National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 193 - 193 185 As the Water Recedes, the Corpses Emerge

193: Chapter 185: As the Water Recedes, the Corpses Emerge 193: Chapter 185: As the Water Recedes, the Corpses Emerge After lazing at home for two days, finishing off a potful of abalone sauce with beef, rice, green vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, shark fins, fish lips, fish maw, sea cucumbers, and other ingredients, Monday came again.

Jiang Yuan felt a bit tired and, together with the fact that he could only see his son once every few days, decided to go out and have fun for half a month.

A few Jiang Village People of similar ages gathered, coincidentally someone had rented a plot to a car rental company, so they drove out in a large RV, even bringing two Dobermans with them.

An accompanying relative had rented out a store to someone selling outdoor goods, so they bought tents, stoves, and other outdoor equipment at a very reasonable price and were recommended a beautifully located campsite.

Another villager who came along had rented out a fish pond for use as a fishing park, so they stocked up on fishing gear, buying beginner-friendly fishing rods, tackle boxes, fish protectors, and a large amount of bait, to be able to do some small-scale sports at the beautiful campsite.

Also, a friend in the group had rented out a plot for a gas station, so they additionally brought two drums of petrol, not having to worry about getting lost or missing a gas station.

With his father gone, Jiang Yuan suddenly felt there was no need to go home.

And besides, the detective unit was quite comfortable.

And safer.

Jiang Yuan directly moved into the dorm with his suitcase.

Upon hearing this, Huang Qiangmin, without asking questions, had someone send over a refrigerator and a television.

Thus, Jiang Yuan settled in contentedly and, in the following two days, took on three cases of break-ins and theft.

Unresolved murder cases went back as far as 25 years, and none of them were easy to handle.

Jiang Yuan, feeling somewhat lacking in energy, simply chose to work on the backlog of break-in and theft cases.

Break-ins tended to leave behind physical evidence, and if the investigation was thorough enough, it was possible to gather various types of evidence such as DNA, fingerprints, and footprints.

Occasionally, a particularly skilled thief would leave a large number of footprints, which greatly increased the likelihood of slip-ups, potentially leading to linked cases—after all, it is rare for a burglar to only commit one break-in; if it does happen, it is often someone the victim knows.

After all, the learning cost of this ‘skill’ isn’t low, and the profit from a single heist isn’t high.

To only commit one heist would be like learning to drive, obtaining a license, and then driving once before losing your right hand.

Jiang Yuan found working on these kinds of cases rather interesting.

The saying goes, once a thief, always a thief; once you’ve learned to drive, normally, you’d always want to take a spin.

The same goes for thieves; there were many, especially from Ningtai County, who left plenty of fingerprint evidence, perhaps slightly lacking in quality but certainly not in quantity.

However, their enthusiasm and energy for committing their crimes were not scarce.

There were people who continued to steal for ten or twenty years, essentially only lacking a pension, otherwise, they could’ve retired.

Among the old thieves Jiang Yuan had caught for break-ins, some had already ‘retired.’

But as the crimes were still within the statute of limitations, they had to pay for the shortcuts they took in their youth and for the harm they caused to ordinary people.

Wei Zhenguo’s Sixth Squad was so busy that they hardly had time to return to the office.

If they kept it up, the old thieves in Ningtai County might soon be wiped out.

At that point, the small-time thieves’ market in Ningtai County would essentially be left without a backbone.

Not only is there no one capable of leading the stealing community now, but a lack of successors is also quite apparent.

Now, with many retired old thieves being caught again, even if someone wanted to change their ways, they would likely find nowhere to learn the craft.

Ding-ling-ling.

The landline rang, and both Jiang Yuan and Wu Jun looked up.

At this time of day, the sound of the landline was like a hen crowing at dawn, extremely terrifying.

“I understand, I got it…”

Wu Jun answered the call, and his expression quickly turned serious.

Jiang Yuan was not surprised.

What good news could one hear from a forensic doctor’s telephone?

“Please check for me, my son’s arm is broken, what degree of disability would that be?”—even that would be considered good news.

Jiang Yuan silently bookmarked the webpage he hadn’t finished reading and noted the fingerprints he hadn’t finished marking.

After Wu Jun hung up the call, he indeed heard Wu Jun say, “Forensic Doctor Wang Lan from Qinghe City Bureau made the call, specifically asking for you to join a new case.”

“A current case?”

“A current case.”

“Do you know what happened?”

“The water levels have been dropping recently, and not just here; the same is happening in Qinghe City.

