Chapter 148 The Truth about Spontaneous Combustion
When Gao Yuan and Li Meng came back, Gu Nankai had already returned to the serious crime team.
"Boss, you're going to try your best!" Seeing Gu Nankai from the serious crime squad sitting in a wheelchair, Gao Yuan looked at his boss in shock.
Seeing that everyone's eyes were filled with worry, Gu Nankai comforted them again: "It's just an external injury, it only looks serious, don't worry too much."
Seeing how persistent he was, no one knew what to say, but they were all still worried, especially Wu Qingluan. Although she didn't say much, she kept an eye on Gu Nankai's situation, fearing that something might happen to him.
"Okay, let's get back to the case and tell me about your progress." Gu Nankai quickly shifted the topic to the case, attracting everyone's attention.
He looked at Shang Lu: "Shang Lu, tell me first, is there any progress in the autopsy?"
Shang Lu nodded. The little girl had been a little silent since she came back from the hospital. She was much more stable than usual. When she heard Gu Nankai calling her name, she stood up quickly.
"Regarding the burning of the first corpse, Chen Hui, I can now come up with a more credible explanation. It can only be spontaneous human combustion. We thought of this at the beginning, because there were many flammable substances in Chen Hui's home, but Chen Hui did not ignite these things when he burned. We only said it was spontaneous combustion, but what I want to say is that Chen Hui was most likely spontaneously combusting!"
"Spontaneous human combustion?" Gu Nankai frowned slightly. He looked a little funny sitting in the wheelchair, but the concentration emanating from him at this moment concealed the funny thing.
"Yes, spontaneous human combustion." Shang Lu nodded. "Let me explain. Spontaneous human combustion is when a person's body suddenly catches fire and burns rapidly without any fire source. It can even burn to ashes, but the surrounding flammable materials, including combustible items, will not be ignited. This is perfectly consistent with everything we found at the scene of Chen Hui's death."
Gu Nankai listened to Shang Lu's words, his eyes full of thought. After Shang Lu finished speaking, he said solemnly: "But as for spontaneous human combustion, modern scientific and medical circles have denied the theory of spontaneous human combustion to this day."
Shang Lu nodded with some embarrassment. "Yes, although some theories have been proposed, there has been no reasonable physiological evidence to explain how the human body can spontaneously combust or even turn into ashes. Because if the human body's bones and tissues are to be completely burned, it can only be done in a high-pressure crematorium with a temperature exceeding 1648.9 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, as for the unburned parts of the charred body, such as some intact skin and flesh, it is even more mysterious."
After Shang Lu finished speaking , he glanced at everyone and finally looked at Gu Nankai: "I found a small piece of skin on Chen Hui's charred body that was not completely burnt. After identification, the DNA of the deceased and the DNA retained in Chen Hui's criminal record database are roughly consistent."
If everyone had determined the identity of the deceased just because of the broken finger at the beginning, it would seem inaccurate. However, now that Shang Lu has confirmed the consistency of the data through identification, it has further confirmed the fact that the identity of the deceased is Chen Hui.
After listening to Shang Lu's words, Gu Nankai started thinking, and Shang Lu's statement made everyone feel strange, especially Yang Dong. It was hard for him to imagine that there would be such a cause of death.
Shang Lu saw that no one was talking or in a hurry, but just stared at Gu Nankai in thought. She knew that Gu Nankai would agree with her statement.
After a long moment, Gu Nankai raised his eyes and looked at her: "Indeed, the situation at the scene is consistent with what you said. Coupled with the conditions in Chen Hui's home, it is difficult to achieve the possibility that the combustion will not ignite other substances in the room, unless..." He paused: "Unless the combustion temperature is unable to reach the conditions for igniting other things."
Shang Lu showed a smile of recognition on his face: "Yes, this is a very important point. I have looked up some cases of spontaneous human combustion and found that the temperature of the substances that can cause spontaneous human combustion after combustion is relatively low compared to other combustibles. It can be said that what causes spontaneous human combustion is not fire in the ordinary sense. I think everyone can understand this."
Gu Nankai seemed to completely agree with Shang Lu's statement. He followed Shang Lu's words and said, "In other words, spontaneous human combustion is actually a chemical reaction between the human body and external substances."
Shang Lu thought for a moment and said, "You can say that."
But soon Gu Nankai said: "But you are just guessing now, do you have any evidence to support it?"
While Shang Lu was talking, Gao Yuan had already quickly looked up some information about spontaneous human combustion on his tablet. After Shang Lu finished speaking, Te also said, "Yes, Shang Lu, there is such a situation as you said. I just checked the information. Indeed, this statement is consistent with Chen Hui's death scene. However, if there is no clear evidence to support it, we will not be able to proceed with this case."
Cao Cang agreed with Gao Yuan's statement and said, "After all, the higher-ups won't allow us to write the cause of death as spontaneous human combustion."
After listening to what the two of them said, Shang Lu smiled complacently and raised his eyebrows: "Of course, if there were no clear clues, I wouldn't say that."
"Shang Lu, have you found evidence to support your claim?" Li Meng leaned forward, his eyes full of excitement. He looked at the other people, who also had different expressions of excitement, staring at Shang Lu without blinking.
Shang Lu snorted: "Of course, otherwise do you think I would say anything casually?"
Gu Nankai also seemed a little excited. He quickly said, "Tell me about your discovery."
Shang Lu quickly adjusted himself and then said , "Sodium, I found traces of sodium on the small piece of skin that remained on Chen Hui."
"What does this have to do with sodium?" Wu Qingluan asked in confusion. Yang Dong also frowned and tried to follow their thoughts. He didn't dare to speak easily, for fear that his words would disturb everyone. Wu Qingluan's words also expressed his doubts.
Shang Lu smiled and said, "Yes, this sodium has a great relationship with Chen Hui's spontaneous combustion. In fact, if it weren't for the discovery of sodium, I wouldn't have linked Chen Hui's death to spontaneous human combustion so early."
"What do you mean?" Gao Yuan found it interesting and couldn't help asking a few more questions.
Shanglu is quick to say: “It’s easy to overlook the role of sodium in spontaneous combustion, but there are cases that show that sodium can interact with the human body to cause spontaneous combustion.”
She took a breath and saw that everyone's eyes were on her, then she said, "Sodium is a waxy metal that is insoluble in water. It will react strongly when it comes into contact with water. After sodium reacts with water, it will produce a very active substance, which is sodium hydroxide. The reaction process releases heat, which then causes clothes and fabrics to start burning."
"Oh my god, that's great!" Gao Yuan exclaimed to express his praise for Shanglu.
Shang Lu smiled complacently and continued, "And this kind of fire is difficult to put out. From this point of view, this burning incident should have nothing to do with supernatural phenomena."
After Shang Lu finished speaking, he looked at Gu Nankai and said, "Boss, do you think the possibility of this situation is high?"
The little girl was proud of herself for being able to find such a clue, and couldn't wait to get Gu Nankai's praise. She looked at Gu Nankai with her big eyes blinking with hope.
