freenovelworld Chapter 1318 Characteristics of Eyelid Hemorrhage
Chapter 1318 Characteristics of Eyelid Hemorrhage
"What was the cause of death? Were there any obvious signs of external injury on the body?" Xiaolin put down the measuring tape and focused his gaze on the head, neck, and other areas prone to violent deaths. Zhang Lin picked up tweezers and gently parted the messy hair on the deceased's face, revealing a swollen and deformed face: the eyelids were closed, the eyeballs were protruding, the corneas were milky white and cloudy, and the pupils were completely obscured; the lips were cyanotic, the teeth were intact, there were no signs of bleeding from the gums, and no bite marks or signs of missing teeth were found.
"There were no obvious blunt or sharp force injuries on the face, but there were scattered petechiae on the conjunctiva of the eyelids—a typical feature of death by asphyxiation. However, the specific type of asphyxiation still needs further confirmation." Zhang Lin gestured to Xiao Lin to adjust the lights. He used tweezers to lift the deceased's collar. The skin on the neck was pale green, with no obvious strangulation marks or ligature marks, and no subcutaneous bleeding or skin damage. "The skin on the neck was intact, with no signs of direct external force. We can temporarily rule out strangulation or ligature as the cause of death. We need to conduct a thorough examination of the respiratory tract and lungs."
Xiao Lin frowned and asked doubtfully, "Could it be poisoning, or a sudden heart attack?" Zhang Lin didn't directly deny it, but instead gently cut open the deceased's clothing with a scalpel—the dark trousers and gray long-sleeved shirt were both made of polyester fiber, the same type of synthetic fiber as the blue fabric identified by the technical department. The clothing was torn in several places, with irregular frayed edges, and some tears were stained with dirt and rust, presumably caused by being scraped by bricks. "Keep the clothing for now, and send it to the technical department later for comparison with the blue fabric extracted from the scene to confirm whether they are of the same origin. Now, conduct a detailed examination of the body surface, focusing on checking for hidden injuries on the torso and limbs, especially traces related to the murder weapon."
The scalpel cut along the seam of the clothing, exposing the deceased's pale green torso. No obvious sharp object wounds or subcutaneous hematomas caused by blunt force trauma were found, but an irregular 3-centimeter-long wound was discovered on the right side of the head. "There's something unusual here!" Zhang Lin used tweezers to pry open the wound. "The edges of the wound are serrated, and there are a small amount of mud and fine brick particles remaining in the wound cavity, which seems to be caused by a blunt force trauma. However, the wound is shallow and has not damaged the skull, so it should not be a fatal injury."
Xiao Lin examined the wound more closely and found several thin fibers around it: "Teacher Zhang, there are a few blue fibers here, which look very similar to the blue fabric fibers extracted from the scene! Could it be that the suspect used a blunt object wrapped in blue fabric to strike the victim, causing the fibers to fall off?" Zhang Lin carefully extracted the fibers with a cotton swab and placed them in an evidence bag: "That's possible. We'll have the forensic team compare the fiber composition. We'll continue to check other parts of the body for similar injuries." The two meticulously examined the entire body and finally found a 2-centimeter-long superficial scratch on the victim's right palm, with clean edges and a small amount of rust residue inside the wound cavity. "The scratch on the right palm has clean edges and rust residue, so it's possible that the victim was scratched by a rusty metal object while resisting—like the rusty shovel found at the scene?"
This discovery invigorated the two men, and Zhang Lin immediately decided to speed up the dissection, opening the thoracic and abdominal cavities to examine the internal organs. The slight "snap" of the dissecting scissors cutting through the sternum was particularly clear in the quiet dissection room. After the thoracic cavity was opened, organs such as the heart and lungs were exposed: the heart was slightly smaller in size, covered with a layer of pale green putrefactive mucus, and there were no bleeding points under the epicardium; the lungs were dark brown, relatively hard, and no fluid seeped out when squeezed, but there were a few pinpoint hemorrhages on the edges of the lung lobes.
