National Forensic Doctor

Chapter 1312: Chapter 1238 Lying Down

"Impossible."

Yang Yuhui and Xue Dehong hurriedly rushed to Jiang Yuan’s autopsy room.

In a standard autopsy, at least two people are usually present, and often a forensic assistant is required, typically outsourced or temps.

At times like this, the forensic assistant naturally can’t bear the responsibility.

Yang Yuhui is the forensic doctor responsible for the autopsy in the Bishui South Road Park abandoned corpse case. He graduated from the official forensic major of a formal medical university and is a certified forensic doctor in the Zhengguang Bureau, 35 years old this year. His age is not very old, but Yang Yuhui’s experience is already quite extensive, and he has executed and participated in the autopsies of several major cases.

Mistaking the identity of a corpse is definitely an error. On the way over, Yang Yuhui kept recalling this case, and by the time he arrived, his entire face was wrinkled.

"Didn’t you take DNA at the time?" Jiang Yuan first asked Yang Yuhui.

DNA is the gold standard. If the DNA matches, there wouldn’t be so many issues later on.

Yang Yuhui responded with a "hmm" and said, "I took several samples, but I couldn’t extract any DNA. At that time, I specifically took the auditory ossicle from the inner ear and the proximal fingernail, but both yielded no results. I should have taken the cementum from the teeth, but based on the clothes the corpse was wearing and its height, along with the missing person report and the family’s identification, the victim’s identity was confirmed, so no further examination was done... I should have done it once more; it’s not Li Ningxia?"

The auditory ossicle in the inner ear is protected by the temporal bone, so DNA degradation is slower there. DNA can be obtained from positions like these in many slightly decomposed bodies, but this is considered an advanced DNA extraction technology. A regular lab with a budget of three to five million and a couple of fresh graduates is insufficient, and in less developed regions like Shan Nan, samples need to be sent to the provincial bureau.

Of course, the facilities at the Beijing Bureau are much better, not only can they work on the auditory ossicle, but also on the cementum when necessary.

However, working on cementum is even more complicated; precautions against contamination need to be taken during extraction, assistance from a dental microscope is required for separation, and attempts are made in laboratories with mini-STR technology. The detection rate is low, meaning several teeth have to be ground down.

If it’s an unidentified body with an uncertain identity, since the Beijing Bureau has the facilities, cementum analysis should be conducted. If that doesn’t work out, there’s still the Department’s Physical Evidence Appraisal Center, where single-cell whole-genome amplification can challenge samples with longer periods of decay.

But everyone who’s worked in the field knows that no one would spend multiple times the time and resources, especially those of a higher authority, to challenge a result when an answer has already been obtained, to ensure nothing is missed. This would only occur in situations like Xu Taining’s wherein one succeeds or dies trying.

Establishing a corpse’s identity through clothing and personal items is originally part of a forensic doctor’s duty, which even Jiang Yuan frequently practices.

A not-so-funny forensic joke: How do you identify a body quickest? Look at their ID card.

Especially in the context of Li Ningxia’s disappearance, Yang Yuhui’s performance was above average.

However, in criminal investigation, results speak for themselves.

Bumping into the culprit is your skill, but being unlucky enough to brush past them sixteen times is your stupidity.

A forensic doctor misidentifying a person is unacceptable from a task force’s perspective.

Jiang Yuan unburdened Yang Yuhui instead: "Based on the bone age, it’s definitely not 38 years old. But since it was your first autopsy and a decomposed body, you couldn’t see bone age as I could, etc."

Yang Yuhui smiled wryly, feeling a won’t-know-where-to-start kind of frustration, sighed again, and verified first: "The uterus was removed, and I heard you saw the age discrepancy at a glance. From which bone age was that judged?"

"Uh... rib and skull, I suppose," Jiang Yuan hesitated slightly.

"If you’re determining bone age with the rib and skull..."

"Long bones can also reveal it, and even the spine, plus the clavicle here..." Jiang Yuan knew what Yang Yuhui wanted to ask, so he started demonstrating with the bones on the spot.

Normal forensic doctors in typical operations would use the pubic symphysis to judge age and would need a higher level of understanding in forensic anthropology to resort to additional bones.

Yang Yuhui apparently didn’t count as such.

But he instantly understood that although Jiang Yuan appeared young, his research in forensic anthropology was impressively strong.

Yang Yuhui was silent for a moment, then asked, "What about the clothes? Were they just coincidentally wearing the same outfit?"

"It should be the same outfit." Jiang Yuan responded. noveldrama

"This..." Yang Yuhui perked up with a new thought, asked: "Does that suggest the killer had a premeditated plan?"

"Possibly." Jiang Yuan paused and then slowly said, "There are also some surprising coincidences, like the victim’s body height being the same as Li Ningxia’s."

"Ah? This..." Various plots instantly flashed through Yang Yuhui’s mind.

"The next task is to find the identity of this nameless body." Jiang Yuan didn’t want to waste time adjusting his colleague, so he shifted the conversation back on course.

Yang Yuhui promptly nodded, "I can help..."

"Not appropriate." Jiang Yuan immediately refused, needing no further explanation.

"Makes sense." A bit embarrassed, Yang Yuhui said a couple of polite lines and quickly left.

"We’ll reassure later." Acknowledging Jiang Yuan as his mentor, Zhan Kan stepped up to explain for him in these trivial matters.

Jiang Yuan didn’t mind, turning again to say: "The missing persons’ list needs to be prepared, and we can see if we match any missing individuals."

"The corpse isn’t Li Ningxia’s, which explains why every investigation seemed to hit a wall." Cui Qishan stated with a touch of exasperation, already puzzled as he glanced at the files.

Investigations into personal relationships, seeking criminal motives, even image and technical investigations, were all misguided.

Liu Jinghui, who had been contemplating, said: "The key now is whether Li Ningxia herself is still alive, if she went missing, or was taken away by someone, or perhaps if she is the perpetrator herself? It can’t be merely a complete coincidence, right?"

His words made the autopsy room even colder.

The deceased was wearing the same style and color clothes and pants as Li Ningxia, had the same height as Li Ningxia, and on the day of the incident, Li Ningxia disappeared. Suggesting the two are unrelated would challenge the intelligence of detectives.

And missing persons’ outcomes are often grim. Look at the previous case, missing female university students don’t often come back alive.

Xiao Si then remarked: "I think it’s a passive disappearance. Because if she had autonomy, she would likely find a way to take her assets. Tens of thousands in cash just left in the account, lying there?"