The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Chapter 519: Chapter 295: The First Spark Ignites!

Captain Li Jian also saw the corpse for the first time.

He clasped his hands behind his back and walked around the autopsy table.

Suddenly, he stopped and mused, ”The clothing is pretty intact.”

”How high was the bridge at the time?”

Zhang Yean opened her notebook and answered, ”According to our measurements, it’s nearly 9 meters high.”

”9 meters? That high?”

Li Jian’s brow furrowed, ”Was there water under the bridge?”

”No.”

”No water? 9 meters high... that’s a bit unusual.”

Li Jian mumbled to himself while stroking his chin.

Wan curiously leaned in, ”Captain, what do you mean by unusual?”

Li Jian pointed at the corpse and explained, ”The unusual thing, of course, is the lack of blood.”

”Think about it, we’ve investigated quite a few high falls and jumping cases before.”

”Falling from a height of 9 meters onto rocky ground, would there really be so little blood?”

”Exactly.”

Wan slapped his thigh.

”This is indeed a problem.”

He turned to look at Jiang An with admiration in his eyes.

Jiang An put on gloves, smiled, and said, ”That’s my question.”

”The cause of her death might not be due to a high fall.”

He moved to the head of the corpse and gently parted the hair.

”Normally, if you jump down alive, the human body has a heartbeat and vascular pressure.”

”At the moment the body hits the ground, the blood pumped by the heart would cause the blood vessels to burst, leading to massive bleeding and soaking the clothes.”

”However, I didn’t see much blood on his clothes or the ground, which does not match the pre-death high fall bleeding from blood vessels.”

He paused, pointing at the deceased’s face, ”The key is that the facial injury is a bit strange, especially the lip damage, it’s very odd.”

Upon hearing this, Captain Li Jian furrowed his brow tightly.

He quickly stepped to the head of the corpse.

Zhang Yean and Wan immediately crowded around.

The four people surrounded the deceased and the deformed head.

Zhang Yean looked closely at the head of the deceased and guessed, ”The deceased’s head got severely deformed by the impact with the rock.”

”Even if the face looks very grotesque, there are many fractures on the skull and skin injuries, but these don’t explain the issue.”

”Yes, from such a height, a skull fracture is quite normal.”

Wan echoed, his fingers unconsciously twisting together.

Jiang An nodded and said, ”At such a height, the skull deformation is normal.”

”However, there’s something abnormal: the bleeding from the inside of the deceased’s lips is very severe, and the oral mucosa has extensive bleeding damage.”

As he spoke, he took two tweezers from the autopsy tray beside him and skillfully exposed the deceased’s oral mucosa, ”Look.”

Indeed, at a glance, there were multiple damages near the gums in the deceased’s mouth.

Moreover, the position of the lip damages corresponded perfectly with the layout of the alveolus.

Seeing this, Captain Li Jian instantly had a revelation.

He gasped and mumbled to himself, ”Damage from smothering and pressing the mouth?”

Jiang An nodded, his expression grave.

”Look, there’s extensive damage on both sides of the deceased’s oral mucosa. This type of damage can form during a high fall, but it wouldn’t be this concentrated.”

”The distribution of this damage completely matches the trajectory of the gums.”

He put down the tweezers, gesturing with both hands, ”Our human body is a whole, if you jump down, at most one plane contacts the ground, but it’s impossible for all sides—left, right, and front—to contact.”

”There’s only one possibility for such contact on both sides and the front.”

”That is caused by someone forming an arc with their hands to smother the mouth, leading to oral mucosa damage.”

As he spoke, Jiang An spread his five fingers to make a mouth-covering gesture, his eyes sharp.

At this moment, everyone instantly understood.

Even Wan nodded with his brows furrowed, his voice trembling.

”Oh my, that’s terrifying.”

”I didn’t expect the deceased to go through this before dying.”

Zhang Yean also furrowed her brows, her fists unconsciously clenching.

”If he fell and hit the ground, other injuries might hide the lip damages, which is very deceptive, this killer is not simple.”

Li Jian listened, his expression grave and incredulous.

He said, ”It seems there is indeed something suspicious about this woman’s death.”

