Chapter 31: What do you want the skull for?
Forty minutes later, in the autopsy room.
The X-ray has been taken. The person ran so fast, as if he was being chased by a dog.
Zhou Ning and forensic doctor Liu were dressed neatly, standing on the left and right of the autopsy bed. The wrappings on the deceased had been removed, the rope around the neck had been cut, and the full appearance of the corpse was revealed.
Zhou Ning took off all his clothes and placed them on the car beside him. He wore a navy blue sweetheart sweater with white stripes, a shirt of the same color, and brushed sweatpants and sneakers.
This outfit is a bit mismatched, very formal on top and too casual on the bottom, but if you say he is a construction worker, it still feels a bit awkward.
However, Zhou Ning couldn't tell what was wrong.
After a careful look, he found that none of the clothing brands were well-known. The shirts were of the best quality, but the trademark on the collar had been cut off. There was a logo embroidered on the chest pocket, which was a golden upright ancient key. Zhou Ning had never seen such a trademark before.
Forensic Doctor Liu began to examine the body, speaking intermittently of his findings while Zhou Ning made relevant records.
“The groove on the neck is leathery, and green nylon rope fibers can be found in the damaged skin. There are three turns of the groove around the neck in a ring [1]. There is a U-shaped groove from above the Adam’s apple to below the ear.
The body was soft, with no signs of resistance or subcutaneous bleeding. When found, the deceased was lying on his right side with his knees curled up, but the livor mortis [2] was concentrated on his back. The deceased was moved to the scene more than 36 hours after death, so the time of death was between 7 and 10 days.
Zhou Ning wrote furiously, making notes on the corpse record form according to what Liu Yongxin said.
"Okay, you do the autopsy!"
Zhou Ning paused . Liu Yongxin had been following him all day, and he thought he would have to do the autopsy himself. But since he was asked to do it, Zhou Ning was not afraid. After all, there was no shortcut to this job, and it all depended on accumulated experience, so he had to do more.
Without further ado, Zhou Ning put on another layer of gloves and began the dissection.
They all knew the autopsy well. The first step was to check the neck of the deceased. Zhou Ning cut with great skill, but the feeling of cutting open the leathery skin was completely different, similar to the feeling of glass on a cat's paw.
Liu Yongxin took photos while separating the layers one by one. All the work was completed in more than two hours.
Zhou Ning exhaled and Liu Yongxin raised his chin.
"You said I record, just like I just did."
After sorting out his thoughts, Zhou Ning knew that Liu Yongxin was trying to train him, so he quickly said:
"The deceased's thyroid gland, laryngeal mucosa, pharyngeal mucosa, tonsils and tongue root may have obvious congestion and focal bleeding.
The U-shaped groove is located at a high position, the greater angle of the hyoid bone is fractured, and the three grooves below are fractured due to violence, and the organ cartilage is fractured. Combined with the X-ray, the spinous processes of the third and fourth cervical vertebrae are fractured. The murderer is very powerful.
The deceased had severe cuts on his face, with a defect from his left lip to his cheek, and as many as 32 overlapping cuts. There were signs of healing in his nasal cartilage fracture. It is suspected that the deceased had suffered trauma about a month before his death.
The left ventricle was dilated, with a wall thickness of about 1.5 cm, and no abnormal valves were found. A few fusiform scars were seen next to the myocardial interstitial blood vessels under the microscope. There was fluid exudation in the alveolar cavities of both lungs. The deceased had rheumatic myocarditis with left heart failure.
During the autopsy, we checked all the internal organs and found no external injuries. As for the brain, I have never done this, Master."
Forensic Doctor Liu put down his camera and calmly handed over a razor.
"The deceased is unidentified and died in such a tragic way. A craniotomy is necessary. Come on, as a forensic doctor, shaving the head is the most basic job. Everyone has a first time."
Zhou Ning took the razor without any resistance and shaved his head quickly. He was really not worried about this because after all, he was the one who shaved his grandfather's hair. The old man had no other hobbies but to be bald. Looking at Zhou Ning's actions, Liu Yongxin just laughed.
"You are quite good, boy. If I had known, I would have asked you to shave my head last time at the Giant Viewing Site."
Zhou Ning shuddered. That feeling was something he would never forget. Someone had said that shaving a giant's head was like shaving soft tofu. If you weren't careful...
Liu Yongxin had a sly smile on his face, and he was very satisfied when he saw Zhou Ning's expression.
"Don't dawdle, cut and peel quickly. I'll mark the position for you and you cut the skull."
Zhou Ning didn't waste any words. At this time, you have to satisfy the control of the person who teaches you the knowledge. You should act timidly when you should. If you don't react all the time, how can you satisfy the teacher?
Zhou Ning also saw this experience on Weibo a few days ago. Apart from anything else, Liu Yongxin’s smile just now shows that this point of view is very cool.
