Chapter 1299: Thawing

In the span of a few months, the number of corpses appearing in the Taihe River basin was already quite significant.

It was the height of summer; those who accidentally fell in, swimming accidents, suicides by drowning, and victims of foul play who ended up in the water could all potentially converge here.

When it comes to any specific corpse, whether it was caused by murder is not always something that can be determined.

If there are obvious knife wounds, gunshot wounds, or blunt force trauma sustained before death, it can be viewed as having the possibility of murder. If not, it depends on whether the identity of the corpse can be confirmed.

Once the identity is confirmed, for a corpse with strong personal connections, the possibility of murder or accidental circumstances will be considered. For example, for a man or woman with a happy family and in the prime of their career, the possibility of suicide can likely be ruled out. Looking at their daily routes and lifestyle also helps in judging whether it was an accident.

Correspondingly, corpses without strong personal connections—much like the marginalized people of society in the past, such as scavengers, vagrants, or those living in isolation—might not have a case opened if there is no clear evidence of murder, especially in a country like Japan. Of course, it is not just Japanese police who might do this to avoid lowering their case-clearance rate; American police are also inclined to avoid cases involving gang members, drug addicts, or any victims without anyone to advocate for them.

Therefore, there is no end to the cases police must handle. Just for the drowning cases on the Taihe River alone, if they were willing to invest the resources to identify every single John or Jane Doe, the Ningtai County Bureau would not have enough manpower even if they doubled their staff.

Jiang Yuan counted the time while swishing beef in the pot, pulling it out after only seven or eight seconds, swirling it in a bowl of minced garlic and satay sauce, and then chewing vigorously, his eyes fixed blankly on his tablet.

"If you have trouble choosing, just pick the one from Changyang City." Huang Qiangmin saw Jiang Yuan's expression and knew he was hesitating, so he offered a suggestion very considerately.

The members of Jiang Yuan's cold case task force were mainly seconded from the Changyang City Criminal Investigation Detachment. Since they had borrowed manpower in reverse, they naturally had to give them VIP treatment.

Jiang Yuan gave an "Oh," but swiped the image on the tablet forward twice and said, "Then let's pick the one from Changyang City. I just saw a case in Changyang where the drowned corpse had a nasal fracture sustained before death. It's highly likely to be homicide. The autopsy report didn't show it, so I'll ask later if the body is still available."

"Sure, sure." Huang Qiangmin nodded repeatedly. Who said Jiang Yuan only knew how to solve cases? Look at this response—everything has a reply, and every matter has a resolution.

Jiang Yuan then used the tablet to send the relevant documents to Wang Chuanxing, asking him to arrange the follow-up work, while he focused on the beef.

Wang Chuanxing was still at home resting, but the work still had to be done.

Ordinary police squads don't have such long rest periods, and there's no need to mention overtime or business trips. For criminal investigators, overtime and business trips are daily life; there are many jobs more painful than this. To say nothing else, just look at Shen Yaowei.

Jiang Yuan stared at the ribeye cap and ate a large plate, then turned to the oyster blade and the center of the shoulder.

Chaoshan beef has a classic sales pitch: "This cut of meat only yields two jin from a single cow." The statement isn't wrong, because due to the meticulous classification, most of the specific cuts only yield about two or three jin.

However, this is like people in the Song Dynasty eating sheep face, or the Qing Dynasty eating carp whiskers. These cuts may be small, but the remaining meat of the cow, sheep, or fish isn't truly thrown away. If ancient people had to discuss the issue of resource integration, in the modern commercial structure, this simply isn't a problem.

The quantity of pig brains is even smaller, and if they are sold at a high price, they can only fool the "pig-brained."

Jiang Yuan was eating with gusto, so he got up to cut the meat himself. He didn't follow the established rules for cutting; seeing a piece of meat that looked delicious, he would slice off a small piece, cut it carefully into large slices, bring it back, and drop it into the pot on the spot.

As a forensic pathologist, he had long since trained a kind of intuition. He couldn't say he knew every change in every part of a corpse by heart, but he had a considerable understanding and a certain expectation for the changes in different parts—overall, Jiang Yuan believed that the meat he chose might be even more delicious, and he had broken the limit of two jin per cow...

During the tasting session that followed, everyone gave extremely high praise.

In the latter half of the feast, the elders and youngsters of Jiang Village began to go around the table to offer toasts.

When it came to drinking, the people of Jiang Village didn't have much of an obsession. Perhaps it was because they didn't have much money to drink rotgut in the past, and now that they had money, they were influenced by social trends and began to cherish their lives.

Jiang Yuan took only a sip. Today was still a day off, but tomorrow, once the frozen corpse thawed, he would have to get busy again.

The next day.

Jiang Yuan got up early, sat with his father, drank some beef soup, and ate a hot pancake that appeared from nowhere, then took the Alphard to Changyang City. Sure enough, he saw the thawed corpse and Wang Chuanxing and the others who had returned to the team.

At the same time, he saw even more criminal investigators from the Changyang City Criminal Investigation Detachment.

Most were there to chat with Wang Chuanxing and the others, while a few wanted to see Jiang Yuan or seize an opportunity.

