Chapter 667

Early morning.

The chirping of birds, one moment showing off how many bugs they caught, the next showing off their healthy bodies, and then showing off their reproductive prowess—over and over, never stopping.

Jiang Yuan, woken up by the birds, lay in bed, feeling too lazy to get up.

The environment in the capital was unexpectedly close to nature; the park next to the residential complex had woods and water, and birds were frequent visitors. Looking out from the bedroom window, green was the dominant color. Even someone who didn't care about urban construction could feel that the budget was burning...

In the kitchen, the chefs sent from Ningtai were busy making breakfast.

Freshly ground soy milk, tofu, and tofu pudding were... looking at what was bought from outside, while the fried dough sticks were freshly fried. Using No. 95 soybean oil, the dough sticks were fried until crispy—a purely Northern flavor. If it were Southern-style fried dough sticks, the inside would be a bit soft and chewy, and they would be more often dipped in soy sauce or paired with soup.

In addition, the gourd-like knotted fried dough sticks from the Central Plains region also had a unique flavor, especially when paired with spicy soup; it was the kind of breakfast that allowed one to eat most of the delicacies of a province in one sitting.

Mu Zhiyang, Liu Jinghui, and the others also walked out of their bedrooms one after another.

The house that Jiang Fujian bought in his early years was calculated according to the housing area of rural people. Sometimes, to avoid being called a country bumpkin by the people of the capital, he would deliberately buy a larger one. As for vanity or whatever, those who received relocation compensation naturally couldn't avoid such conventions.

As a result, the area of the house Jiang Yuan lived in now was not very suitable for living alone. If only one person lived there, the wind blowing through the living room at night would make a whistling sound.

Therefore, Jiang Yuan simply provided the rooms other than the master bedroom to the team members as dormitories. He didn't charge any fees; it was first come, first served, and whoever wanted to live with whom could do so.

Compared to the real dormitories provided by the Zhengguang Bureau, the conditions here were naturally much better, especially with chefs providing three meals a day plus late-night snacks, and a whole cold storage room supplying food around the clock—more than enough to keep the criminal police from losing weight even if they ran their legs off.

"What are we doing today?" Liu Jinghui sat opposite Jiang Yuan and skillfully began to pour himself milk, soy milk, and yogurt.

"We can rest in the morning. If there's nothing to do in the afternoon, shall we go to the Zhengguang Bureau to pick out some cases?" Jiang Yuan recalled and said, "When I looked last time, there were a few cases that still had hope. If we can't find suitable ones, we'll start with the recent backlog."

"Hmm, we can't let them designate the cases. What if they find a super high-difficulty case from decades ago? We can't solve cases out of thin air. You must stick to your bottom line!" Liu Jinghui was indeed meticulous.

Jiang Yuan nodded, "Mm-hmm," and reached for a fried dough stick, thrusting it fiercely into the bowl of soy milk, letting the dough stick drink several mouthfuls of soy milk in one go.

After the meal, just as he had Mu Zhiyang turn on the PS5, Tao Lu's call came right on time.

"Branch Chief Tao, is there a case?" Jiang Yuan answered the phone and asked directly.

Tao Lu said "Hmm" and asked, "Are you willing to participate in a current case?"

"Did it just happen?"

"Yes. Right now, it appears to be an unnatural death, but because of the victim's identity, it must be investigated as a homicide with a full investigation. The body must also undergo a complete autopsy." The reason Tao Lu specifically explained this was that whether it was an unnatural death or a homicide, this case required a forensic pathologist to perform a full autopsy. If Jiang Yuan participated, this would be Jiang Yuan's job.

Jiang Yuan only said, "I'll report it to Political Commissar Huang. If it's possible, I'll participate."

"I've already told your Old Huang. If you agree on this end, the forensic work will be led by you," Tao Lu said.

Jiang Yuan then agreed.

After a little preparation, before he had even left, Huang Qiangmin's call came through.

