Chapter 188

Inferring the condition of a body before death through a certain bone is basically based on statistics.

For example, judging height is easy based on long bones. That is, the femur, the tibia, and the humerus of the upper limbs—it's easier to understand using the description from a pork stall: the tubular bones.

The folk saying, "This child has long lower legs, they will definitely be tall when they grow up," is essentially the same as the judgment pattern of forensic doctors.

However, if we are talking about accuracy, there are also problems.

If height is the goal, then judging by long bones for those with long legs versus those with short legs will definitely have discrepancies.

For this reason, forensic doctors began to create various regression equations based on bones from different locations to judge height.

The lumbar vertebrae are the same.

It's just slightly more complicated.

For example, one must first distinguish between male and female.

Secondly, the first lumbar vertebra to the fifth lumbar vertebra are each different.

Each lumbar vertebra has ten measurement points, including anterior vertebral height, posterior vertebral height, superior vertebral sagittal diameter, inferior vertebral sagittal diameter...

The final regression equations formed total 19 types.

Memorizing them would be enough to annoy anyone to death.

Normal people wouldn't really go and memorize these regression equations; knowing where to look them up is enough.

But Jiang Yuan had the script for LV3 Forensic Anthropology, so he couldn't look them up; memorizing them directly had a higher level of prestige.

To an outsider, this likely wouldn't be very moving.

It was different for those in the field.

It was as if ordinary people were all buying a reference book like the "Anthropometric Manual," and even specifically choosing one published by Cihai Press. As a result, they saw Jiang Yuan, who seemed to have memorized the "Anthropometric Manual."

In any workplace, who wouldn't be stunned if they encountered such a colleague?

Jiang Yuan had nothing to say; he just took a ruler, measured a few more data points, and silently verified them a few times. He felt the discrepancies were not large.

Regression equations can be understood as formulas summarizing experience; the formula is right there, the data is also here, substitute them in, and whatever result you get is the result.

A young doctor secretly washed his gloves, took them off, washed his hands, put on new gloves, searched his phone, and also reached the same conclusion.

Then, he silently went to boil the bones.

Wang Lan pondered and said, "A 40-year-old woman who is 1.7 meters tall—there shouldn't be many such people in Qinghe City."

"I'm afraid she's not from Qinghe City. 'Throw far, bury near'." Another forensic doctor from the municipal bureau pondered slightly.

It was fortunate that Wang Lan was taking the lead this time; he really had no confidence at all in the case before him.

If a killer kills one person, they might leave flaws everywhere; having killed 4 people, they should have gained some experience.

Some of the forensic doctors here hadn't even participated in four dismemberment cases.

And these four bodies were handled quite well; if the water in the reservoir hadn't receded to a historic low, perhaps no one would have known there were bodies here for decades.

Wang Lan knitted her brows and said, "'Throw far, bury near' is indeed a general rule, but these bodies are closer to being buried than simply dumped. Moreover, four times in a row in the same place doesn't seem like it's too far away."

"Throw far, bury near" is a rule summarized by criminal investigators.

Generally speaking, if the distance is very far, the killer will choose to dump the body directly, while if the spatial distance is closer, they will choose to bury it.

This is a very interesting psychology.

In essence, if the body is dumped very far away and buried, the difficulty is naturally greater. But in actual operation, the killer clearly doesn't want to linger too long in an unfamiliar place. Or rather, the time a killer is willing to spend disposing of a body actually has a range...

And what the two were discussing was actually this problem.

Are the bodies in the reservoir considered dumped or buried?

The core point of burying a body is that it takes time to dig. Because the killer's sense of insecurity in an unfamiliar location is very strong, they are usually unwilling to spend too much time and energy digging in a place far from where they are familiar, far from their center of life and work.

But to say the killer didn't want to dump the body more secretly is impossible.

Therefore, sinking them into the reservoir tends more towards dumping.

If so, it means the scope of the bodies' origin has expanded greatly; the victims are not necessarily from Qinghe City, and they didn't even necessarily die in nearby cities.

Just in terms of determining the source of the bodies, this difficulty is equivalent to being maxed out.

Wang Lan slowly shook her head and continued, "I personally lean towards it being a dumping case; let the leaders worry about the specific investigation direction."

Jiang Yuan listened without saying a word.

He also leaned more towards the source being nearby. However, this is not an exclusive answer; accidental situations are still possible.

However, even if Jiang Yuan were made the person in charge, he would reach the same conclusion as Wang Lan. Otherwise, from a forensic perspective, this case would be too difficult to handle.