"Datuk!" Yu Wenshu also arrived after hearing the news, reaching out his hand from afar.

"Normally, you should call me Datuk Jiang." Jiang Yuan shook hands with Yu Wenshu.

Yu Wenshu laughed out loud, gripped Jiang Yuan's hand tightly, and then looked at the others, saying, "Director Jiang is also especially serious when he's joking."

"Perhaps it's because what Director Jiang says is true." Wan Baoming, the deputy director of the Changyang City Criminal Science and Technology Center, was already very familiar with Jiang Yuan and had come specifically to pick him up this time.

Yu Wenshu let out an even heartier laugh and said, "Datuk Jiang, it sounds even more extraordinary. Bringing glory to the country, you are truly amazing."

"I am still willing to work for Changyang City. Hearing Branch Chief Yu speak makes one feel happy." Jiang Yuan, armed with his maxed-out emotional intelligence, made everyone from Changyang City feel a bit uneasy.

Yu Wenshu shuddered, hurriedly stepped aside, and said, "Shall I let Old Cao explain it to you? This case was reported to the local police station, and the follow-up was handed over to us. It is specifically being handled by the Third Brigade; you know Old Cao."

The captain of the Third Brigade, Cao Chujun, was also an old acquaintance of Jiang Yuan. He was older and nearing retirement, belonging to the breed of criminal police captains who are extremely experienced and patient—of course, this is an assessment for those born in the 60s and 70s; if it were someone born in the 00s, it would be considered a tendency to "lie flat."

Cao Chujun also frequently coordinated with Jiang Yuan. Being named, he smiled, then slowly took a worn-out notebook from his pocket, flipped it open, and said, "This corpse... the deceased is named Zhang Xianyao, 17 years old, a student at Changyang Vocational School of Technology. He lived on campus, left school at noon on the 6th to eat, and never returned. The school notified his parents on the evening of the next day, and they only reported it to the police on the third day."

Cao Chujun: "The body was discovered on the 10th. The discovery site is located at Guai Zi, 16 kilometers downstream from the school. The person who found it was bird-watching in the morning. The first autopsy was performed that day. The forensic examiner gave the cause of death as mechanical asphyxia, with signs of drowning-related pulmonary edema, etc. Through the combination of age and the missing person report, the identity of the deceased was confirmed. We also asked the parents to come and identify him."

After finishing, Cao Chujun closed his notebook and added, "After finding the body, our police officers visited and inquired, discovering that Zhang Xianyao would occasionally go wild swimming. He didn't go often, but every summer he would swim outside about a dozen times. Changyang Vocational School of Technology is about one kilometer in a straight line from the Tai River, and people often gather to swim wild under the bridge two kilometers upstream, where there is even a self-built wall for changing clothes..."

Cao Chujun: "Additionally, after visiting his classmates at school, we found that Zhang Xianyao rarely had conflicts with others, had no girlfriend, had never dated, had no work experience, had no contact with people outside the school, and his daily expenses were basically sufficient. Based on this, we determined that the deceased accidentally drowned after spontaneous wild swimming."

After he finished speaking, Yu Wenshu coughed twice and said, "What about the situation with the injured nose?"

"This... we previously judged it might have been caused after death, by water impact, hitting a stone, or something similar." Wan Baoming, who is in charge of the Criminal Science Center which includes forensics, had to stand up and explain at this moment.

"Hmm, the facial damage is indeed quite severe, making it a bit difficult to judge." Jiang Yuan was standing in front of the corpse at this time; he first offered a word of comfort, then added, "However, the fracture of the nasal bone is indeed an injury sustained while alive, so it is necessary to open a case for investigation."

Floating corpses that appear in reality are always in a state covered in wounds. They not only rot and hit reefs or other hard objects, but they are also pecked at by fish and birds, and it is not strange for them to be hit by boat paddles. In comparison, the form of floating corpses often seen in movies and television is a bit too complete, which should mainly be due to the limited cost of props, as well as the basic right to life of the extras.

Cao Chujun naturally nodded and said, "The procedures have all been completed. Where shall we start?"

"His nose, and the eye sockets..." Jiang Yuan did not answer immediately. While speaking at the scene, in front of everyone, he made a cut with his scalpel. The flesh, which was already tattered and hanging on the bone, was neatly sliced away.

Jiang Yuan beckoned for Miao Ruixiang, who had come with him, to take pictures, while saying, "There are also fractures in the eye sockets. Look at this fine crack; this is also an injury sustained while alive. The deceased should have been beaten up while he was alive..."

He looked up at Cao Chujun.

Cao Chujun nodded: "If we calculate based on the injuries, then it's an occasional conflict or a vendetta. Shall we start investigating along these two lines?"

"Yes. After I finish the complete autopsy later, I will tell you the specific injuries and scars." Jiang Yuan said, coughing twice, then became more serious and added, "Later, I will re-examine the lung slices of the deceased, as well as the diatom samples extracted from the upper respiratory tract, to see if the specific drowning location matches the wild swimming location."

"Okay." Cao Chujun found Jiang Yuan's slightly elevated tone a bit strange, but like everyone else at the scene, he did not realize how much power the last sentence Jiang Yuan said would actually have.

(End of chapter)