The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Awaiting Your Examination Results

minutes later.

Li Jian, Jiang An, Wan, and Zhang Yean arrived at the Jiang City Forensic Autopsy Center.

As soon as they got out of the car, they saw the family members of the deceased, Liu Jun, waiting at the entrance of the Forensic Autopsy Center.

Before setting off, Li Jian had specifically contacted the family members of the deceased Liu Jun to inform them that a forensic autopsy was necessary.

On one hand, this is a procedural requirement where family consent is mandatory for the forensic autopsy.

On the other hand, it also conveys a message to the family that they are taking this matter very seriously and are fully committed to uncovering the truth.

During the phone call, the family was initially very resistant to the forensic autopsy.

Li Jian explained the criticality of the procedure, and the family reluctantly agreed in the end.

All the family members walked into the reception area of the Forensic Autopsy Center together.

Li Jian spoke, ”According to our forensic autopsy regulations, family consent is required, so please, could the immediate family member sign the autopsy consent form.”

Then, a middle-aged woman stepped forward.

She said, ”I am the wife of the deceased Liu Jun, I will sign.”

Li Jian nodded.

He then took out a pen and an autopsy consent form.

After she signed it, Li Jian said, ”Today, we will perform an autopsy on the body of the deceased, Liu Jun.”

”I believe you are already familiar with the procedure of an autopsy, so I won’t elaborate on it here.”

”A forensic autopsy is an important means of determining the cause of death.”

”However, worldwide, there are still 10% of cases where the cause of death cannot be determined through an autopsy.”

”So, you need to be prepared for that.”

”Of course, causes of death from high falls are relatively common, and identifying the cause is not usually difficult.”

”Determining the cause of death is just the first step in our investigation.”

”We have other aspects of the investigation to follow up on.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a young woman wearing glasses came forward.

She introduced herself, ”Hello, Mr. Li.”

”I am Liu Jun’s niece, and I am a teacher in the Forensic Department of Eastern Medical College, my name is Yang Danhong.”

Li Jian nodded, ”Hello, Mr. Yang!”

”I have been teaching forensic science for three years, but I have some doubts regarding my uncle’s body.”

Li Jian turned to look at Jiang An.

Understanding, Jiang An stepped forward.

”Hello, Mr. Yang.”

”I am a forensic expert from Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau, may I ask what doubts you have about the body?”

Yang Danhong said, ”In cases of a fall from a height, would the head separate from the body?”

”From the perspective of human anatomy, the neck not only contains skin, muscles, and blood vessels but also bones, making it very sturdy.”

”Although my uncle Liu Jun was drinking that night, he was able to walk up to the 10th floor on his own, indicating he was very clear-headed.”

”He works on the 10th floor during the day and is quite familiar with it, so how could he accidentally fall?”

Upon hearing this, Jiang An asked, ”Mr. Yang, do you have any other questions?”

”For now, these are my questions.”

Jiang An replied, ”Mr. Yang, for the two questions you raised, I can only provide a brief response for now, as the autopsy has not yet begun.”

Yang Danhong nodded, her gaze fixed on Jiang An.

”Regarding your first question, let me offer a simple explanation.”

”To the average person, decapitation is an extremely rare occurrence.”

”However, in the field of forensic pathology, non-natural deaths occasionally include such cases.”

”I once came across a report on a real case.”

”A man was riding a motorcycle at high speed on a rural road.”

”Suddenly, a utility pole collapsed in front of him, and the height of the wire dropped to the level of the rider’s neck.”

”Due to the motorcycle’s high speed, the rider didn’t have time to react and rushed forward, and his head was severed by the wire in an instant.”

”The deceased’s hands remained on the handlebars, and the motorcycle continued moving for nearly 200 meters before it fell off the roadside.”

”At the time, everyone who saw the motorcycle and the body thought the deceased’s head had been deliberately severed.”

”Later, after a thorough inspection, autopsy, and investigation, a surveillance camera was found at the site of the utility pole collapse, and it recorded the entire process of the rider’s head being severed by the wire.”

After a brief pause, Jiang An said in a deep voice, ”Of course, the purpose of this example is to illustrate that, under certain extraordinary circumstances, head-body separation is possible.”

”At the scene of your uncle Liu Jun’s death, we also found a piece of wire, with Liu Jun’s blood and fat on it.”

”As a teacher specializing in forensic science, Mr. Yang, you should understand what I mean.”

Yang Danhong said, ”Officer, the scenario you described is possible.”

”However, have you considered another possibility?”