Then, he turned to look at Jiang An and patted him on the shoulder.

”Well done!”

”Finding the key point on your first case, this is indeed the focus we need to tackle next.”

Jiang An nodded and quickly picked up the scalpel.

Two scalpels twirled nimbly in his hands as he began the dissection with both hands.

For him, this was routine, but his proficiency was unmistakable.

Wan, wearing gloves, occasionally handed over the necessary instruments, assisting him.

In less than twenty minutes, a complete autopsy had been finished.

From the external examination to the meticulous check of the internal organs, each step proceeded methodically.

When Jiang An placed the bloodstained forceps and scalpel with a ”clang” into the instrument tray, the clear metallic sound echoed in the autopsy room.

”Captain, the cause of death is very clear.”

Jiang An removed his mask, his voice low and certain, ”It’s a typical death by mechanical asphyxia caused by smothering.”

He pointed to the opened chest cavity on the autopsy table, ”Look at the petechial hemorrhages on the surfaces of these internal organs, especially the hemorrhages under the epicardium and pleura. This degree of bleeding indicates the victim struggled fiercely before dying.”

Captain Li Jian bent down for a closer look, then straightened up with a gratified smile on his face.

He patted Jiang An on the shoulder, ”Good job.”

Captain Li Jian’s voice carried a hint of sentiment, ”You’re now the deputy captain yet you still get on the autopsy table yourself. I feel bad about it.”

He paused, speaking thoughtfully, ”Looks like we need to get you a few forensic assistants soon, at least to help you with basic tasks.”

”Haha, exactly!”

Standing beside them, Zhang Yean suddenly interjected, making a dramatic motion as if wiping sweat.

”I say, Captain, you’re being too hard on our deputy captain. How can you have a leader doing the work himself?”

”If this gets out, people might think our team is short-handed!”

Captain Li Jian laughed heartily, deep lines forming at the corners of his eyes.

”So what if you’re a leader? Leaders should lead by example!”

He pointed at himself, ”Don’t I often participate in on-site investigations? In our line of work, just talking doesn’t cut it.”

Amid this relaxed atmosphere, Jiang An suddenly tensed.

He quickly grabbed the scalpel, his movements so swift they almost stirred a breeze. ”Wait!”

His voice suddenly rose, ”We missed a crucial area we haven’t examined!”

Then, Jiang An spoke rapidly, ”The victim’s back hasn’t been dissected yet.”

”If the death was caused by smothering, we need to determine the direction it was applied from.”

His gaze swept back and forth over the body.

”Signs left by frontal smothering and a surprise attack from behind are completely different.”

Captain Li Jian immediately understood and quickly moved to the other side of the autopsy table.

As an experienced detective, he was well aware of the importance of this discovery.

A surprise attack from behind and frontal restraint can often reflect the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim, even the motive.

”Captain, give me a hand.”

Jiang An already had new gloves on, ”Let’s turn the body over, I need to check the back.”

The autopsy room instantly became busy as four people worked together to turn over the lifeless body.

The friction between the corpse and the stainless steel autopsy table produced an unpleasant ”creaking” sound.

Jiang An raised the scalpel, the sharp blade glinting coldly under the shadowless lamp.

He made a precise incision along the spine’s midline, slicing the pale skin to reveal the subcutaneous tissue.

”Indeed!” Jiang An suddenly raised his voice, the scalpel tip pointing to the inner side of the shoulder blade.

”Look here!”

The dark red bruising was conspicuous against the pale muscle tissue.

”This is typical hemorrhage caused by pressure on the back.”

His scalpel tip gently parted the muscle tissue, revealing deeper signs of hemorrhage.

Jiang An looked up, his sharp gaze scanning everyone present: ”From these marks, it’s likely the victim was forcibly pressed to the ground and severely scraped before death.”

His voice resonated in the autopsy room, ”This isn’t just simple smothering to death, but a violent struggle.”

”Pressed to the ground... scraped?”

Zhang Yean’s voice trembled slightly.

In an instant, the autopsy room was engulfed in dead silence. Only the monotonous ”buzzing” of the extractor fan persisted.