Novice Forensic Doctor

Chapter 443: 417

Zhou Ning glanced at Xia Momo and then turned to the large screen.

The skeleton of victim number one was displayed on it. Zhou Ning grabbed the mouse and enlarged and rotated it on his own. It was only when the skull was dragged to full-screen status that Zhou Ning noticed the problem.

The victim had slight depressions on both temporal sides, and there were two boat-shaped fracture marks on the top of the occipital bone. Due to the rapid desiccation of the body, which appeared changed like a mummy, the fractured areas were overlapping and displaced, and the head had deformed. Zhou Ning estimated that Mr. Qu had only sent Xia Momo the facial scan images, making it difficult to conduct a search.

"The victim’s skull has multiple fractures. Mr. Xia, please start by fixing the fracture sites, let the structures be restored, then generate a skull reconstruction, and finally conduct the search," Zhou Ning instructed.

Upon hearing this, Xia Momo immediately looked at Mr. Qu.

Mr. Qu was startled, hurriedly raising his hands, his face filled with grievance.

"I didn’t notice the problem. I thought this is what a mummified corpse looked like and forgot about this," he said.

Xia Momo quickly went to re-process the images. Meanwhile, Liu Yongxin and Zhou Ning huddled together, folding their arms and staring intently at the large screen, their actions mirroring each other. Mr. Zhao chuckled and joined them, posing confidently whether he understood or not.

"Zhou Xiaozhou, was the victim severely beaten?" Mr. Zhao asked.

Zhou Ning narrowed his eyes. No fractures or cracks were found on the skeletal structure of the victim’s body, only the head showed multiple fractures inflicted by blunt force. Looking at the length of the boat-shaped fractures and the uniformity of the indentations, Zhou Ning rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"It’s a bit strange. The boat-shaped fractures on the top of the occipital bone exhibit a neatness and depth that suggest they were caused by a right-angled object striking in a continuous motion, twice without altering its trajectory. Could it be a square metal bar?

As for the fractures on the temporal sides, there’s no obvious boundary, instead there’s a large area of spider web-like shattered bone, which I believe was caused by an irregular surface. However, I can’t determine the murder weapon," Zhou Ning said.

Mr. Zhao stared closely and then suddenly widened his eyes, pointing at the screen exclaiming:

"A stone. By the side of victim number two, we found a bloodstained stone that wasn’t smooth and had many holes, already sampled for testing. If the blood found on this stone is from victim number one, how did it end up next to victim number two?"

Zhou Ning frowned, finding Mr. Zhao’s analysis quite rational. However, why did victim number one have two types of blunt force injuries to the head?

One clearly from a weapon with straight edges and another from an irregular surface. Could this imply there were two assailants who killed victim number one?

And the stone used to attack victim number one was found with victim number two. Did this mean that victim number two participated in the assault on victim number one?

Zhou Ning closed his eyes to think before turning to look at victim number one in the sink.

"Collect the shattered bone from victim number one’s temporal area. I need bone grindings to see if the head injuries occurred before or after death. The strikes to the top and occipital region could be made by the same person at once, like victim sitting and getting hit on the head, then attacked on the occipital as they fell or bowed. But how were the temporal sides struck?

Was someone controlling the second victim, tying him to something, then striking the left side with a stone, walking around to the right to strike again? An ordinary person with a dominant hand wouldn’t likely cause such wounds. It’s all a bit inexplicable, so take a piece of bone fragment from all four locations for bone grinding," Zhou Ning instructed. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Liu Yongxin glanced at the large screen, then turned to Xia Momo.

"I saw it, Mr. Xia made a distribution map of the discovery locations of the corpses. What’s the distance between the two victims? In what position and orientation were they found?" Liu Yongxin asked.

Xia Momo quickly changed the skeletal animation on the screen to a map.

"In the center of the map is Zhutoushi. The discovery site of victim number one is 947 meters southwest, and continuing west for 51 meters is where victim number two was found. Victim number one was laying on its side, an arm pointing towards Zhutoushi, victim number two was also crawling towards Zhutoushi," Xia Momo summarized.

At this summary, Zhou Ning’s brows knit slightly. Now it seemed there were increasingly many connections between the two victims. Although one was decomposing and partially skeletonized, and the other had become a mummy, their estimated times of death were not far apart. The differences in their physical state could be attributed to varying levels of body fat and water content.

Zhou Ning walked over to where Xia Momo and Mr. Qu were adjusting the images. After all, they had not noticed the fracture problem in the scan originally, so they didn’t activate the repair function. Now that the issue was identified, it only required scanning all bones to begin automatic repair, and then the final restored result appeared.

Xia Momo finally hit a key on the keyboard and then looked at Zhou Ning.

"It’s done. The skull is fully restored. I’ll conduct another search to see if there are any findings. Surely, this one isn’t another non-local from Qindao?" she remarked.

As she clicked, the search box on the screen began to process. Mr. Zhao leaned in closer, wiping his nose and asking:

"Zhou Xiaozhou, approximate time of death for these two victims, what do you think?"

Zhou Ning pondered for a moment, as he was still unsure.

"Based on the state of victim number two, the time of death should be between one and two months. However, considering the distance between them, the state of decay, and even the gear on their bodies all shared similarities, I believe victim number one died within the same timeframe.

Yet, under normal circumstances, if a body is to become mummified, it would typically require about three months, along with several prerequisites such as dryness, low temperatures, good ventilation, or an environment that could isolate air and bacteria," Zhou Ning explained.

