The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Standing slightly at a distance, Li Yan could no longer suppress his curiosity, took half a step forward, and asked: ”Yes, Mr. Jiang, if there’s no damage to the surface of the bones, what is the purpose of us extracting the cervical spinal cord? I also didn’t observe any obvious signs of fractures.”

Jiang An heard this but did not immediately respond.

His gaze shifted slightly, passing over the crowd, and landed on Professor Zhang Kai, who had been quietly standing on the other side of the autopsy table.

At the brief moment when their eyes met in the air, Professor Zhang Kai quickly averted his gaze.

Jiang An withdrew his gaze and said, ”The structure of the neck is unique. Although the area is not large, it is extremely intricate and fragile.”

”The cervical spinal cord that runs through the vertebral foramen is the central hub that controls breathing and heartbeat.”

”Once the spinal cord is damaged, especially the upper cervical cord, it can lead to an instantaneous stop of breathing and heartbeat, causing life signs to vanish in a very short time.”

He paused slightly, letting each sentence sink into the minds of everyone present.

”And spinal cord injuries are not necessarily caused directly by sharp instruments, as we might imagine.”

”More often, they stem from invisible internal pulling, twisting, or shaking - injuries which might leave no traces on the bones’ surface.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Yan’s eyes lit up, and he quickly raised his hand, speaking at a slightly faster pace: ”Mr. Jiang, I remembered!”

”Back in school, a teacher mentioned a kind of ’whiplash injury’. Would that fall into this category?”

”Although it’s not visible from the outside, the internal spinal cord has already suffered severe pulling?”

Upon hearing this, Jiang An’s lips curled into a barely noticeable appreciative arc, and he gently nodded.

”Correct.”

”Whiplash injury is a tractional spinal cord damage caused by excessive flexion or extension of the cervical spine when subjected to sudden acceleration or deceleration forces, often very severe in degree.”

”It’s like those scenes we sometimes see in films—an agent quickly twists the opponent’s neck from behind, and the opponent falls dead instantly.”

”The principle of that technique is actually causing acute damage to the cervical spinal cord, leading to immediate loss of function in the respiratory center, and subsequent death.”

”In reality, similar injuries often result from car accidents, falls from heights, etc., while the exterior may remain intact.”

As he spoke, he lightly pointed with a probe to the vertebral arch of one of the cervical vertebrae: ”So, we need to open the spinal canal to examine the cervical spinal cord itself.”

”Truth often hides in places invisible to the naked eye.”

When Mr. Qin heard these words, he was initially slightly taken aback, but then a knowing smile appeared on his face, and he quietly said in amazement: ”I see... I finally understand now.”

”Those agents operate mysteriously and with precision, and it turns out they rely on this method to take lives, no wonder it’s always said ’killing without a trace’. Now, I’ve finally witnessed it firsthand today.”

He said this while leaning over to carefully inspect the deceased’s neck, his tone gradually becoming grave: ”Indeed, the skin’s surface on this neck is smooth and unblemished, hardly any damage or bruising visible. Should it truly be internal damage caused by that unique method, then this case becomes complicated.”

Finishing his words, he suddenly stopped mid-sentence, turning instinctively to look at Professor Zhang Kai standing nearby.

Seeing this, Mr. Qin felt a sudden tightness—he saw Professor Zhang Kai’s face was somber, his brows furrowed, and fine beads of sweat were evident on his forehead.

Mr. Qin wondered to himself: ”What’s happening with Professor Zhang?”

”Is it that the atmosphere here is too oppressive or did he suddenly feel unwell?”

As he was pondering this, he heard Jiang An’s voice from the opposite side, ”Mr. Qin, you are most familiar with the environment here.”

”Does the team have an electric cranial saw?”

”If we can’t find it for a moment, we’ll proceed with the traditional hand saw for the craniotomy.”

Upon hearing this, Mr. Qin immediately snapped back to reality, responding quickly: ”Yes, we do!”

”We have a high-precision German-imported electric cranial saw, I’ll go fetch it right away.”

He turned and walked quickly to the equipment storage room beside, and shortly returned with a silver metal case, carefully placing it by the operating table.

”Here’s the instrument.”

