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

Xiao Lin suddenly pointed to the edge of the chest tissue: "There is a linear laceration here, 2.5cm long and 0.3cm wide. The edges are neat and the walls are smooth. Was it caused by a sharp instrument?" Zhang Kai leaned closer to observe: "This laceration was indeed caused by a sharp instrument, but the angle of the wound is relatively blunt, and there is no interstitial bridge at the base of the wound. It is speculated to have been formed by a combination of blunt and sharp tools such as a saw blade. The fracture surface characteristics are consistent with those of body part number 1. It should be a post-mortem injury caused during dismemberment, rather than a fatal injury."

"Where would the fatal wound be?" Xiao Lin asked doubtfully. "None of the body parts found so far have obvious fatal injuries, such as strangulation marks on the neck or stab wounds to the heart." Zhang Kai spread out the abdominal tissue of "Number 4": "Look at this piece of abdominal tissue, there are two irregular lacerations, 4cm and 3.5cm in length respectively. The edges of the lacerations are not neat, and there are a small amount of sawdust and paint debris remaining in the laceration cavity." He rinsed the laceration cavity with saline. "The lacerations reach the peritoneum, and there are obvious pinpoint hemorrhages in the peritoneum. Combined with the extent of bleeding in the surrounding muscle tissue, although these two lacerations are not fatal, they may have caused a lot of blood loss and accelerated the death process."

More crucial clues were hidden in the stomach contents within the abdominal tissue. Zhang Kai carefully cut open the stomach wall and removed about 50ml of semi-digested food residue: "Rice grains, lean meat fibers, and vegetable scraps were visible. The edges of the rice grains were blurred, and the lean meat fibers were partially decomposed." He placed the food residue under a microscope. "Based on the degree of food digestion, especially the hydrolysis state of starch granules and the degree of protein denaturation, it is estimated that the last meal was 4-6 hours before death, that is, between 11:7 am and 2:7 pm on July 11th—which corresponds to the timeline of the factory workers saying that 'Zhang Baode did not go to work on July 11th'."

"Were any toxic substances detected in the stomach contents?" Xiao Lin handed over a pH test strip, which Zhang Kai then dipped into the stomach contents. "The pH value is 3.8, which is consistent with a normal stomach acid environment. No abnormal alkaline or acidic substances were detected, so we cannot consider the possibility of death from poisoning at this time." He added, "However, it needs to be sent to the laboratory for further toxicological screening to rule out trace amounts of toxins or toxins that metabolize quickly."

Other details of the body parts also provided clues for the case analysis. Zhang Kai found a small amount of white paint in the muscle fragments of "No. 5": "Through infrared spectroscopy analysis, the paint component is alkyd resin type, which is completely consistent with the white paint extracted from the scene." He compared the paint sample with the paint in the factory, "which indicates that the deceased had come into contact with the white paint in the factory before or after death. Combined with his identity as a painter, it is very likely that he was murdered in the course of his work."

Xiao Lin sorted through the injury records of the body parts: "There are three types of injuries found so far—chest contusions from blunt force trauma, dismemberment wounds from sharp force cutting, and irregular lacerations in the abdomen. How did these injuries form in chronological order?" Zhang Kai marked the chest tissue with a dissecting needle: "The chest contusion should have formed first, as it was an injury sustained before death, resulting in minor rib fractures (although no ribs were found, the subcutaneous bleeding was extensive, suggesting bone damage); then the abdominal lacerations formed, causing blood loss; finally, the dismemberment wounds were formed after death, as the murderer used tools such as a saw to cut the body into multiple pieces for easy transport and concealment."

"Then the cause of death should be hemorrhagic shock?" Xiao Lin speculated. "Chest contusions led to internal organ damage, and abdominal lacerations further aggravated blood loss, ultimately leading to death." Zhang Kai nodded: "That possibility cannot be ruled out, but currently, without the fragments of internal organs from the chest and abdominal cavities, it is impossible to confirm whether there was rupture of internal organs—for example, rupture of the liver or spleen would cause massive internal bleeding, which is the main cause of hemorrhagic shock. However, based on the existing injuries, hemorrhagic shock is the most reasonable inference regarding the cause of death."

To further verify the time of death, Zhang Kai examined the insect infestation on the body parts: "No obvious maggots or pupal shells were found on the surface of the body parts, only a small number of fly eggs were found in the fingernail crevices." He collected the fly eggs in a petri dish. "According to the development cycle of common flies in the area, it takes 8-12 hours for fly eggs to hatch into maggots. Considering that the fly eggs are still in an unhatched state, it indicates that the time of death is no more than 48 hours, which is consistent with the previous judgment."

As the autopsy neared its end, Zhang Kai summarized the characteristics of all the body parts: "The deceased was male, aged approximately 40-45 years old, with an estimated height of 170-175cm (based on the length of the tibia). He was engaged in manual labor (as evidenced by calluses on his fingertips and wood chips). He suffered blunt force trauma and sharp instrument punctures before his death, leading to hemorrhagic shock. The time of death was between 5 PM and 7 PM on July 11th. After death, the body was dismembered into multiple pieces by a sharp instrument and disposed of in the furniture factory's garbage room and surrounding area. During the disposal process, the body came into contact with white paint and pine waste."

“These characteristics closely match those of the missing painter Zhang Baode,” Xiao Lin said, flipping through Zhang Baode’s personal information. “Age 42, height 172cm, painter, disappeared on July 11, had contact with white paint and saw blades, which perfectly matches the inferred characteristics of the body parts.” Zhang Kai handed the DNA sample of the body parts to the technical department: “As long as the DNA matches, we can confirm that the deceased is Zhang Baode, which is crucial for identifying the suspect later.”

When the last piece of body parts was placed back into the evidence box, the traces on the autopsy table had been thoroughly cleaned up, leaving only neatly arranged numbered sample bottles—containing blood samples, paint chips, muscle tissue, and stomach contents, each holding a key to the truth. Zhang Kai removed his gas mask, his face still faintly smelling of disinfectant. Looking at the darkening sky outside the window, he thought of the body parts scattered throughout the factory. He knew that only by quickly identifying the deceased and finding the complete body could the full truth of this dismemberment case be revealed.

Xiaolin compiled the autopsy report into a booklet, circling the conclusions in the "Time of Death" and "Cause of Death" sections: "Time of death: 5 PM to 7 PM on July 11 (42-45 hours after the autopsy); Cause of death: Hemorrhagic shock (due to blunt force trauma to the chest causing internal organ damage, and sharp force puncture wound to the abdomen exacerbating blood loss)." She looked up at Zhang Kai: "Next, should we wait for the DNA comparison results to confirm that the deceased is Zhang Baode, and then combine this with the clues from the scene investigation to identify the suspect?"

Zhang Kai nodded and handed the autopsy report to the technical department: "The sawdust, paint, fibers, and stomach contents found on the body parts all need further testing, especially the special additives in the paint, which could be key to tracking down the suspect. Additionally, the deduction of the dismemberment tool—the 18cm hand saw blade—needs to be compared with the factory's tools to find the source of the murder weapon." (End of Chapter)