Chapter 1489: A Little Sweetness for the Forensic Doctor 02

That afternoon a case came in.

Less than half an hour after the police were dispatched, the call went straight to the heavy case unit office, requesting that Jin Team bring the forensic doctor to the scene personally.

Ten or more minutes later, the police stopped outside the abandoned factory.

"The reporter is a security guard patrolling nearby," said the officer conducting the scene inspection: "This factory has been abandoned for a long time. Today the new factory lost power, so he came here to look for candles and discovered a charred corpse inside the factory."

Jin Chen listened while putting on gloves and shoe covers, then crossed the police line to approach the corpse.

"This scene is too clean," Ke Xiu said, a little surprised: "Besides the corpse, it's practically empty, Jin Team—could this not be the primary scene?"

But before he could finish the question, he dismissed it himself; Ke Xiu noticed scorch marks on the concrete floor, only hidden by the corpse and not apparent at first glance.

"The corpse wasn't bound by anything, and the area is open enough that fire couldn't spread," Yu Jue said after examining the body, finding it strange: "Could it have been burned after death?"

Wu Lin had already begun silently observing the corpse's features, without joining their discussion.

Jin Chen said: "First examine the scene, look for the ignition point and accelerant, and try to find anything related to the victim's identity."

"Have Wei Yan look up recent missing persons."

"All right, Jin Team."

Beneath the corpse's curled back, a small triangular fragment was pressed down, appearing to have been pressed and not fully burned.

Ke Xiu picked it up, held it in his palm, felt it was somewhat familiar, and moved to Jin Chen's side to ask: "Jin Team, have we seen this symbol before?"

Jin Chen frowned: "The emblem of X City University."

The unburned triangle happened to reveal the most distinctive pattern of the emblem.

Ke Xiu placed the fragment into an evidence bag, saying: "The victim is very likely a student of X City University."

Jin Chen asked Wu Lin: "Can we determine the time of death and sex characteristics now?"

Identifying a charred corpse is somewhat harder than a normal one, but Wu Lin merely fell silent for a moment, his tone calm: "Within 72 hours, male, preliminarily judged to have been burned while alive."

Jin Chen smiled at him: "Thank you for your hard work."

Wu Lin's hand, resting on the corpse, suddenly paused; he glanced puzzled at Jin Chen, feeling rather inexplicable.

The scene investigation continued.

"The missing male student from X City University in recent days," Jin Chen mused, feeling that the triangular fragment—this key piece of information—had been left at the scene too deliberately, yet they could not overlook any clue.

"Jin Team! This looks like other clothing fabric, or perhaps it was deliberately piled up and burned."

"And this… looks like a lighter's fuse; preliminarily judged as an accelerant," said the scene investigation expert Yu Jue, who also turned up considerable evidence.

"Jin Team," the young officer approached: "The reporter is already waiting at the police station."

Jin Chen grunted in assent, helped Wu Lin move the corpse onto the transport vehicle, preparing to take it back for autopsy and analysis.

——

The next morning, Yi Tian burst in from outside as usual; at six o'clock the office was fully staffed.

"Jin Team, we've identified the victim—thanks to Wei Yan's tracking!"

Jin Chen set down the reporter's oral statement from yesterday and looked toward Yi Tian.

Yi Tian said: "The victim is Zhou Ming, a freshman at X City University; a week ago the school advised him to withdraw due to severe depression, and he had repeatedly self‑harmed in the dormitory."

Wei Yan slowly peered out from behind the computer, speaking slowly: "Could it be… suicide?"

"The likelihood of a suicidal person using fire is very low." A cold voice came from the side door; Wu Lin removed his mask, his face showing a weary bluish tint, and said: "Most would choose jumping or wrist‑slashing, and for those with severe depression there's often not enough energy to plan a suicide."

"Makes sense." Wei Yan then shrank back, chewing on milk candy while continuing to type on the keyboard at a speed completely opposite to his slow speech, clacking away.

Jin Chen handed Wu Lin a cup of soy milk, as if they'd known each other for ages, and said: "Have a drink to settle your stomach."

Wu Lin blinked, still took the soy milk, which was still warm.

"Thank you."

"What information does the corpse give?" Jin Chen waited until he had taken a few sips before asking.

Wu Lin held the cup, his gaze lowered to the data Wei Yan had just printed on the desk—exactly Zhou Ming's information.

"The body surface and internal organs are severely burned, but we cannot conclude death by burning."

He looked at Jin Chen, his tone still calm: "According to the stomach contents, the victim had ingested a potent poison before death."

"Moreover, death by fire wasn't instantaneous; the victim was bound, then the face and chest were slowly scorched, followed by the limbs and torso."

"The specific results await the lab tests."

Jin Chen snorted: "What a bastard."