Chapter 995: A Sleepless Night

The deceased is male, 38 years old, 170 centimeters tall, and weighs approximately 90 to 110 kilograms...

No fingerprints or DNA records, no implanted medical devices in the body...

Jiang Yuan stood in the autopsy room, his tone relatively relaxed.

In this room, forensic pathologists still held a degree of authority.

After briefing the attending leaders on known information to give them something to discuss quietly, Jiang Yuan began his routine work.

After examining the corpse’s skull, Jiang Yuan had someone bring a stand, carefully place the skull on it, and position it directly in front of the autopsy table.

On the autopsy table lay the corpse’s two arms, two legs, and torso; the head, raised half a meter above, stood swollen and decaying, its bulging, torn eyes staring blankly, expressionless.

Jiang Yuan would dissect the corpse for a while, then look up at the skull.

Look at the skull, then carve into the body.

With Forensic Sketching LV6, if time permitted, he could produce a rough likeness of the victim within minutes.

But Jiang Yuan wasn’t in a hurry. Sketching this skull was difficult—it carried three layers of DEBUFFs. First, deliberate disfigurement: a broken nasal bridge, shattered brow bones, sunken cheekbones, missing lips and teeth—all added difficulty. Second, decomposition from time. Third, swelling and dissolution from drowning.

For Jiang Yuan, each of these three DEBUFFs had solutions. For instance, a broken nasal bridge could still be measured for height and width. The brow and cheekbones were easier to reconstruct on paper. For teeth and lips, forensic methods were simpler than dental reconstruction techniques.

As for decomposition and drowning, these were traditional problems forensic pathologists encountered often; solutions were abundant—just choose the one you preferred or excelled at.

Still, when all three DEBUFFs combined, they were terrifying—like a 36D bust, an A4 waist, and supermodel legs appearing together; not to be taken lightly.

Jiang Yuan dissected while pondering how he would proceed with the forensic sketch.

Also, with so many senior officers from Qingshi City’s Criminal Investigation Brigade watching him, it looked unseemly for him to draw while they observed—even though sketching might help the investigation, so would the autopsy.

Of course, neither might help at all.

“Cause of death was likely a slashed throat.”

“After the throat was cut, the victim bled profusely and the trachea was severed, so he couldn’t cry out and died quickly from blood loss.”

“No defensive wounds on hands or feet. Scrubbed under the fingernails—some bloodstains, likely the victim’s own. He probably pressed his own neck with his hands, trying to stop the bleeding.”

With the autopsy nearly complete, Jiang Yuan avoided overly technical forensic jargon and presented the cause of death as if in a case discussion.

He had finished most of the forensic examination, then revisited the wounds on the torso and the neck wound beneath the skull to reach his conclusion.

Fang Gang and the others, who had been half-asleep, immediately perked up: “Slashed throat? Like this?”

Fang Gang grabbed one of his subordinates and demonstrated a professional maneuver: a rear chokehold followed by a single-handed throat slash. Then he asked: “Military background? Then why not dismember the body?”

“From the wound pattern, it was likely a frontal throat slash—deep, but with very short movement,” Jiang Yuan said, placing the skull on the autopsy table beside the torso and using a scalpel to illustrate: “Assuming the killer is right-handed, he used a sharp, heavy blade, pressed down forcefully from right to left, deeply cutting the victim’s neck, then, with wrist motion, moved less than ten centimeters before stopping.”

“Could it have been an accidental slash during a struggle?” Mu Zhiyang spoke up immediately. In this kind of case analysis setting, anyone could voice ideas—most criminal investigation teams operated this way.

The truly disciplined, step-by-step speaking environments were the two sides of a conference table or large meeting rooms—the scenes films loved to shoot.

Jiang Yuan rejected it: “No. An accidental slash would create a longer, rapid cut. There would be no heavy pressure.”

Jiang Yuan emphasized the heavy pressure.

Another Qingshi City detective captain frowned: “Slashed from top to bottom?”

Jiang Yuan nodded: “While a frontal slash is possible, the wound’s morphology suggests a nearly vertical cut—more likely from above downward.”

“So the victim was lying down, neck exposed, and got one slash? And no defensive wounds on his body,” Fang Gang said, already picturing the scene, his voice dropping two octaves: “Was he slashed while asleep?”

Jiang Yuan nodded heavily: “Very likely.”

“Huh… so brutal. Used a kitchen knife to dismember—this… was it done by family?”

“Maybe,” Jiang Yuan didn’t indulge in speculation. In his view, guesses at this stage were meaningless; identifying the victim would provide the breakthrough.

Others realized this too, and their energy surged.

After all, the forensic examiner here was Ningtai’s Jiang Yuan.

“I’m handing it over to you now,” Jiang Yuan said, setting down his instruments, removing his gloves, and amid everyone’s bewildered expressions…

Picked up his pencil.

Forensic Sketching LV6… just draw.

A middle-aged man’s face emerged slowly—nose intact, hairline still present, flattened nose tip, small eyes, looking listless.

Of course, a sketch drawn from a corpse’s face naturally looked lifeless.

“This can serve as a reference,” Jiang Yuan said, taking a photo with his police tablet and searching—no facial match.

No match was normal—it meant the actual appearance might differ slightly from the sketch, given it was drawn from a decomposed, disfigured corpse. Alternatively, the victim’s official photo in the system might be outdated.

Still, having an image was better than nothing, especially once a general search area was established—it would accelerate door-to-door inquiries.

“Send the fragments of blade recovered from the wounds for testing as soon as possible—see if we can trace their origin.”

“Wait for the diatom test results—see if we can confirm where he entered the water.”

“Try to trace the origin of the suitcase and clothing.”

“Re-sift the missing persons reports.”

Jiang Yuan’s suggestions were all standard investigative procedures.

Of course, “standard” depended on who you compared to—most case teams struggled to even meet basic prerequisites, a ratio roughly equal to the number of “average men.”

Fang Gang responded promptly—he saw hope of success and naturally wanted the case to break quickly.

A special task force was like a film crew: every day it ran, money burned. Especially now, with the operation fully underway, it was like a film in active production—money burned every second.

Needless to say, tonight, many would not sleep.