You're supposed to be a security officer, what case are you solving?

Chapter 218 Evidence Collection!

Time flies, and it's already the end of April.

It was Friday. Yang Jinwen knocked on the door of the forensic room, and Zhang Lei's voice came from inside: "Come in."

After Yang Jinwen pushed open the door, Zhang Lei, dressed in a white robe and sitting at the table, laughed and said, "Captain Yang, you came once in the morning, once at noon, and now you're coming again just before you're about to leave work. You've visited me three times already!"

Yang Jinwen smiled and asked, "Did I disturb you?"

"I eat dog food every day, how can I not be bothered?" Zhang Lei thought to himself, but he couldn't afford to offend either Yang Jinwen or Wen Ling, so he could only shrug and pretend to be indifferent, saying, "How could that be? Captain He often comes here too."

Yang Jinwen nodded and asked, "Where is the forensic doctor, Wen?"

Didn't I tell you to call her Lingling? And forensic doctor Wen... Zhang Lei pointed to the room inside.

"Thank you." Yang Jinwen nodded.

He pushed open the door and saw Wen Ling standing in front of the sink.

Upon closer inspection, Yang Jinwen saw a severed human hand soaking in the water tank, its skin bluish and wrinkled.

Wen Ling, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, glanced at him and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yang Jinwen shook his head: "Isn't tomorrow the weekend? How about we go out for dinner?"

Wen Ling pushed up the frame of her glasses. Her nose was very upturned, and when she wore glasses, she had a unique charm.

"Just the two of us?"

"And Cat Bro too."

Wen Ling frowned: "Is he a stray cat you adopted?"

"Uh……"

"It's a perfectly good weekend, and he doesn't have a date? Why force him to come along?"

If the cat heard this, its heart would surely shatter: Where am I supposed to go on a date? Go find a female cat?
Yang Jinwen understood: "Then it's just the two of us."

The cat missed out on a delicious meal.

Wen Ling smiled, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

Yang Jinwen was somewhat dazed; Wen Ling was beautiful when she smiled, with neat and white teeth.

Wen Ling raised an eyebrow at him: "How about we eat at your place?"

"No one lives at my house. I only go back once a week, and the house is dirty and messy."

"I've only been to your grandparents' house, but I haven't been to yours yet. So it's decided. We'll have breakfast at your house tomorrow morning. We'll just tidy up the house a bit."

"Then who will cook?"

Wen Ling spread her hands: "If you don't mind, I'll do it?"

"Forget it, I'll do it."

Wen Ling smiled sweetly: "Okay."

Yang Jinwen looked at the severed hand in the sink: "Where was this case from?"

"It was delivered by Captain Jiang from the Jiaxing Criminal Investigation Brigade a week ago."

"The Unidentified Corpse Case?"

"Yes," Wen Ling said as she put on her latex gloves.

She picked up the severed hand, peeled back the skin at the wrist, and then gently tore it off.

The skin was slowly torn off, and soon the skin of a human hand was completely ripped off, just like the latex glove Wen Ling was wearing.

She said, "This is the palm of an adult male. If it were a woman's hand, I probably wouldn't be able to fit into it."

After speaking, Wen Ling put her right hand into the human skin glove and then wiped the water stains dry with a rag.

"Ink pad, cardstock."

Yang Jinwen found the two items and placed them on the table next to him.

Wearing human skin gloves, Wen Ling pressed the red ink onto the cardstock with her thumbs and index fingers, pressing each thumb three times to avoid repeating the action later.

When conventional methods are not available to obtain the fingerprints of the deceased, and given the limited forensic science technology, many forensic doctors operate in this manner.

For example, in cases of highly decomposed corpses, the skin on the fingers may be wrinkled, peeling, and blistering.

The soaking solution also contains 10% formalin to prevent further spoilage, glycerin solution to soften and dehydrate the skin, and sodium hydroxide solution, among other things.

In the future, this would be considered destructive evidence collection, but in this era, it's a routine operation.

At the same time, in a suburban funeral home in Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province.

Zhang Yonggui, dressed in a white robe, took out a key and prepared to open freezer number two.

Standing to one side, Sun Peng shouted to his apprentice, "What are you staring at with those toad eyes? Give me a hand!"

The apprentice quickly ran over and helped Zhang Yonggui pull the freezer out.

As soon as the freezer was pulled out, a blast of cold air wafted out, and the surrounding temperature began to drop.

Sun Peng shuddered as he looked at the unidentified male corpse lying in the cabinet.

Zhang Yonggui said, "This is the body that was delivered on February 13th."

Sun Peng asked, "Has the body been dissected?"

"I didn't dare to do an autopsy without the bureau issuing a notice."

Sun Peng scratched the back of his head and asked again, "Are you sure it was a murder? Not a homeless person?"

Zhang Yonggui rolled his eyes: "He was hit hard on the back of the head and stabbed three times in the lower back. I don't think he was killed. He stabbed himself."

Sun Peng knew the other person was being sarcastic, and sighed, "Do you have an ID card or a wallet?"

"The Banchang Police Station only brought in a body, nothing else. If you have any questions, ask them."

Sun Peng lamented, "Why can't I just live a normal life? Why did I have to get killed?"

Zhang Yonggui touched his nose and said sarcastically, "Was the deceased willing to be killed?"

