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

"Teacher Zhang, the stomach wall is intact, without damage or ulcers; the gastric mucosa is smooth, without bleeding or edema; the stomach volume is moderate, without dilation or abnormal contraction; the intestines are undamaged, without obstruction, and without abnormal secretions. A preliminary assessment indicates no abnormalities in the stomach and intestines." After careful observation, Xiao Lin reported diligently, while simultaneously using scissors to carefully cut open the pylorus of the stomach, preparing to extract a sample of the stomach contents.

“Okay, carefully cut open the stomach wall to avoid spilling the stomach contents. Carefully observe the type and degree of digestion of the stomach contents, and accurately record the quantity and composition of the stomach contents,” Zhang Kai instructed, his tone extremely rigorous. “The degree of digestion of the stomach contents is directly related to the accurate estimation of the time of death. There can be no mistakes, such as the degree of chewing of food, the mixing of digestive juices, and the form of food residue. All of these must be recorded in detail.”

Xiaolin nodded and carefully cut open the stomach wall with scissors, moving gently and slowly to avoid spilling stomach contents and contaminating other organs and the dissection table. After the stomach wall was cut open, the stomach contents were clearly visible. They were semi-liquid, pale yellow in color, odorless, and free of blood or foreign matter. After precise weighing, the total amount of stomach contents was approximately 300 grams.

"Teacher Zhang, the total amount of stomach contents is about 300 grams. It is semi-liquid, pale yellow, and has no odor, blood, or foreign objects. Now, let's carefully observe the composition of the stomach contents." As Xiaolin spoke, she carefully used tweezers to separate the stomach contents, carefully distinguishing the components, while using a magnifying glass to observe the shape and degree of digestion of the food residue.

Zhang Kai leaned closer to observe, and together with Xiao Lin, they identified the components of the stomach contents: "Looking closely, there are three main types of components in the stomach contents. The first type is carbohydrates, with a small amount of rice residue visible. The rice grains are in a semi-digested state, with blurred edges and obvious traces of digestive juices. The shape of the rice can be distinguished, but it has been chewed quite thoroughly, and there are no whole rice grains. The second type is protein, with a small amount of lean meat residue visible. The lean meat is in a minced state, light brown in color, and has completely lost its original shape. It has a high degree of digestion, and can only be identified as lean meat by its texture. There is no fat or animal offal residue. The third type is vegetables, with a small amount of cabbage and carrot residue visible. The cabbage leaves have been digested into minced pieces, and the carrots are in small granules with blurred edges. The degree of digestion is moderate, and there are no other types of vegetables."

"In addition, the stomach contents contained no abnormal ingredients such as alcohol, pesticides, rat poison, or sleeping pills, nor any foreign objects such as hair, plastic, or metal. The secretion of digestive juices was normal, and the stomach contents were evenly mixed with the digestive juices, with no undigested whole food," Zhang Kai continued, speaking with utmost seriousness. "Based on the human digestive cycle, the normal digestion time for rice, lean meat, cabbage, and carrots is 2-3 hours. That is, 2-3 hours after eating, the food will move from the stomach into the intestines, and the stomach contents will be semi-liquid. The degree of digestion is consistent with what we have observed."

Xiaolin quickly recorded the composition, quantity, and degree of digestion of the stomach contents in the autopsy logbook. Simultaneously, using sterile test tubes and petri dishes, she extracted appropriate amounts of stomach contents samples, dividing them into three portions labeled "Stomach contents sample 1, for component analysis," "Stomach contents sample 2, for testing the degree of digestion and estimating the time of death," and "Stomach contents sample 3, for toxicology analysis," and carefully placed them in the sample storage box. "Professor Zhang, the composition, quantity, and degree of digestion of the stomach contents have been recorded in detail. The samples have been collected, labeled, and will be sent to the laboratory simultaneously for expedited testing to further confirm the degree of digestion and the presence of any toxic residues."

“Okay, based on the degree of digestion of the stomach contents, we can further narrow down the time of death,” Zhang Kai analyzed calmly. “The stomach contents were semi-liquid, and the rice, lean meat, cabbage, and carrots were all in a state of partial to complete digestion, with no intact food particles. The digestive juices were evenly mixed, indicating that the deceased’s last meal was about 2.5 hours before death. Combining this with the time of death range inferred from the previous observations of rigor mortis and livor mortis (70-74 hours, i.e., 8 pm to 12 am three days ago), we can preliminarily infer that the deceased’s last meal was between 5:30 pm and 9:30 pm three days ago, and the time of death was between 8 pm and 12 am three days ago. The specific time of death needs to be further refined to within 1-2 hours based on subsequent tests of the degree of digestion of the stomach contents, blood biochemistry tests, and liver tissue pathology examination results.”

"Understood, Professor Zhang!" Xiao Lin suddenly realized and quickly added Zhang Kai's analysis to the autopsy record. "I will highlight the correlation between the degree of digestion of the stomach contents and the time of death. Later, I will combine the laboratory test results to further refine the time of death estimation and ensure that the time of death is accurate. In addition, the deceased's last meal was relatively simple, consisting of rice, lean meat, cabbage, and carrots, which are common home-cooked meals. Could this indicate that the deceased's economic conditions were average or that their eating habits were relatively simple?"

“That’s possible, but we can’t jump to conclusions,” Zhang Kai shook his head and said seriously. “This kind of food is indeed ordinary home-cooked food, which may reflect that the deceased’s economic conditions were average before death, or it may just be a simple eating habit, or the eating environment at the time was limited, such as eating in a small restaurant, a construction site canteen, or cooking for himself. At present, we can only record the composition of the stomach contents as one of the references for subsequent investigation of the deceased’s identity. We cannot infer the deceased’s economic conditions and identity based solely on the composition of the food, so as to avoid judgment errors and affect the case investigation.”

“Okay, Teacher Zhang, I understand,” Xiao Lin nodded, agreeing with Zhang Kai’s view. “I will record the composition of the stomach contents objectively, without adding subjective inferences, and only provide it to the investigation team as clues for investigation.”

After examining the stomach and intestines, the two continued to examine other organs in the abdominal cavity. The pancreas was pale yellow, of normal size, without damage, inflammation, or tumors; the pancreatic duct was unobstructed and without abnormalities. The gallbladder was green, of normal size, without stones, inflammation, or rupture; bile secretion was normal, with no abnormal secretions. The intestines were undamaged, unobstructed, without inflammation or tumors; the intestinal mucosa was smooth, without bleeding, edema, or abnormal secretions, ruling out the possibility of death due to underlying intestinal diseases or intestinal damage.

"The examination of the abdominal organs is complete. All organs are undamaged and without abnormalities, and there are no underlying diseases. The composition of the stomach contents is clear, and the degree of digestion is evident. Relevant samples have been collected," Zhang Kai summarized calmly. "Next, we will open the cranial cavity to examine the brain and its internal structures, checking for any hidden craniocerebral injuries and confirming the possibility of assisting death from craniocerebral injury. At the same time, we will collect brain tissue samples for pathological examination and toxicological analysis to further refine the evidence for identification." (End of Chapter)