Free Web NovelChapter 442: Chapter 416: Anonymous_1
Mr. Zhao shuddered with disgust.
"Zhu Xingxing, that’s enough. Can you please not misuse words? Enjoying a spa hydrotherapy? Ah, Zhou Xiaozhou, control her."
Zhou Ning glanced at the two of them; both immediately toned down their behavior. They were aware that Zhou Ning wasn’t a stern person, but in the autopsy room, they were expected to respect the deceased. Their just concluded actions had been dangerously inappropriate.
Having composed themselves, they quickly stood by the second highly decomposed body’s dissection table. Zhou Ning waved his hand.
"Mr. Qu has already scanned it, right? Display the images for me to see. Mr. Zhao and Mr. Yang, continue to remove the clothing from this second body. Be careful this time when cutting; don’t move it randomly. Place a disposable sterile sheet underneath. We will start the external autopsy directly; every detail must be photographed."
As instructed, Mr. Qu had already displayed the three-dimensional skeletal diagram on the large screen - the screen that was as big as the eastern wall, installed a month before by Qin University.
The three-dimensional skeleton of the deceased was fully presented before their eyes. With Mr. Qu’s operation, the view zoomed in on different parts. Zhou Ning carefully examined it and found that, apart from the missing hand bones and the left radius, there were no signs of fractures on the rest of the skeleton. There were some signs of scalp avulsion.
Thinking of the dagger found beneath the deceased, Zhou Ning turned his head to Zhu Xingxing.
"Were any fingerprints found on the dagger?"
"No, there were no fingerprints on the dagger, but there were impressions from a corded glove. Moreover, it’s all marred by decomposition fluids. It has been sent for examination, but it’s uncertain if there will be any findings."
Zhou Ning nodded his head; by then, the clothing on the second deceased had been entirely cleared away, and the surroundings were covered with disposable sterile drapes. However, the severity of decay on this body made it a much more shocking sensory experience compared to the first.
The skin and flesh on the legs were relatively intact, except for the ankle area where the decay had exposed the bones. The upper arms were almost completely skeletal, the tissues had separated and scattered inside the sleeves. However, around the elbow of the left arm, a flesh-colored stocking-like object fifteen centimeters long was seen wrapped around the flesh.
Seeing this, Zhou Ning waved over to his side, and Mr. Zhao hurriedly brought over the LED magnifying glass. Zhou Ning examined it closely, picked it up with tweezers and gave it a tug. As he pulled the stocking-like object, it slid directly toward the direction of the humerus.
With such a snap, a burst of decomposing fluids splattered out, a few drops hit the lens of the LED magnifying lens. Zhu Xingxing was just about to wipe it away when Zhou Ning stopped her, because as it snapped open, he spotted a tubular object that also popped out, which was then pulled out entirely with the tweezers.
"Eh? Was this for chemotherapy?"
The others appeared never to have seen this before, but Liu Yongxin, having seen a lot, knew what it was. Zhou Ning nodded.
"This is a PICC line implanted in the arm. The cost ranges from 700 to 2000. If it was a chest catheter, it would cost between 4000 to 10000. It looks like the second deceased was undergoing chemotherapy." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Zhou Ning did not touch the tube anymore; after all, the external examination of the body wasn’t finished. Pushing the LED magnifying glass away, he moved directly to the trunk of the deceased. The chest and abdominal area were severely decomposed, giving a muddy impression inside the abdominal cavity. Most of the intestines were missing, the remnants were mixed and no longer distinguishable.
Zhou Ning didn’t rush but observed carefully. He found some remaining tissues attached to the clothing right under the edge of the ribs on the right side. Turning it over, he could see surgical sutures with evidence of overgrowth, although the suturing was quite perfect and the needle marks were hard to spot.
Seeing this, Zhou Ning immediately bent down to examine the interior of the abdominal cavity more closely and patiently searched. He saw about half of the liver remained, primarily with animal scratch marks. Aside from that, surgical traces could be observed.
As for the chest cavity framework, there was no change. On the collapsed remaining tissues of the torso, no puncture or incision wounds were found. Zhou Ning glanced at the legs of the deceased; no wounds were found there either, so he quickly returned to the head of the deceased.
He pulled over the LED magnifying glass again and carefully examined the neck and head of the deceased. The face had no injuries or missing parts, except the teeth were quite unique. Upon seeing the neck, Zhou Ning discovered that the right side of the neck was more decomposed than the left, and the area near the collarbone on the right side was exposed to the bone.
Seeing this, Zhou Ning looked up again.
"Mr. Qu, I want to see the details of the neck of the second deceased, especially near the right collarbone. Enlarge that for me, Zhu Xingxing, retrieve the pubic symphysis of the deceased. Clean this directly and bring it back, Mr. Zhao, make the autopsy recording statement."
After giving instructions, Mr. Zhao began to introduce.
Today’s time of receiving the report, how many deceased were found at the scene, their condition, what time the autopsy began, the number assigned to this deceased, an estimate of the height and weight; once finished, Zhu Xingxing had already completed the extraction at her end - the speed was quite fast.
Zhou Ning saw this out of the corner of his eye but said nothing. His gaze was fixed on the large screen where the neck of the second deceased was enlarged. Two marks were visible on the upper edge of the collarbone and the body of the seventh cervical vertebrae – one was a stab wound, and the other a slight scrape.
This spot was indeed not easy to detect, but how was the stab wound inflicted in this location?
