National Forensic Doctor

Chapter 1313: Chapter 1239 People Need Hobbies

"Judging by this, Li Ningxia is still the victim," Cui Qishan agreed with Xiao Si’s assessment.

Liu Jinghui nodded slowly, "If that’s the case, this killer is not simple. Li Ningxia was forced to change clothes with the deceased, and during the stripping process, she was most likely alive. Desperate to survive, she would naturally reveal the bank deposit, and for the killer to endure not taking it is really not easy."

Only those who have killed or seen the dead know how messy it can be when someone is killed.

It can be compared to a drunk person, who not only vomits like a spray but also like a bubbling spring and a trickling stream. When a person’s muscles start to relax, the leaking fluids are not only from the stomach and intestines but also tears, mucus, and uncontrollable feces and urine, along with everything dirty that can be touched around.

So, an experienced killer, if he wants to use the clothes on the victim, he had better strip them off while the victim is still alive. Once the person is dead, not only does the body become stiff and difficult to remove, but it’s also easy to get dirty.

If not careful, leaving traces would be unsightly.

From this judgment, Liu Jinghui already regards the killer as an experienced murderer.

As for not withdrawing the money... there could be many reasons, but a killer who gives up tens of thousands of yuan at hand is actually very rare.

The detectives have seen many who try their luck at ATMs for just a few thousand. Don’t they know that the ATM cameras will capture them? Most just wear masks and sunglasses, trying to conceal the machine and themselves simultaneously.

Ordinary people, when faced with nonexistent tens of thousands, might think, "I would never risk withdrawing it," but if someone earns 3,000 monthly, works from dawn till dusk, gets scolded by the boss, criticized by clients, needs to suppress desires when shopping, gets resentment at home, mocked at gatherings, and can’t approach their crush...

Any dissatisfaction among these, when connected with a bank card in their pocket containing tens of thousands that can be withdrawn, would they?

Those who don’t withdraw it are either poor but resolute or already wealthy.

Either way, they are opponents the detectives do not like.

Liu Jinghui stopped at this point, those who understand will naturally be more vigilant, and those who don’t won’t affect the investigation.

Jiang Yuan continued to examine the skeleton.

On the other side, the Cold Case Squad and the Fourth Team began gathering missing person reports from various places for comparison.

Whether 38 or 33 years old, they belong to the core age of society. The probability of someone this age completely disappearing from society is quite low. If they suddenly disappear, people around them will usually report it to the police.

The only issue is that the case has become a cold case, making the scope slightly larger.

In the evening,

Tao Lu and Huang Qiangmin walked arm in arm into the conference room to check on everyone.

Jiang Yuan had also completed the autopsy, cleaned up, and was sitting quietly in the corner drinking tea.

"How is it?"

"Is it difficult?"

Seeing Jiang Yuan’s appearance, both Tao Lu and Huang Qiangmin were astonished.

"I’m tired," Jiang Yuan answered simply, then added, "I’m hungry."

Both breathed a sigh of relief before their expressions turned stern:

Huang Qiangmin shouted, "Wang Chuanxing!"

Tao Lu shouted, "Cui Qishan!"

Huang Qiangmin & Tao Lu: "What have you guys been doing?"

Wang Chuanxing and Cui Qishan exchanged glances, thinking, we’re all so busy...

Neither really wanted an answer, and Huang Qiangmin immediately said, "Jiang Yuan, what would you like to eat? Hotpot?"

"I don’t feel like eating today, I’m a bit tired." Jiang Yuan had been working on several cases back to back, especially performing autopsies continuously, which may not consume much physical strength, but a lot of mental energy.

This case also faced an autopsy error, adding some pressure on Jiang Yuan.

If you say the other side’s autopsy has problems, then your own should definitely not have issues, and the best proof of whether any issues arise is solving the case.

Seeing Jiang Yuan so exhausted, Huang Qiangmin immediately blamed Wang Chuanxing, "Look at how tired Jiang Yuan is, and you don’t care at all. That... Wei Shikan, get something over here and charge it to the Criminal Police Brigade’s account."

Tao Lu coughed a couple of times, staring at Huang Qiangmin.

Huang Qiangmin chuckled and turned to correct himself, "Charge it to the Zhengguang Bureau’s account."

