Free Web NovelChapter 248: Chapter 245 Teratoma_1
Zhou Ning smiled.
That sentence touched him so much he wanted to cry. frёeωebɳovel.com
He was a police officer, not a desperado, and now he was going to prove that this man was Wang Guanli, not some military attaché from the Sapporo Embassy spouting nonsense.
Zhou Ning waved his hand, leading the members of the second group as they quickly left.
Of course, Yang Xuetong had already taken photos of the body downstairs and called for a vehicle to transport it.
Once they entered the door of the technology department, Liu Yongxin was already standing at the entrance. Seeing Zhou Ning come down, he grabbed Zhou Ning’s wrist and, noticing it was still bleeding, kicked Mr. Zhao.
"Is that a hand or a hoof? You can’t even wrap it properly."
Mr. Zhao chuckled sheepishly.
"Don’t be mad, uncle, I was in a hurry! I told Zhou Ning to go get some stitches from Mr. He, but he refused, insisting on coming back for the autopsy first. I couldn’t stop him."
Liu Yongxin waved his hand.
"Let’s go, I’m joining you in the autopsy room. This time I’ll be my apprentice’s assistant. Hurry up and get ready. Get over here, and I’ll re-wrap your hand for you."
Zhou Ning didn’t say a word, following Liu Yongxin into the changing room. The wound was reopened and redressed with a new dressing, which was far more comfortable than the dumpling-like wrapping done by Mr. Zhao earlier.
Liu Yongxin handed Zhou Ning a bottle of medicine.
"Drink this first, it’s a traditional Chinese medicine for tetanus. I still have one bottle left from the prescription I wrote before. The autopsy will take several hours."
"Thank you, Master!"
After Zhou Ning had finished, Liu Yongxin threw away the empty bottle.
"Let’s go. Your master will be with you for the autopsy. Don’t worry, you aren’t fighting alone. I’m always behind you, and not just me but Mr. Zhao, Xu Da, and the rest. All of us are with you."
Standing in front of the autopsy table, for a moment, Zhou Ning’s mind went blank.
He couldn’t describe his feelings at that moment. Wang Guanli was dead, and Zhou Ning didn’t feel relieved but rather lost, as if he had no target. Like Wang Guanli said, Zhou Ning knew that his parents’ death must involve many parties, and there might even be more unbearable reasons behind it.
But what exactly had happened back then?
What was the truth? freēwēbηovel.c૦m
No one knew, especially since the only lead, Wang Guanli, was also dead. He had deliberately taken the secrets to his grave; even if Zhou Ning had begged him, he still wouldn’t have spoken, so Zhou Ning hadn’t begged him.
Wang Guanli knew that from the moment the police traced it to the Guanghai Pharmaceutical Group, he was a discarded pawn. Whether it was Ren Guangzhi or Ren Jingmin, these were all cannon fodder used in the end to fill holes. The real power that could manipulate everything had already evacuated.
And Wang Guanli was the person to end it all. His death would also successfully escalate the case into a political event, becoming a major incident affecting the relations between the two countries. Zhou Ning took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
At the twentieth floor, Xu Dayuan had stood in front of him, throwing himself at Wang Guanli recklessly, even risking his life to extricate some truth, and Mr. Zhao had been protecting him all along. Back at the technical department, though his master didn’t offer comfort, he provided Zhou Ning with the greatest understanding and companionship.
Zhou Ning sniffed. He couldn’t lose control. Opening his eyes, Liu Yongxin was standing by his side, silently, without saying much. Zhou Ning turned towards Mr. Qu.
"Pull up all the available data on Wang Guanli from back then. I want fingerprints, blood test results, dental records, photos, height, weight, and so on. All the digital data that can prove his characteristics, the more detailed the better."
Mr. Qu was not panicked; his fingers danced across several computers.
The door to the autopsy room rang as Sun Gaotie and the others had already brought in the body. As they entered, Yang Xuetong, who was last, raised his hand to Zhou Ning, pointing to the body-worn camera on his chest, which obviously had not been turned off.
Zhou Ning gave him a thumbs up, an absolutely wise move.
Once the gurney was next to the autopsy table, the team carefully lifted the body bag and gently placed the body on the table. However, the body bag underneath had to be cut open since the body had landed face up on the pavement.
He hadn’t fallen onto a car roof that could have cushioned the fall; Wang Guanli had smashed directly onto a parking spot, the body had to be scraped from the ground. Seeing this state, Zhou Ning squinted his eyes.
Wang Guanli had done this deliberately. Even if he didn’t have enough time to erase all his traces, if he had, he would have blown up the entire building to destroy his body and evidence.
After the body was arranged, Mr. Zhao and Yang Xuetong were already sweating. Both looked towards Zhou Ning.
Zhou Ning gestured with his hand, signaling Mr. Zhao to start recording the video. After all, the recording from Yang Xuetong’s camera had been seamless so far; now they had to follow procedure even more closely.
Mr. Zhao was quick with his words, swiftly introducing Wang Guanli’s identity, time, and place of suicide, then stepped aside.
Zhou Ning and Liu Yongxin, one on each side, watched as Zhu Xingxing came over and took a three-dimensional X-ray. Zhou Ning pushed his glasses up with his forearm and turned his gaze to the large screen. Following the fractures shown on the screen, he checked each one in turn.
"Upon X-ray and external examination, it was found that the deceased had a depressed skull fracture at the occipital region, with the depression encompassing one-third of the skull. There were four dislocations and fractures in the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, and multiple comminuted fractures of both legs’ tibiae, fibulae, and femurs. There was a longitudinal scratch on the left femur, an old injury.
