The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Chapter 355: Chapter 218: As Expected! Right There! (Part 2)

”However, just because this bone is here doesn’t necessarily mean the body is here.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than everyone else widened their eyes, slightly agape, looking at Jiang An in disbelief as if they had heard a tall tale.

Li Jian listened, squinting slightly, as if recalling a long-buried case.

He was suddenly reminded of the difficult scenes of once searching for body parts across the hills.

Those images flashed back like movie clips, weighing heavily on his heart.

At this moment, Zhang Yean tilted her head slightly, with curiosity and speculation in her eyes, and tentatively asked, ”Do you mean this rib was moved from somewhere else?”

Jiang An nodded firmly, a look of certainty in his eyes, ”It’s entirely possible.”

”If the body is nearby, it’s very likely that this bone was moved here after being chewed by animals.”

”Animal scavenging?”

Wan frowned, looking troubled, ”That’s a big problem. Do you mean there might be a whole human skeleton nearby?”

Jiang An nodded again, his eyes grave, ”A human rib couldn’t just appear here out of nowhere. I’m highly suspicious it came from nearby.”

Mr. Qin subconsciously patted his stomach, thoughtfully saying, ”You might be right; there really is such a possibility.”

”I remember a case before where, after death, the corpse attracted animals due to decay, causing the coffin to be clawed open and the body parts scattered everywhere.”

As he spoke, he visualized the tragic scene from that case, a trace of reluctance in his eyes, as if the bloody images still lingered in his mind.

After hearing Mr. Qin’s analysis, others in the detective team considered another possibility: even if this is human bone, it might not be homicide, but rather normal death followed by animal scavenging.

However, in stark contrast to the others, Li Jian’s demeanor was grave.

He slowly raised his arms, crossing them in front of his chest, and said solemnly, ”If this bone was really dug out from a grave, it might not be a big issue.”

”But I’m worried this bone might come from a newly deceased body.”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone fell silent, the previously lively and joyful atmosphere dropping to an icy cold, the air almost seeming to freeze.

You could only hear the rustling of the breeze through the grass, a sound particularly jarring in the silence.

Finally, Li Jian stood straight, his eyes sweeping around the circle, ordering loudly, ”Anyway, we must find out the source of this bone.”

”Whether it’s a homicide case or a grave that’s been opened after natural death, it needs to be thoroughly investigated.”

”If it’s a murder and body dumping case, we must immediately initiate the homicide investigation protocol.”

”Now, the barbecue is temporarily on hold; our detective team will split into 10 groups, searching in different directions to see if there are any exposed bodies nearby.”

”Yes!” Everyone responded in unison, quickly dispersing, their swift movements resembling those of leopards on the hunt, disappearing in various directions in the blink of an eye.

Once everyone else had left, Li Jian walked steadily over to Jiang An, gently patted his shoulder, with a look of trust and expectation in his eyes, and asked, ”Jiang An, from your experience, how likely is it that this rib was dug out from a grave?”

Jiang An nodded slightly, picked up the rib again, holding it up in front of his eyes, gazing at it intently, and said, ”There are many traces of animal teeth marks on it.”

”I highly suspect that when this rib was separated from the body, the attached muscle tissue was still rather fresh.”

”Fresh?” Li Jian’s expression showed doubt, and he frowned slightly.

Nearby, Wan and Zhang Yean were also sensitive to that word, unconsciously leaning closer, their eyes tightly focused on the bone in Jiang An’s hands, as though it held the key to unraveling all mysteries.

Jiang An continued to explain, gently pointing at the bone with his finger, ”If this rib came from a corpse in a grave, given the current weather, animals would only gnaw at it after smelling the decay of the corpse.”

”But once a corpse decays, a substantial amount of muscle tissue would rot, and not be so thinly attached to the bone.”

”So, I judge that when the animals chewed on the meat of this bone, there was still a considerable amount of muscle attached, meaning that the person had not been dead for long.”

Wan had already drunk a can of beer.

At this moment, upon hearing Jiang An’s analysis, he widened his eyes and exclaimed, ”Why does this sound so creepy? Just died not long ago, and already gnawed by animals?”

Jiang An nodded confidently, his eyes reflecting confidence in his judgment.

Two minutes later, Li Jian sighed heavily and said, ”Now, let’s look for the body.”

At this moment, the team members, dressed in plain clothes, scattered rapidly in all directions like seeds sown upon the earth, their swift movements were astonishing.

At the barbecue stand, others who were enthusiastically grilling stopped their tasks, whispering to each other.

”What are those people doing?”

”Are they looking for gold everywhere?”

”They don’t look like police; it seems more like a crime scene investigation to me.”

”I don’t know, maybe they’re looking for wild herbs on the ground.”

......

minutes later, Mr. Qin and another police officer from the detective team were briskly walking in one direction.

Suddenly, the young officer paused, his nose slightly wrinkled, as if he detected an unusual scent.