The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

”The preliminary judgment estimates the time of death to be at least over a month,”

”The moist environment at the bottom of the well has accelerated the decomposition. The exact time needs to be further determined by the forensic expert.”

Jiang An stared at the bottom of the well for a moment, then slowly stood up, surveying the surroundings.

His gaze passed over the dilapidated buildings, extending towards the distant silhouette of the hazy mountains.

This area is located at the foot of the mountains, with a few scattered houses having broken windows and no sign of light, clearly long abandoned.

”This kind of dry well is rarely seen nowadays,” Jiang An said thoughtfully, ”Hasn’t the town had piped water a long time ago?”

”Yes,” Liu Liang nodded, ”It was renovated over a decade ago.”

”This well should be a product of the Republican era, over fifteen meters deep, and has been unused for a long time.”

”There was originally a lid on the well, but it was moved by someone, I’m not sure who.”

Jiang An took a deep breath and turned to Liu Liang: ”Handle it according to the homicide procedure.”

”In addition, please make sure to find the kids who discovered the body this afternoon. I need to know if they threw anything into the well.”

Liu Liang paused, scratching his head in confusion: ”Throw things? Jiang, why?”

”If the body has injuries on the head or body, we must distinguish whether these are causes of death or caused post-mortem by rocks or other objects.”

Jiang An calmly explained, his gaze once again sweeping over the ground around the well, ”The kids’ playful actions could potentially destroy evidence at the scene or create misleading wounds.”

”Oh, I understand now!”

Liu Liang suddenly grasped the point, his expression becoming serious, ”I will immediately arrange people to find those kids and their parents, and bring them to the station for detailed questioning.”

After Mr. Liu turned and left quickly, Jiang An stood by the well for a moment longer.

”Prepare the lighting equipment,” Jiang An said to Wang, his voice low and firm, ”We must complete the initial site examination.”

Wan and Qin Feng stood on either side of Jiang An, both looking rather uneasy.

Wan said: ”Jiang, this place is neither near a village nor a shop, abandoned for at least a decade.”

”Suddenly finding a woman’s body in such a dry well, I can’t shake the feeling... this is somehow sinister.”

Qin Feng crossed his arms, his brows tightly furrowed, chiming in: ”And did you smell it?”

”Besides the earthy smell, there’s an... indescribable strange odor in the air.”

”It seems like we’re handling another tricky case.”

Jiang An didn’t respond immediately, standing there silently.

After hearing his two colleagues, the corners of his mouth twitched imperceptibly before settling into his usual calm demeanor: ”No matter how difficult the case, there will always be a day when the truth comes out.”

”Let’s follow the old rules, take it step by step.”

He turned to Liu Liang, who was looking serious: ”Mr. Liu, could you find a ladder, the longer the better?”

”I need to go down for an initial inspection.”

Mr. Liu rubbed his hands together, looking troubled: ”It’s really hard to find a specialized investigation ladder on short notice.”

”I do have a telescopic ladder, but I’m not sure if it’s long enough... This well looks quite deep.”

”In that case,” Jiang An decided on the spot, ”please contact the fire department to assist.”

”I must go down personally to see what’s at the bottom of the well.”

Mr. Liu hesitated: ”Jiang, how about... we figure out a way to retrieve the body and inspect it thoroughly? The conditions down there are unknown, it’s too dangerous.”

Jiang An shook his head, his tone firm: ”The first scene at the bottom of the well is crucial.”

”The position of the body, the surrounding marks, the characteristics of the landing—all these original states can tell us whether the deceased accidentally fell or was dumped there.”

”If the scene is disturbed, these clues can never be recovered.”

”Understood.”

Mr. Liu no longer hesitated, immediately taking out his phone: ”I’ll contact the nearest fire brigade right away.”

Twenty minutes later, a red fire truck roared up to the scene.

Four firefighters swiftly jumped off the truck, each carrying rescue ropes and equipment on their backs.

The team leader, a muscular, dark-skinned man, strode up to Jiang An and saluted crisply: ”Captain Jiang! We’ve seen several major cases you’ve solved on TV, been wanting to witness your expertise firsthand for ages.”

”It’s an honor to work with you!”

Jiang An rarely showed a hint of a smile, patting the team leader’s shoulder: ”Just doing our jobs, nothing too magical.”

”In a moment, it’ll be up to you guys to ensure safety; I need to go down the well.”

”Rest assured!”

The team leader pounded his chest in assurance, ”We’re using special rescue ropes, the load is definitely no problem.”

”Soon, we’ll tie a safety rope to you, and you can slowly descend along the well wall, we’ll protect you from above, foolproof!”

Jiang An sized up the sturdy, skilled firefighters in front of him, nodding in satisfaction: ”Seeing your build, I know we’re safe today.”

Preparations quickly unfolded, as firefighters took out a coil of thick professional rescue rope, carefully securing a harness and safety knots around Jiang An’s waist and thighs, their movements skilled and swift.

Meanwhile, Wan was also fully equipped— a professional single-lens reflex camera hung around his neck, and he carried an investigation box on his back, with his safety rope secured too.

The two checked each other’s equipment, ensuring there were no mistakes, and donned high-intensity headlamps.

”Down!”

At Jiang An’s command, the two descended one after another, along the moss-covered, slippery well wall, slowly into the unknown darkness.

Wan was the first to be lowered down.

He gripped the safety rope tightly with one hand, holding the camera with the other, taking consecutive shots of the well wall ”click-click”.

Wet moss clung to the mottled brick walls, flickering under the camera’s flash.

”Make sure to capture the inner wall clearly!”

Jiang An’s voice echoed from the well mouth, resonating in the narrow well hole.

”Especially the joints between every brick, see if there are climb marks or... any unusual traces.”

”Understood!”

Wan responded upwards, his voice reverberating off the well walls.

When he reached the well bottom, his boots sank into the mud, making a soft ”squelch” sound.

The space at the bottom of the well was more spacious than he had imagined, but the damp, putrid smell overwhelmed him, making him wrinkle his nose.

Jiang An unclipped the safety buckle and immediately turned on the high-intensity flashlight.

The body lay in a supine position, most of the hair had decayed and fallen off, with a few remaining strands sticking messily to the scalp.

The facial tissues had severely shrunk, turning into a literal ”bag of bones,” with two hollow eye sockets staring directly at the small patch of sky above the well mouth.

”Mr. Jiang,” Wan whispered, ”The lady doesn’t seem to have any obvious external injuries.”

”Her position is so neat, could it be... suicide?”

Jiang An did not respond immediately, deftly putting on latex gloves.

As captain of the criminal investigation team, he knew the importance of the first scene— even the smallest detail could be key to solving a case.

He crouched down, first carefully feeling the outer pockets of the down jacket, then the two rear pockets of the jeans, all empty.

However, when he checked the front fly of the jeans, his movements suddenly paused.

”Move the flashlight closer.”

The beam focused on the button area of the jeans— the button was undone.

Moreover, the jeans had distinct signs of being pulled down at the hip area, as if yanked by force.

Jiang An gently slid open the zipper of the down jacket, the metallic sound of the teeth dragging ”zzzip” notably clear in the silence.

Inside was a thick beige sweater, and when his hand moved below it, his furrows deepened— the bra was noticeably displaced, not appearing in a normal wearing state.

He gingerly lifted a corner of the sweater, his gaze freezing in place.

After a long silence, Jiang An said solemnly: ”This is likely a criminal case.”