"What if?" Zhang Yonggui, an experienced forensic doctor, suppressed his temper and said to Sun Peng, "The deceased looked to be in his forties. His back was a little hunched, and there were calluses on his palms and heels. He must have been a farmer all year round."

"anything else?"

Wearing gloves, Zhang Yonggui pried open the deceased's mouth: "His teeth were yellow, which means he must have been smoking welding fumes for many years, the kind without filters."

"anything else?"

"Would you like me to tell you the killer's name?"

Sun Peng smiled and said, "If that's really the case, then you're quite fierce."

Zhang Yonggui waved his hand: "Do you still want to watch? If not, I'm going home."

"Let's go, let's go, we're not watching anymore." Sun Peng scratched his neck.

After leaving the funeral home, the apprentice Yuan Hao asked, "Master, where are we going now?"

"You're always causing trouble, kid. Why do you have so many questions? Of course, you should go to the Banchang Police Station. I'm unlucky too; I was assigned to investigate this unidentified corpse."

Sun Peng got into the car, inserted the key, and started driving.

Yuan Hao had just opened the car door and hadn't even sat down yet when he hurriedly called out, "Master, slow down, I haven't sat down yet."

"You're such a slowpoke, kid. Hurry up!"

Yuan Hao squeezed into the car and slammed the door shut.

Sun Peng turned his head and glared at him fiercely: "Let me tell you, don't get angry with me. If you break the car and the captain scolds me, I'll make trouble for you."

Yuan Hao shrank back and smiled sheepishly, "I'll be more careful next time."

Sun Peng sighed and drove straight to Banqiao Town.

More than an hour later, at the Banqiao Town Police Station.

The director was transferred from another province and speaks with a heavily influenced Mandarin accent, which is essentially Sichuan dialect.

"Captain Sun, what brings you here to hang out?"

Sun Peng sat in his office chair, looking displeased, and replied in broken Mandarin, "It's all because of that body you sent to the funeral home. I've come to find out what happened."

Sun Peng is a squad leader in the Criminal Investigation Detachment of Guangyuan City. He has a bit of a temper and isn't very popular.

He was assigned by his superiors to investigate unidentified corpses; it was obvious to anyone that this was meant to embarrass him.

Every year, countless unidentified corpses are found, and some of them are victims of murder.

To find the murderer, we must first identify the victim and then investigate through interpersonal relationships.

But the issue of identity alone can stump many veteran criminal investigators.

If the deceased was from another province, well, then there's even less we can do.

At that time, the household registration system was not perfect, and communication between counties and cities was also very troublesome. The main way to understand the situation was by phone and fax. If the situation was not clear, you had to make a trip to inquire.

Logically, the police chief's rank should be one level higher than Sun Peng's, but because he was transferred from another province, his tone was not as forceful as that of a superior.

He said, "The body was found on February 13th in a roadside ditch near Banchang Town. It was discovered by a cowherd who saw it by chance, and then the boy's parents came to our station to report it."

Sun Peng asked, "What time is it on the 13th?"

"The case was reported this morning, and the body was discovered around 7:00 AM."

"What was the time of death?"

"Didn't you ask Zhang Yonggui?"

"I forgot to ask him."

The director replied, "After the body was sent to him, he determined the time of the murder based on the livor mortis, and concluded that it occurred on the afternoon of the 12th."

"Besides the body, what else was found at the scene?"

"A bamboo basket, inside which were a hoe, two bundles of noodles, a rattle drum, a candied hawthorn... Oh, and a dirty red cloth strip."

Sun Peng became increasingly interested as he listened, and he immediately asked, "Are you sure it was February 12th when they were murdered?"

The director shrugged: "That's what Zhang Yonggui said."

Sun Peng picked up the desk calendar on the director's desk. It was April. He flipped the calendar forward to the 12th.

After glancing at the lunar calendar time, he frowned and stared at the director.

The director felt uncomfortable under his gaze and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"Why didn't your station investigate such an obvious clue?"

The station chief pointed outside and counted on his fingers: "Come on, let me tell you, there are only six people in my station. Since the Spring Festival, we have handled ten theft cases, one rape case, five fights, and a report that two of their hens were stolen."

In addition, there was a case of a father-in-law committing incest and being beaten to the point of vomiting blood by his son, two cases of harassing women, and three cases of gambling in groups.

"Come on, tell me, am I investigating your case, or am I handling matters within my own jurisdiction?"

Sun Peng touched his nose: "Alright, I'm leaving."

The police chief was still furious: "Hey, don't go, let's talk a little longer. Come on, let me tell you about that case of the father-in-law having an affair..."

Normally, Sun Peng would definitely sit down and listen, but he doesn't have the time now.

As Yuan Hao walked out of the police station, he said, "The police station is full of ridiculous nonsense. To be honest, it's quite interesting to listen to."

"So, I'll transfer you here?"

Yuan Hao backed down: "No way, I'm determined to be a criminal police officer."

Seeing his master's expression relax, he asked, "Master, do you know how to investigate?"

“Of course,” Sun Peng said smugly. “Do you remember what the deceased’s face looked like?”

Yuan Hao thought for a moment and replied, "Round face, single eyelids, thin lips."

“That’s right! The 12th is the 16th day of the first lunar month. It’s market day. Let’s go to town and ask.”

(End of this chapter)