Tao Lu snorted twice and said no more.

Spending superior unit’s funds is better than spending one’s own unit’s.

Wei Shikan enthusiastically came forward, smiling, "I previously suggested getting some coffee to perk Jiang Yuan up, but he didn’t want it... How about I bring some tonic food for us to eat? I have a buddy who runs a medicinal cuisine restaurant. Nowadays people say Beijing’s food isn’t tasty, but actually, there are two levels in Beijing: the cheapest, most basic things focus on value for money, then there’s the heritage of rich and sumptuous flavors..."

"Fish maw," Jiang Yuan didn’t hold back and said directly, "If it’s against the rules, I’ll pay for it myself..."

"What rules?!" Tao Lu immediately said, "Staying up all night for a case isn’t against any rules, what’s wrong with eating something? Food is made for consumption, after all. Someone... get me a pork knuckle, a large bowl of rice, and a bowl of kelp soup."

It’s fine for Jiang Yuan to eat fish maw, and as the brigade captain, Tao Lu eating a pork knuckle was the limit, so the rest naturally knew where the ceiling was.

"Then I’ll take pig’s feet."

"Braised pork!"

"Do you have stir-fried yellow beef? The spicy kind..."

Everyone began ordering, looking very prudent and orderly.

Tao Lu nodded with satisfaction.

After a while, the conference room was filled with the aroma of food.

Jiang Yuan’s fish maw ginseng chicken soup had a rich aroma, but he showed no signs of being modest.

As the son of the richest man in Jiang Village, Jiang Yuan had long been used to people casting envious glances. If he tried to blend in every time, his father’s money might suffer a tiny fraction of loss.

After quietly drinking a bowl of soup and zoning out for a while, Jiang Yuan felt his energy somewhat restored. He took out a lunch box, gently opened it, and took out a cervical vertebra to observe and touch it.

"Any thoughts?" Cui Qishan came over while gnawing on a chicken claw.

The previous investigation had gone off track, immensely increasing his pressure. noveldrama

Jiang Yuan rubbed the bone, "This one is cervical vertebra C5, with bone hyperplasia and a bit of deformation. For a 33-year-old deceased, it’s rather early. From the perspective of forensic anthropology, such early deformation usually results from long-term prolonged behavior. In a classic scenario, it should be caused by certain athletic activities or professions."

"In general?" Cui Qishan picked up on the key point.

"Yes," Jiang Yuan sighed, "It could also be from playing with mobile phones—’phubbing.’

That number is too large to have screening significance.

Wei Shikan, listening with great interest, remarked, "So, by this calculation, playing on the phone also counts as a physical activity."

"For the cervical spine, the pressure is quite significant," Jiang Yuan regrettably put down the cervical vertebra and aligned it with two other vertebrae from the box, "If there were such severe deformations in other areas, it could be directly characterized, but since it’s on the cervical spine, it’s almost unusable."

"As a police officer, my cervical spine isn’t good either," Cui Qishan shook his head, "People with desk jobs often have cervical deformities; many have issues during medical checkups."

"Yes... and the lumbar spine is the same." Jiang Yuan replaced it with a piece of lumbar vertebra, demonstrated it briefly, "This shows compensatory hyperplasia of the vertebral body, typical for industries with prolonged sitting or standing. So now, same situation—not reference-worthy anymore."

Cui Qishan couldn’t help but give a bitter smile, "So, basically, everyone’s issues are with the same parts, which makes identifying people impossible."

"Cervical and lumbar vertebrae, yes. But I also noticed that the deceased’s right shoulder joint glenoid labrum showed wear, suggesting frequent use of the rotator cuff muscles. The wrist joint cartilage also showed damage. If it were a sport, I think it aligns with racquet sports like badminton..." Jiang Yuan remarked as several detectives around him stopped eating.

"Did the deceased enjoy playing badminton?" Liu Jinghui, no longer concerned with eating, immediately squeezed in and asked, "Were they good at it?"

"Were they good?" Jiang Yuan found Liu Jinghui’s question a bit strange but replied, "It seems they were the type who often made smashes."

"Then they would need a court! And someone to play with; it couldn’t have been a private hobby," Liu Jinghui slapped his thigh and said, "Call the families of those missing and directly ask if any of them liked badminton!"