The crackdown on organized crime began with the arrest of the mother-in-law.

Chapter 1012 The Forensic Discovery

Time ticked by, but the investigation team's work hit a roadblock. Xiao Yang repeatedly examined the scene, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper: "Strange, apart from these scattered clues, we haven't found any evidence that directly points to the murderer. There were no tears on the victim's clothing from a struggle, the number of hairs under the fingernails was too few to extract complete DNA, and the palm prints were too blurry."

Xiao Sun pulled up the 3D model and marked and correlated all traces and physical evidence in the virtual scene: "Judging from the distribution of shoe prints, the two people lingered briefly at the location of the body, and then the person with the size 42 shoe print started dragging the body. But the direction of dragging was not obvious, not like deliberately hiding the body, but more like searching for a specific location." He zoomed in on the northeast area in the model, "This area is flat and has no special terrain features, so why did the murderer choose to drag it this way?"

At that moment, the assistant rushed over with an energy dispersive spectroscopy report: "Team Leader Yang, those grayish-white particles tested positive for silica, alumina, and iron oxide. The composition ratios differ significantly from ordinary soil, and are closer to industrial ceramic raw materials." Yang took the report, his expression grave: "Industrial ceramics? This is completely incompatible with the environment of Qinglan Mountain. Could the deceased have been involved in related work before his death, or is the murderer from a ceramic production area?"

As the sun gradually set, the light in the woods grew increasingly dim. The investigation team's lights formed circles of light in the twilight, but they still couldn't illuminate the truth of the case. Li Ming walked over and looked at the busy group: "Let's call it a day and take all the physical evidence back for careful analysis. Sometimes, seemingly useless clues can be the key to solving a case."

Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with resentment. They knew the case was far more complex than they had imagined, and they were about to face an even more difficult battle to uncover the evidence. As they packed their gear, Xiao Yang looked once more at the spot where the body had been found, silently vowing: even with just the slightest clue, they would bring the murderer to justice.

After Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun finished their on-site investigation, the body was transported back to the autopsy room of the Criminal Investigation Detachment, where forensic doctor Zhang Lin was preparing to perform an autopsy on the wetland.

The operating lights in the autopsy room came on. Zhang Lin pulled his mask up slightly, his gaze behind his goggles calm and focused. The deceased lay quietly on the stainless steel autopsy table, his skin a pale bluish-gray from the passage of time, the rope mark on his neck resembling a menacing purplish-black collar. The assistant placed the autopsy record aside, and the camera began recording; the entire autopsy process would be documented.

"Begin the post-mortem examination." Zhang Lin's voice came through the recording equipment clearly. Holding a powerful flashlight, he carefully examined the deceased's face. "The deceased's corneas are moderately cloudy, and there are a few petechiae on the conjunctiva, consistent with death by mechanical asphyxiation." He measured the ligature marks on the neck with a ruler. "The ligature mark is 1.2 centimeters wide, starting from the right side of the thyroid cartilage, extending obliquely upwards to the left mastoid process, with depth increasing from shallow to deep. The edges show epidermal abrasion, indicating that the rope was made of relatively thick fiber material and slipped during the tightening process."

While examining the deceased's hands, Zhang Lin noticed a broken nail on the right index finger: "There was fresh bleeding at the break point, and the cut surface was uneven, which may have been caused during the struggle with the murderer. We extracted material from under the nail for trace evidence analysis." He then turned his attention to the deceased's clothing, carefully cutting along the seams with scissors, each movement precise and cautious to avoid destroying any potential evidence.

After completing the external examination, Zhang Lin began the internal autopsy. He picked up a scalpel and made a Y-shaped incision in the deceased's chest. The blade made a slight hissing sound as it cut into the skin, and blood slowly seeped out. "No obvious bleeding was observed in the subcutaneous tissue, and the muscle layer is of normal color," he dictated as he operated. "Open the chest cavity and examine the ribs." An assistant handed him rib shears, and with a few crisp "snips," the front ribs were severed, fully exposing the chest cavity.

"There is no pleural effusion on both sides, the lungs are dark red, and scattered punctate hemorrhages are visible on the surface, consistent with pulmonary congestion caused by asphyxiation." Zhang Lin carefully examined the lung tissue. "The heart is of normal size, there is no atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, and no myocardial infarction foci are seen." He used tweezers to pick up a small piece of myocardial tissue and put it into a sample bottle. "Take myocardial tissue for pathological sectioning to test for the presence of toxins or drug components."

Next came the examination of the digestive system. Zhang Lin cut open the stomach wall, and a sour, putrid odor wafted out. "The stomach was empty, with only a small amount of pasty material remaining. Based on the degree of intestinal contents movement, it was deduced that the deceased's last meal was 6-8 hours before death." He removed some stomach contents, "and conducted toxicological tests and component analysis on these substances to determine the deceased's diet before death."

Determining the age of the deceased is a crucial step in the autopsy. Zhang Lin removed the skull and carefully observed its morphological characteristics. "Most of the cranial sutures have healed, except for parts of the posterior segment of the sagittal suture, the coronal suture, and the lambdoid suture." Referring to the suture healing atlas, "Based on the internationally accepted Meindl suture healing age determination method, and considering the degree of suture healing, I preliminarily estimate the deceased's age to be between 35 and 40 years old."

To determine the age more accurately, Zhang Lin began examining the deceased's teeth. He carefully probed each tooth with a dental probe. "The wear of the maxillary central incisors is grade 3, and the wear of the canines is grade 2. According to the Lamendin age assessment criteria for tooth wear, the age range is further narrowed down to 37-39 years old." He removed a tooth, "to extract pulp tissue for radiocarbon dating, which will provide more accurate data for age determination."

Subsequently, Zhang Lin analyzed the deceased's pelvis. "The pubic symphysis surface is ear-shaped, with obvious ossification on the dorsal margin, a depression in the middle of the symphysis surface, and a prominent ridge." He compared it with the "Atlas of Chinese Bone Age Determination" and "Based on Brooks' pubic symphysis surface age determination method, the deceased's age was verified again to be around 38 years old, with an error range of ±1 year."

During the examination of the skeleton, Zhang Lin discovered an old fracture mark on the deceased's right ulna. "The fracture line has completely healed, and the callus has formed well, indicating that the fracture occurred 3 to 5 years ago." He measured the fracture site and found that "the fracture type is a transverse fracture, which was likely caused by direct violence." However, while these findings enriched our understanding of the deceased's life, they did not provide any direct clues for solving the case.

The autopsy lasted for more than four hours, during which Zhang Lin and his assistant meticulously examined every organ and tissue of the deceased. When all the autopsy steps were completed, Zhang Lin took off his gloves and wearily rubbed his temples.