The two communicated briefly, and then he heard Huang Qiangmin say, "It shouldn't be anything special. I heard from Branch Chief Tao that it's just that the victim's identity is quite special, so even if it's an unnatural death, it must be investigated as a homicide. In addition, the higher-ups requested that the best personnel be used... so, you are now the best forensic pathologist in the Zhengguang Bureau!"

Huang Qiangmin was happy when he said this.

First and second place are two completely different states and... prices. If it is proven that Jiang Yuan is the best forensic pathologist in the Zhengguang Bureau, or even the best in the Beijing Bureau, then his treatment should obviously be different.

Huang Qiangmin specifically said, "To show our importance, take the people from the backlog task force with you. They're just sitting around anyway."

Thus, Jiang Yuan's backlog task force, along with Liu Jinghui, set off in five brand-new Beijing-plated cars.

Li University Staff Quarters.

In a small circle of gardens adjacent to the school gate were dozens of small two-story residential buildings.

The buildings were from an earlier era, at least forty or fifty years old. The total area was not large, but they had independent small courtyards, quiet and natural.

At this time, the courtyard was already full of police officers.

Tao Lu arrived earlier than Jiang Yuan. He didn't expect Jiang Yuan to bring the whole team. He felt respected but also a bit embarrassed, and hurriedly said, "No need for everyone to go up yet. First, check the body, then take it back for a detailed autopsy."

After saying that, Tao Lu added, "Currently, there are no signs of homicide. You should also be careful when investigating... Respect the deceased and take care of the family's emotions."

"Understood." Jiang Yuan had no objections to this. He changed his clothes, put on shoe covers, a head cover, and a mask, and then put on gloves before entering the scene.

The team responsible for the investigation this time was still Liu Cheng's squad. The criminal police officers were already familiar with Jiang Yuan; they smiled friendly when they met and guided Jiang Yuan to his position.

There were fewer people in the room, but from the living room to the bedroom, there were still seven or eight people, busy taking photos or collecting evidence.

Liu Cheng followed closely behind Jiang Yuan and whispered, "The deceased is Zhou Xiangyang, a professor at Li University, 72 years old. He has a string of titles. From what they say, he's basically an academician-to-be. At such an old age, he was still rehired to work at the school, responsible for major national projects and so on. After the incident, several leaders called to demand a detailed investigation."

Liu Cheng paused, saw that Jiang Yuan's expression was normal, and continued, "Like the previous case, this case of ours must also be recorded in its entirety. We must pay attention to all aspects."

Generally speaking, the body-worn cameras carried by duty police officers are sufficient, but as requirements from all sides increase, separate video recording also has its benefits—at the very least, it can protect the police officers themselves.

Liu Cheng worked at the Beijing Bureau and had long been "accustomed to law enforcement under cameras" according to the requirements of the ministry. He reminded Jiang Yuan and continued, "After the deceased's wife passed away, he basically lived alone. His children hired a nanny who doesn't live in, cleans, and cooks, and has the key to the door. She arrived here at 10 o'clock this morning and found that the old man had already passed away..."

The body was in the bedroom on the first floor.

The body was lying on its back on the bed, with vomit on both sides and under the bed, and dark red secretions flowing from the corners of the mouth. The fingernails on both hands were purple—in forensic terms, the nail beds were cyanotic...

Standing by the bed was the forensic pathologist Zhan Kan, who had arrived earlier. He had only done some basic surface examinations, measured the rectal temperature, and then took a large number of photos.

He also knew that the forensic pathologist in charge today was Jiang Yuan. The two had cooperated on several bodies at the autopsy center before. To be precise, Zhan Kan had served Jiang Yuan while he autopsied several bodies and had long understood that Jiang Yuan was the template of a big shot.

But he hadn't done the work of on-site investigation with Jiang Yuan yet, and he didn't know what kind of habits and patterns the big shot had, so he was alert in his heart.

