stjorthotic Chapter 1313 Thawing
Chapter 1313 Thawing
Chapter 1313 Thawing
In just a few months, a considerable number of corpses have been found in the Taihe River basin.
It is summer, and the bodies of those who have fallen into the water by accident, those who have drowned, those who have committed suicide, and those who have been murdered and drowned may all gather here.
Whether a particular body was murdered is not always possible to determine.
If there are obvious knife marks, gunshot marks, or blunt force trauma before death, it can be considered a possible murder. If not, it depends on whether the body can be identified.
Once the identity is confirmed and a body with a strong connection is identified, the possibility of murder or an accident will be considered. For example, a man or woman with a happy family and a rising career is more likely to be ruled out as a suicide. Examining their daily routines and lifestyles will also help determine if it was an accident.
Correspondingly, bodies without strong contacts, like those of marginalized individuals in the past—such as scavengers, homeless people, or even anime/manga fans living alone—might not be investigated in a country like Japan without clear evidence of murder. Of course, it's not just Japanese police who might do this to avoid lowering their crime-solving rate; American police also tend to avoid cases involving gang members, drug addicts, or any other cases without a victim.
Therefore, the police can never solve all the cases. Just take the drowning case in the Taihe River as an example. If they were willing to invest resources to identify all the unidentified bodies, even doubling the manpower of the Ningtai County Public Security Bureau would not be enough.
Jiang Yuan counted the time while cooking the beef. He took it out of the pot after only seven or eight seconds, dipped it in the garlic and satay sauce, and then chewed it vigorously, his eyes glued to the tablet.
"If you're having trouble choosing, then choose Changyang City." Huang Qiangmin could tell from Jiang Yuan's expression that he was hesitant, so he kindly offered his suggestion.
The members of the Jiangyuan backlog case task force were mainly seconded from the Changyang City Criminal Police Detachment. Since they were seconded from elsewhere, they naturally had to be given VIP treatment.
Jiang Yuan said "Oh," but then scrolled through the images on the PAD a couple of times and said, "Then let's choose Changyang City. I just saw a case in Changyang where the drowned body had a broken nose before death, so it's most likely a homicide. It's not shown in the autopsy report, so let's ask around to see if the body is still there."
"Sure, sure." Huang Qiangmin nodded repeatedly. Who said Jiang Yuanguang knew how to solve cases? Look at his answer. This shows that everything is addressed and every matter is resolved.
Jiang Yuan then used his tablet to send the relevant documents to Wang Chuanxing, asking him to arrange the follow-up work, while he focused on preparing the beef.
Wang Chuanxing is still resting at home, but he still has work to do.
Even regular police officers don't have this much rest time, let alone overtime or business trips. For criminal investigators, overtime and business trips are the norm, and there are many more grueling jobs than this. Just look at Shen Yaowei to know.
Jiang Yuan watched as the hanging dragon ate a large plateful, then turned to the spoon handle and spoon kernel.
There's a classic saying about Chaoshan beef: "Only two jin (1 kg) of this cut of meat comes from a cow." That's not wrong, because due to the detailed classification, most cuts of meat only yield about two or three jin (1.5-1.5 kg).
However, this is similar to how people in the Song Dynasty ate sheep's face and people in the Qing Dynasty ate carp whiskers. Although these parts have little meat, the leftover meat from beef, mutton, and fish is not really thrown away. If people in ancient times had to discuss the issue of resource integration, this is not a problem at all in the modern business structure.
The production volume of pig brains is even smaller, so selling them at a high price is only a way to fool pigs.
Jiang Yuan got into the food and started cutting the meat himself. He didn't follow the usual rules. Seeing that the meat looked delicious, he cut off a small piece, then finely sliced it into large pieces, and threw it into the pot on the spot.
As a forensic pathologist, he had long since developed an intuition. While he couldn't say he was intimately familiar with every change in every part of a corpse, he had a considerable understanding and certain expectations regarding changes in different parts. In general, Jiang Yuan believed that the meat he had chosen might taste better, and that he had broken the limitation of one cow weighing two kilograms...
During the subsequent tasting session, everyone gave it extremely high praise.
In the latter half of the feast, the men and women of Jiangcun, young and old, began to turn the tables and offer toasts.
When it comes to drinking, the people of Jiangcun don't have much of a strong attachment to alcohol. Perhaps it's because they didn't have much money to drink cheap liquor in the past, but now that they have money, and influenced by social trends, they've started to value their lives more.
Jiang Yuan only scratched the surface; today was still his day off. He would get busy again tomorrow when the frozen corpses thawed.
The next day.
Jiang Yuan got up early, sat with his father, drank some beef soup, ate a hot pancake that appeared out of nowhere, and then took the Alphard to Changyang City. Sure enough, he saw the thawed corpse and Wang Chuanxing and others who had returned to their team.
At the same time, we also saw many more criminal police officers from the Changyang City Criminal Investigation Detachment.
Most of them came to chat with Wang Chuanxing and others, while a few wanted to see Jiang Yuan or seize an opportunity.