Mr. Zhao tasted a hint of something in Zhou Ning’s words, looking at him with some surprise.

"Are you suggesting that the time of death for victim number one is somewhat odd, even abnormal, and that there might have been other factors causing him to lose a large amount of water, accelerating the mummification process?"

Zhou Ning nodded.

"That’s what I’m thinking, but everything will have to wait until after the autopsy to be confirmed. This is just my opinion. However, we have identified the second victim’s identity. Mr. Qu, you can send the information to Director Xu now."

Upon saying this, the door to the morgue swung open and Xu Dayuan walked in briskly. He initially didn’t notice the stainless steel tanks in front of everyone, but when he saw the skinny arm floating evenly on the water’s surface, Xu Dayuan also jumped back in fright.

"What the hell is this?"

Mr. Zhao couldn’t help but burst into laughter, trying hard to keep his composure as he quickly explained,

"Zhou Xiaozhou wants to analyze the cause of death for victim number one, so he thought of rehydrating the body. This is some kind of Phiel solution. After some time, once the body’s rehydration is complete, it should largely return to its original appearance and we can analyze the cause of death. It needs to soak overnight. Did we scare you, boss?"

Xu Dayuan gave him a cold glance, his face a bit anxious, though he managed to keep his expression in check.

"You gave me a scare. Who said something about sending me something? I sensed it, so I came over in person to hear what you’ve found out. It’s not that we haven’t found any information on the victims, is it?"

His expression, coupled with the look he gave Mr. Zhao, carried a hint of a personal grudge. Zhou Ning quickly stepped forward.

"Facial recognition has already locked onto features and identity of the second victim. We matched a person who happens to be a private entrepreneur from Dayao City, who had surgery and chemotherapy for liver cancer about a year ago at Qindao Lu University Attached Hospital, followed by convalescent treatment by the sea.

The man’s name is Zhang Wannian, a 41-year-old male divorced with one son and one daughter. His son, Zhang Liangyi, is 14 years old, attending the experimental junior high in Dayao City, and his daughter, Zhang Lianghui, is 16 years old, studying in the first year of high school at Provincial No. 129 Middle School. The emergency contact listed is Feng Chunni, whom I suspect might be his ex-wife.

Both schools operate a boarding system, and both parents are alive, but as for more detailed information and his social connections, it’s better for you to make contact. After all, we’ve only got the basics. If you need us to reach out to Mr. Huang, we can do that too.

As for victim number one, the autopsy will be conducted tomorrow morning. I’ve just asked Mr. Xia to search for information on this victim whose head sustained blunt force trauma; the injuries are quite peculiar. I can’t quite describe the feeling yet, but once I remember, I’ll report back to you."

Xia Momo raised her hand to signal that her search had concluded.

Zhou Ning quickly nodded and then turned to look at the big screen with Xu Dayuan. Xia Momo explained,

"The search wasn’t successful initially because the victim’s skull was deformed, distorting all facial features. The head shrank too much, making it impossible to find a match among adults. After reconstructing the skull, the search was conducted again and found six possible matches."

Suddenly, six individuals’ information appeared on the big screen. Xu Dayuan, looking up, carefully reviewed them one by one—none from Qindao. They were all from several cities in Huining Province, suggesting that the man had very distinctive features of Huining Province.

However, after a quick glance, Zhou Ning pointed at two of them,

"These two have new ID cards, but the listed heights are wrong. The deceased was about 175 cm tall. Regarding the remaining four, we need to reach out to people in Huining Province for further verification of their information."

Xu Dayuan, unapologetically, made a dismissive gesture.

"You make contact. You’re familiar with Huining Province. Besides, I’ve heard Mr. Bai and the others say that you’re quite close to Ye Yangeng, the director of the Criminal Technology Center of the Huining Police Department. You also coordinated with them on a case in Dayao City recently. It would be much slower if I were to seek help."

Zhou Ning felt a bit speechless, but he couldn’t refuse and looked toward Mr. Zhao. Mr. Zhao scuttled over to Xia Momo’s side, quickly sending out the information. Without Zhou Ning saying a word, he had already dialed the phone. After all, Mr. Zhao was more adept in the nuances of social interaction.

While waiting for a response, Xu Dayuan folded his arms.

"Why was it so straightforward to find this second victim, Zhang Wannian?"

Zhou Ning displayed Zhang Wannian’s photo on the screen along with the reconstructed skull image. Seeing this, Xu Dayuan was also momentarily stunned. The look was indeed unique—buck teeth, an asymmetrical jaw, and uneven facial halves—one glance was all it took to remember his face.

"Good grief, I’ll have someone go to the convalescent home and check. According to the estimated time of death and the scene, the mountain was the primary crime scene, and he’s been dead for about a month. Nobody has been looking for these two people for so long? Not even a police report? Isn’t that a bit strange?"

Zhou Ning understood what Xu Dayuan meant. If no one reported the disappearance, the most likely scenario was that a direct relative committed the crime. However, they still needed to determine the second victim’s identity to analyze the relationship between the two individuals.

Xu Dayuan dialed Liu Yufei’s number, quickly recounted the situation here, and Zhou Ning forwarded the information through WeChat. After shaking his phone, Xu Dayuan gave some instructions for Liu Yufei to thoroughly investigate the convalescent home, preferably check the room for any discoveries like hair before hanging up.

At this point, Mr. Zhao seemed to have made a discovery. He rushed over, pointing at the big screen.

"We’ve found someone. Among these four people, one couldn’t be contacted. Take a look, doesn’t he resemble him?"