing through this process, a forensic doctor can’t grow.

"We’ve got some time; let’s examine the body again. Any thoughts, feel free to bring them up for consideration," Captain Jiang signaled for Rui Xiang to start at the head while he started at the feet.

Niu Tang followed Captain Jiang, touching each bone fragment where Jiang touched.

Naturally, Jiang didn’t stop him, and if there was something peculiar, he would discuss it with the two of them, explaining the reasons for his judgments. This training method is similar to handling antiques.

After examining the skeletal remains, Captain Jiang had someone bring over evidence like ropes and plastic sheets for an on-site check.

The forensic team from Qinghe City was also present, and everyone seemed fairly relaxed.

After a full round of examination, Captain Jiang noted a few points in his notebook before saying, "Let me summarize and make an analysis of the crime scene."

Chief Medical Examiner Niu and the newly arrived trace examiner both raised their eyebrows, wondering why he was summarizing so soon.

Captain Jiang didn’t say much, only stating, "From the plastic sheet and nylon rope used to wrap the body, it is likely that the murderer gathered materials from nearby, which we’ve discussed before. It also suggests the murder might have been impulsive."

"The victim’s head injuries are severe, particularly concentrated at the right temporal occipital region, indicating that the body’s position was rather fixed when attacked. Also, the victim was strangled and hit in the head with a blunt object, suggesting that the perpetrator might have been alone or possibly working with one more individual."

"Additionally, there’s extensive subcutaneous bleeding in the frontal region reaching beneath the skin, which is typically caused by the impact of a large, flat, blunt object; probably, the face hit the ground after a fall."

"The lethal head wound is a straight bar-like laceration with uneven edges. There’s a similar injury on the back of the victim’s right hand, which as mentioned earlier, implicates a metal rod."

"So overall, I lean towards the theory of an acquaintance committing the crime."

Lei Xin, who had been busy, listened keenly to Captain Jiang’s conclusion, which was precisely what he wanted to hear.

A crime committed by an acquaintance means finding the body could lead to solving the case..Of course, most body disposals follow a similar pattern, otherwise, why would the murderer risk being discovered mid-transport?

Still, confirming it is undoubtedly good.

As Lei Xin nodded continuously, he turned to redouble his efforts.

Niu Tang and the trace examiner exchanged glances, their expressions reminiscent of youthful school days: Did you understand any of that?

Both shook their heads.

It wasn’t that they were completely clueless; rather, too many details were crammed in too short a time, causing their mental CPUs to overload.

Of course, given time to sit down and analyze thoroughly...

That’s when Liu Jinghui said, "The murderer is likely very familiar with the murder scene and probably had a significant motive tied to the victim. He appears to have some anti-investigation awareness, but his emotional stability seems average. From the way the body was hastily wrapped and disposed of, he seemed too hurried..."

Compared to Captain Jiang’s analysis, Liu Jinghui’s was more detailed.

Lei Xin and the others silently listened to Liu Jinghui’s assessment, catching each other’s eyes before a slight smile appeared on their faces: So, that’s the game we’re playing... We’ll just follow your lead!