Comminuted fractures of the pelvis were observed, along with evidence of an old fracture on the right humerus. There was a gunshot wound at the right elbow, and multiple fractures on the ribs’ dorsal side, puncturing the lungs, spleen, and liver. The cause of death was traumatic severe cranioencephral injuries.
However, the deceased was born missing a lobe of the left lung, and there was a shadow about seven centimeters in size on the lower lobe, with dense interstitial tissues, suspected to be a tumor."
At this point, Zhou Ning looked at Mr. Zhao.
"Mr. Zhao, please collect the deceased’s fingerprints. Doctor Zhu, collect a sample of the deceased’s cardiac blood."
Both men began to move quickly. Mr. Zhao was quite successful, rapidly collecting fingerprints and then sending them to Mr. Qu. Doctor Zhu had trouble with the cardiac blood for quite some time until Liu Yongxin finally took over and managed to get it.
By now, Mr. Qu had found the archived fingerprint information. As soon as a single fingerprint from the index finger was entered into the comparison frame, the machine started to buzz. Every new entry resulted in another buzz, clearly indicating successful matches.
Mr. Qu quickly printed out these results and presented them to Zhou Ning.
"Doctor Zhou, I’ve just found the fingerprint information of the executed criminal Wang Guanli in the system and discovered that it matches completely with our deceased. It can be confirmed that the deceased is Wang Guanli."
Zhou Ning nodded, feeling a relief at this answer. The successful fingerprint comparison confirmed Wang Guanli’s identity, but more evidence was still needed.
"When the fingerprints of the convicted were collected before the execution, were there any photographic evidence preserved for verification?"
Mr. Qu lifted his laptop, showing a picture on the screen. Wang Guanli’s hand was pressed on a piece of paper, he looked sideways towards the screen and was holding up a fingerprint collection board. The picture was very clear and was itself sufficient for comparison.
"The records from back then were quite comprehensive, although no DNA information was preserved; after all, DNA collection was not yet widespread at the time."
"Didn’t the convicted undergo a physical examination before the execution, including X-rays or other medical reports?"
Upon hearing this, Mr. Qu hurriedly began to search. He acted even more swiftly this time, uploading images directly to the large screen. Zhou Ning looked up and saw the images and diagnostic content, squinting his eyes. Indeed, there were unique findings.
Mr. Qu said excitedly:
"Wang Guanli was born missing a lobe of his left lung and also had a double gallbladder."
Zhou Ning gave Mr. Qu an ’OK’ gesture, then took the scalpel.
"Alright, let’s begin the autopsy!"
Opening the deceased’s thorax and abdomen, and separating the sternum and ribs, despite the severe internal organ damage, it was clearly evident that the deceased’s left lung had only two lobes, and there was a noticeable protrusion on the lower lobe. Zhou Ning signaled to Mr. Zhao.
Liu Yongxin quickly tightened the retractor, and Mr. Zhao clicked away, taking photos from various angles. Only after capturing the images did Zhou Ning remove Wang Guanli’s lung and place it on a tray. Zhou Ning then cut open the protruding area.
A large clump of hair, muscle tissue, teeth, and some gelatinous material was encased within a cystic region. Zhu Xingxing shivered, Liu Yongxin frowned, and Zhou Ning said slowly:
"Teratoma, the deceased had a lung teratoma, but these usually develop between the ages of 20-30. Given its location, it would affect breathing, especially since the deceased was already missing a lobe of lung, which could obscure symptoms. The lesion was a dark area less than a centimeter in size in the 1994 X-ray, so it appears the teratoma developed only recently."
Liu Yongxin agreed with Zhou Ning’s assessment and nodded.
"This teratoma is immature and highly malignant. Depending on the contents, it’s impossible to determine if there is any neural epithelial tissue inside. Laboratory analysis will be needed for that. However, comparing it to the pre-execution X-rays, this development process matches."
Zhou Ning remained silent, continuing the procedure, locating the deceased’s liver and gallbladder. Indeed, there was a double gallbladder. This time Mr. Zhao didn’t have to be asked; he quickly stepped forward to take photos. With these several distinctive features matching, the deceased’s identity was irrefutable.
After completing the final part of the autopsy, Zhou Ning looked up, and Zhu Xingxing came over to take over the suturing. When everything was finished, Zhou Ning quickly summarized, and Mr. Zhao then turned off the recording equipment.
Ripping off his gloves, cap, and mask, Zhou Ning leaned on the dissection table, bowing his head slightly. Liu Yongxin patted Zhou Ning’s hand, signaling Yang Xuetong to arrange for transportation of the body.
"Hurry and send the body to refrigeration. Zhu Xingxing, organize the autopsy process just now and finalize the report. Mr. Zhao, go ahead with the submission for testing, and remember to have a good talk with the lab."
Everyone acted separately, and Mr. Qu also went upstairs. After all, he was not comfortable using the computers here and preferred his own home. Today’s autopsy videos and photos needed to be compared and displayed against the 1994 pre-execution medical examination. After all, this case was far-reaching.
The spacious autopsy room number two had quieted down. The body had been sent away, leaving only Zhou Ning and Liu Yongxin.
"Can you still bear it?" Liu Yongxin patted Zhou Ning’s shoulder. "There’s no one here now. Do you want to cry for a bit?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"There’s no need. Although there’s a sense of loss in my heart and I feel regretful, I can still control my emotions. Wang Guanli wants me to feel distressed, hoping that I lose control, even suspecting my father’s superior.
I’ve thought about these things without him saying it, just like the list tied to this case. There are always people who forget their original dreams and pursue their own desires to do certain things.
Yet, there are still people like Mr. Hu, Mr. Xu, and Professor Li who exist. I won’t live with resentment, after all, my parents fought for my life, but the investigation of this case might just stop at the level of Guanghai Pharmaceutical Group."
