Free Web NovelChapter 241: Chapter 238 Cervical Dislocation_1
Liu Yufei raised her hand toward the upper floor and let out a sigh of helpless resignation, her voice carrying an extreme fatigue.
"The lab upstairs it is. As soon as there’s a case, our boss winds up like a spring. He seems to never tire. Alright, here’s your stuff. I’m going to find a place to rest for a bit. The boss is currently talking with two financial investigation experts upstairs. Seems like they’ve discovered some detailed issues in the accounts."
Zhou Ning raised an eyebrow. Although he was eager to listen in, he knew what he urgently needed to do now was to go to the autopsy.
"Mrs. Liu, you can rest here. I’ll call someone to prepare, and start the autopsy to save you from the boss coming over to hurry us later."
Liu Yufei smiled and lay down on the couch, closing her eyes.
Zhou Ning took off his coat, put on a white lab coat, and was holding the file without having left when Mr. Zhao pushed the door open and came in. He immediately spotted Liu Yufei on the couch, his eyes grew round, and covering his mouth, he pointed at Zhou Ning, then at Liu Yufei.
Zhou Ning gave him a dismissive glance and headed straight out the door, while Mr. Zhao hurriedly followed, carefully closing the door and whispering in Zhou Ning’s ear.
"Tell me, what’s got her so down? Have you changed your tastes, starting to fancy older women? Let me tell you, Mrs. Liu is a sanshou champion, you know. With your tiny frame, she could knock you down with a single finger."
"What do you keep thinking about all day? Hurry up and check if Zhu Xingxing and the others have arrived." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Mr. Zhao shrank his neck, relieved to see Zhou Ning so serious, was just about to grab his phone when he saw Zhu Xingxing, Yang Xuetong, and Sun Gaotie come upstairs laughing and talking together.
Mr. Zhao waved his hand dismissively.
"Saved the phone bill, hurry up and follow me to prepare for the autopsy."
Zhou Ning raised his hand, stopping Sun Gaotie.
"Gao Tie, go to Mrs. Cui and check if Cui Haibin submitted any blood samples for examination between February 14th and 15th, 2009. The deceased’s name is Zhang Yinan. If found, ask Mrs. Cui to retrieve all of Cui Haibin’s test results from those two days. I think this should be on record."
Sun Gaotie immediately headed to the laboratory department, while Zhou Ning and the others went directly downstairs. Zhu Xingxing ran to inform the personnel in charge of the defrosting to send the body to Autopsy Room No. 2.
After everyone had changed into their gear, the body had already been brought in, and the person pointed at the thin covering on the body and said,
"Team Leader Zhou, we didn’t dare to touch the external wrapping material, after all, it’s been super low-temperature frozen for quite a long time; we were worried that if we uncovered it, the deceased’s skin might fall off and affect your judgment."
Zhou Ning smiled and nodded. Mr. Zhao had already clasped the man’s shoulder—Zhou Ning recognized him but didn’t know his name.
"Thank you, Mr. Huang, for your experience."
Mr. Huang happily pushed the cart away, and at this moment, Zhu Xingxing had started to carry out the X-ray scan. Ever since Autopsy Room No. 2 was equipped with the helical scanner provided by the laboratory, they had been able to quickly get a 3D image of all the bones in the body, which is much clearer and more accurate than plain X-rays.
In a moment, the deceased’s skeletal image appeared on the big screen. Zhou Ning moved the mouse and examined it closely. The fractures in the limbs and head were extremely severe, with the right side of the skull completely collapsed and some fragments having entered the cranial cavity.
The skeleton of the limbs was not as simple as Cui Haibin’s autopsy report mentioned. How to say it? It was practically shattered to bits, with bones completely protruding through the skin in many places; all the ribs on the right side were broken, piercing into the lungs and heart.
Such injuries could result in instant death. Generally speaking, the right side of the deceased had been smashed to pulp, a mix of bone and flesh.
As Zhou Ning enlarged the image, he noticed that the second and third vertebrae of the deceased’s neck were misaligned. Misalignment of the cervical vertebrae in a fall from height was common.
However, this misalignment was peculiar, shifting from left to right.
Zhou Ning closed his eyes and gestured with his hands the posture of the deceased.
The majority of the fractures were on the right side. Analyzing the position of all the fractures, the deceased would have landed on the right side first, with the right arm raised and the left arm covering the chest, the left leg bent and the right leg extended.
If she had landed in this position, even if there was a cervical misalignment, it should have shifted to the left, but now it was the complete opposite.
Zhou Ning opened his eyes, his face suddenly grave. If previously there were only suspicions, now, based solely on the misalignment of the cervical vertebra, he could determine that Zhang Yinan’s death was definitely not as simple as a suicide by jumping from a building.
"What’s up with Zhou Xiaozhou?"
Mr. Zhao noticed something off in Zhou Ning’s gaze and quickly leaned in.
Zhou Ning shook his head and waved at Yang Xuetong and the others.
"Go prepare a watering can and saline, 0.9% is fine. Carefully wet the thin blanket, soak it thoroughly, then proceed with peeling it off."
Upon these instructions, everyone sprang into action. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Before long, Yang Xuetong had returned with two plastic buckets of saline solution he had obtained from the laboratory. Mr. Zhao took the several spray bottles that Zhu Xingxing had found, rinsed and disinfected them, and started filling them up one by one.
After that, the group began to continuously spray the thin quilt with saline solution, and after about half an hour, Zhou Ning carefully lifted a corner of the quilt. The deceased’s feet easily came apart, followed by his legs.