"Datuk!" Yu Wenshu also came upon hearing the news, extending his hand from afar.
“Normally, he should be called Dato’ Jiang.” Jiang Yuan shook hands with Yu Wenshu.
Yu Wenshu laughed out loud, squeezed Jiang Yuan's hand, and then looked at the others and said, "Director Jiang is also very serious when he jokes."
"Perhaps it's because what Director Jiang said is true." Wan Baoming, deputy director of the Criminal Science and Technology Center of Changyang City, was very familiar with Jiang Yuan and came to pick him up on special occasion.
Yu Wenshu let out an even heartier laugh and said, "Datuk Jiang, that sounds even more extraordinary. Bringing glory to the country, that's really impressive."
"I'm still willing to work for Changyang City. Captain Yu's words are always pleasant to hear." Jiang Yuan's high EQ made everyone in Changyang City feel a little uncomfortable.
Yu Wenshu shuddered and quickly moved aside, saying, "Let Lao Cao tell you about it? The local police station received the report, and the follow-up was handed over to us. The Third Brigade took over the case. You know Lao Cao."
Cao Chujun, the captain of the Third Brigade, was also an old acquaintance of Jiang Yuan. He was older and about to retire. He was a very experienced and patient criminal police captain. Of course, this was an assessment of those born in the 60s and 70s. If it were someone born in the 00s, they would be considered to have a tendency to give up.
Cao Chujun also frequently communicated with Jiang Yuan. When he was called out, he would smile, then slowly pull out a tattered notebook from his pocket, open it, and say, "This body... the deceased's name is Zhang Xianyao, 17 years old, a student at Changyang Vocational School of Science and Technology, who lived on campus. He left school for lunch on the 6th and never returned. The school notified his parents on the evening of the second day and only called the police on the third day."
Cao Chujun: "The body was found on the 10th at a location 16 kilometers downstream from the school in Guaizi. The person who found the body was taking pictures of birds in the morning. The first autopsy was performed that day, and the forensic doctor gave the cause of death as mechanical asphyxiation, with symptoms such as emphysema. Based on the age and the information reported to the police, the identity of the deceased was confirmed. The parents were also asked to come and identify the body."
After Cao Chujun finished speaking, he put away his notebook and continued, "After finding the body, our police officers conducted interviews and found that Zhang Xianyao occasionally went swimming in the wild. He didn't go often, but he would swim outside about ten times every summer. Changyang Vocational School of Science and Technology is about one kilometer away from Taihe River as the crow flies. People often gather to swim in the wild under the bridge two kilometers upstream, and there is even a self-built changing wall..."
Cao Chujun: "In addition, when we visited the students at the school, we found that Zhang Xianyao rarely got into conflicts with anyone, had no girlfriend, had never dated anyone, had no experience working, had little contact with people outside the school, and had enough for his daily expenses. Based on this, we determined that the deceased drowned accidentally after swimming in the wild on his own."
After he finished speaking, Yu Wenshu coughed twice and asked, "What about the injury to your nose?"
"Well... we previously thought it might have been caused by something after death, like water impact or hitting a rock." Wan Baoming, who was in charge of the criminal investigation center, which included forensic doctors, had to step forward to explain.
"Yes, the facial injuries are indeed quite severe, making it a bit difficult to assess." Jiang Yuan was standing in front of the body at this moment. He first offered a word of comfort, and then said, "However, the fractured nasal bridge was indeed an injury sustained before death, so it is necessary to open a case for investigation."
In reality, floating corpses are always badly injured. They not only decompose, but also crash into rocks or other hard objects, and are eaten by fish and birds. It's not uncommon for them to be hit by oars. In contrast, the floating corpses often seen in movies and television are often too intact. This is probably mainly because the cost of props is limited, and extras still have basic rights to life.
Cao Chujun nodded naturally and said, "The formalities are all completed. Where do we begin?"
“His nose, and his eye sockets…” Jiang Yuan didn’t answer immediately. While speaking, in front of everyone, he made a cut and cleanly cut off the flesh that was already torn and hanging on the bone.
Jiang Yuan beckoned to Miao Ruixiang, who had come with him, to take a picture, and said at the same time, "There's also a fracture in the eye socket. Look at this thin crease, this is also an injury sustained before death. The deceased was probably beaten up before he died..."
He looked up at Cao Chujun.
Cao Chujun nodded: "Judging from the injuries, it was either an accidental conflict or a revenge attack. Shall we start investigating along these two lines?"
“Okay. I’ll tell you the specific injuries and wounds after I’ve done a full autopsy.” Jiang Yuan coughed twice, then became more serious and said, “Later I’ll examine the lung slices and the diatom samples extracted from the upper respiratory tract again to see if the exact location of the fall into the water matches the location of the wild swimming.”
"Okay." Cao Chujun was a little surprised by Jiang Yuan's slightly raised tone, but like everyone else present, he didn't realize just how powerful Jiang Yuan's last words would be.