Zhou Ning thought for a moment, picked up the scalpel, and made a few gestures before having an epiphany.
"The upper edge of the right collarbone of the deceased was stabbed, and the angle of entry was from top to bottom, diagonally penetrating the neck, reaching as deep as the seventh cervical vertebra. This required substantial force; considering the degree of decay, after stabbing, the assailant didn’t pull out the dagger directly but instead cut horizontally towards the front of the neck.
This caused a rupture in the trachea and carotid artery, and possibly damage to the subclavian artery. The victim could not make any sound immediately, bled rapidly, and died quickly. Based on the crawling position at the scene, I believe the location where the body was found was the primary scene.
After being stabbed in the neck, the victim fell and crawled on the ground, struggling for less than a meter before losing consciousness due to excessive blood loss. As for the drag marks on the backpack, that cannot be determined at this time. Zhu Xingxing, show me the pubic symphysis."
Zhu Xingxing handed over the pubic symphysis to Zhou Ning. He stared intently at the surface of pubic symphysis; she had already looked at it several times. However, she wasn’t skilled at making such comparisons. Seeing that Zhou Ning took a glance and then tossed it into the tray held by Zhu Xingxing.
"Based on the pubic symphysis of the deceased, the age is estimated to be between 35 and 40,"
After he finished speaking, Zhou Ning walked to the autopsy table, pulled out the tube, and continued,
"The deceased had undergone a left hemihepatectomy for a liver tumor. Judging by the scarring and the implanted tube in the arm, the deceased should have been post-operative for over half a year but less than one year. Under normal circumstances, such high-intensity mountain climbing within a year after surgery is not suitable for a patient who has undergone chemotherapy. Mr. Qu, and Mr. Xia, have you found the identity information of the two victims?"
Mr. Qu quickly stood up, and Xia Momo tapped the keyboard, bringing up an identity on the large screen, then said,
"We have identified Victim Number Two. His name is Zhang Wannian, a resident of Dayao City, 41 years old. He runs an agricultural products company. I found that on April 12, 2012, Zhang Wannian had liver cancer surgery at the Qindao Lu University Attached Hospital and has been living and convalescing in Qindao ever since.
Mr. Qu has just found a hotel reservation. Starting from April 1, 2012, Zhang Wannian has been renting a suite across from the Qindao Lu University Attached Hospital’s seawater therapy center, with the rent directly transferred by his agricultural products company every month."
Liu Yongxin raised an eyebrow, nodding continuously on the side.
"Indeed, many people come to Qindao for treatment and rent rooms in the convalescent home for long stays as it’s cost-effective and the environment is conducive to recovering health. However, if he was convalescing, why would he go mountain climbing?"
Zhou Ning shook his head and glanced at the photo. It was from the identity card, and it showed a misaligned bite, which indeed matched the deceased exactly.
He waved at Zhu Xingxing.
"Shut down the autopsy recording system. You guys extract the skeleton and process it. Tomorrow morning, I want to see all the bones of the deceased laid out on the laboratory bench, except for the missing parts; not a single bone less."
Zou Jialong and Pang Tianhang had panic in their eyes, but Zhu Xingxing was quite calm, beckoning them with her fingers.
"Don’t be scared, guys. Extracting a skeleton with such expressions, you know the boss is watching, right? Do you want to stay in this team or not?"
The threat caused them to cooperate. Zhou Ning did not pay them any more mind, ripping off three layers of gloves and a disposable surgical gown and changing his mask before finally moving to the SPA’s Body Pool Number One.
He checked the water temperature. You have to say, the technical department really got the temperature control quite right.
Mr. Zhao ran over, dragging Liu Yongxin with him. Liu Yongxin asked, puzzled,
"Why drag the old man over?"
Mr. Zhao gestured mysteriously, a smirk on his face. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"Mr. Liu, would I harm you? Just come over, I’m about to reveal a secret; we can’t all keep sniffing this stench."
As they approached Zhou Ning, Mr. Zhao went to lower the fire shutter. Zhu Xingxing, hearing the noise and looking at Mr. Zhao, rolled his eyes but said nothing.
Mr. Yang had already run to open the windows, and instantaneously, there wasn’t as strong a smell anymore.
Zhou Ning only then noticed that it seemed someone was missing from the mortuary team.
"Right, where’s Gao Tie? I seem not to have seen him this morning."
Mr. Zhao pulled down his mask and smiled, showing his teeth.
"Well, it took you long enough to remember someone was missing. Sun Gaotie asked for leave before New Year’s Day. He’s gone to sign up for an exam; what was he doing again? I didn’t catch it."
Zhou Ning suddenly remembered; indeed, before New Year’s Day, Sun Gaotie had mentioned this, something about moving the house. In any case, he wouldn’t be back until the 5th or 6th.
"Hmm, has the identity of Victim Number One been found?"
Xia Momo shook her head.
"No."
This response made Zhou Ning stop short, even Liu Yongxin was somewhat puzzled. Since the introduction of this software system, it seemed to be the first time that it had failed to search for information directly. Even with a vague search in the past, they could find some likely matches.
"Explain in detail what’s going on?"
Xia Momo sighed and gestured towards the big screen with her chin.
"For Victim Number Two, we found two potential matches as soon as we searched. Given the conditions you provided, we quickly confirmed the information. But for Victim Number One, based on the state of the facial bones and the given age range, we got zero hits. I don’t know what the problem is."
