Chapter 993

Huang Qiangmin used his superb technique to temporarily shake off the encirclement of several criminal police officers from Qingshi City, then went to Jiang Yuan's side and asked, "How is it?"

"Hmm... looking at it now, it's a plain and simple dismemberment case." Jiang Yuan lowered his head, scrolling through his tablet and quickly flipping through photos of the corpse, then added, "There should still be quite a lot of clues."

"What about the difficulty?"

"Weak LV3, I'd say." After all, it is a dismemberment case; although it wasn't "dismembered" into many pieces, it was still dismembered, so giving it an LV3 is a sign of respect for this type of case.

"That's not too bad then." Huang Qiangmin breathed a sigh of relief. He occasionally heard Jiang Yuan use terms like LV1 or LV3, and now he basically understood their meaning. He even felt this classification method was quite good; he could understand the situation immediately, which made the guidance for negotiations clear.

Otherwise, just saying it's hard, very hard, or difficult to handle—who would know which one is truly difficult?

Jiang Yuan nodded slightly: "It's not difficult, but it's not easy either. Following our normal procedures, there's a high probability we can get it done, but it's also possible we won't be able to. If we can't, the difficulty will increase."

A task that can be completed by following the book is not considered too difficult.

But from another perspective, the individuals and teams capable of executing tasks by the book are themselves scarce. For example, in the 150 points of the college entrance exam math test, 90 points are questions that follow the book, yet among the annual pool of test-takers, those who can reach this level are clearly less than 60%.

Therefore, most people in this world don't even possess the ability to follow the book. The fools in the office, the foolish drivers on the road, and the foolish comments online are all examples of low-level drifting.

"Is Political Commissar Huang whispering to our Team Leader Jiang?"

Fang Gang, the criminal investigation detachment leader of the Qingshi City Bureau, walked over with a chuckle.

"Your case is too difficult, and Jiang Yuan and I are discussing how to explain the situation to you. You must guarantee the support on your end; otherwise, let alone whether the case can be solved, it will easily drag on." Not a single word of what Huang Qiangmin said was true, but it is true that police can lie while handling cases.

Fang Gang's expression turned serious, thinking to himself, you just collected two years of membership fees, and now you're talking about difficulty...

Fang Gang said: "The support that should be given can certainly be guaranteed, but our funding here is also limited; it's impossible to say it's infinite..."

"Old Fang, I didn't mean for you to add money." Huang Qiangmin cut Fang Gang off, waving his hand: "I just mean you need to guarantee the case-handling funds. Did you watch the News Broadcast a few days ago?"

"I watched it, I watched it. When I saw Jiang Yuan's face, I even pointed it out to my family."

"Right. Our Jiang Yuan's reputation is truly not just for show." Huang Qiangmin's expression changed as he said this: "So, this is also a kind of guarantee. Where else could you find a criminal investigation expert like our Jiang Yuan?"

In the past, Huang Qiangmin wouldn't have said it this way; he would have said fingerprint expert or forensic expert, but now, he boldly used the term "criminal investigation expert."

And everyone present, especially the criminal police from the Qingshi City Criminal Investigation Detachment, accepted it naturally.

Fang Gang, on the other hand, nodded with admiration and relief: "If Expert Jiang Yuan thinks it's necessary, we have no objections; we will definitely cooperate fully."

If a criminal investigation expert is considered a weapon, then Jiang Yuan is already a legendary weapon on the level of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade. Since we can use it, why be stingy?

"Take water samples along the upstream. Every 50 meters, for 20 kilometers. Send the collected water samples to the lab for diatom testing. Also..." Jiang Yuan turned to Wang Chuanxing: "Please ask Professor Su Lei and the others to come over, tell them I have a project here, something like a research project to establish a 20-kilometer-long diatom pedigree for the upper reaches of the Tai River."

Although the Tai River Working Group had only received recognition from a few cities, mainly because they had only received membership fees from those few cities, this system was basically already established.

And for drowned corpses, using diatoms to determine the location where the body entered the water is very effective. Not every corpse yields results, but at least 30% of corpses can.

This figure is actually conservative because, in many cases, when the police don't need to use high-cost solutions like diatom testing, they won't easily resort to them.

But the main reason for the low usage rate of diatom testing in forensic drowning diagnosis is the need for a corresponding diatom database for comparison. This point is similar to DNA, but unlike DNA, the existence of diatoms in a place doesn't last that long, and conducting DNA testing on water bodies nationwide appears too expensive.