Then, someone discovered black garbage bags on the riverbed.” Wu Jun paused for effect before continuing, “A total of four bags, four bodies, all dismembered.”

Jiang Yuan stood there, stunned.

Just one dismemberment case was already a major incident, but four appeared at once in Qinghe.

And all were submerged in a reservoir?

“If the water level hadn’t dropped, we wouldn’t have discovered them?” Jiang Yuan asked.

Wu Jun nodded, “It was the historic drop in water level that exposed the bodies.

For the specifics, go ask Medical Examiner Wang Lan in Qinghe.”

“You’re not going?” Jiang Yuan asked, surprised.

“What would I do there?

They don’t need me,” Wu Jun sighed, then added, “The provincial department will definitely send someone to supervise.

You be careful when you go, I’ll stay here to hold down the fort.

Who knows how long you’ll be gone…”

From what Wu Jun implied, it seemed Jiang Yuan’s departure was settled.

On careful consideration, it indeed appeared to be a done deal.

Four bodies meant that at least eight forensic doctors were needed—natural deaths in the county could be handled by pairing one forensic doctor with one extra person, but for major dismemberment cases, it was normal for three doctors to work on one body.

Therefore, normally speaking, Qinghe City would need twelve forensic doctors.

There were two forensic doctors in the establishment of Ningtai County.

It was only right and proper to send one as support.

Soon, Huang Qiangmin also received the news, and although he was reluctant, he had no choice but to send Jiang Yuan on his way.

The pressure that a case with four bodies placed on the Qinghe City Bureau was immense; as the captain of the criminal police of a subordinate county bureau, Huang Qiangmin had to play politics at this time.

Jiang Yuan didn’t have much to fuss about, driving himself and bringing along Wang Zhong, heading to Qinghe City.

Wang Zhong had been roped in by Jiang Yuan to help.

At the Qinghe City Bureau, the exact situation was still unknown.

Going alone to deal with a case and potentially having no assistant during the autopsy was not ideal.

Huang Qiangmin readily agreed.

After all, Wang Zhong staying in the team wouldn’t be much help with case investigations, so it was better to send him to assist Jiang Yuan.

Qinghe City Bureau.

A heavy atmosphere started to flow out of the office as soon as the call was received.

Murder cases occurred every year, every month, even often, but a major murder case with four bodies, especially one involving dismemberment and disposal, had not been seen in Qinghe City for many years.

Once the condition of the bodies was confirmed, the case was directly taken over by the Qinghe City Bureau.

It’s true that the city bureau normally didn’t handle cases, but the current situation made it clear that these were not normal times.

Upon arrival, Jiang Yuan went straight to the autopsy room of the funeral home.

They had commandeered the autopsy room of Qianjin District, which looked familiar to him.

The smell…

that was not at all familiar.

Jiang Yuan quietly changed his clothes before entering.

Four black plastic bags had already been opened, gaping open there, leaking out yellow-brown liquid with an unbearable stench.

With a 3M mask in hand, Jiang Yuan was well equipped to filter out the odor, but out of politeness, he first called out to Forensic Doctor Wang Lan.

“Jiang Yuan is here.” Wang Lan’s gaunt cheeks were full of fatigue.

Unable to even muster a smile at the sight of Jiang Yuan, he said, “I see you’re all geared up.

Let’s start with reconstructing the bodies.”

“Alright,” Jiang Yuan replied.

Then he asked, “Do we need to boil them?”

In the corner of the autopsy room, beside a gas stove, a huge pressure cooker stood in an unharmonious and unsightly manner, asserting its presence to all.

“We used to just boil them in ordinary pots, but there’s too many this time, we can’t wait.

We’ll use two pots at once.

Start with the first one,” Medical Examiner Wang Lan had the pressure cooker placed just below the dissection table, then picked pieces of flesh with bones from the bag and put them in.

Jiang Yuan put on his mask, checked his gloves, and walked over to help.

“The pressure cooker can’t fit a whole person, so we’ll start by picking out the distinguishing bones, like the pelvis and so on,” Wang Lan stepped aside and had ordinary pots brought to the second dissection table, directing other forensic doctors to select the distinguishing bones.

The chaotic scene gradually turned into a well-ordered bustle.

Jiang Yuan slowly churned through the pieces of corpse in the plastic bag, first picking out the common bones like the pelvis, cervical vertebrae, and wrist bones, and placed them into the pressure cooker.

Once there were enough pieces, someone added water, and everyone together hoisted it onto the stove, starting the simmering process.

This part of the procedure resembled the cooking of abalone sauce.