The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

”The key to solving the case doesn’t lie in the scarcity of evidence, but in whether we have the ability to identify clues from the complex appearances and organically link them together.”

Director Hou agreed deeply and further added, ”Political Commissioner Li is right.”

”We must not only be good at discovering those subtle trace evidence, but more importantly, after discovering them, we need to think deeply about how to identify and appraise these traces, explore their formation mechanisms and underlying meanings.”

”Only through such careful and meticulous scrutiny can we truly unravel the questions haunting our minds and let the evidence speak for itself.”

Their conversation resonated with several other colleagues present who specialized in micro-trace analysis.

Everyone took a deep breath in unison, their hearts profoundly shaken.

This convoluted, step-by-step reasoning process seemed circuitous, but in reality, each step accurately pointed to the core of the truth.

hour later, Jiang An summarized, ”Although the original scene photos show these branches scattered to the side, seemingly unrelated to the corpse, based on the special marks left at the fracture points of the branches.”

”Including the direction of the fibers, the tearing pattern of the bark, and the distribution of attachments—it’s entirely possible to infer in reverse that at the initial stage of the incident, these branches should have covered the corpse.”

”What is particularly noteworthy is that the broken parts of these branches exhibit irregular burrs, with uneven fracture surfaces, lacking the smoothness of a cut with a sharp tool.”

”This morphological characteristic strongly suggests that the perpetrator broke the branches without any tools, relying solely on manual effort.”

”It is precisely this method of manual breaking that has created the unique mechanical traces we observe now.”

After this conclusion was presented, Director Hou, Mr. Qin, and others nodded in agreement.

From the professional perspective of traceology, and in terms of the logical reasoning’s plausibility, Jiang An’s analysis was impeccable, and they were completely convinced by it.

After a brief silence, Political Commissioner Li summed up, ”Based on the critical evidence and analysis provided by Mr. Jiang, we can now basically confirm that this is not the original site where the victim fell or died, but a disguised secondary site, which we commonly refer to as a body dumping ground.”

Director Hou immediately nodded in agreement, ”Based on the current information, we can already basically establish the nature of the death in the case: this is not a suicide, but a homicide case.”

”This place is the site where the killer transferred and hid the body as a dumping ground.”

Suddenly, Mr. Qin raised the next key question of the investigation, ”If this is indeed a body dumping ground, then the next core question is: What kind of person would choose to dump the body at this location?”

”Thinking back, we invested a lot of police resources in this case, set up a special task force, conducted a carpet search and inquiry in the surrounding areas, and almost questioned all potential witnesses and relevant personnel, but unfortunately, we didn’t obtain any valuable leads.”

”Meanwhile, screening from the perspective of potential crime motives and suspect background also failed to uncover any obviously suspicious individuals.”

Upon hearing this, Political Commissioner Li furrowed his brow, his face growing heavier, and he slowly exhaled.

”Indeed, at the time, we did consider the possibility of homicide.”

”Although the evidence chain supporting homicide was incomplete and internal opinions were divided, out of professional sensitivity and responsibility, we still launched a comprehensive investigation along this line.”

”The pity is, even after investing substantial manpower and resources, and interviewing countless related individuals, we ultimately couldn’t achieve a breakthrough.”

He paused, his voice becoming increasingly somber, ”Now, although we are more certain this is a homicide case, the truth remains shrouded in fog—not only is the motive of the crime a mystery, the victim’s identity remains unknown to this day.”

As his words fell, the entire laboratory seemed enveloped in an invisible pressure.

The air seemed to solidify, only the faint humming of the instruments could be heard.

Everyone present simultaneously fell into silence, some bowing their heads in thought, others exchanging worried glances, as if silently asking: How do we proceed with the next steps? Where is the breakthrough?

After observing for a long time, Jiang An asked, ”Regarding the victim’s basic biological information—gender and age, there should be some preliminary conclusions, right?”

Mr. Qin promptly responded, ”Yes, at the first moment the remains were discovered, the forensic team conducted a preliminary examination.”

”Based on skeletal features, especially the morphological analysis of the pelvis, it can be determined that the victim was female, around 22 years old, with an error margin of no more than two years.”

”A 22-year-old female...”

Jiang An repeated this key information thoughtfully and asked, ”Was the clothing she was wearing at the time still intact?”

”Some clothing remains, but its condition is extremely poor.”

”It was already severely decomposed upon discovery, crumbling at the slightest touch.”

”Judging from the fabric’s material and thickness, we suspect it was light summer clothing.”

”Can those clothing fragments still be found?” Jiang An pursued further.

”They should still be preserved in the clothing room.”

Mr. Qin said, turning to instruct a young officer beside him, ”Go to the clothing room immediately and bring all the clothing fragments found together with the White Bone at that time.”

Subsequently, the young officer left quickly after receiving the order.

Five minutes later, he returned holding a standard evidence preservation box, carefully placing it on the lab bench.