Attending ex-girlfriend's wedding, arresting the groom's officer on the spot

The air conditioning in the dissection room was turned on very high, and the stainless steel operating table glowed coldly under the shadowless lamp. Zhang Kai put on a light blue surgical gown and double-layer latex gloves, and the metal instruments collided with each other, making crisp sounds. Lu Chuan, Yang Sen and others observed through the glass, with their notebooks and cameras already ready.

"We'll start with the male autopsy." Zhang Kai's voice was clearly heard through the microphone in the observation room. He held a lancet and made a straight incision along the midline of the chest and abdomen, starting from the shoulder of the corpse. His movements were as precise as if he was operating a precision instrument. "The age of the deceased is preliminarily estimated to be between 40 and 45 years old, weighing about 80 kilograms, 178 centimeters tall, and overall a rather sturdy build."

While recording, the assistant asked: "Doctor Zhang, can you see obvious fatal injuries from the body surface?"

Zhang Kai shook his head and picked up the skin on the neck of the deceased with tweezers: "There are no open wounds on the body surface, but there are obvious rope grooves on the neck. The rope grooves are horizontally around the neck, about 1.5 cm wide, with subcutaneous bleeding on the edges, which are typical strangulation marks. However, there are signs of wiping and smearing on the surface of the strangulation marks, which should be the murderer's attempt to cover up the crime." He switched to a magnifying glass and carefully observed the details of the rope grooves. "Fine fibrous tissue can be seen in the rope grooves. Samples have been taken for inspection. They may be rope residues."

When the autopsy came to the internal organs, Zhang Kai first used scissors to cut the rib cartilage and opened the sternum. The moment the organs in the chest cavity were exposed, he suddenly paused: "The deceased had a heart stent surgery. There are traces of metal stent implantation in the left coronary artery. The surgery should have been done within two years." He picked up the measuring tool, "The stent is in good condition, there is no displacement or thrombosis, which means that the deceased had been taking anticoagulant drugs before his death."

Lu Chuan frowned in the observation room: "People who have undergone heart surgery should have weaker resistance."

"That's right." Zhang Kai continued to operate and took out the deceased's stomach for examination. "The stomach contents are empty, and the gastric mucosal folds are clearly visible. Combined with the degree of digestion of food residues in the intestines, it is inferred that the deceased's last meal was 6-8 hours before death." He placed the stomach tissue slice on a slide, "Yang Sen, take it and do a gastric solution analysis to see if there are any special substances."

While the assistant was taking the samples, Zhang Kai had already started collecting blood and tissue samples: "Routine toxicology testing is essential, with a focus on checking for sleeping pills. The deceased was a big man, and it would be difficult for a single person to strangle him without external assistance or the effects of drugs."

Two hours later, the test results came out. Zhang Kai walked into the conference room with the report, looking serious: "Zolpidem was detected in the blood. It is a short-acting sleeping pill that takes effect 15 to 30 minutes after taking a normal dose. According to the blood concentration, the deceased took the drug 1 to 2 hours before death. Although the dose was not enough to be fatal, it would cause fatigue and slow reaction."

He pulled up the autopsy photos: "Combined with the strangulation marks on the neck and the bleeding spots in the trachea, the real cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation, that is, strangulation. The murderer must have taken advantage of the effect of the drug on the deceased and his consciousness was blurred, and used a rope to quickly strangle his neck, causing the trachea and carotid artery to be compressed at the same time, and he would lose vital signs within a few minutes."

Lu Chuan stared at the autopsy report, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table: "He had heart surgery, took medicine on time, had a fixed schedule... The identity information of this deceased should not be difficult to find. So, arrange for someone to immediately check the heart stent surgery records of all hospitals in the city, focusing on finding patients with the same age and body shape."

After a half-hour break, the shadowless lamp in the dissection room was turned on again, and the female corpse, enveloped in cold white light, lay quietly on the operating table. Zhang Kai replaced the new surgical instruments, and the rubber gloves collided with the metal tray, making a slight sound. Lu Chuan and others in the observation room looked through the glass with solemn eyes.

"Begin the autopsy of the female corpse." Zhang Kai's voice came through the loudspeaker. The smell of disinfectant filled the autopsy room. The cold light of the metal instruments and the shadowless lamp complemented each other. He held the lancet with both hands, the blade slightly tilted, and cut precisely along the lower part of the clavicle at a nearly perfect 45-degree angle. His movements were gentle but with unquestionable decisiveness. "First, make a basic information judgment. This is the first step in determining the direction of investigation during the autopsy."

Because the forensic autopsy process is actually recorded by audio and video, Zhang Kai has developed a habit of performing each step himself as if he were explaining it to others, of course, also to allow Lu Chuan to hear more clearly.

Zhang Kai slightly parted the skin on both sides of the incision and examined the skeletal structure of the corpse with a keen eye. "The pubic symphysis is an important basis for judging age." He picked up a magnifying glass and carefully observed the lines of the pubic symphysis. "The bone of the pubic symphysis of the female deceased is in a delicate state. The ridge in the middle of the symphysis has begun to flatten, but has not completely disappeared. Combined with the bone changes of the auricular surface, the age is preliminarily estimated to be around 25 years old. This is because at this age, the growth and development of human bones is basically completed, but it has not yet entered the obvious aging stage, and the pubic symphysis will show specific morphological characteristics."

When measuring the height, Zhang Kai used the classic method in forensic anthropology. He carefully straightened the lower limbs of the deceased and used the professional measuring tools in the dissection room to measure the length of the femur, tibia and fibula. "According to the regression equation, the length of the femur is closely related to the height." He explained while recording the data, "Combined with the length of the tibia and fibula for comprehensive calculation, taking into account factors such as the thickness of the soft tissue, it was finally determined that the height of the deceased was 171 cm. This method of inferring height by bone length can usually keep the error within a small range."

When judging the weight, Zhang Kai did not rely solely on visual observation. He first measured the thickness of the deceased's subcutaneous fat, selected multiple parts such as the abdomen and thighs, and used a professional skin fat thickness meter to obtain data. "The content of subcutaneous fat is an important reference for estimating weight, but the condition of muscle tissue must also be considered." He checked the muscle attachment points of the deceased and observed the degree of bulge in the muscle attachment area on the bones. "From the characteristics of the muscle attachment points, the deceased has moderate muscle mass. Combining the thickness of subcutaneous fat and the proportional relationship between various parts of the body, after precise calculation, it was found that the deceased weighed about 55 kilograms."

During an autopsy, the method used to measure the weight and height of a deceased person is different from the method used to measure the weight and height of a living person. In order to avoid damaging the body, direct weighing is generally not done this way. (End of this chapter)