The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

”Judging by the degree of skeletonization of the body, the time of death should be much earlier than the time it was discovered, at least two to three years ago.”

Mr. Li recalled, with a hint of regret in his voice, ”So young, gone without a trace...”

Jiang An’s eyes sharpened as he immediately asked, ”Can we still access the files of the case from five years ago?”

Mr. Li waved his hand, his tone turning encouraging, ”You should find some time to check in the archives, maybe you’ll find some inspiration.”

”But I have to remind you, that case is much more complicated than this one, with a long timeframe and extremely limited physical evidence, making it quite challenging to solve.”

As he spoke, he picked up his briefcase and said hurriedly, ”I have to go back and approve some documents, handle some materials.”

”If you need me to coordinate anything, call me anytime.”

Jiang An nodded solemnly, ”Understood, Mr. Li.”

”I will report any progress to you at the earliest possible time.”

After seeing the bureau chief off, Jiang An did not pause for a moment and headed straight to the archives room.

It was a Saturday, and the archives were officially closed, but he still managed to contact the manager, Mr. Li.

Over the phone, he pleaded earnestly, explaining the urgency of the case and emphasizing the relevance of the clues, finally convincing the other party to make an exception and come over to open the door for him.

Twenty minutes later, Mr. Li rode up on his slightly old motorcycle, skillfully turning into the bureau courtyard and steadily parked at the entrance of the archive room.

He deftly removed his helmet and immediately saw Jiang An waiting at the door, grinning with familiar wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes, ”Mr. Jiang, so young and yet so dedicated? Not even resting on weekends.”

Jiang An turned at the sound, a weary smile on his face from staying up late, responded, ”Ah, you flatter me, Mr. Li.”

”I received another case of a body found in a dry well last night. You know, these kinds of cases have a significant social impact, and there’s a lot of pressure from above.”

”I apologize for dragging you out even on a weekend.”

”Ah, no need to be so formal with me.”

Mr. Li expertly took out his keychain and opened the iron door of the archive room, the lock cylinder making a crisp turning sound.

”I watched you rise step by step from a rookie to your current position as the team leader.”

”When I was on the front lines of criminal investigation, wasn’t it often like this too?”

”Staying up all night keeping watch, chasing suspects across provinces, it was routine to go without sleep for days.”

”Now that I’m older and have a bunch of physical ailments, I’ve retired to logistics.”

He pushed open the heavy iron door and stepped aside for Jiang An to enter, ”So, what files are you looking for today?”

”I’d like to look at the archives for the case of the body found in a dry well from five years ago.”

Jiang An followed him into the dim archive room, the air filled with the distinct musty smell of old paper.

”Five years ago...”

Mr. Li repeated thoughtfully, unconsciously tapping his fingers on the metal archive cabinet.

”I have some impression of that case.”

”At that time, Mr. Li was still the team leader, and he often came to check the files in the middle of the night, staying the whole night.”

”To be honest, the unsolved nature of this case has been a burden for everyone in the department for so many years.”

He sighed, his voice particularly clear in the quiet of the archive room.

”Their criminal investigation team frequently comes to check this case, sometimes I also help to flip through it.”

”To be honest, the clues are really too few—only a set of white bones and some tattered clothes were found in the well, no ID, phone, or wallet.”

”The place where the body was found was in a demolition area, no surveillance, residents had long moved out, interviews found no one...”

Mr. Li spoke while quickly walking to the third row of archive cabinets, stopping precisely at the fifth cabinet door.

”Here, see for yourself.”

He deftly pulled out a manila file folder, his movements so practiced that it seemed as if he had done it thousands of times.

Jiang An took it with both hands and noticed that the edges of the file folder were worn white, frayed, with patched corners, obviously having been browsed many times.

”Mr. Li, I won’t take more of your weekend time.”

Jiang An carefully signed his name and date on the borrowing register form, ”I’ll sign it out and take the file back to my office, finish reading it as soon as possible, and return it to you.”

”No rush, no rush.”

Mr. Li waved his hand, showing an understanding smile, ”Just take it and have a look! I’m all for the head of the criminal investigation taking it.”

”If you can find some leads, that would be best.”

”If not, return it whenever you’re done.”

”These old bones of mine are at your service anytime.”

”Thank you so much, Mr. Li.”

Jiang An carefully kept the file, turned, and walked into the corridor.

The file folder weighed heavily in his hand, prompting him to quicken his pace and he soon disappeared down the corridor, heading towards his office.

At this moment, his team had all gone out to investigate, leaving the large office with only Jiang An alone.

He slowly opened the heavy case file, the contents were arranged: 911 call records, scene investigation reports, autopsy reports, investigation and interviews...

Although the material was thick, when he flipped to the last page, it still ended with a giant question mark lingering in the depths of time, unanswered.

He first opened the 911 call records.

The recorded information was surprisingly simple: A shepherd, while herding sheep, had one slip and fall into an abandoned dry well.

In the process of pulling the sheep up, he discovered skeletons at the bottom of the well.

Next were the scene photos, the bottom of the dry well was dimly lit, with a skeleton lying in a skeletal posture, clothing long decayed into scraps, tenuously hanging on the pale frame.

The body lay face-up, with nothing around to confirm its identity, the moth-eaten holes on the clothes said nothing about the passing of time and decay.

Jiang An looked intently, seeing no apparent sharp force injuries on the skeleton’s surface, but at the hyoid area—his gaze focused—there were signs of fracture on the right greater horn.

From experience, it likely resulted from external force compression on the neck.

At this, he suddenly recalled last night’s female corpse with compression marks on its neck.

Could it be that these two victims died by the same method?

He continued to browse through, the coroner inferred the victim was about 22 years old based on the pubic symphysis morphology.

Jiang An carefully compared the pictures and descriptions, agreeing with this judgment.

The latter part of the file contained thorough scene investigation, body examination, and subsequent investigation records.

Moreover, the task force conducted a thorough search of surrounding areas, interviewing residents and collating missing persons information.

Despite deploying significant police forces and tracking for nearly three months, they never managed to identify the source of the body, nor found any breakthrough leads.

The case seemed to fall into obscurity and was eventually sealed as a ”cold case.”

Upon reading to this point, Jiang An slightly leaned back, resting against the back of the chair, eyes closed.

The details of the file intermingled in his mind—the female corpse found last night and the white bones in the dry well in front of him had alarming similarities:

First, both victims were young females, presumably around twenty-two years old.

Next, the causes of death were markedly consistent, both died from mechanical asphyxia due to neck compression.

Lastly, the bodies were discarded into remote dry wells.

Even though the wells’ locations were different, it indicated the killer’s specific preference for such secluded and desolate spots, the body disposal methods were identical.

These commonalities were by no means coincidental.

Jiang An’s instincts told him that behind this lurked the same shadow.

From crime logic and case-linking conditions, the shared behavioral characteristics, target selection, and location preferences in both cases already constituted a strong basis for linkage.

Thinking to this point, he suddenly opened his eyes, with a calm and determined gaze.

A clear conclusion had formed: these two cases must be investigated together.