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

He pointed to the greenish tinge on the lower right abdomen of the corpse and continued to explain: "The greenish tinge usually appears 24-48 hours after death and gradually spreads throughout the body within 7-10 days. Now the greenish tinge is limited to the lower right abdomen, and the number of putrefactive bubbles is relatively small, indicating that the putrefaction process is in the early to mid-stage, which is consistent with the characteristic of the low temperature and humid environment in the mine that slows down putrefaction. However, the rigor mortis has subsided, which suggests that the time of death may have exceeded 5 days. Overall, the current time range is basically reasonable."

"What was the cause of death? Were there any obvious external injuries on the body that pointed to the cause of death?" Xiao Chen put down the measuring tape and focused his gaze on the torso and limbs of the corpse—these are the areas most prone to violent injuries. Zhang Kai picked up tweezers and gently parted the messy hair on the deceased's face, revealing a face covered in coal dust: the eyelids were closed, the eyeballs were protruding, the corneas were milky white and cloudy, and the pupils were completely obscured; the lips were cyanotic, the teeth were intact, there were no signs of bleeding gums, and no bite marks or signs of missing teeth were found.

"There are no obvious blunt or sharp force injuries on the face, and no scattered bleeding points on the eyelids and conjunctiva, so asphyxiation can be ruled out for now." Zhang Kai gestured to Xiao Chen to adjust the lights. He used tweezers to lift the deceased's dark blue overalls. There were a small amount of dark red stains on the inside of the overalls, and the edges of the torn fabric were irregular, as if it had been scratched by a sharp object. "First, take the dark red stains from the inside of the overalls and send them for testing to see if they are bloodstains. Now, begin a detailed examination of the body surface, focusing on the torso and limbs for any hidden external injuries, especially any traces of internal organ damage."

The scalpel cut along the seams of the work clothes, exposing the deceased's torso. No obvious sharp-force wounds were found on the pale green skin, but there was a 5-centimeter-long irregular subcutaneous bruise below the left hypochondrium, near the spleen. The center of the bruise had a slight skin tear, with a small amount of mineral powder adhering to the tear. "There's something unusual here!" Zhang Kai used tweezers to pry open the skin of the bruise. "A subcutaneous bruise on the left hypochondrium with a skin tear in the center—considering its location, it's very likely caused by a blunt force trauma. And right below this area is the spleen—the spleen is fragile and easily ruptures from a blunt force impact. This might be the key to the cause of death."

Xiao Chen took a closer look and found several thin fibers around the bruise: "Teacher Zhang, there are a few black fibers next to the bruise. The fiber material is different from that of the deceased's work clothes. Could they be fibers from the suspect's clothing that broke off during the impact?"

Zhang Kai carefully extracted the fibers with a cotton swab and placed them in an evidence bag: "That's possible. We'll have the forensic technician analyze the fiber composition later. We'll continue to examine other areas to see if there are similar injuries, ruling out the possibility of multiple injuries." The two carefully examined the entire body and finally found a 3-centimeter-long superficial scratch on the deceased's right palm. The scratch had clean edges, and the wound cavity contained a small amount of mineral powder and rust. "The scratch on the right palm, with clean edges and mineral powder and rust residue, may have been caused by a rusty metal object during the victim's resistance—such as abandoned mine cart parts in the mine, the edge of a rock, or a tool carried by the suspect?"

This discovery greatly encouraged the two men, and Zhang Kai immediately decided to speed up the dissection, opening the thoracic and abdominal cavities to examine the internal organs. The dissecting scissors made a slight "click" sound as they cut through the sternum. Once the thoracic cavity was open, organs such as the heart and lungs were exposed—the heart was slightly smaller, covered with a layer of pale green putrefactive fluid, and no bleeding points were found under the epicardium; the lungs were dark brown, firm in texture, and showed no signs of fluid leakage, inflammation, or infarction when squeezed, essentially ruling out heart and lung diseases as the cause of death.

“Teacher Zhang, there are no obvious lesions in the chest organs, so it seems the cause of death is indeed not in the chest cavity.” Xiao Chen leaned forward, staring at the shape of the organs, his tone carrying a hint of certainty. “Let’s quickly open the abdominal cavity and check the condition of the spleen!”

Zhang Kai nodded, and the scalpel cut along the midline of the abdomen. The moment the abdominal cavity opened, a strong stench of decay wafted out. The liver, spleen, stomach, and other organs showed varying degrees of putrefaction—the liver was enlarged, pale green, and soft, with putrid fluid oozing from the cut surface; the spleen was significantly swollen, with a 3-centimeter-long rupture on its surface. The edges of the rupture were irregular, and dark red blood clots remained in the surrounding tissue. The blood clots were partially decomposed, but their original shape was still visible.

"It really was a ruptured spleen!" Zhang Kai's tone carried a hint of excited confirmation. "The rupture on the surface of the spleen had irregular edges and blood clots around it. This is a typical case of traumatic spleen rupture caused by blunt force trauma! Moreover, the rupture was quite large, and judging from the amount of blood clots, the amount of bleeding at the time must have been very large. The deceased ultimately died from hemorrhagic shock."

Xiao Chen quickly took notes on the whiteboard, when a question suddenly occurred to him: "Teacher Zhang, what exactly caused the blunt force that led to the spleen rupture? Was it a rock in the mine, an abandoned mine cart, or a tool carried by the suspect?"

Instead of answering directly, Zhang Kai used tweezers to pick up tissue from the ruptured spleen and placed it on a microscope slide, adjusting the focus to observe: "Judging from the morphology of the rupture, the surface of the external force should be irregular, with uneven edges, unlike what would have been caused by a flat tool. Considering the mineral dust residue on the deceased's body and the mine environment, it's possible that the suspect struck the deceased's left hypochondrium with discarded rocks or mine cart parts from the mine, causing the spleen to rupture; or it's possible that the deceased accidentally bumped into a rock or mine cart while fighting with the suspect in the mine, causing spleen damage. However, judging from the severity of the injury, it's more likely to have been caused by a deliberate blow—if it were an accidental impact, it would be difficult to cause such a large rupture and bleeding."

He turned to the stomach, which was empty, with a thin, transparent wall and smooth mucosa. No food residue or foreign objects were found, but there were a few pinpoint hemorrhages on the stomach wall mucosa. "The empty stomach and the absence of food residue on the stomach wall indicate that the deceased had not eaten for at least 12 hours before death. This does not conflict with our previous judgment of 5-8 days for death; on the contrary, it further narrows down the time range—the deceased may have died on an empty stomach, such as late at night or in the early morning. This also fits the pattern of body disposal, as suspects usually choose to dispose of bodies at night when there are fewer people around."

To more accurately determine the time of death, Zhang Kai removed stomach and liver tissue from the deceased and fixed them in formalin solution: "The degree of cell autolysis is an important supplementary basis for determining the time of death. Stomach cell autolysis usually begins 4-6 hours after death, while liver cell autolysis begins 6-12 hours later. Combining this with previous signs of rigor mortis, livor mortis, and putrefaction, and considering the delayed putrefaction effect of the low temperature environment in the mine, the estimated time of death is approximately 7 days, which is around last Wednesday." (End of Chapter)