It was only upon opening this did they discover a cloth bundle on top, which contained the deceased’s clothing and shoes. It seemed Chen Wenchi was quite thorough, and after a good deal of effort, they had finally removed the quilt entirely.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, as the entire body of the deceased, Zhang Yinan, was now revealed to them, preserved in very good condition. Chen Wenchi’s methods were indeed commendable, and it was also thanks to his consulting with professionals.
Mr. Zhao nodded at Zhou Ning and turned on the recording equipment, then began to introduce the identity of the deceased, the estimated time of death, and the details of the case.
As for the reason for the autopsy, he glanced at Zhou Ning and stated plainly that it was the deceased’s family’s request, leaving no stone unturned.
When he finished, Zhou Ning pulled over the LED lamp with a magnifying glass and carefully examined the facial injuries of the deceased, as well as his head. The right temporal area and part of the right side of the deceased’s face had completely collapsed, looking quite horrific.
Next, Zhou Ning turned toward the neck of the deceased and gently lifted his lower jaw, feeling that the deceased’s jawbone was also broken. This action caused the body’s face to only lift towards the left side.
There were no bruises on the deceased’s neck, nor any traces of finger grips. Zhou Ning frowned slightly.
If the cervical vertebrae were displaced to such an extent without gripping or pinching the neck, then how was it done?
Zhou Ning’s mind flashed back to a corpse he had handled during a nocturnal torture session. That child also had his cervical spine twisted, with no visible marks of gripping or strangling on the neck. However, there were four faint bruises under the ears and in the scalp at the base of the skull. The perpetrator had held the deceased from behind the shoulders, another hand turning the victim’s head quickly to one side with great force, causing a complete dislocation of the child’s cervical spine.
The way Zhang Yinan’s cervical spine was displaced was consistent with that child’s condition, not something that could be caused by a single traumatic event from a fall.
With this in mind, Zhou Ning did not proceed with a conventional dissection right away, but instead moved directly to the head of the deceased and gestured to Zhu Xingxing, who, after a moment’s hesitation, handed over a scalpel.
Mr. Zhao kicked Zhu Xingxing’s shoe lightly and gestured with a chin lift. After muttering silently for a moment, Zhu Xingxing realized that Zhou Ning intended to shave the deceased’s head.
Looking at the state of the deceased’s crushed head, she shuddered slightly and quickly passed over the razor, striving to focus her attention.
Zhou Ning quickly shaved the head of the deceased, catching the falling hair in a large bag below. Once the hair was cleared away, he pulled over the LED lamp with a magnifying glass again and scrutinized the area behind the deceased’s left ear and the scalp.
With no visible bruising or finger marks on the surface, Zhou Ning’s brow furrowed further, unable to believe that his judgment was wrong.
Such force to cause dislocation of the victim’s cervical spine would surely leave a mark. Could it be that the injury wasn’t obvious due to the short time since the injury occurred?
Seeing Zhou Ning pause, no one dared to speak. At that moment, the door to the autopsy room opened, and Xu Dayuan and Liu Yongxin entered. Seeing they were in the midst of an autopsy, Liu Yongxin tugged at Xu Dayuan’s sleeve, who then quietly approached with him.
Zhou Ning looked up to see Liu Yongxin and nodded at him. Liu Yongxin came over and whispered,
"What’s the matter, apprentice?"
"Master, according to the scan I found, the deceased’s cervical vertebrae in the second and third segments are dislocated from left to right. This doesn’t match the injuries caused by a fall. I think someone twisted the deceased’s head with great force, causing the injury. However, there are no finger marks on the left side of the scalp or the back of the neck. Could it be that it happened too shortly?"
Liu Yongxin did not lean in closer but instead stepped back to examine the head of the deceased, then came back to Zhou Ning’s side, still speaking in a low voice,
"From a distance, it seems there might be horizontal abrasions, but it’s hard to tell. You can cut it open and take a look. Sometimes injuries aren’t visible on the surface but can be observed underneath. I think your judgment is correct."
Zhou Ning nodded vigorously, encouraged by Liu Yongxin’s affirmation. Without hesitation, he scraped the deceased’s scalp and neck skin, handed it to Zhu Xingxing, and then made an incision with the scalpel across the deceased’s scalp.
He pulled back with force, and the deceased’s scalp was flipped over. Xu Dayuan flinched at the sight.
Both Liu Yongxin and Zhou Ning bent down slightly, looking at the underside of the scalp.
As expected, they saw three faint subcutaneous hemorrhages on the inside. Flipping it back, Zhou Ning marked the outline of the subcutaneous hemorrhage with a pen.
Mr. Zhao hurried over to take pictures, everyone was excited; finding this was at least proof that Zhang Yinan’s death was not suicide. As for who the murderer was, that was still unknown.
Zhou Ning sighed, asking Zhu Xingxing to inspect the external genitalia of the deceased as he began a quick autopsy. The deceased’s stomach was empty, and his heart, liver, and intestines had been pierced by his ribs. Samples were taken from various locations.
Zhou Ning even attempted multiple times to extract less than two milliliters of cardiac blood. The deceased had lost an extraordinary amount of blood due to his severe injuries, and finding even this small amount was incredibly fortunate.
However, there was a scrape on the back of Zhang Yinan’s right hand, which puzzled Zhou Ning. After all, the point of impact was the roof of a vehicle where nothing rough was present. Even if there had been an injury, it would usually be a cut or puncture, not an irregular abrasion like one sustained by scraping against the ground.
After passing the items for testing to Mr. Zhao, Zhou Ning recorded the cause of death and injuries one by one. Following that, Mr. Zhao turned off the recording equipment, and Xu Dayuan quickly crowded in close.
"Did the autopsy reveal something?"
