freenovelworld Chapter 1364 Anomalies Found in Autopsy
Chapter 1364 Anomalies Found in Autopsy
As night deepened, the Criminal Investigation Division's office building remained brightly lit. The case, which had seemed close to the truth, was once again shrouded in mystery due to Zhao Yonghong's alibi and discrepancies in his fingerprints. The whorl-shaped fingerprints at the scene, the mysterious red motorcycle, and the dark blue paint particles—these scattered clues, like scattered pearls, awaited the investigators to piece them together and find the real killer. Looking at the composed Zhao Yonghong in the interrogation room, Xiao Zhou knew that this battle against the murderer had only just entered its crucial stage.
At 2:7 AM on July 13th, the hearse carrying Zhang Jianguo's body smoothly drove into the Forensic Identification Center of the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment. The operating lights in the autopsy room illuminated the workbench as if it were daytime. Forensic pathologist Zhang Lin was already dressed in blue surgical scrubs, a protective mask, and sterile gloves. His assistant, Xiao Lin, was adjusting the fully automatic tissue dehydrator and pathology slide machine. Various autopsy instruments were neatly arranged on the instrument table, their reflections exuding rigor and professionalism. Zhang Lin has worked as a forensic pathologist for fifteen years, having led the investigation of numerous difficult murder cases. He is renowned for his accurate autopsy conclusions and meticulous attention to detail. Li Ming specifically designated him to conduct Zhang Jianguo's autopsy.
"Xiao Lin, conduct a surface examination of the body first, record the basic data, and be sure to preserve samples of any substances adhering to the body surface." Zhang Lin's voice came through the protective mask, calm and clear. Xiao Lin immediately stepped forward, removed the body from the body bag, and placed it on the dissection table equipped with a ruler. A small amount of green algae and silt still adhered to the surface of the body. The clothing had been retrieved during the on-site investigation. At this moment, the body was completely naked, and the skin showed typical "maceration" due to prolonged immersion, with the epidermis white and swollen, and the skin at the fingertips translucent.
"Teacher Zhang, the deceased is male, 47 years old, 172 cm tall, and weighs approximately 65 kg. No obvious mechanical damage was observed on the surface of the body, but the skin all over the body showed extensive lividity, especially on the abdomen and inner sides of the limbs." Xiao Lin held a ruler and measured the data of each part of the body one by one. "The cornea is cloudy, the pupil diameter is 3.5 mm on the left and 3.5 mm on the right, and the light reflex is absent; rigor mortis has spread to all major joints of the body, with an intensity of level 3, and the jaw joint and knee joint are clearly fixed; livor mortis is located on the back, buttocks, and back of the limbs, and is light purplish-red in color. It does not completely fade when pressed, and new livor mortis forms slowly after changing the body position."
Zhang Lin approached the corpse and carefully examined it with a magnifying glass: "Pay attention to the skin on the neck; there's something unusual here." He pointed to the left side of the corpse's neck, "In the supraclavicular fossa, there's a roughly circular area of discolored skin, about 2.5 centimeters in diameter, with blurred edges and a light brown color, slightly different in color from the surrounding soaked skin. Wipe it with an alcohol swab and observe whether it's contamination formed after death." Zhang Lin immediately wiped it gently with a sterile alcohol swab; the discolored area showed no obvious color change, and no epidermal peeling occurred.
“It’s not contaminants; it’s likely pre-mortem injury or pathological changes.” Zhang Lin took out a multi-band light source and switched to blue light mode to illuminate the neck. “Look, under blue light excitation, this area shows a weak orange-red fluorescence, suggesting possible subcutaneous hemorrhage. However, due to the prolonged immersion of the body, blood components have diffused, making the fluorescence reaction less obvious. An autopsy is needed for confirmation.” He then instructed Xiao Lin to record: “External abnormality 1: A 2.5cm x 2.0cm round, light brown discolored area is seen in the left supraclavicular fossa of the neck, showing a weak orange-red fluorescence under blue light, suggesting possible subcutaneous hemorrhage.”
