The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

”Judging from the traces left by the vehicle, this motorcycle should have slipped down from the shore.”

He paused briefly and intensified his tone: ”Here’s where the problem arises—if the two were truly riding on the motorcycle when they fell into the water.”

”Normally, wouldn’t their lower limbs, especially the thighs, show some typical impact injuries, abrasions, or even mechanical damage?”

The words were like a stroke of genius, instantly lighting up the memories in the two forensic experts’ minds.

They almost simultaneously recalled how, during university lectures, their teacher had specifically explained the key points of injury identification in traffic accidents—especially with bicycles, electric vehicles, and motorcycles; due to the vehicle’s special structure, the driver and passengers often received the first impact on their lower limbs during a collision or fall.

Bruises, abrasions, and even fractures commonly appear on the inner thighs, hips, and ankles.

The face and chest are also prone to specific injuries from hitting handlebars, panels, etc.

One of the forensic experts suddenly looked up and blurted out: ”Exactly! These two bodies are too ’clean’!”

”There is obviously a motorcycle at the scene, but there are no corresponding injury characteristics—this is unreasonable!”

”Indeed, it doesn’t match the typical distribution pattern of traffic accident injuries.”

”Could it be... that drowning due to the motorcycle isn’t the cause of death?”

Jiang An nodded, his expression growing more serious: ”That’s precisely what we need to investigate further.”

The other forensic expert heard and seriously nodded in agreement: ”That’s right. During my internship, I assisted my mentor in handling a similar case: a death incident caused by a motorcycle crashing into a tree at high speed.”

”At that time, the deceased had extensive abrasions and drag marks near the ankles.”

”The shape, direction, and location of these injuries matched perfectly with the incident site’s environment.”

He paused briefly, glancing at everyone present, and continued the analysis, ”Now, assessing the current case.”

”If the two deceased truly rode the motorcycle into the water, under normal circumstances, during the moment or process of entering the water, their lower limbs would likely have collided or rubbed intensely with the vehicle body, underwater rocks, or other obstacles, leaving typical traffic accident injuries.”

”But now, both have no noticeable marks on their lower limbs, which is certainly suspicious.”

When he finished speaking, the dissection room fell silent, with only the ongoing hum of the blower vibrating the air.

Jiang An folded his arms, frowning slightly, sinking deeper into thought.

He recalled the motorcycle tire marks left on the shore during the site inspection.

The tire treads were deeply embedded in the mud, leaving deep impressions and apparent forward inertia, overall forceful and coherent.

If it were pushed into the water by human power without driving, such dynamic characteristic marks would be impossible to form.

Additionally, the state of the vegetation surrounding the site was highly revealing: besides the motorcycle tire crushing marks, no significant human footprints or drag marks were found in the grass.

If someone had truly pushed the vehicle into the water, footprints and even localized distorted grass patterns would inevitably be left on the muddy shore.

Never would there be such isolated, orderly tire marks, as if the vehicle moved autonomously.

Just then, a groundbreaking thought suddenly flashed across Jiang An’s mind.

Could there have been a third person at the scene when the incident occurred?

Simultaneously, in the monitoring room of the Traffic Management Bureau’s Second Team, Wan and two other officers were intensely focused on the computer screen.

Since the incident occurred in the early hours yesterday, based on the preliminary forensic deduction of the time of death, they retrieved all relevant road surveillance footage from the night before and the day of the event for careful review, not daring to relax even for a moment.

Like owls in the night, they fixedly monitored every moving detail in the footage, fearing to miss any suspicious clues.

Time quietly slipped away through their silent yet highly intense visual search, nearly two hours passing.

Just when Wan felt his eyes aching from prolonged viewing and lifted his hand to rub his eyes, he suddenly glimpsed a fleeting image on the screen.

”Wait!”

He leaned in closer, rapidly pointing at the screen’s corner with a finger, ”This motorcycle... looks very similar to the one at the scene! It passed through this monitoring point!”

Suddenly, he leaned closely into the monitor, his eyes fixed intensely on the image, and he shouted: ”Got it! Right here!”

Quickly, the other two officers gathered around.

All three closely observed the motorcycle’s trajectory in the surveillance video.

Indeed, its direction of movement matched perfectly with the incident site.

At that moment, Wan noticed the time stamp displayed in the corner of the footage—6 PM sharp.

He frowned, speaking doubtfully: ”6 PM?”

”At this time, it wasn’t dark yet, how could the incident have occurred at this moment?”

He immediately turned to a nearby tech specialist to inquire: ”Miss, is this time accurate? Is there any discrepancy?”

The female staff confidently answered: ”Accurate, it’s standard Beijing time, all our surveillance systems’ time is calibrated.”

Wan fell silent momentarily, tapping his fingers unconsciously on the desk.

He muttered softly: ”If they passed here at this time, then the incident shouldn’t have occurred at this moment... What was our captain’s previous deduction regarding the time of death?”

One officer quickly responded: ”Mr. Jiang’s preliminary judgment was that the male victim’s time of death was around midnight.”

Wan continued asking: ”What about the female victim?”

”I’m not sure about her specific time, probably about the same.”

Wan quickly calculated in his mind: ”Appeared at 6 PM, time of death around midnight, with nearly a six-hour interval.”

”How far is it from this monitoring point to the incident location?”

”About seven kilometers.”

Another person answered.

”Seven kilometers... Even with average road conditions, a motorcycle should take at most half an hour to reach,”

Wan muttered, then suddenly looked up, his tone becoming decisive: ”Looks like we need to pinpoint another critical location—their home.”

”Normally, at this time, they should have been on their way home.”

”Moreover, from the surveillance, their state appears natural, with no sign of being followed, very likely something happened after they reached home.”

”Exactly!” Another officer agreed, ”Based on this timeline, the primary scene might not be outdoors, but in their own home!”

”Could the perpetrator be someone familiar?”

”Did they act only after they returned home?”

....

Meanwhile, the investigation at the village head was proceeding intensely.

Qin Feng, along with an intern, was patiently gathering evidence from villagers gathered at the village entrance.

Thanks to his prior ”sincere” communication approach, initially hesitant elders gradually opened up.

As anticipated, once the topic touched on personal safety and village order, everyone became outspoken.

The village elders were all talking, not just about the victims’ activities that day but sharing many domestic details and even past disputes.

Qin Feng’s notebook quickly filled three to four pages, the pen’s nib nearly never resting.

As the evidence gathering wrapped up, Qin Feng closed his notebook and addressed everyone solemnly: ”Thank you very much, uncles and aunties, for the clues provided; they are incredibly valuable.”

”Rest assured, our criminal investigation team will do our utmost to solve the case.”

”We will bring the perpetrator to justice soon and restore peace to our village.”

Several aunts couldn’t help but step forward and hold his hand, speaking earnestly: ”Officer, you must solve the case quickly!”

”Nobody dares to go out in the evenings now, living in fear...”

Qin Feng nodded solemnly, his gaze resolute, saying: ”We are pushing full steam ahead.”

”Could anyone tell us their exact address? We need to check it out ourselves.”

Immediately, several villagers responded simultaneously: ”I know! It’s the second house at the village’s east end, the one with the red iron gate.”

”Though typically, it’s just the couple living there.”

”What about the kids?”

”The kids usually stay with the grandparents in the village’s west end, rarely coming back.”

Receiving the information, Qin Feng turned and said: ”Let’s go and take a look at the victims’ home now.”