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

Zhang Kai agreed with Xiao Lin's summary: "Your analysis is quite comprehensive. The autopsy work has mainly refined the basic information such as the cause of death, time of death, and basic characteristics of the deceased, ruling out poisoning, disease, and other violent injuries as causes of death. It has also reconstructed the modus operandi and approximate time of the crime, providing direction for subsequent investigations. However, no breakthrough clues have been found. The identity of the deceased remains the biggest mystery, and we can only hope for further breakthroughs through comparison with missing persons information, dental characteristics, and DNA databases. Regarding clues about the suspect, we can only rely on physical evidence such as footprints, fingerprints, fibers, and hair collected at the scene, combined with surveillance footage and interviews."

"Is toxicology testing and histopathological examination still necessary? Could we have missed some clues?" Kobayashi asked doubtfully.

“Of course it’s necessary,” Zhang Kai said firmly. “Toxic testing can completely rule out the possibility of poisoning, preventing us from overlooking the possibility that the murderer poisoned the victim before committing the crime; histopathological examination can more accurately confirm the time of injury and bleeding, further verifying the accuracy of the estimated time of death, and also checking whether the deceased had any underlying diseases. These are all important bases for case investigation. Although it seems unlikely that there will be any breakthrough discoveries at present, forensic work cannot tolerate the slightest negligence. Every test must be done properly, and no possibility can be overlooked.”

Xiao Lin nodded and continued organizing the autopsy data. At 7 PM, all preliminary autopsy work was completed. Zhang Kai compiled the autopsy records, preliminary sample testing reports, and video materials into a booklet and drove to the Criminal Investigation Detachment office building to report the autopsy findings to Lu Chuan. At that moment, Lu Chuan was holding an impromptu investigation meeting in his office. Yang Lin, Yang Sen, and the heads of each investigation team were present. The atmosphere in the meeting room was tense. The whiteboard was covered with case clues, photos of physical evidence, and surveillance screenshots, but a complete investigative chain had not yet been formed.

Upon seeing Zhang Kai enter, Lu Chuan immediately stopped the meeting and gestured for everyone to be quiet: "Zhang Kai, how's the autopsy going? Have you found any crucial clues? Can you confirm the identity of the deceased?" His tone carried a hint of anticipation.

Zhang Kai walked to the whiteboard, placed the autopsy report on the table, and slowly said, "Captain Lu, everyone, after nearly four hours of comprehensive autopsy and preliminary examination, we have now determined the cause of death, time of death, and some basic characteristics of the deceased. However, unfortunately, the autopsy did not find any key clues to identify the deceased, nor did it find any breakthrough evidence pointing to the suspect. It can only provide a basic basis for subsequent investigations."

Hearing this, Lu Chuan frowned slightly, and the detectives present couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Zhang Kai didn't pause and continued to report in detail: "First, the basic characteristics of the deceased. Based on the autopsy and preliminary test results, the deceased was male, aged 34 to 36, 175.3 cm tall, weighing 62 kg, of medium build, with black, coarse hair about 10 cm long. There were no tattoos, surgical scars, implants, or other special markings. His teeth were normally developed, with no cavities or dentures, and the wear was moderate."

"The deceased was in poor economic condition and was wearing a regular cotton work jacket and synthetic fiber underwear. The jacket had many wears and hand-made patches, and there were no brand logos on the clothes. Only a large amount of oil stains, dust and bloodstains remained. High concentrations of lead and mercury trace elements were detected in the hair, and the stains on the clothes contained rust and paint residue. Combined with a small number of thin calluses on the inside of the palms, it is inferred that the deceased had long been engaged in manual labor related to heavy metals, such as metallurgy, electroplating, and waste recycling, in harsh working environments and with moderate labor intensity."

Regarding the cause of death, Zhang Kai further explained: "The fatal injury to the deceased was a single-edged sharp object laceration to the neck. The wound was 8.2 cm long, 2.3 cm deep on the left side, and 1.1 cm deep on the right side. The edges were clean, with no interstitial bridging, consistent with the characteristics of a right-handed single-edged sharp object being used and the force applied from left to right. The wound reached the front of the cervical spine, completely severing the common carotid artery and internal jugular vein, and causing a tracheotomy, leading to hemorrhagic shock and death. The death process was rapid, with no obvious time spent in pain or struggle."

"There were no other external injuries, fractures, or dislocations on the body, no signs of binding or resistance, no signs of suffocation or poisoning, and the stomach was empty, indicating that the deceased had not eaten for at least 8 hours before death, and the last meal was around noon three days before the incident. There were no organic lesions in any organs, ruling out the possibility of death by disease. Further toxicological testing and histopathological examination will be completed to further verify the relevant inferences."

Regarding the time of death, Zhang Kai provided a precise conclusion: "Based on rigor mortis, livor mortis, wound tissue reaction, gastric emptying, and ambient temperature, it is comprehensively inferred that the deceased died between 8 pm and 10 pm three days before the incident. This coincides with the time when the suspect climbed over the logistics park wall and entered the park, which was around 10 pm, as seen in the surveillance footage. It is speculated that the perpetrator attacked the deceased shortly after entering the park, and the crime scene was an abandoned factory building. The deceased was not moved in the short term after death, making this the primary crime scene."

"Regarding the deductions about the suspect and the modus operandi," Zhang Kai looked at Yang Lin and Yang Sen and added, "the murderer was armed with a single-edged sharp weapon, and the method of committing the crime was swift and efficient, indicating that he may have had some experience in committing crimes or extremely strong psychological qualities; the victim was unprepared and did not resist, so he most likely knew the murderer, or the murderer lured the victim to the abandoned factory in some way; the murderer did a simple cleanup of the bloodstains at the scene after committing the crime, showing some counter-investigation awareness, but did not completely destroy the physical evidence at the scene. The footprints, fingerprints, fibers, hair, and other samples extracted at the scene can corroborate the relevant samples extracted from the autopsy. The murderer was most likely wearing a wool-polyester blend coat, was 178 to 182 centimeters tall, had a slender build, and walked with a slight left-foot pigeon-toed gait and a center of gravity shifted to the left."

Finally, Zhang Kai said sincerely, "Captain Lu, this is all the information the autopsy can provide at the moment. The victim's identity is still uncertain. We have extracted the victim's teeth and DNA samples, and are comparing them with the national missing persons database and DNA database. We have also conducted a comprehensive inspection of the clothing linings and seams, but found no hidden identity information. Regarding the suspect, the autopsy has not found any new physical evidence. We can only rely on the traces and physical evidence collected at the scene, as well as surveillance footage and interviews to make further breakthroughs. We will expedite the progress of toxicology testing, histopathological examination, and sample comparison. We will report to you immediately if there are any new discoveries."

Lu Chuan was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Thank you for your hard work, Zhang Kai. The autopsy was very thorough. Although it didn't yield any breakthrough clues, it improved the basic information and provided a basis for narrowing down our investigation. Continue with the follow-up examinations and be sure to issue a complete autopsy report as soon as possible." (End of Chapter)