Free Web NovelChapter 446: Chapter 420: Discovery in the Digestive Tract_1
January 5, 2013
Early in the morning, Zhou Ning arrived at the office. He didn’t wear the dark blue down jacket that Xia Momo had bought for him because he thought it might be better to change into his police uniform coat after his first day’s experience with an outdoor crime scene investigation.
As soon as he pushed the door open, he saw Liu Yongxin about to leave.
"Master, are you heading out?"
"Yes, I want to go downstairs and check on the person who bathed. I’m not sure if there’s enough time." frёewebηovel.cѳm
Zhou Ning smiled, hung his coat on the rack, grabbed his phone, and followed Liu Yongxin’s footsteps.
"Let’s go together. I think Mr. Zhao and the others have probably gone down, right?"
Liu Yongxin nodded.
"They came early. Mr. Zhao couldn’t stand the nagging of those kids, so he went down to see as soon as he arrived. After all, he has seen people taking baths before, but a mummified corpse in a bath is definitely a first."
As they were walking and talking, the two arrived at the second autopsy room. The moment the door creaked open, several people squatting in front of the stainless steel tank jumped up simultaneously, looking at Zhou Ning and Liu Yongxin with faces full of terror. Mr. Zhao’s face had even turned pale.
From their expressions, it wasn’t hard to tell that these fellows were definitely studying the "spa-goer" number one decedent, Liu Xiangrui, inside the tank.
Seeing Mr. Zhao like this, Zhou Ning almost lost control of his expression. He coughed, then turned his head and supported Liu Yongxin as they approached the group.
"How’s it going, how well has the body recovered?"
Mr. Zhao tried to force a grin to show how unfazed he was, but after struggling to curve his lips, the smile just wouldn’t come.
"You scared me to death, the timing of your door opening was just too perfect. We were bracing ourselves to uncover the cloth over the tank when Zou Jialong was about to touch the deceased’s skin to check the elasticity, since it seemed the effect wasn’t bad. But just before we made contact, the door opened—it’s all Mr. Pang’s fault. This guy is into metaphysics and even asked us if we brought any protective amulets."
Seeing Mr. Zhao speak in such a way, Pang Tianhang quickly waved his hands in denial.
"It’s not about superstition, it’s just that my mother is afraid I could encounter unclean things when I go out, so she gave me an amulet to wear. It’s the same one I’ve always had since I was a child, and I think it’s quite effective."
Zhou Ning patted Mr. Pang on the shoulder; the young man was so scared his lips were trembling, and he was hurriedly trying to explain, so nervous he couldn’t even cooperate with his own muscles. But he still managed to pull the faded red string from his neck and was about to toss it when Zhou Ning stopped him, understanding that the faded red string was a mother’s blessings for her child.
They could completely ignore it and even take it for granted to receive such blessings and care every day, but this was precisely what Zhou Ning most longed for.
The dream had not recurred for a long time, but the emotional knot remained, as did the envy.
"No worries, I understand. It is often said that the end of Western medicine is traditional Chinese medicine, and the end of traditional Chinese medicine is metaphysics. In fact, we are the same; many things are sometimes inexplicable. This is your mother’s hope and blessing for you, don’t throw it away."
Mr. Zhao glanced at Zhou Ning, understanding what he was feeling, and pried Mr. Pang’s fingers from the amulet, twisted the red string, and shoved it into his pocket.
"Do as you’re told without any fuss; make sure the dissecting tables are properly prepared, the carts are ready, and gloves are on—three layers. You don’t need me to tell you to change your clothes, do you? How long have you been here that you still need to be reminded of these things?"
With such a command, everyone’s fear seemed to evaporate as if a switch had been flipped. They quickly adjusted their expressions, those who needed to change clothes did so, and those responsible for preparing the carts did their part. Zou Jialong, quick on his feet, was already standing in front of the stainless steel tank, ready for the transfer.
Zhou Ning didn’t say a word; he reached out to the side, and Mr. Zhao handed over the LED magnifying lamp. Liu Xiangrui’s body was completely submerged at the bottom of the stainless steel tank, with the skin and muscles having been soaked back to nearly their original condition, restoring about 80% of the normal moisture to the corpse.
What caught Zhou Ning’s attention were the abrasions on the little finger of the deceased, Liu Xiangrui. The abrasions showed burr-like skin damage, and now it was Zhou Ning’s turn to be surprised.
He had heard about the Lu Feier Solution from Professor Li Chengbin earlier and noted it as a curiosity. However, he hadn’t expected the effects to be so striking, especially considering that Qindao is a coastal city with a damp and cold climate, not prone to mummification. This incident turned out to be a fortunate blunder.
"The results are good. Pull the body out and lay it on the dissecting table."
Mr. Zhao sighed.
"Before you guys came in, we were just discussing this issue: how do we pull it out? One person at each side? Or can we use tools like a drain basket or something? The size of this tank is fine, but it’s too deep. Reaching into it, you can’t touch the bottom—surely you don’t suggest jumping in?"
Indeed, this question stumped Zhou Ning. Liu Yongxin leaned in and pointed to a corner of the tank:
"There’s a hole here, with a valve outside, aligned with the drain. Just turn it to empty the water. I remember there are no special chemicals in here, right?"
