The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Jiang An smiled knowingly, then turned to look at Political Commissioner Li sitting nearby, his expression turning serious: ”Political Commissioner Li, what exactly is the situation with this White Bone case you mentioned earlier?”

”Could you explain it to us in detail?”

Upon saying this, Political Commissioner Li and Mr. Qin simultaneously restrained their smiles, their expressions becoming solemn.

Political Commissioner Li exchanged a glance with Mr. Qin, nodding slightly and said: ”Mr. Qin, you know this case best, why don’t you report the specifics to the two leaders?”

Mr. Qin cleared his throat, leaned forward slightly, and said solemnly: ”This case is indeed quite special.”

”The body was found in Phoenix Mountain on the outskirts of the city, noticed by a few hiking enthusiasts who stumbled upon something unusual.”

”When we arrived at the scene, we found the deceased had already become a skeleton, but surprisingly, the clothing on the body was relatively intact.”

He paused briefly, seemingly organizing his thoughts, then continued: ”After preliminary forensic examination, we determined the time of death likely exceeded one year.”

”During further inspection, we found several noteworthy details: the deceased’s ribs had fracture marks, though the fractures weren’t too severe.”

”The troubling aspect is, when we found the body, the clothes on the chest had signs of being torn by animals, and clear animal tooth marks were found on the rib fractures.”

”So we currently preliminarily speculate that after the body was disposed on the mountain, it might have been gnawed by wild animals.”

”This also creates significant difficulties for our investigation work.”

Hearing this, Jiang An slowly nodded and pondered: ”So, where exactly does the problem lie?”

The other party took a deep breath, speaking in a heavy tone: ”The problem is, to this day we cannot determine whether the death was accidental— all conventional inferences lack decisive evidence support.”

Jiang An pressed further: ”Have toxicology tests and possibilities of foul play been ruled out?”

”No toxic residues have been detected at present,”

Mr. Qin replied: ”While cleaning the skeleton, we specifically extracted soil samples from different depths for toxicological analysis, and the results similarly showed no toxic components.”

”Such ’cleanliness’ only makes people more uneasy.”

After a long pause, Jiang An solemnly said: ”This White Bone case is indeed quite unusual.”

He paused again, suddenly remembering some crucial detail: ”What about the condition of the hyoid bone?”

”The hyoid bone is intact, with no fractures or mechanical damage observed.”

”What about the deceased’s personal belongings? Were any wallets, jewelry, or valuables found?”

”Nothing at all. This is precisely the most puzzling aspect—if it’s a criminal case, there’s no substantive evidence of foul play to be found.”

”If defined as an accident, too many key elements that should be present are missing from the scene.”

At this moment, Director Hou also turned around with a grave expression and joined the discussion in a low voice: ”It seems this case is indeed quite tricky.”

”So, the deceased’s identity is still a mystery?”

Political Commissioner Li and Mr. Qin shook their heads in unison, Mr. Qin supplemented: ”We have employed every method—from traditional basic outreach to modern missing persons database comparison, even deploying the newly developed cross-database DNA tracing technology a few days ago, unfortunately we found no matching information.”

Political Commissioner Li rubbed the yellowing case file in his hand, his voice carrying the weight of time: ”This case traces back six years ago, when I was the captain of the criminal investigation team.”

He sighed lightly, his gaze becoming profound, ”To be honest, I have never been able to put this case aside over the years.”

”During my ten-year tenure as captain, this is one of the few unsolved mysteries.”

”After discovering the skeleton back then, we immediately organized a large-scale investigation, but as you’re aware—”

His fingers unconsciously drew a circle on the tabletop, ”The forensic experts estimated that the time of death was about thirteen months before it was discovered, meaning the actual incident should have occurred seven years ago.”

”The original scene has long been eroded by rain and vegetation growth over the years, erasing all potential traces.”

Hearing this, Director Hou’s gaze darkened, and he asked in a low voice: ”Who discovered the body? Did the person reporting the incident provide detailed information?”

Mr. Qin responded immediately: ”It was a local hunter. According to him, that evening he was in the mountains hunting wild rabbits, when he stumbled near the bushes halfway up the mountain and discovered the skeleton lying deep within the grass. Terrified, he immediately reported it to the police.”

”The hunter... would outsiders generally go to that place?”

Director Hou continued his inquiry.

”Generally speaking, it’s unlikely,” Mr. Qin answered, ”Although there are a few villages at the foot of the mountain, the paths up the mountain are not easy to traverse, locals rarely go there, let alone tourists.”

”After discovering the body, we immediately conducted a thorough investigation around several nearby villages.”

”The location is too remote, someone unfamiliar with the terrain would find it difficult to get there, hence we speculate that the perpetrator or the deceased is likely connected to the local area.”

He paused slightly, then added: ”We visited every household in the village, carefully asked if they had seen any unfamiliar faces, or if anyone in the village had suddenly left.”

”Unfortunately, everyone stated they had no impression. Later we expanded our thoughts, considering whether someone could have married, migrated, or had distant relatives visit, but verification revealed no clues.”

”Has the age of the deceased been determined?” Director Hou turned his question.

”Forensic experts preliminarily inferred the deceased was female, approximately thirty-five years old, and had likely given birth— forensic examination revealed childbirth scars on her pubic area.”

”But beyond that, there were no other distinguishing features pointing to identity.”

”We also conducted a nationwide database comparison but found no matching missing person records.”

Next, Mr. Qin gravely continued to report: ”We have scoured the missing persons records from the entire city and even the province over recent years, yet still can’t find a matching subject.”

”That point remains the biggest obstacle in advancing the case.”

After a moment of silence, Director Hou lightly tapped his fingers on the table, and said in a low voice: ”If there is still no missing person report, then this case is indeed difficult.”

Jiang An pondered for a while, then responded: ”It appears now this is a typical ’three no’s’ case—no identity verification, no eyewitness information, no movement trajectory. What we have at present are almost all dead ends.”

”Furthermore, the forensic assessment determined the time of death to be over a year.”

”During such a long time, no family or friends reported her missing... this is unreasonable.”

At this time, Political Commissioner Li spoke: ”Yes, we have repeatedly deliberated over this point.”

”Currently, there are a few hypotheses: one is that the deceased may have been alone, an ’invisible person’ in social relationships.”

”Another is that her family might know she’s missing but for some reason are unwilling to speak out, or even... the family might be the perpetrator who deliberately hid the body, naturally also refraining from reporting.”

”But regardless of the possibilities, without identifying the body, there’s no way to determine the investigation direction.”

”We still do not know where she came from, why she appeared on that mountain, and with whom she interacted during her last living moments.”

At this point, Jiang An suddenly turned to Political Commissioner Li and asked: ”Are there still photos of the deceased’s clothes left?”

”Is there anything to be gleaned from the clothing brand or wear marks?”

”All evidence photos are archived, and the body is preserved in the evidence storage as per regulations.”

.....

minutes later, Director Hou rubbed his temples and said: ”We’ve pretty much discussed everything tonight, but textual communication ultimately isn’t as clear as directly examining the actual items.”

”I suggest everyone goes home to rest tonight; I also feel somewhat tipsy, and my thoughts are not as sharp as usual.”

”Tomorrow morning, we will make a special visit to the evidence room, review the relevant photos and evidence one by one, then reorganize our thoughts combined with today’s discussion.”

He then raised his glass in front of him, speaking solemnly: ”Finish this drink, and let’s adjourn.”

”Recharge your energies, tomorrow we officially start the breakthrough in this case—hoping this mystery can soon be solved in our hands.”