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

During the subsequent examination of the body's external injuries, Zhang Kai made a crucial discovery. Shining a powerful forensic lamp on the neck, he could vaguely see a light brown mark encircling the neck in the folds of the decomposing skin. "There's something unusual here," Zhang Kai said, gently parting the skin folds with tweezers. "There's a band-shaped indentation about 0.8 cm wide running from the left to the right side of the neck. The edges of the indentation are irregular, and there's slight skin damage in the area. A small amount of residual bleeding is visible at the site of the damage. Although the blood has darkened due to decomposition, it's still certain that this was an injury sustained before death."

Xiao Lin leaned closer to examine it and asked doubtfully, "Could it be skin folds caused by decomposition, or marks formed by being pressed by garbage?" Zhang Kai shook his head, took out a scale, and measured it closely against the indentation: "The indentation is of uniform depth and forms a complete closed ring on the neck, which does not conform to the irregular shape of being pressed by garbage; in addition, there are signs of bleeding in the neck muscle tissue corresponding to the indentation, which is direct evidence of being compressed by external force before death. The preliminary judgment is that it is a strangulation injury caused by strangulation or strangulation with a strap."

On the body's chest, Zhang Kai discovered another obvious injury. There was an irregular wound between the 4th and 5th ribs on the left side of the chest, with obvious contusions at the edges, measuring approximately 3 x 2.5 cm. A small amount of black foreign matter was visible inside the wound cavity. "The wound is irregular in shape, with tissue loss at the edges, consistent with blunt force trauma," Zhang Kai carefully probed the depth of the wound cavity with a probe. "It's about 4 cm deep, having injured the ribs. There are slight fractures on the surface of the ribs, indicating a significant impact. However, there was no obvious bleeding at the wound site. Considering the degree of decomposition, this injury may have occurred after death, or it may have been a non-fatal injury sustained near death."

Xiao Lin noticed something unusual on the body's right palm: several irregular abrasions on the skin, and small amounts of black fibers and gray dust embedded in the fingernails. "Should we send these fibers and dust for testing immediately?" Xiao Lin asked. Zhang Kai nodded: "The fiber sample needs to be compared with the black plastic bag fragments and brown fibers found at the scene. The dust sample needs to be analyzed to see if it matches the dust or cement debris from the landfill. This could very well be traces left from a struggle between the deceased and the suspect, or from being dragged."

To confirm the cause of death and obtain more details, Zhang Kai began the autopsy. He used a scalpel to cut along the midline of the abdomen, separating the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and muscle in sequence. Putrefactive gases mixed with a foul odor gushed out instantly, and Xiao Lin quickly adjusted the power of the exhaust system. "There is a large amount of putrefactive fluid in the abdominal cavity, about 600ml," Zhang Kai said, suctioning away the fluid with a suction device. "The liver and spleen are in a semi-liquefied state, soft in texture, and crumble easily when touched with tweezers, consistent with the tissue putrefaction changes after 7 days of death; the contents of the intestines are completely putrefied, appearing as a brown paste, and no undigested food residue was found, indicating that the deceased had eaten 8-12 hours before death. Based on the time of death, the last meal was between 6 pm and 8 pm 6 days ago."

During the thoracic dissection, Zhang Kai proceeded with even greater caution. As the sternum was sawed open, the internal condition of the thoracic cavity gradually became clear. The upper lobe of the left lung showed significant collapse, and the lung tissue was dark red. Upon cutting, a large amount of frothy fluid was visible flowing out. "The left lung tissue showed obvious congestion and edema, with a large amount of red blood cell exudation in the alveolar spaces, consistent with the pathological characteristics of death by asphyxiation," Zhang Kai said, picking up a small piece of lung tissue with forceps. "In addition, there was a small amount of mucus and foreign matter in the trachea and bronchi. The composition of the foreign matter needs to be tested; it may be saliva or vomit inhaled by the deceased when strangled. Combined with the band-like indentation on the neck, the cause of death can be determined to be mechanical asphyxiation due to strangulation. The blunt force trauma to the chest was an auxiliary injury and did not directly cause death."

“No specific tool marks were found on the neck indentation. Could it be strangulation with a bare hand?” Xiao Lin asked. Zhang Kai shook his head and carefully examined the skin tissue at the indentation site: “The indentation is of uniform width, with slight fibrous damage at the edges, more like strangulation with a soft, ribbon-like object, such as a towel or strip of cloth. If strangulation were done with a bare hand, it would leave obvious finger marks, but there are none here. In addition, the direction of force on the indentation is from back to front, indicating that the suspect may have attacked the victim from behind, catching him off guard and strangling him.”

During the autopsy, Zhang Kai discovered a crucial detail. A small piece of silver metal was embedded in the skin tissue of the victim's left wrist, with obvious signs of breakage at the edges. "The material of this fragment looks similar to the metal button found at the scene," Zhang Kai said, carefully removing the fragment with tweezers and placing it in a specimen bottle. "We'll send it for analysis of its composition and morphology to see if it comes from the same item, such as a belt buckle or watch chain. This could be an item the deceased was wearing before death, torn off during the struggle, with the fragment embedded in the skin."

As the autopsy neared its end, Zhang Kai summarized all the findings, going through each item on the record board: "The deceased was male, aged 35-45, 173cm tall, died between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. seven days ago, caused by mechanical asphyxiation, strangled by a strap-like object; there was a minor struggle before death, evidenced by abrasions on the palm of the right hand and fibers and dust under the fingernails; there were blunt force injuries to the chest, either post-mortem or near-mortem, which were not fatal; metal fragments were embedded in the left wrist, possibly from personal jewelry; the last meal was between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. six days ago, and no drug residue was found in the stomach, ruling out poisoning."

Xiao Lin, while organizing the autopsy report, asked with a puzzled look, "Could the metal buttons and chains found at the scene be related to the metal fragments on the deceased's wrist? Also, could the white van driven by the suspect have been used to transport the body?" Zhang Kai nodded, took the report, and added, "The metal fragments, buttons, and chains are very likely from the same set of jewelry. The technical department needs to conduct morphological comparison and composition analysis to confirm whether they belong to the deceased. The white van is highly probable. The suspect chose to dump the body in the garbage dump to use the complex environment to cover up traces, and the van's capacity is sufficient to transport the body. The damaged left headlight and abnormal engine noise can also serve as key evidence for subsequent investigations."

He paused, then continued, "In addition, the fibers under the deceased's fingernails should be carefully compared with the fibers from the black plastic bag and the brown fibers found at the scene. If they match, it means that the deceased had been in contact with the plastic bag that wrapped the body or with the suspect's clothing before death. If cement components are detected in the dust sample, combined with cement fragments on the plastic bag at the scene, it can further confirm that the suspect or the deceased had recently been in contact with a construction site, thus narrowing down the scope of the identity investigation."

As the body was resealed and sent to the cold storage, Zhang Kai removed his gas mask; his forehead was covered in sweat. (End of Chapter)