ebookland Chapter 1073 Determining the Time and Cause of Death
Chapter 1073 Determining the Time and Cause of Death
Zhao Qiang's cousin was quickly found; he was a young man who owned a hardware store. The dent in his left rear bumper was caused by backing into a utility pole. "I've never been to any garbage collection station," he said, holding up his purchase order. "I was busy from eight in the morning until midnight that day, and the store's security camera footage can prove it." The retrieved security footage did indeed show him in the store all day, even having his lunch delivered.
The most crucial evidence came from that black thread. After comparing it with other materials, the tech team found that it was exactly the same fabric as Zhao Qiang's cousin's work clothes, but his hoodie was bought two years ago, and the wear on the cuffs was completely different from what was shown in the surveillance footage. "It might be a coincidence," Xiao Wang rubbed his throbbing temples, looking at the two names crossed out on the whiteboard, his heart heavy as if soaked by rain.
The officers then found a third van that matched the description. This van was parked in an underground garage, and the dent in its left rear bumper was identical to the one in the surveillance footage. The driver was a logistics company driver who had been limping in his left leg for years due to gout. "I was delivering goods out of town last Wednesday," he said, showing the toll receipt. "The car keys are in the company drawer; anyone can take them."
The company's surveillance footage confirmed his account, but Xiao Wang noticed that an employee wearing a hat had borrowed the keys on the night of the incident, saying he was going to do some private work. When they found that employee, he was pale and admitted to secretly driving the company car to dump construction waste, but insisted he hadn't been to the scavenger cleanup station. "I dumped it in the wasteland in the suburbs, you can check if you don't believe me!"
Sure enough, the team found the dumped construction debris in the suburbs, and the cement chunks inside matched the composition of the residue on the van. The long, black object was simply a half-used roll of waterproof tarpaulin. After all the clues were ruled out, Xiao Wang stared at the densely packed records on the whiteboard and suddenly felt that the silver-gray van was like a ghost, appearing briefly on the surveillance footage before vanishing without a trace.
“Eliminating suspicion.” He picked up a red pen and drew a big X on the screenshot of the van. The team members sighed wearily. Xiao Zhang kicked the leftover instant noodle container under the table: “We checked seven identical vehicles, three limping drivers, and it was all a coincidence.” Xiao Wang didn’t speak, just looked at the rain outside the window. He knew in his heart that this lead had gone cold, but the bodies at the disposal station were still waiting for them on the autopsy table. The truth must be hidden in some overlooked detail, just like that van that disappeared. Sooner or later, it would be revealed.
As the team wrapped up, Xiao Wang organized the information on the silver-gray van and placed it in a folder labeled "Excluded." The folder was already quite thick, containing countless rejected leads. He closed the folder, the metal clasp clicking shut, as if drawing a period to this futile investigation. But he knew this was only temporary; as long as the case remained unsolved, they would continue investigating, even if it meant checking a hundred, a thousand silver-gray vans.
By the time the car returned to the station, the rain had stopped. Looking at the streetlights gradually coming on outside the window, Xiao Wang suddenly remembered what Lao Li had said: "Wearing such nice shoes to take out the trash, that's not normal." He immediately asked his team to retrieve interior photos of all the vehicles that had been checked, and to carefully examine the drivers' shoes. But after looking at them over and over for a long time, not a single pair were brown leather shoes, and none had severely worn-out left heels. Xiao Wang leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and his mind was filled with images of the van, the limping driver, the black hoodie… These fragments swirled in his mind, but he couldn't piece them together into a complete picture.
Although the silver-gray van had been ruled out as a suspect, Xiao Wang knew this didn't mean the investigation was deadlocked. They still had clues such as the autopsy report, fibers collected at the scene, and shoe prints. He took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and resolved to investigate no matter how difficult it might be, until he found the real killer and brought justice to the deceased.
On the night of the incident, the body was transported back to the Criminal Investigation Division. The exhaust fan in the autopsy room emitted a dull hum, trying to dispel the putrid smell that permeated the air, but with little effect. Zhang Lin was wearing two layers of rubber gloves. As soon as his fingertips touched the skin of the corpse, he felt a greasy, slippery sensation—it was adipocere, produced during the decomposition process, which had solidified into a thin layer on the surface of the body.
“The deceased was male, of medium build,” Zhang Lin’s voice came through the gas mask, carrying a characteristic somber tone. “The decomposition of the body surface is severe, already in the late stage of decomposition. The skin is dark green all over, with multiple putrefactive blisters and peeling skin.” He picked up a compass and measured the length of the body. “172 centimeters in length, and the weight is estimated to be around 65 kilograms. The exact values need to be confirmed after removing the effects of decomposition gases.”
Assistant Xiaolin took notes, her pen moving quickly across the autopsy record: "Teacher Zhang, look at his eyes. His cornea is completely cloudy, and there are putrefactive hemorrhages on the sclera."
Zhang Lin gently lifted the deceased's eyelids with tweezers. The milky white cornea resembled frosted glass, with no trace of the pupil visible. "This is a typical characteristic of late-stage decomposition," he explained. "The corneal opacity has reached the highest level, indicating that the time of death has been considerable. Xiao Lin, make a note of this: the cornea is completely opaque, and there is putrefactive hemorrhage in the sclera."
His gaze shifted to the corpse's head, the hair already sticky and mushy from the putrid liquid. "Check the head for any external injuries first," Zhang Lin said, picking up the scalpel, its blade gleaming coldly under the light. "Be careful to avoid areas where putrid gases accumulate, so as not to interfere with the observation." As the blade cut into the scalp, an even stronger stench assaulted his nostrils, causing Zhang Lin to involuntarily frown and instinctively take a half-step back.
“Stay calm, this is normal when dissecting a decomposing corpse,” Zhang Lin said without looking up, his fingers probing under the scalp. “There are no obvious fracture marks on the surface of the skull, but there is a soft tissue contusion in the occipital region, about 3x4 centimeters in size, with irregular edges.” He gently touched it with a probe. “It’s about 0.5 centimeters deep. Judging from the shape, it looks like it was caused by a blunt force trauma, but further examination of the inside of the skull is needed.”
The process of sawing open the skull was extremely difficult. The putrefactive gases created pressure within the cranial cavity, and the moment the skull was pried open, a stream of dark green, foamy liquid gushed out, splashing onto the edge of the dissection table. Zhang Lin quickly used a suction device to remove the liquid, revealing the softening brain tissue.
“The brain tissue is severely decomposed, it’s already like a paste,” Zhang Lin sighed. “We’ll extract samples from the hippocampus and brainstem and send them for tissue section examination to see if we can find any valuable information.” He carefully picked up a small amount of brain tissue with tweezers and put it into a specimen bottle. The formalin liquid immediately became cloudy.