Technician Zhang Lei stepped forward in response, took the cranial saw, and powered it on.

Amidst the low humming, he stood by the side of the corpse, yet his hand holding the instrument remained unmoved, a hesitant expression on his face.

He glanced at Jiang An, his voice earnest yet with a hint of difficulty: ”Mr. Jiang, I have indeed performed conventional craniotomy operations many times, but I truly have no practical experience with cervical vertebra opening for spinal cord extraction like this.”

Li Yan, standing next to him, also chimed in softly: ”Indeed, this anatomy method for such a specialized area is something I have only heard about in theory but never seen in practice.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang An glanced at both of them, a calm smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

He gently put down the instrument he originally held, deftly removing his blood-stained outer gloves to reveal a relatively clean pair underneath, then picked up the cranial saw again.

”No problem, I’ll demonstrate for everyone next.”

”Pay attention to each step’s placement and technique.”

He spoke as he steadily placed the oscillating saw blade at the right side of the deceased’s cervical vertebra, precisely cutting along the junction line of the vertebral foramen and the root of the vertebral arch, starting from the second cervical vertebra, and slowly progressing down to the sixth cervical vertebra.

The saw blade lightly trembled, bone dust slightly lifted, he focused wholeheartedly, using the subtle feedback through his hands to gauge the process, pausing slightly whenever a noticeable drop in cutting was felt, adjusting the angle before continuing.

After completing all the cuts on the right side, he repeated the above procedure with the same caution, along the structure of the vertebral arch on the left side.

Two minutes later, he turned off the electric saw’s power, saying: ”It’s done.”

”So quickly?”

Zhang Lei’s face was filled with incredulous surprise as he stepped closer, intently watching the operating table.

”Mr. Jiang, before I even got a clear look, you’ve already finished?”

Standing next to him, Li Yan nodded as well, ”Indeed, that was way too fast, we barely had time to react.”

Jiang An merely gave a slight smile upon hearing this, ”The human cervical spine has only seven vertebrae in total, and this time we are focusing on the vertebral arch part from the second to the sixth, so the operation range is actually limited.”

”Considering that, two minutes is not really quick.”

Before the words finished, he had already reached toward the segment of cervical vertebra separated out.

He skillfully and steadily started from the second cervical vertebra, delicately pinching each spinous process with his fingertips, handling them with finesse as if picking up something exquisite.

As he gently pulled with his fingers sideways, an entire series of vertebral arches were smoothly and fully separated and unfolded like an opened book.

At that moment, the cervical spinal cord hidden deep within the spinal canal was completely exposed before everyone’s eyes.

However, just when the vertebral arches were exposed, and the cervical spinal cord was fully revealed, Jiang An’s previously relaxed smile instantly solidified.

His lips twitched ever so slightly, his brows furrowed deeply, knotted into a tight ”川” shape.

At this moment, the most anxious person was still Professor Zhang Kai.

He knew in his heart that the preliminary report he had completed earlier might have to be nullified.

Moreover, if the results prove his initial judgment wrong, it may also involve issues of responsibility at the level of adherence to the corpse examination norms.

The others present, especially those not professionally trained, did not immediately notice Professor Zhang Kai’s expression.

Mr. Qin leaned over to closely examine that segment of the spinal cord, curiously asking: ”So this is what the spinal cord inside our neck looks like.”

Li Yan and Zhang Lei exchanged a look, each with faces alight with apprentice-like excitement.

Li Yan spoke first: ”Today’s truly an eye-opener, Mr. Jiang’s clean and swift technique taught us a great skill.”

Soon after, Li Yan seemed to suddenly remember something, his gaze returning to that segment of grayish-white spinal cord, asking: ”Mr. Jiang, this spinal cord appears to have normal coloring, so it should be alright, correct?”

In an instant, everyone in the room—puzzled, curious, and waiting for an answer—turned their gazes uniformly toward Jiang An.

Jiang An lowered his head, his gaze solemnly sweeping over the exposed spinal cord tissue, pausing slightly on a specific area.

Then, he said, word by word, ”There is a problem.”

”There are subtle abnormalities in the color and texture on the surface of the spinal cord between the deceased’s third and fourth cervical vertebrae, indicating signs of past bleeding.”