As powder splashed under the electric saw, Zhou Ning completed the craniotomy and washed the surface clean. The two stared at the dead man's skull and saw the blood clot on the left side without turning it over. The amount of bleeding was about 80 milliliters, which was enough to be fatal.
Liu Yongxin took off his gloves with satisfaction, let out a long sigh, and waved to Zhou Ning.
"Okay, hurry up and sew it up, and then prepare the samples for inspection. There's a lot to do, so take your time. I'll be leaving first."
Zhou Ning had a face full of question marks.
"Master, what are you doing?"
"I went to do the autopsy report and the cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation."
After saying that, Liu Yongxin changed his clothes and left.
Following these last words, the first question of whether to submit the advanced task appeared on the transparent display screen in front of Zhou Ning.
Zhou Ning was not surprised. He clicked submit, but there was still no other response. The countdown stopped at 2:12. It took only 40 minutes on the road. Zhou Ning was quite satisfied with this speed.
After dealing with the last stitch and wiping the surface of the body clean, I looked at the cut on the deceased's face. It was impossible to recover from it for the time being.
However, thinking of the recovery techniques he had been practicing recently, Zhou Ning paused. If he had no idea, why not give it a try?
But how do I get this skull?
After Zhou Ning washed his hands, he went straight out of the autopsy room. Zhao Xinli was waiting at the door. When he saw Zhou Ning walking towards him, he thought he wanted to ask about sending the specimen for examination.
"I asked Xiao Liu to drive to the city. I heard that the test results will be slow. It's almost the end of the year and the city is busy investigating the backlog of cases. Shall I take you back to the team?"
Zhou Ning glanced at the time. It was already past one o'clock. He got into the car without saying anything. There was a lunch box on the passenger seat, wrapped in a police uniform coat. Zhou Ning smiled.
"Thank you, you left some food for me."
"What are you thanking me for? In our line of work, we need to be well fed to have the energy to work. Take your lunch box and let's go back and eat."
As he started the car, Zhou Ning returned to the office and saw Liu Yongxin sitting in front of the computer, slowly . At this speed, typing 300 words before leaving work would be considered speeding.
"Master, let me fight!"
Liu Yongxin waved his hand.
"You eat first, I'll treat this as practice."
Zhou Ning wolfed down the lunch box. As usual, it contained only vegetarian dishes, but it was already past mealtime, and it felt very comfortable to have his stomach appeased in this way.
After washing his hands and rinsing his mouth, Zhou Ning walked up to Liu Yongxin. This time, Liu Yongxin didn't waste any words. He just stepped aside, threw his reading glasses aside, and rubbed his nose.
"Okay, you come on, it's too hard for me to find the letters."
Zhou Ning took over while Liu Yongxin was talking. His fingers were flying and typing on the keyboard. In less than half an hour, the entire report was completed and printed out. Liu Yongxin read it once before asking Zhou Ning to upload it and send it to Xu Dayuan.
Just after I sent it, Xu Dayuan called.
"Doctor Liu, do you have any direct findings? In other words, based on the autopsy, can you give a description of the suspect?"
Zhou Ning didn't say anything, but listened carefully. Forensic Doctor Liu sat down and said slowly:
"Although the autopsy is complete, please don't make things difficult for me, Mr. Xu. We have to wait for the test results. There are not many inferences that can be made now. As for the direction of tracking the suspect, I can give two points:
First, the murderer was very strong and right-handed. The nylon rope strangled his neck, which not only fractured the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage, but also the cervical spinous process.
Second, I suspect the murderer knew the victim and hated him very much. The victim had 32 cuts on his face and the flesh on his left cheek was missing. This must have been caused by chopping with a knife.
Third, regarding the identity of the deceased, I still suspect that the deceased was someone who was engaged in outdoor work. As for the exact identity, we will know it after the test results come out. "
Xu Dayuan hung up the phone without saying anything else. Zhou Ning hesitated for a long time and looked at Liu Yongxin.
"Master, I have no idea about the identity of the deceased. I have an idea, but I need the skull of the deceased."
Liu Yongxin was stunned.
"What do you want the skull for?"
…
PS: [1] Three turns: one circle represents one turn.
[2] Libido livor mortis: Libido livor mortis is formed when blood circulation stops after death. The blood in the cardiovascular system lacks power and accumulates along the vascular network in the lower part of the body. The upper blood vessels of the body become empty and the lower blood vessels become congested. The capillaries and small veins in the lower part of the body are filled with blood, which appears through the skin as dark red to dark purple spots. These spots start out as cloud-like or strip-like and eventually gradually form flakes, which are called livor mortis.
Livor livor mortis is one of the earliest phenomena that occurs in corpses, usually appearing 2 to 4 hours after death, developing to its highest level after 12 to 14 hours, settling down within 24 to 36 hours and no longer moving, continuing until the corpse decays.