Using forensic anthropology techniques to find the source of the bodies is essentially finding intersections, just like drawing circles on a blackboard, constantly looking for the intersection points of these circles; eventually, when the number of people at the intersection is small enough, it is easy to find the source.

For example, for body No. 1 in front of us, being female is one circle, being around 40 years old is one circle, having given birth is one circle, and adding a height of 1.7 meters is another circle.

The circles that can meet these conditions, plus a circle of missing persons in Qinghe City, the final intersection is very likely to have only one, or at most a few people who fit.

Then the source of the body can basically be determined.

And determining the source of the body is the first step in such cases. It can even be said that only by determining the source can the case have a basis to begin—this is also Wang Lan's work task.

"That... Xiao Zhuang, you make a record." Wang Lan pointed to the name of a young forensic doctor.

Xiao Zhuang said "Oh" and immediately went to take off his gloves and wash his hands.

After a round of tossing and turning, the record was made, and the other pot of bodies was boiled.

Skimming off the foam, pouring out the broth, fishing out the bones with fascia, scraping them clean, and then unfolding the characteristic bones on the second autopsy table—the reason for skimming the foam was also the experience from the previous pot; just pouring out the broth would leave foam sticking to the bones, requiring a laborious second round of cleaning.

As a result, the autopsy tables were becoming a bit insufficient.

Four bodies were still too many; the autopsy room in Qinghe City had already expanded its capacity, but one body couldn't occupy two tables.

However, putting the body bags containing plastic bags directly on the floor wouldn't work either. The floor was covered in sewage, and the plastic bags were actually part of the evidence...

Thus, after another round of tossing and turning, the other two unopened body bags were lifted onto an autopsy table, and the two opened bodies were dealt with collectively.

One body bag per person, containing stones and perhaps infiltrated water; to lift it and hold it high required the effort of three or even four people.

As a female forensic doctor, Wang Lan could only stand by and cheer...

One hour later.

The forensic doctors who went to eat returned, and at this time, the second body here had just been sorted out.

"35 years old. Male. Height around 1.7 meters..." Jiang Yuan quickly gave his judgment.

Wang Lan agreed and muttered to herself, "Both male and female, but the height is the same."

"Serial killers just like to kill people who are 170 centimeters tall, regardless of gender or age." A forensic doctor made a personal summary.

Xiao Zhuang, who was making records nearby, couldn't help but look up and say, "Do you want to listen to what you're saying?"

"What?"

"In China, if he likes to kill people who are 170 centimeters tall, he'll be exhausted to death."

"Oh, then maybe there are other overlapping factors..."

Xiao Zhuang couldn't be bothered to talk to him and turned to say, "I think this way of dumping bodies is a bit like the forensic scientist in the American TV show. Also called *Dexter*."

"I've only seen the beginning; how did he dump them?" Wang Lan immediately gave it importance. Copycat killers are a major category among killers.

Xiao Zhuang organized his language and said, "He often does it in something like a shipping container, covered in plastic, fully wrapped up himself, wearing protective clothing, etc., and a mask. Then he strips the person naked, ties them to a table, kills them with a knife, then dismembers them, puts them in plastic bags, and finally transports them to the sea to dump the bodies."

Wang Lan pondered slightly and said, "Then he needs to buy a large amount of plastic sheeting, needs an independent house or space, and also needs to buy protective clothing, masks; besides, our killer is definitely not a forensic doctor; he uses things like chainsaws to dismember the body, and plastic sheeting is easily punctured..."

"He also needs a vehicle. Besides, the body bags are too heavy; one person likely can't move them," Jiang Yuan said.

"So, it's possible it's a multi-person crime?" Wang Lan's eyes lit up.

Jiang Yuan didn't respond to her words but instead fell into deep thought.

A moment later, Jiang Yuan slowly said, "I think, even if it's a multi-person crime, since they've already dismembered the bodies to this extent, why would they still pack such large body bags?"

Wang Lan looked up in horror.

Jiang Yuan continued, "If he knew how to summarize experience, packing the bodies into two or even four bags would be much lighter and easier. Sinking them to the bottom relies on stones, not the weight of the body itself."

Not only Wang Lan, but everyone present swallowed their saliva.

"There are only these 4 body bags at the scene, so if the crime escalates..." Xiao Zhuang took a deep breath.

Jiang Yuan nodded and said, "If the crime escalates, the killer will very likely choose deeper waters and smaller body bags."

"Makes sense." Wang Lan sighed heavily and said to Xiao Zhuang, "Call the detachment captain and have them find frogmen to go underwater and take a look."