”Is it possible that my uncle Liu Jun had his head severed and was then thrown from the building?”

”The torso falling then happened to touch the wire, which is why it has fat tissue and bloodstains.”

Regarding this issue, Li Jian suddenly felt a chill.

To be honest, he hadn’t considered that particular coincidence.

However, upon reflection, it seemed possible.

If he were to answer this question, he would be at a loss.

Especially Zhang Yean and Wan suddenly looked dumbfounded and anxious.

After a brief pause, Jiang An firmly said, ”Mr. Yang, the possibility you mentioned indeed exists.”

”According to Locard’s principle of exchange, as long as there is contact, there will be a transfer of material.”

”If the head of the deceased had already been decapitated and moved down at a specific angle, there would certainly be traces of fat and blood on the wire.”

”Although this possibility is extremely small, we will definitely carry out identification and judgment.”

Yang Danhong pressed on, ”How will you address this issue?”

At this moment.

Li Jian, Wan, and Zhang Yean all felt their hearts pounding.

All three of them looked at Jiang An.

This question was tricky and tough to answer.

Especially when facing the family of the deceased, if there were any flaws or loopholes in the answer, the family would definitely latch onto it.

The family already rejected the preliminary investigation conclusions.

In this situation, making a careless comment could escalate the conflict.

In a critical moment, Jiang An said, ”Actually, this is the direction of our upcoming work.”

”According to regulations, we are required to keep this confidential.”

”But since Mr. Yang has repeatedly inquired, I’ll disclose it, but first, please make sure to keep it confidential.”

Yang Danhong nodded.

”Rest assured! We will definitely keep it confidential.”

Li Jian stood beside, raising his arm to nudge Jiang An.

Jiang An turned, gave him a determined look.

”Mr. Li, let me give them an answer.”

”Otherwise, this question will linger in their minds.”

Then, Jiang An looked up at Yang Danhong.

”Mr. Yang, the human neck is an important structure connecting the head and the torso.”

”The neck has skin, muscles, blood vessels, nerves, and the hardest cervical vertebrae.”

”To achieve a complete separation of the neck, significant violence is required.”

”In this case, the reason we believe that wire is the tool that caused Liu Jun’s head to separate is due to the significant kinetic energy accumulated during the body’s descent.”

”According to the principle of gravitational acceleration in physics, when the body descends, its speed increases, and the kinetic energy accumulates.”

”When an object obstructs, a strong impact will instantly form a shearing force to cut the neck.”

”Of course, the force acts mutually.”

”The force exerted by the wire on the human neck is strong.”

”Thus, the force exerted by the human neck on the wire is equally strong.”

”The wire is used to secure a safety net, tied to iron frames on both ends.”

”Thus, under strong impact, the wire will deform to a certain extent, and both ends will certainly shift position.

”Therefore, this is the basis for our ensuing identification and judgment on the location where Liu Jun’s head separated.”

”If it’s as you mentioned, with the deceased’s head already separated before contacting the wire, it would not create a significant impact force.”

”The wire itself would not deform greatly, nor would there be any friction effect at the fixed points on either side.”

Just as he finished speaking, Yang Danhong nodded in strong agreement.

Having overcome this hurdle, Zhang Yean and Wan both breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Jian’s nervous mood also slightly eased.

Subsequently, Jiang An continued, ”Mr. Yang, regarding your second question.”

”Our last examination of the body focused only on the surface.”

”The family was resistant to the forensic autopsy, so a complete examination was not done.”

”However, this time we will conduct the most systematic autopsy.”

”Not only examining the thoracic, abdominal and cranial organs of the deceased, but also extracting stomach contents for toxicological analysis.”

”Especially extracting the deceased’s blood for alcohol testing.”

”Regarding the question Mr. Yang just mentioned, about whether the deceased was conscious at the fall point.”

”I intend to respond once the alcohol test results are out.”

”According to the general metabolic rule of alcohol in our body, after entering, alcohol is absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, and the blood alcohol concentration peaks after an hour.”

”Thus, even if Liu Jun was sober when entering Building 5, it does not necessarily mean he remained conscious upon reaching the 10th floor.”

”After all, alcohol’s metabolism in the body is continuous.”

”Therefore, analyzing his level of consciousness on the 10th floor must be based on the blood alcohol concentration.”

After listening, Yang Danhong nodded again.

Finally, she softly asked, ”Officer, may I know your name?”

”My surname is Jiang, I am the forensic doctor Jiang An from the Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau.”

”Thank you, Mr. Jiang.”

”We look forward to your test results.”