"Squad Leader Zhan, the two of us will cooperate today." Jiang Yuan greeted Zhan Kan.

Zhan Kan hurriedly said, "You can just call me Little Zhan. Being too polite makes me feel guilty. I'll cooperate with you. Where shall we start?"

"Let's measure the rectal temperature again." Jiang Yuan said as he started working.

Zhan Kan hurriedly helped.

"The time of death is about 4:30 in the morning." Jiang Yuan looked at the rectal temperature Zhan Kan recorded and gave a conclusion directly.

Liu Cheng was right there, responded, and pondered, "That means he died in the middle of the night. At this time, the school definitely wouldn't allow people to enter or leave."

Jiang Yuan started the surface examination without committing himself.

Zhan Kan recorded on the side, while observing Jiang Yuan's movements.

Forensic pathology is a relatively private job. Many forensic pathologists have their own habitual personal movements. In some cases, they are very useful and belong to the category of small techniques that are not quite secret manuals.

Zhan Kan, however, did not find this situation in Jiang Yuan's operations. In fact, Jiang Yuan's operations were almost all standard movements. To put it bluntly, they were even a bit plain and unremarkable, and he worked a bit slowly.

Of course, Zhan Kan was not qualified to say anything; he just followed Jiang Yuan to do the work.

A surface examination took nearly half an hour until Liu Cheng came over and asked, "Squad Leader Jiang, how is it?"

"There are no obvious external injuries, and no special skin lesions were seen," Jiang Yuan said.

"That's good." Liu Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face, and said, "Then if there are no problems, we'll prepare to withdraw."

There are many reasons for unnatural death, such as various accidents, diseases, and also suicide, etc.

The deceased, Zhou Xiangyang, was already 72 years old. Although he was not considered very old by modern standards, the probability of sudden illness and the like was still very high.

On the other hand, the lack of external injuries and the time of death at 4:30 in the morning also greatly reduced the possibility of homicide. From Liu Cheng's perspective, this basically ruled out homicide.

Of course, to truly rule out homicide, the forensic pathologist would still have to complete the autopsy, but that would be at least a day or two later.

Jiang Yuan hesitated slightly and then said, "I want to scan the scene again."

Liu Cheng agreed first, waited a moment, and asked, "Does Squad Leader Jiang feel there is a problem?"

"I have a small doubt," Jiang Yuan pondered.

Liu Cheng said easily, "Please speak."

Jiang Yuan took off his gloves, put on new ones, and said, "First, analyzing from the cause of death, although the specific cause of death is not yet certain, the deceased's fingernails are cyanotic, and there are petechial hemorrhages in the upper and lower conjunctiva. These are signs of asphyxia. Even if mechanical asphyxia is ruled out, there is still a possibility of homicide."

Hypoxia does not necessarily lead to cyanosis, but cyanosis definitely means hypoxia. It can even be said that cyanotic fingernails are already a manifestation of hypoxia to a certain degree. Although it may be caused by certain diseases, it still needs to be emphasized.

Liu Cheng and Zhan Kan nodded together.

Jiang Yuan continued, "Secondly, from the time of the vomit and the time of death, the deceased should have started vomiting from one or two o'clock in the morning. During this period, he did not call for help. It is very likely that he had already lost consciousness when vomiting. I looked at the deceased's past medical history; although there are factors like heart disease, it doesn't look like simple food poisoning or illness."

Zhan Kan's eyes widened, and Liu Cheng nodded blankly.

Jiang Yuan added, "Third, the intensity of rigor mortis in the deceased's shoulders and chest is relatively strong. Analyzing from the time of death, it does not meet the standard. Of course, there are no strict indicators for this, but it should be noted."

Zhan Kan blinked frequently, and Liu Cheng beside him was already frowning.

Jiang Yuan: "Fourth..."

Jiang Yuan: "Fifth..."

Liu Cheng waited until Jiang Yuan finished speaking and said impatiently, "I understand, Squad Leader Jiang. Just tell me what to do."