While examining the body's hands, Zhang Lin discovered a new clue. "The brown foreign object under the nail of the deceased's right index finger contained not only mud but also a small amount of fibrous material. We extracted a sample with tweezers and sent it for trace evidence analysis." He picked up the deceased's right hand. "The nail plate was intact and unbroken, but there was slight bleeding in the nail bed. Combined with the signs of struggle found at the scene, we speculated that it was caused by resistance before death. There was a 0.8cm x 0.5cm abrasion on the palm of the left hand with irregular edges, consistent with the characteristics of blunt force trauma. We also extracted exfoliated cells from the skin."
The autopsy lasted an hour. Xiao Lin finished organizing all the data: "Teacher Zhang, the main abnormalities on the body are suspected subcutaneous hemorrhage in the neck, a foreign object under the fingernail of the right index finger, and abrasions on the palm of the left hand. There are no open wounds on the body, no obvious bone deformities, and the range of motion of the joints is consistent with the development of rigor mortis."
"Let's begin the dissection, starting with the thoracic cavity, focusing on the soft tissues of the neck and the thoracic organs." Zhang Lin, holding a scalpel, made a Y-shaped incision along the midline of the cadaver's chest, from the suprasternal notch to the pubic symphysis. As the blade sliced through the skin, the reduced elasticity due to the adipocere-like alteration produced a slight "slicing" sound. "The subcutaneous fat is about 1.5 centimeters thick, pale yellow in color, with no bleeding or inflammatory reaction." He dissected the subcutaneous tissue and muscles layer by layer, exposing the sternum and ribs. "No rib fractures, no damage to the soft tissue at the manubrium of the sternum, ruling out mechanical asphyxiation caused by chest compression."
As the scalpel reached the neck, Zhang Lin slowed his movements: "Carefully separate the soft tissue on the left side of the neck, taking care to protect the major blood vessels and nerves." He gently clamped the skin in the supraclavicular fossa with hemostatic forceps. "In the subcutaneous tissue here, we found a small amount of dark red blood clots, in a semi-coagulated state, with clear boundaries from the surrounding tissue. This is a typical sign of subcutaneous hemorrhage before death. Measuring the bleeding area, it's 3.0cm x 2.2cm, larger than the area observed on the surface of the body, indicating that the bleeding has spread to deeper tissues."
Xiaolin immediately measured and recorded: "Subcutaneous hemorrhage on the left side of the neck, measuring 3.0cm x 2.2cm, located deep to the anterior border of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, adjacent to a branch of the external carotid artery."
“Continue to separate the neck muscles and examine the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage.” Zhang Lin’s movements were precise and gentle. “The left side of the greater horn of the hyoid bone is intact and without fracture; the superior angle of the thyroid cartilage is not deformed, the perichondrium is smooth, and there is no bleeding. This rules out fractures of the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage caused by strangulation, which indicates that the injuring tool was probably not bare-handed, but a softer object, such as a rope or scarf.” He paused suddenly. “Look at the common carotid artery and internal jugular vein. The vessel walls are intact and without rupture, but at the branch of the external carotid artery, we found slight damage to the intima, which may be caused by vasospasm due to external pressure.”
The focus of the thoracic anatomy is to examine the respiratory and circulatory systems. "Upon opening the thoracic cavity, no fluid was found in either pleural cavity; the pleura was smooth and without adhesions. The lungs were enlarged, dark red in color, and moist on the cut surface; squeezing them released a pale red, foamy fluid, a typical sign of drowning." Zhang Lin removed the lungs, weighed them, and recorded: "The left lung weighed 780 grams, and the right lung weighed 820 grams, both exceeding the normal weight of adult lungs (left lung 500-600 grams, right lung 600-700 grams), consistent with the characteristics of edematous emphysema."
"Teacher Zhang, was the cause of death drowning? But there was subcutaneous bleeding in the neck, how do you explain that?" Xiao Lin asked.