However, the Tai River Working Group has been formed. Given the extremely high population density on both banks of the Tai River, conducting systematic diatom testing on the Tai River basin and keeping records is naturally extremely beneficial for the subsequent solving of similar drowning cases.

Although the single-time cost of doing this is high, once the diatom database is built, the overall cost becomes small.

In the past, a single prefecture-level city or county probably didn't have such motivation. Because a corpse that drifted to the local area might not have originated locally, conducting diatom testing on the local basin would only help downstream cities, not themselves.

Even a provincial bureau would be too lazy to do such a thing. It's not just a matter of cost-effectiveness; there are always more important things to do, and databases are things that are never sufficient and don't show value.

Except to frontline personnel.

Fang Gang didn't expect the first order Jiang Yuan gave to be so expensive, but since he had already agreed, he could only grit his teeth and respond: "We will organize personnel to carry out the water sampling and testing work as soon as possible. However, should we try other methods first?"

Sampling every 50 meters, that's 20 times per kilometer, and 40 times for both sides; 20 kilometers equals 800 times. Counting everything up, the cost of a Mercedes-Benz is gone.

Huang Qiangmin interjected: "The diatom testing work is long-term. Regardless of whether this case can use it, there will always be a time when it's useful later. Since Qingshi City has joined our Tai River Working Group, let's get this project started."

"Hmm... alright." Fang Gang nodded again; the urge to solve the case outweighed everything else.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuan said: "Judging from the photos of the corpse, the deceased should have died within three days; I'll make a judgment on the specific time after seeing the body. So, overall, this is still a current case, and we can make judgments based on hydrological conditions. The fact that the leg separated from the body is missing is actually good news; once we find the leg, it might even serve as a basis for judgment..."

Just as Jiang Yuan finished speaking, the rubber boat that had just set out returned, and the police officer on the boat shouted loudly:

"A leg!"

Several people hurriedly stepped forward and, with many hands, lifted the package, which was wrapped like a rice dumpling.

The wrapping outside the dumpling was cut open a little, and the human tissue inside could be seen.

It had decomposed, but not much.

It emitted a smell familiar to forensic doctors.

"I'll take it back to examine." Jiang Yuan didn't open it on the spot; he had someone take the leg away first, then surveyed the scene himself before heading to the morgue.

The morgue of Qingshi City.

It had the almost universal smell found nationwide, slightly faint.

The six large pieces of corpse tissue were lined up one by one; they all had the problem of being slightly too bloated, but they hadn't reached the level of the Hulk yet.

Fang Gang brought several leaders of the criminal police detachment over; this was a rare show of importance, following along to watch Jiang Yuan perform the autopsy.

The corpse had also been waiting for half a day, so Jiang Yuan wouldn't have to perform a secondary autopsy upon arrival.

However, half a day wasn't too long; when forensic doctors bring a corpse back, it takes about this much time to prepare.

Jiang Yuan arrived, the preparatory work was already completed, and after he put on his clothes and checked everything, he started.

After making a few routine incisions, Jiang Yuan turned his attention to the separation points of the corpse pieces.

"The dismemberer is not very skilled. They made many cuts and even changed tools in the middle; they must have changed several types. Let's count them." Jiang Yuan started counting as he spoke.

The forensic assistant nearby hurriedly recorded.

After a while, Jiang Yuan counted the number up to 87.

"At least 87 cuts were made." Jiang Yuan sighed and said: "They changed more than five types of tools, including a pointed knife, a Chinese-style kitchen knife, scissors, a serrated knife, and a Japanese-style chef's knife... well, they are all kitchen utensils."

The result Jiang Yuan stated was not surprising.

Although it sounded quite terrifying, to the criminal police, it was just a plain and simple dismemberment.

"The tools have chips and breaks; let's do some trace evidence examinations. We might be able to find the tool manufacturer or something." Jiang Yuan said this to the forensic doctor from Qingshi City nearby, then straightened the head of the corpse, thought for a moment, and said: "I'll draw a portrait for him."

The corpse was already a bit bloated, and the head looked as if it had been beaten until swollen, and the color wasn't quite normal either. In addition, the head had clearly been struck with a blunt object; the nasal bone was shattered, teeth had fallen out, the lips and ears were missing, the brow bone was fractured, and the eye sockets and forehead were also sunken in. It was very likely struck by something like a knife handle. From the perspective of a living person, it was actually already a disfigured face.

But the dead don't mind this.

Forensic Sketching LV6 minds such small flaws even less.