The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Soon, the two young forensic doctors picked up the swabs again and meticulously extracted biological samples from the lower body of the deceased.

Jiang An stood in front of the dissection table, his gaze intense, and issued a command in a deep voice: ”Begin the autopsy.”

”You two work together, starting from the incision in the neck, cut downward along the midline all the way to the perineum. Cut open the skin and subcutaneous tissue on both sides to fully expose the thoracic and abdominal regions.”

”During the process, carefully check whether there are any fractures in the ribs and sternum, and pay attention to any abnormal signs in the neck and abdomen—especially the subcutaneous tissue in the neck, which must be carefully examined for traces of bleeding.”

”Although these signs are subtle, they are often key evidence in determining causes of death such as mechanical asphyxia.”

The two young forensic doctors, upon hearing this, solemnly picked up the dissection knife. Their hands were steady, and with one incision, they neatly cut through the skin and soft tissue of the deceased’s neck.

Then, they stood on either side of the body, leaning forward to carefully examine the bleeding beneath the skin.

Suddenly, the forensic doctor on the left spoke with a trace of excitement that was hard to detect: ”Mr. Jiang, look—the skin color in the area of the deceased’s left neck seems to have changed!”

Upon hearing this, Jiang An immediately put down the notebook in his hand and quickly stepped forward.

He leaned forward and observed with concentration, indeed finding an area of unusual color under the skin on the left side of the deceased’s neck.

The change was not very prominent, the color was pale, and there was no obvious hematoma, but with a professional eye, it was enough to raise alarm.

Almost simultaneously, an exclamation came from the right side: ”There’s a color change on the right side too!”

Under the direct light of the shadowless lamp, these originally subtle traces became clear.

Jiang An moved to the other side and noticed that there was a change in subcutaneous color on the left side and two on the right.

These changes showed scattered, localized characteristics, with their distribution and form highly consistent with the signs of mechanical asphyxia caused by external pressure on the neck.

Jiang An nodded slightly and analyzed in a calm tone: ”Indeed, from the current autopsy findings, these subcutaneous bleeding patterns are very consistent with the scenario of the deceased having been manually strangled, and judging from the extent of the injury, the strangulation process probably lasted for a while.”

”Observe the color and boundaries of these areas—although during the corpse’s decomposition, local bleeding will gradually fade due to hemoglobin breakdown, at the time of death, these bleeding points should have been more vivid.”

”It’s just that with post-mortem changes, some of the forms have become blurred, so at this stage we can’t draw a conclusion based on this alone.”

Hearing Mr. Jiang’s explanation, the two young forensic doctors nodded.

Although they had learned from textbooks that ”subcutaneous bleeding in the neck is an important sign of strangulation,” observing it in real practice was a first-time experience for them.

What was especially enlightening for them was Jiang An’s guidance in utilizing the angle and intensity of the light to aid in identifying these easily overlooked traces—a method never mentioned in textbooks.

The textbooks only told them ”to look,” but didn’t teach them ”how to look” or ”what tools to use to look.”

At this moment, they saw not only the evidence but also the weight of experience and professional insight in forensic work.

Next, the two young forensic doctors carefully used rib cutters to sequentially snip open the deceased’s ribs and sternum. With the crisp sound of bone breaking, the thoracic cavity was slowly opened, exposing the lungs and heart nestled inside.

Standing beside them, Jiang An, with a serious expression, instructed in a deep voice: ”Gently lift the lungs, inspecting the surface for petechiae. Also, pay attention to any signs of myocardial hemorrhage around the heart—these are crucial in determining mechanical asphyxia.”

The two forensic doctors nodded in agreement and meticulously followed the instructions. As expected, despite the extended time since death, the hemorrhagic spots had tended to merge and fade, but on the surface of the lung lobes and in the epicardial region, a few petechial hemorrhages were still faintly visible.

Although this finding was not prominent, it was sufficient to corroborate that the deceased had experienced mechanical asphyxia while alive.

After completing the examination of the heart and lungs, Jiang An continued to give instructions: ”Extract a sample of gastric contents; a systematic toxicological examination is needed later.”

”Understood!”

A forensic doctor promptly responded and proceeded to take samples.

Once all the autopsy procedures were concluded, since the body showed no significant external injuries, the forensic doctors moved directly to the suturing stage, closing the thoracic cavity layer by layer to restore as much of the body’s external appearance as possible.

By the time all tasks were wrapped up, the time had quietly slipped to 3:30 AM.

Everyone packed away their dissection instruments, carefully washed their hands, took off their scent-laden surgical clothes, and dragged their tired steps towards the parking lot.

Sitting in the car, Jiang An rubbed his throbbing temples and said in a relaxed tone: ”You all worked hard today. Let’s go, I’ll treat everyone to a late-night snack to fill our stomachs before we rest.”

”Great!”

Wan immediately responded enthusiastically, ”There’s a barbecue place on the street in West District; their grilled kidneys and grilled lung slices are particularly authentic. How about we give it a try?”

The two young forensic doctors initially showed signs of fatigue and hesitated slightly, but seeing the high spirits of their leader and senior, they nodded in agreement.

At the barbecue restaurant, it was as if they’d changed identities, transforming from serious forensic doctors into diners enjoying the food, quickly entering ”battle mode.”

Wan, familiar with the place, placed an order with the owner: ”Boss, five servings of grilled kidneys, five servings of grilled lung slices, five servings of grilled chips, and add a few skewers of lamb and grilled chives!”

Seeing Wan’s proficiency, Jiang An couldn’t help but tease: ”Senior, now that we’ve finished the autopsy, your skill at ordering is becoming more and more professional.”