The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Coming all the way here, Jiang An felt that the first thing to do was not to rush to criticize or dismiss the earlier work, but to fully acknowledge the effort everyone had already put in.

In our public security system’s case handling, we always emphasize unity and cooperation, supporting each other.

If I were to immediately point out problems and criticize everyone present, it wouldn’t just be embarrassing for Mr. Chen; Mr. Qin, who led the team and worked hard for so long, wouldn’t feel comfortable either—especially since there are also colleagues from brother units present.

The Public Security Bureau is a whole, and whether internally or externally, we must maintain the image that should be maintained and first acknowledge the accomplishments that should be acknowledged.

Only by first setting the right attitude and creating a good atmosphere, can people be more receptive to problem identification and analysis later, with thoughts aligned and efforts united.

After a brief pause, Jiang An continued, in a calm and steady tone: ”However, regarding this death case at the airport, I personally feel there are indeed several rather special aspects.”

”Of course, these are just my preliminary thoughts based on the existing data and may not be mature, after all, the time is really tight—from the time we got off the highway to the scene, it’s been less than an hour.”

”And for such complex cases, our Guangling City Bureau had already gone through repeated scrutiny and in-depth research by multiple criminal investigation experts, the professionalism and the thoroughness of their work are undeniable. Therefore, I fear I might not be able to give a clear conclusion this afternoon, but I believe the direction of the investigation must be clarified and unified as soon as possible.”

He paused for a moment, then said: ”Firstly, the special point lies in the extremely peculiar position where the body was found.”

”The place of death is not only a blind spot for monitoring, lacking eyewitnesses, but the surroundings are also very chaotic.”

”In our routine site investigations, if the items around are originally neat and suddenly become messy after the incident, such disorder can often serve as an important trace indicator of a struggle, scuffle, or tussle between the suspect and the deceased.”

”However—”

Switching his tone slightly, Jiang An spoke more cautiously: ”The situation on this construction site might be much more complex.”

”Everyone has also seen, scattered around the scene are debris and miscellaneous items.”

”Why can’t these scattered stones be directly used as judgment criteria?”

”Because they might have been there before the incident, having no necessary connection with the case itself.”

”So, if we merely base our assumptions on the disorder around the body to conclude that no struggle or conflict occurred, I believe such a premise is insufficient and requires more substantial evidence.”

Hearing this, both Mr. Qin and Mr. Chen’s expressions slightly darkened almost simultaneously, with their brows unintentionally furrowing, and a hint of clear displeasure flashed across their faces.

At this key stage of the case report, Jiang An’s call to ’listen’ seemed like a request for further explanation, but it indirectly expressed doubt about the conclusions of the prior investigation’s autopsy, undoubtedly touching some sensitive nerves present.

Immediately after, Jiang An continued steadily: ”The second special point lies in the autopsy aspect.”

”Just now, Mr. Qin mentioned in the report that the forensic autopsy revealed the deceased’s coronary artery sclerosis reached above grade three.”

”I myself come from a forensic background, so I clearly understand that grade-three coronary sclerosis can, on its own, constitute an independent cause of death, especially under situations of intense emotional fluctuations or physical altercations, leading easily to sudden cardiac death.”

”However, we must recognize that coronary sclerosis doesn’t necessarily lead to death upon its appearance.”

”For example, the deceased’s vascular sclerosis might have been present for six months, yet he lived a normal life during this time—meaning the mechanism requiring specific conditions and environment to lead to death especially requires us to maintain high diligence in identification.”

”For such causes of death, we must rule out all other possible lethal factors one by one, such as external injuries, asphyxiation, or poisoning.”

”I noticed earlier that the work on toxin testing was quite comprehensive, at least ruling out all known toxic substances in the current police database, but the other two items—the possibilities of external injuries and asphyxiation, have we paid them equal attention?”

After these words, the atmosphere in the meeting room became more stagnant.

At this moment, sitting diagonally across, a middle-aged man with glasses barely twitched his mouth, his face briefly flashing an almost contemptuous expression.

That expression was fleeting but didn’t escape Jiang An’s eyes—his gaze lowered slightly, swiftly sweeping over the nameplate placed before the counterpart, with understanding flitting his eyes.

The nameplate clearly read: Guangling Medical University Forensic Identification Center.

As it turns out, the initial autopsy was completed by this center. When Jiang An directly and specifically questioned the autopsy conclusions, it wasn’t surprising that the institutional representative would show displeasure or even disdain.

But Jiang An knew, in forensic practice, any autopsy report often represents only one opinion.

Different appraisal institutions and forensic personnel might draw entirely different conclusions on the same body due to minor differences in experience, perspective, technical means, or material handling—one might determine the cause as mechanical asphyxia, while another could lean towards acute cardiac sudden death.

Especially on the professional level, there is indeed overlap in some corpses’ representations between death from mechanical asphyxiation and acute cardiac sudden death, such as changes in complexion, subconjunctival hemorrhage, etc., making it quite difficult to distinguish, which is often a cause of controversy for forensic conclusions in judicial practice.

At this moment in the meeting room, the atmosphere was solemn and heavy.

Jiang An was conducting the case analysis report on behalf of the provincial expert group, with almost everyone present—including the municipal bureau leadership, team leaders, and relevant technical personnel—focused and intently listening.

Notably, during Jiang An’s methodical, progressively thorough exposition, not everyone was taking notes.

Only Director Hou, Li Yan, and Zhang Lei, almost instinctively, picked up their pens and carefully noted down key points in their opened notebooks, the faint sound of pen strokes on paper particularly clear in the quiet meeting room.

Subsequently, Jiang An raised his head, directing his gaze toward the on-screen, frozen site overview image, and continued speaking: ”Mr. Qin mentioned earlier that they promptly found one of the reporters after the incident.

According to the reporter’s statement, he went out for a smoke and walk with the deceased that night, and after a brief, toilet break, he returned to find the deceased collapsed and dead.

So, during the reporter’s absence, what actually happened at the scene?

Was there anyone else approaching or passing by? All these details need further clarification from us.”

Hearing this, Mr. Qin immediately supplemented the explanation: ”Mr. Jiang, we also focused on examining this aspect at that time, retrieving potential footage along the route, and interviewing the surrounding areas, and haven’t found any suspicious entry or exit records temporarily.”

Jiang An nodded and continued to explain: ”Based on the above discussion, I have some thoughts on the next steps from three aspects: site trace examination, autopsy finding interpretation, and external investigation and evidence collection.”

Then he looked around the meeting room, his eyes passing over each concentrated face consecutively, speaking steadily and solemnly: ”As Mr. Chen emphasized before the meeting, regarding every homicide case, especially those where the nature of death is questionable, we must maintain a highly rigorous and truthful attitude.”

”In such a limited investigation time frame, drawing an accurate conclusion that withstands scrutiny might seem possible, but it requires a chain of substantial and interlinked evidence.”

He paused slightly to let the weight of his words sink in, then continued: ”For instance, the doubts I mentioned earlier—whether the differentiation basis between asphyxiation and sudden death is sufficient, whether the reporting timeline and behavioral trajectory perfectly align, whether micro-trace evidence at the scene was overlooked, etc.—all these must be clarified, deeply verified, and cross-verified to eventually form a logically conclusive determination.”

Afterward, he turned to Director Hou by his side, nodded slightly, and his tone transitioned to a summarizing report: ”Director Hou, these are the preliminary analyses I’ve proposed based on the existing materials.”