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

“Zhao Jianjun?” Yang Lin immediately took out the list of former employees of the fertilizer plant and found this name among the densely packed names. “Male, born in 1976, resigned in 2014, operator in the synthesis workshop.” He looked at the photo on the list. The photo was a little blurry, but it was clear that it resembled the deceased’s facial features. “We gave his information to the technical department to compare it with the deceased’s DNA.”

Although a new direction for the investigation has emerged, DNA matching will still take time, and the suspect's identity remains a mystery. Late at night, the lights in the criminal investigation team's offices are being turned off one by one, except for the technical section and the offices of Yang Lin and Yang Sen. They are hunched over their desks, repeatedly studying the crime scene photos and clue records, trying to find connections in these scattered details.

"Do you think the suspect might have been after Li Dahai but accidentally killed him?" Yang Sen suddenly suggested. "Li Dahai owes money to loan sharks, and Brother Long has been looking for him. The suspect might be one of Brother Long's men, thinking the deceased was Li Dahai's accomplice."

“That’s possible, but we can’t rule out other possibilities of revenge killings.” Yang Lin pointed to the scratches on the photo. “The fact that the suspect used a crowbar to pry open the window shows that he came prepared, not like it was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

The night outside the window grew darker, and the investigation remained in the stage of accumulating clues. The victim's identity was unknown, and the suspect's whereabouts were elusive. Each newly discovered clue was like a glimmer of light in the darkness, but not enough to illuminate the path to the truth. Yang Lin and Yang Sen knew that the work ahead would be even more difficult. They needed to patiently analyze each clue and meticulously investigate every suspicious person in order to bring the killer hiding in the shadows to light.

Early the next morning, Yang Lin and Yang Sen set off again with their investigation tools, their destination once more the attic of dormitory building number 3 at the Shengli Fertilizer Plant. Sunlight streamed through the car window, illuminating them. Although the case remained unsolved, their eyes were filled with determination—as long as they didn't give up, as long as they paid meticulous attention to detail, the truth would eventually be revealed in some unexpected moment by the clues hidden in the dust.

At 8 p.m., the operating lights in the forensic autopsy room of the Criminal Investigation Detachment shone with a blinding white light, illuminating the stainless steel autopsy table in perfect detail. The body, sealed in a special transport bag, was carefully lifted onto the autopsy table by two forensic assistants. The label on the outside of the bag read, "Unidentified male corpse, found in the attic of dormitory building No. 3 at Shengli Fertilizer Plant." Forensic doctor Zhang Kai, dressed in full autopsy gowns and double-layered latex gloves, was adjusting the autopsy microscope under the light. His assistant, Xiao Lin, had already arranged the autopsy instruments in order on the instrument table; the scalpels, hemostats, and forceps gleamed coldly under the light.

"Have you confirmed the basic information of the deceased?" Zhang Kai's voice came through his mask, calm and clear. He has been in the profession for fifteen years and has handled hundreds of autopsies in homicide cases. He maintains absolute focus every time—to him, the corpse is a witness who does not lie, and his task is to interpret every "testimony" left by the corpse.

"Not yet," Xiaolin said, flipping through the investigation record in his hand. "Only a badly worn old fertilizer factory employee badge was found at the scene, and the name and number are illegible. The technical department is comparing it with the missing persons database, but there is no matching information yet. The preliminary physical examination shows that the deceased was male, estimated to be 45-50 years old, about 175cm tall, and weighing about 70kg. Rigor mortis has reached the whole body, and livor mortis is located on the back and the back of the limbs, and it does not fade when pressed."

Zhang Kai nodded, gesturing for Xiao Lin to open the transport bag. As the sealed zipper was unzipped, a faint stench of decay wafted out—although the body had been transported in a low-temperature environment, the time since death was considerable, and the decomposition process had already begun. Zhang Kai approached the autopsy table and first carefully examined the deceased's face with a magnifying glass: "There are a few petechiae on the conjunctiva of the eyelids, the cornea is slightly cloudy, and the pupillary light reflex is absent. Xiao Lin, make a note of this; the degree of corneal cloudiness is consistent with the characteristics of 48-72 hours after death."

He extended his finger and pressed on the deceased's jaw joint: "The jaw joint has very little range of motion, and the rigor mortis is at level III. Combined with the fixation of livor mortis, the preliminary judgment is that the time of death was 3-4 days ago, that is, between Wednesday and Thursday of this week. However, the exact time needs to be determined by combining the results of gastric contents and biochemical tests."

Next, Zhang Kai began a systematic physical examination. He gently parted the deceased's hair with tweezers; the scalp was intact, with no obvious signs of blunt force injury. "There are no open wounds on the head," he said as he examined the body. "There is no crepitus on palpation of the skull, which preliminarily rules out a skull fracture. Look closely behind his ear; there is a small subcutaneous hemorrhage, about 0.5 cm in diameter, which appears to have been caused by blunt force."

Xiao Lin immediately took photos of the bleeding point behind her ear from different angles. "Teacher Zhang, could this be a resistance wound left during the crime?"

“We can’t be sure yet,” Zhang Kai shook his head. “It could have been formed during the body’s transport. Let’s continue investigating.” His fingers slid across the deceased’s neck and suddenly stopped. “There’s an abnormality on the left side of the neck. Shine a light source over it.”

Xiao Lin immediately adjusted the angle of the operating light, focusing a strong beam of light on the deceased's neck. Under the light, a band of discolored skin, about 1.5 cm wide, could be clearly seen on the left side of the neck. The skin was dark brown with blurred edges. "This is not ordinary livor mortis," Zhang Kai said, gently lifting the skin with hemostatic forceps. "There is slight epidermal abrasion on the skin surface and signs of bleeding in the subcutaneous tissue. These are typical characteristics of mechanical asphyxiation."

He further examined the victim's mouth and nasal cavity. "The oral mucosa was intact with no teeth marks, and there was a small amount of mucus residue in the nasal cavity with no foreign objects. Combined with the band-like marks on the neck, it is preliminarily speculated that the murder weapon may have been a wide cloth strip or a similar soft object, such as the cuff of a work glove or canvas."

The physical examination lasted an hour. Apart from signs of asphyxiation on the neck and small bleeding points behind the ears, no obvious signs of resistance were found on the deceased's limbs, and no suspicious skin flakes or fibers were extracted from under the fingernails—indicating that the deceased may have been attacked without warning, or that the attacker was far stronger than the deceased. "The deceased was wearing an old gray jacket and blue work pants," Zhang Kai examined the deceased's clothing. "The clothing was not damaged, but there was a small amount of oil stain on the collar of the jacket, which matched the fiber composition found at the scene. The forensic department has taken it for further comparison."

"Teacher Zhang, can we begin the dissection now?" Xiaolin handed over the scalpel, the blade of which had been strictly sterilized.

"Wait, let's extract the stomach contents first." Zhang Kai gestured to Xiao Lin to prepare the sampling container. (End of Chapter)