The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Chapter 324: Chapter 203: The Color of the Livor Mortis Is Suspicious!

After Jiang An spoke, Li Jian fell into deep thought.

Initially, he had unwavering confidence in the determination of cause of death by Jiangcheng Medical University.

He was even very confident that the nature of the case was accidental sudden death.

However.

After Jiang An’s analysis, Li Jian suddenly had some doubts about this conclusion.

He leaned back slightly, resting his head on the back of the chair, squinting his eyes, as the entire case flickered through his mind.

Scene investigation, autopsy, interviews, activity traces...

Suddenly, Li Jian felt a buzzing in his head.

After a long while, he spoke: ”Jiang An, what do you think the cause of death is?”

Jiang An shook his head.

”At present, I’m not sure.”

”But, I have a work suggestion.”

”Please say?”

”May I ask if the two corpses are still in preservation status?”

Li Jian replied: ”Currently, the two bodies are still preserved at the Jiangcheng City Funeral Home.”

”Because the family is not satisfied with the disposal conclusion of these two corpses and has not cremated them.”

Jiang An nodded.

”I would like to apply for another autopsy examination.”

After a long thought, Li Jian nodded.

”I agree! Proceed immediately with the internal approval process.”

”You will represent Jiangcheng City Bureau to re-examine the bodies and see if more clues can be uncovered.”

”Yes! Mr. Li!”

As Jiang An got up, ready to leave, Li Jian suddenly said: ”The forensic identification center of Jiangcheng Medical University has been established for over 10 years, and has cooperated with our Jiangcheng City Bureau multiple times.”

”Both sides are very friendly cooperation units, having dealt with many difficult cases of forensic identification conclusions together.”

”Therefore, without exact assurance, it’s best not to directly propose your ideas and opinions.”

Jiang An immediately nodded and answered: ”Mr. Li, I understand!”

”Please rest assured, Mr. Li, if any findings arise during the autopsy examination, they will be promptly reported to you and Mr. Ma.”

At 10 o’clock in the morning.

Jiang An, Zhang Yean, and Wan drove to the forensic autopsy center.

As the three of them reached the entrance, another white police car approached.

Hearing the sound, they turned around to look at the license plate, Wan said in surprise: ”Why is Mr. Li here?”

Looking back, Zhang Yean said: ”Exactly! Wasn’t Mr. Li attending a middle-level leaders’ meeting?”

”Why is he here at the forensic autopsy center?”

With a ”bang”, Li Jian closed the car door and walked over.

He said firmly: ”I took leave from the morning’s middle-level leaders’ meeting.”

”The forensic identification for this case at hand is extremely crucial, directly affecting the entire case’s subsequent direction.”

”I must accompany it throughout.”

Wan quipped: ”With Mr. Li present, we feel more confident.”

Li Jian turned his gaze to Jiang An, where their gazes met, and the two nodded at each other.

”Our real confidence should come from Jiang An, not from me!”

Then, the four of them walked into the forensic autopsy center together.

Soon, they were fully dressed and entered the dissection room.

On the number 1 dissecting table, lay a female corpse.

On the number 2 dissecting table, lay a male corpse.

Both bodies had already turned black, only the faces were recognizable.

Each showed a vertical scar on the chest and abdomen, marking the first forensic dissection incision’s suture marks.

Standing inside, observing for a long time, Li Jian asked sternly: ”Both bodies have been thoroughly dissected, do you think it’s necessary to reopen the examination?”

Jiang An replied: ”Mr. Li, it’s not necessary at the moment.”

”The forensic examination at the university was quite comprehensive, all needed organs have been extracted.”

”Today, I came just to visually inspect the bodies for a more comprehensive understanding.”

”These two bodies only have limbs and trunks left, internal organs and the brain have been removed for testing.”

Li Jian gently nodded after hearing this.

Standing inside the dissection room, Jiang An observed for a long time.

Zhang Yean, holding a camera, asked: ”Brother! Do you need photographs?”

Jiang An shook his head, ”Not for now.”

”During the first autopsy, they took quite detailed photos.”

”If we find anything important, I’ll ask you to take pictures.”

Wan also circled around the dissecting table once.

He said: ”This body is already blackened, can we still see anything special?”

Jiang An didn’t immediately answer this, but quietly observed.

After a moment, Jiang An suddenly asked: ”What posture was the body in when found initially?”

”Both were lying flat.”

Then Jiang An turned and said: ”Brother Wan, could you lend a hand, let’s turn the body over, and check the distribution of livor mortis.”

As they were turning the bodies, Li Jian said: ”Both bodies have livor mortis distributed on the back, not fading under pressure, indicating a time of death over 12 hours.”

”When we investigated the scene, it was around 11 in the morning, tracing back 12 hours, it should be around 11 the previous night, which is consistent with the last activity traces of the two.”

Finally, Li Jian said firmly: ”Hence, I believe the judgment of the time of death should be relatively accurate.”

While Li Jian was discussing the time of death, Jiang An and Wan already flipped the bodies from supine to prone position.

The skin, initially tight and elastic, now appeared very withered, with extensive moisture loss, showing leathery changes.

At this moment, Jiang An’s gaze focused on the deceased’s back.

”Despite the skin already blackening, the livor mortis on the back is distinctly visible, showing a red coloration.”

After observing for a while, Jiang An suddenly asked: ”Was the livor mortis this red during the scene investigation?”

Li Jian glanced, recalling meticulously.

”I remember the livor mortis appeared quite red at the time.”

After a slight pause, Li Jian said: ”Initially, we also felt this livor mortis seemed problematic.”

”At the time, we consulted the forensic professor at Jiangcheng Medical University.”

”Their explanation was that after the human body drinks alcohol, capillaries dilate, increasing blood flow, causing the skin to appear red.”

”They used a vivid analogy, similar to how we get a flushed face from drinking.”

Jiang An nodded slightly after hearing this.

He said: ”Drinking indeed causes expansion of skin blood vessels.”

”However, the skin color change is mainly due to the action of acetaldehyde, a metabolite of ethanol.”

He then turned to observe other parts of the deceased’s body.

”Besides the back, no other skin areas are showing red changes.”

”If the skin redness is due to an allergic reaction from alcohol, the distribution should be wide, like the face, neck, abdomen, hands...”

”But why is there red change only on the back of this body?”

Then Jiang An emphasized: ”The livor mortis on the deceased’s back is problematic.”

”Problematic?”

Li Jian asked.

”A color problem?”

Jiang An nodded.

”The livor mortis showing bright red color is problematic, not aligning with typical drunken death bodies.”

Hearing this, Li Jian felt a sudden jolt in his heart.

He always had great faith in Jiang An’s forensic expertise.

Suddenly, he asked in surprise: ”You mean cyanide poisoning?”

Jiang An replied: ”Apart from cyanide, carbon monoxide is also capable of causing bright red livor mortis.”

Upon hearing this, Li Jian’s thoughts returned to the initial scene.

After 2 minutes, he spoke firmly: ”But we didn’t find any carbon monoxide generating device?”

”Moreover, I recall their water heater was installed on the balcony, far from the bedroom.”

After a long while, Jiang An spoke firmly: ”That’s indeed puzzling.”