The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

After a long while, the laboratory fell into a deep silence.

The people gathered around the lab table glanced at each other, their eyes full of disbelief.

They looked at one another, their faces uniformly reflecting a mix of confusion and shock.

Can one really determine that the deceased died from a traffic accident just from this ominous White Bone alone?

This conclusion seems utterly fantastical to them.

Forensic pathology is indeed a profound discipline, and inferring the nature of death holds a pivotal position in solving the entire case.

However, restoring the entire process of injury formation merely from fracture marks on the White Bone, isn’t this beyond the normal scope of professional understanding?

Everyone present knew well that a skeletonized corpse means the loss of soft tissue, an important basis for judgment, causing great difficulty in the identification work.

Amidst the silence, Mr. Qin finally couldn’t suppress his inner questioning, slightly leaning forward with a trace of hesitation in his eyes: ”Mr. Jiang, are you certain that this death was indeed caused by a traffic accident impact?”

”Frankly speaking, I’m completely an outsider in this regard.”

As he spoke, his lips involuntarily curved into a slightly apologetic smile.

Actually, more than just Mr. Qin harbored the same doubts.

Standing aside, Director Hou instinctively furrowed his brow, his fingers unconsciously tapping the desk.

Political Commissioner Li repeatedly adjusted his glasses, his gaze swaying between the skeleton and the identification report.

You could say that when faced with the conclusion drawn solely from fractures suggesting a traffic accident, everyone felt the leap in reasoning was too large to be accepted readily.

At this moment, Political Commissioner Li cleared his throat and cautiously spoke: ”Mr. Jiang, regarding this case, we’ve indeed dedicated a substantial amount of effort to research in the early stages.”

”But as you know, the evidence we have is so limited—there’s just this pile of White Bone.”

”Because of this, we conducted extremely meticulous analyses of every fracture.”

He paused, then continued: ”Previously, the forensic team, after repeated verification, could only infer that these injuries might have been caused by an impact or fall.”

”You are now directly concluding it’s a traffic accident, is this conclusion perhaps...?”

Political Commissioner Li stepped forward, pointed to the chest area of the skeleton, and said: ”Furthermore, according to our past experience, impact-induced fractures from traffic accidents are typically concentrated in the lower limb region.”

”Yet the main fractures on this skeleton are in the chest, which indeed differs significantly from the damage pattern we commonly see in traffic accidents.”

Upon hearing these remarks, the other officers present also nodded in agreement.

Though most present were not trained in forensic medicine, as long-time frontline police officers, they had accumulated extensive onsite experience and had a substantial understanding of basic life knowledge and case patterns.

Everyone clearly knew that in general traffic accidents, due to the vehicle’s front bumper’s height being usually about the same as a pedestrian’s lower limb, the impact force often concentrates in the lower limb area, especially the tibia and fibula areas which are most prone to fractures.

And this sudden chest-impact-caused sternum fracture is indeed extremely rare in usual traffic accidents.

Seeing the questioning looks from everyone, Jiang An unhurriedly surveyed the entire laboratory and calmly began to speak: ”Political Commissioner Li, the situation you mentioned indeed exists.”

”In normal traffic accidents, when pedestrians are struck by passenger cars or SUVs, the design features of the vehicle’s front structure indeed primarily cause impact in the lower limb area.”

”Such impacts usually result in typical linear fractures of the lower limbs, or fractures near the hip joint area, which are damage types we often see when handling traffic accident cases.”

He paused briefly, walked next to the skeleton and continued: ”But one point is particularly noteworthy, which is that when analyzing the causes of traffic accidents, we must never judge outside of the specific characteristics of the involved vehicle.”

”If passenger cars or SUVs mostly impact the lower limbs, then when the involved vehicle is a large truck or professional transport vehicle, the situation is entirely different.”

”Due to their higher chassis, these vehicles often have front bumper positions that correspond to the chest height of ordinary adults, during collisions, the impact force directly acts on the chest or even the head area of pedestrians.”

Listening to this, Mr. Qin thoughtfully nodded.

As a seasoned criminal investigation head, he naturally wouldn’t accept one-sided analyses easily.

Everyone present were veteran criminal investigators; they all knew well that in criminal investigations, especially during murder case breakthroughs, relying solely on possibilities is far from sufficient.

Every conclusion requires ample medical evidence as support, and such evidence must be built on rigorous scientific examination and logical reasoning.

After a long while, Jiang An surveyed the room, noticing that faces did not show signs of agreement, with many still having eyes of hesitation and confusion.

He was not surprised; he simply took a slight breath and continued to explain in a calm and clear tone: ”I understand, without direct evidence, the inference I proposed earlier might sound somewhat out of touch with reality.”

”But please note, this skeleton in front of us happens to provide solid grounds for this inference.”