"Teacher Zhang, the heart and lungs don't look like they have any obvious lesions. Can we rule out the possibility of sudden cardiac death?" Xiao Lin leaned closer, scrutinizing the organ morphology. Zhang Lin used tweezers to pick up a small piece of lung tissue and placed it on a microscope slide, adjusting the focus to observe: "There is no bleeding under the epicardium of the heart, no myocardial cell necrosis, and no stenosis or blockage in the coronary arteries, ruling out an acute attack of coronary heart disease; although there are a few punctate hemorrhages in the lungs, there are no signs of inflammation or infarction, nor are there the 'hydrogenic emphysema' characteristics commonly seen in drowning deaths, basically ruling out respiratory diseases or drowning. However, the punctate hemorrhages in the lung tissue combined with conjunctival hemorrhage in the eyelids are more likely to be death by suffocation—possibly caused by a soft object pressing on the mouth and nose, leading to respiratory obstruction."
He turned to the abdominal cavity, where organs such as the liver, spleen, and stomach showed varying degrees of putrefaction: the liver was enlarged, pale green, and soft, with putrefactive fluid oozing from the cut surface; the spleen was shrunken, its capsule intact, without rupture or bleeding; the stomach was empty, its walls thin and transparent, its mucosa smooth, without food residue or foreign objects, but with a few pinpoint hemorrhages on the gastric mucosa. "The empty stomach with no food residue indicates that the deceased had not eaten for at least 16 hours before death, which does not conflict with the previously estimated 10-14 days for death, and further narrows down the possibilities—the deceased most likely died in the late night or early morning on an empty stomach."
Xiao Lin's pen flew across the whiteboard, and he had just written down the conclusion "death due to external injury or disease" when his pen suddenly stopped, and his brows furrowed involuntarily. He looked up at Zhang Lin, his eyes full of confusion and inquiry: "Professor Zhang, since we've ruled out death from blunt or sharp objects, and also ruled out the possibility of sudden illnesses like heart disease, what exactly was the cause of the suffocation?"
He leaned forward slightly, his gaze falling once more on the corpse on the autopsy table, his tone tinged with uncertainty: "Look, the deceased's neck skin is perfectly intact, with no strangulation marks, no signs of ligature marks, and no subcutaneous bleeding. It doesn't match the characteristics of strangulation or ligature as the cause of death. Could it be... could it be suffocation caused by someone pressing something against the mouth and nose?"
After listening, Zhang Lin didn't immediately nod or shake his head. Instead, his gaze darkened, and he reached for a sterile syringe from the tool tray. He gestured for Xiao Lin to adjust the light angle, focusing the beam precisely on the corpse's chest cavity. While carefully locating the heart, he explained, "Your guess has some merit, but we can't jump to conclusions without concrete evidence. Our first step is to rule out the possibility of common poisoning—some poisons can suppress the respiratory center, leading to asphyxiation-like death without leaving obvious traces on the body."
The syringe was slowly inserted into the heart, drawing a small amount of dark brown blood. Zhang Lin injected it into a test tube labeled "heart blood," sealed it tightly, and handed it to his assistant: "Send this to the toxicology lab, focusing on testing for common poisons such as organophosphates, cyanides, and sleeping pills. Get the results as soon as possible."
He then used two new syringes to extract small samples from the liver and kidney tissues, and labeled them carefully: "The liver and kidneys are the main organs for the metabolism of toxins. Even if the concentration of toxins in the blood is low, traces may still be left in these two organs, which can provide us with a more accurate basis for judgment."
After processing the sample, Zhang Lin put down the syringe, picked up a magnifying glass, and squatted down to examine the corpse's head closely: "In addition to toxicology testing, we also need to focus on examining the skin and mucous membranes around the mouth and nose. If it really was suffocation caused by pressure on the mouth and nose, the murderer's hand or the package would have rubbed and pressed against the victim's mouth and nose, which could leave traces of skin peeling, mucous membrane bleeding, etc. - These traces are very hidden and can be easily missed without careful observation with a magnifying glass."
As he spoke, he gently pried open the deceased's lips with tweezers, his gaze carefully scanning the skin around the lips through a magnifying glass, not missing a single subtle abnormality.