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

At 8:40 PM, following Lu Chuan's unified plan, the on-site duty team and the forensic team completed the handover. The body was properly placed into a special sealed transport bag and loaded onto a dedicated transport vehicle from the forensic identification center. Zhang Kai, the forensic pathologist in charge of the autopsy, sat in the back of the transport vehicle, his gaze fixed intently on the transport bag beside him. He clutched a copy of the preliminary crime scene investigation report, repeatedly reviewing crucial information such as bloodstain distribution and sharp instrument marks. Zhang Kai has worked as a forensic pathologist for twelve years, participating in autopsies and forensic examinations in over a hundred homicide cases. With his precise autopsy techniques, rigorous logical analysis, and rich practical experience, he has provided crucial clues for solving numerous cases and is recognized as a "forensic backbone" within the criminal investigation detachment. Sitting next to him was his assistant, Xiao Lin, who had only been with the forensic team for two years. He graduated from a key medical university with a major in forensic medicine and had a solid theoretical foundation. He was meticulous and conscientious in his work. After two years of training, he was able to skillfully assist Zhang Kai in completing various tasks such as autopsy, sample collection, and record filing. His only shortcoming was that he lacked practical experience. Whenever he performed an autopsy on a major homicide case, he would always be a little nervous in terms of the details.

"Xiao Lin, read the key points of the crime scene investigation report to me again, especially the descriptions of the body's condition and traces at the scene. Make sure the autopsy results match the crime scene investigation findings precisely." Zhang Kai's deep and meticulous voice broke the silence in the transport vehicle. He knew that tonight's autopsy was crucial. The crime scene investigation had preliminarily determined that the deceased died from a stab wound to the chest and excessive blood loss, but the specific time of death, details of the fatal wound, the precise characteristics of the murder weapon, and whether there were other potential injuries all needed to be further confirmed through the autopsy. It might even uncover clues missed during the crime scene investigation, pointing the way for solving the case.

Xiao Lin immediately straightened up, took the report from Zhang Kai, and read it aloud earnestly: "Teacher Zhang, the on-site investigation report shows that the deceased was male, lying supine on the ground in the center of the main room of an empty farmhouse at the west end of Lucao Gou Village, head facing north, feet facing south, limbs naturally extended, body slightly leaning to the left. He was wearing a black long-sleeved cotton T-shirt with a large area of ​​dark red stain on the chest, approximately 30 x 25 cm, with no damage to the collar or cuffs; he was wearing dark blue jeans, without any tears or bloodstains; he was wearing black socks and no shoes." Beneath the body was an irregularly shaped oval pool of blood, 80 cm long, 60 cm wide, and 0.5-1 cm thick, with dripping and wiping bloodstains around the perimeter. Several size 43 diamond-patterned rubber sole shoe prints were recovered from the scene, presumably left by the suspect. Evidence including carbon steel metal residue, metal fragments, and cigarette butts was also recovered, with the preliminary assessment that the murder weapon was a carbon steel single-edged knife, approximately 12 cm long and 0.8 cm wide. No identification documents were found, making it impossible to confirm the victim's identity, and no clear leads pointing directly to the suspect have been found.

“Remember these details,” Zhang Kai nodded slightly, his tone serious as he instructed, “During the autopsy, we’ll focus on three core aspects: First, accurately estimate the time of death. This involves not only considering rigor mortis, livor mortis, and body temperature, but also corroborating this with evidence from the degree of digestion of stomach contents, blood biochemistry tests, and liver tissue pathology analysis, ensuring the time of death is accurate to the hour. Second, clarify the cause of death and details of the fatal wound. Carefully examine the depth, angle, and shape of the chest wound, analyze the specific characteristics of the murder weapon, and comprehensively examine internal organs such as the heart and lungs to confirm whether there are other injuries and rule out the possibility of multiple causes of death. Third, thoroughly examine all parts of the body, including body surface features, internal organs, bones, and brain, collecting various samples such as blood, stomach contents, liver, kidneys, and brain tissue. On the one hand, this will cooperate with the laboratory for DNA and toxicology analysis, and on the other hand, we will look for clues that may be used to confirm the identity of the deceased, such as dental characteristics, bone development, and foreign objects in the body.”

"Understood, Teacher Zhang!" Xiaolin nodded vigorously, already gripping the dissection record book and pen in his hand, ready to record in advance. "I have already checked the equipment in the dissection room. The shadowless lamp, dissection table, refrigerator, etc. are all working properly. The dissection tools and sample collection containers have also been sterilized. The laboratory is also ready to receive our collected samples for expedited testing at any time."

At 9:10 PM, the transport vehicle arrived at the Forensic Identification Center of the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment. Zhang Kai and Xiao Lin, dressed in full sterile forensic protective gear—disposable sterile masks, protective suits, sterile gloves, and protective shoe covers—then, accompanied by two assistants, carefully transferred the body to the autopsy room and placed it on a dedicated autopsy table. The autopsy room was a sterile environment with the room temperature controlled at 22°C. The all-around shadowless lights illuminated the autopsy table as if it were daytime. Various autopsy tools, including scalpels, hemostatic forceps, tweezers, scissors, rib shears, skull saws, tissue forceps, measuring cups, and graduated test tubes, were neatly arranged on both sides of the table, all of which had been autoclaved. In the sample collection area on one side of the autopsy table, sealed bags, sterile test tubes, petri dishes, and labels were neatly categorized, ready for sample collection and storage.

“Begin the preliminary preparations before the dissection,” Zhang Kai said to Xiao Lin, standing beside the dissection table with his eyes focused on the corpse. “First, measure the body surface temperature, rigor mortis, and livor mortis, and record the basic data. Then, conduct a comprehensive examination of the body surface, check the on-site investigation records, and confirm whether there are any discrepancies. After that, we will begin the formal dissection. Make sure to record and photograph the entire process. Every detail, every operation, and every sample collected must be recorded accurately without any omissions.”

"Received, Teacher Zhang!" Xiao Lin immediately took action, first taking out an electronic thermometer to accurately measure the rectal and liver temperatures of the corpse, while also recording the ambient temperature of the autopsy room. "Teacher Zhang, the ambient temperature is 22℃, the rectal temperature of the corpse is 21.6℃, and the liver temperature is 20.9℃, which is about 15.9℃ lower than the normal human body temperature (36.5-37.5℃). Combined with the early autumn night temperature (about 18-20℃), it is preliminarily determined that the corpse is in the late stage of post-mortem cooling."

Zhang Kai nodded, then gently pressed on the corpse's jaw joint, neck, upper limbs, and lower limbs to check for rigor mortis: "Make a note: rigor mortis has spread throughout the body. The jaw joint is fixed and cannot move. The elbows and wrists of the upper limbs, and the knees and ankles of the lower limbs are all stiff, with no obvious loosening when pressed. The intensity of rigor mortis has reached its peak. The livor mortis is dark red, located on the back, waist, buttocks, and unpressed areas of the limbs. The borders of the livor mortis are clear, and the color does not fade when pressed, indicating that the livor mortis has entered the fixed stage. Combining the state of the corpse's coldness, rigor mortis, and livor mortis, the preliminary estimate of the time of death is between 70 and 74 hours, that is, between 8 pm and 12 am three days ago. However, the exact time needs to be further confirmed by considering the degree of digestion of the stomach contents and subsequent laboratory test results." (End of this chapter)