Zhou Ning shook his head. Following Liu Yongxin’s instructions, they had walked over to the edge of the sewage pool, opened the valve at the bottom, and the Lu Feier Solution they had been soaking in burst out instantly. They waited a moment for that last bit at the bottom of the pool.
With a wave of his hand, Liu Yongxin had them push the stainless steel pool directly to the front of the autopsy table. At this point, without needing any instructions from Liu Yongxin, Sun Gaotie, Mr. Pang, Mr. Zou, and Mr. Wang, the four of them had already jumped into the pool and lifted the body, gently placing it on the autopsy table.
In an instant, everyone let out a long sigh of relief.
By now, Zhou Ning had completed his preparations and was closely examining the body with an LED light magnifier. The abrasions on the deceased’s fingers were quite obvious, deep enough to reach the dermal layer, but there was no blood scab—it seemed that these injuries were postmortem.
As for examining the head, neck, torso, and limbs of the deceased, no issues were found at all—even the mouth and rectum were unproblematic. This finding left Zhou Ning somewhat puzzled, and Liu Yongxin came over as well.
"What, no other injuries found besides the head trauma?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Logically, with such severe head injuries, at least there would be bruises or other injuries on the forehead or body from falling after being hit. Yet, other than a postmortem scratch on the little finger, no such injuries are found on the body. Could it be that the victim was sitting or standing upright when they received the blow to the head?"
Mr. Zhao shook his head.
"I have a feeling that the person was already unconscious or completely incapacitated when they were hit on the head, otherwise who would just sit still and wait to be struck?"
Zhou Ning didn’t respond but reexamined the mouth of the corpse. There were no marks or signs of prying in the deceased’s mouth. Glancing at the skeletal X-ray on the big screen, although the head trauma had caused the skull to collapse, it was difficult to say if there was anything to be found inside the mummified skull.
However, thinking of the bone marrow smears taken earlier, he quickly looked toward Zhu Xingxing.
"Yesterday, I asked you to send skull fragments for inspection to make bone smears. Have the results come out yet?"
Zhu Xingxing stuck out her tongue, hurried over to Xia Momo, who had already helped her log into her email, and subsequently, two bone smear reports were displayed on the big screen. Out of four bone smears, only the one from the crown of the skull showed blood cells; the others did not.
Seeing this, Zhou Ning’s brows furrowed tightly, but he said nothing and simply signaled Zhu Xingxing to start preparing for the recording.
Zhu Xingxing cleared her throat, clicked on the record button, and began a slow-paced introduction. For her, this was already second nature, with Zou Jialong and Pang Tianhang looking on enviously.
After all, being able to remember so many intricate details was indeed admirable.
Taking the scalpel, Zhou Ning began the dissection. He opened the chest and abdomen and removed the digestive tract. The tissue was not particularly well ’rehydrated,’ but this state of hydration was already the limit. Submerging it further might accelerate decay and obscure the details they wished to uncover.
Placing it on the tray, Zhou Ning did not rush to process the viscera but instead cut open the stomach. The shriveled stomach was completely empty, devoid of food.
The stomach lining was damaged, with widespread erosions and ulcers on the inner wall. Zhou Ning observed carefully, noting that these injuries did not seem to be simply due to gastritis or other physical illnesses; they seemed to be caused by prolonged starvation and stomach acid burns, occurring over a short period.
This discovery was quite shocking. The deceased was very thin, but didn’t reach the point of anorexia because the muscle lines on his arms and legs were quite well-defined, formed through years of exercise.
With the stomach in this state, the deceased had been starved for at least five days before death, if not longer.
Zhou Ning paused, then cut open the intestines of the corpse and examined them. He found a brownish-black substance the size of a thumb joint in the duodenal bulb, hard and somewhat curled, unidentifiable. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Placing this substance on a curved tray, Zhou Ning nodded towards Zhu Xingxing, who took it, labeled it, and then passed it to Sun Gaotie.
"Send it for analysis. Let’s see what this material is?"
Sun Gaotie picked it up for a closer look, pulled down his mask slightly, and, puzzled, said to Zhou Ning:
"Boss, I think this looks like a piece of a belt, see the embossed indentations here? Couldn’t he have torn off a piece of the belt to eat? Is this some wartime drama? In this day and age, how can such a thing happen?"
These words reminded Zhou Ning, and he glanced at Sun Gaotie, who seemed to have a moment of brilliance. Indeed, upon such analysis, it did seem possible. Zhou Ning once again held the substance under the magnifier, and indeed, there were marks that could be identified as tooth impressions, along with torn fibers on the edges.
It appeared that Sun Gaotie’s analysis was not incorrect; the item did resemble a leather material remnant. However, to what extent had the number two deceased, Liu Xiangrui, been starved to resort to gnawing on this object to satiate his hunger?
Thinking this, Zhou Ning did not stop his handiwork and held the object up to the deceased’s teeth, comparing it in various directions until he found that it had been bitten and torn with the right canine teeth. The right upper canine indeed felt slightly loose.
"You’ve done a good analysis, but we still need to send it for inspection. Everything must be confirmed by test results."
Sun Gaotie ran off with a cheerful smile, unable to hide his pleasure from being praised.
