The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

”But here’s the problem—he immediately asked me, where on this construction site can we find such a suitable height? We can’t possibly hang ropes on the scaffolding, right?”

”At that moment, I suddenly had an idea.” Wang Can’s speech quickened, ”Isn’t there an excavator on the site? So I told Li Yong, I’d go to Mr Zhang, who operates the excavator, and borrow the keys, saying I needed to retrieve a forgotten tool.”

”Actually, both of us were thinking the same thing: we could raise the boom of the excavator to a suitable position and then tie the rope to the end of the arm, that way we can adjust the height, right?”

”Li Yong found this feasible too, although it sounded a bit risky, but he was in so much pain at the time that he said he’d give it a try.”

”Continue,” the record clerk nearby urged softly.

Wang Can rubbed his face vigorously and continued recalling, ”Then... I found a sturdy nylon rope from the shed, and also took a clean towel.”

”We waited until nighttime when no one was around the site and moved the excavator to a secluded area.”

”I firmly tied one end of the rope to the hook of the boom, and at the other end made a knot with the towel to form a loop-like cushion, so it wouldn’t choke the neck too tightly.”

”The whole setup looked a bit like a swing seat, but just let the neck bear the weight. Li Yong slowly put his neck into it.”

”And then?” asked the record clerk.

”After that...” Wang Can’s voice gradually lowered, ”At first, he even told me that he felt his neck was indeed more relaxed, the muscles weren’t as tense anymore.

To ensure safety, I intentionally didn’t raise the boom too high; the towel ring was less than a meter from the ground, he could actually still tiptoe a bit.

Seeing he was in good condition, I said I’d go pee nearby and would be back soon. But who could have thought...”

His Adam’s apple moved, ”When I came back... from afar I saw he was still hanging in that rope ring, motionless. I rushed over and called him, but he didn’t respond... touched him, he was already breathless.”

”But he looked the same as before, just that his head was slightly drooped, and his body was already cold.”

”I really don’t understand... how could this happen? He was fine when I left, how could... he suddenly lose breath?”

He raised his head, eyes red, ”I really don’t get it... how later on it turned out this way...”

Afterward, I plunged into immense terror, my mind was in chaos, only wanted to quickly cover up the situation in front of me.

I hurriedly placed his corpse flat on the ground, pretended he died of sudden illness, then put away the rope and towel used for traction.

You know, if the family found out, it was because of the traction I did that caused his accident, wouldn’t I be responsible and pay a huge amount of money? I really couldn’t bear it...

Upon hearing this, Qin Feng’s mind quickly recalled various details during the previous inspection of the corpse—there were indeed distinct traction marks on the deceased’s neck, and impression from rope compression on the skin, all closely matched the situation Wang Can described about ”neck traction using a rope.”

He nodded calmly, gave Wan beside him a look, and continued to ask, ”Was there any other process? From beginning to end, apart from you, was there any other person who interacted with him or noticed you two?”

”No, no, really just the two of us.”

Wang Can quickly shook his head, his voice trembling a bit, ”Actually... actually at that moment I left for a while, it was because I suddenly needed to go to the toilet.”

”Our site is remote, the toilet is particularly far, going there and back takes at least five minutes... no, probably close to ten minutes.”

”When I hurriedly rushed back, I found he was already not right, didn’t respond no matter how I called him...”

At this point, Qin Feng gently nodded.

According to the current statement, the pressure of the case is not too great—at least it can preliminarily rule out intentional harm or murder.

This seems more like an accidental death caused by unprofessional operation, although it differs from the originally claimed ”death from illness,” it is still distinct from a criminal case in nature.

He turned to Wan next to him and softly instructed, ”Record the entire process he just mentioned in detail, paying attention to the timeline and sequence of actions. I’ll go out and make a phone call to report.”

With that, Qin Feng got up and walked out of the interrogation room, quickly pulled out his phone at the end of the corridor, and dialed Mr. Chen’s number.

As soon as the call connected, he said calmly, ”Mr. Chen, the case is basically clear now.”

”Oh? What’s the situation?” Mr. Chen’s voice came through the receiver.

”We just questioned the reporter Wang Can.”

”He admitted that on the night of the incident, he used a rope tied to the excavator’s boom for neck traction on Li Yong, saying he wanted to ’loosen up, feel more comfortable.’”

”Then he went to the toilet, returned about ten minutes later, and found Li Yong had already lost consciousness.”

”Afraid to take on responsibility, he hurriedly tidied up the rope and towel, pretending the deceased died of sudden illness.”

”Is the process confirmable?” Mr. Chen asked over the phone.

”The statement is currently consistent with our preliminary inspection results, the neck traction marks, the trace fibers left on the scene, all point to this process, and moving forward,”

Qin Feng continued reporting, ”He claims no one else was present, nor did he further move or handle the corpse.”

”Currently, this should be an incident caused by improper operation, recommending further evidence fixation in this direction.”

Then, Qin Feng continued on the phone, ”Therefore, based on the information currently in hand, this should be an accidental death incident—neither a natural death caused by sudden illness, nor can it be deemed a criminal case suspect.”

Although his tone sounded quite relaxed, even with a hint of relief, Mr. Chen on the other end of the line remained tightly frowning.

He quietly listened to Qin Feng’s report, pondered for a moment, before slowly speaking, ”We’ve also found the corresponding hanging point at the site.”

”From this perspective, the basic situation matches Wang Can’s statement.” Mr. Chen’s voice was low, ”The deceased indeed died due to neck traction.”

”But since we’ve reproduced the incident process, we must solidify every aspect, form a complete evidence chain, leaving no ambiguity or gaps.”

He paused slightly, then instructed, ”Once our investigation here is complete, we’ll rush back to the bureau immediately, and provide a detailed report upon return.”

”Understood, Mr. Chen, we await you at the bureau.”

After hanging up, Qin Feng took a deep breath, with an irrepressible surge of excitement rising in his heart.

At first, when tasked with this case, his biggest worry was that it would turn into a homicide case, and he might mistakenly judge the direction during the investigation.

Now it seems, this can largely be determined as a non-criminal case—at least not murder. In this way, the heavy burden always on his chest can finally be slightly lifted.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the call, Mr. Chen slowly moved his phone away from his ear, turning to Director Hou and Jiang An who were standing next to him.

His expression solemn, he began, ”Director Hou, Mr. Jiang, Qin Feng just called, reported the situation fully explained by Wang Can, the reporter.”

”According to his statement, he used an excavator to create a simple neck traction device for Li Yong, leading to sustained neck traction for Li Yong.”

”Afterward, Wang Can went to the toilet, returned to find Li Yong had died.”

”Due to fear of accountability, he falsely claimed the deceased died of illness.”

After hearing this, Director Hou nodded, fell into contemplation, and unconsciously lightly tapped his notebook with his fingers.

On the opposite side, Jiang An suddenly raised his head to inquire, ”Mr. Chen, did Wang Can mention the height of the excavator’s boom at that time?”

”He said it was about one meter.”

”The deceased Li Yong was about one-seventy-five tall, right?” Jiang An quickly took over, ”If neck traction is done at such height, usually it’s not directly fatal.”

Mr. Chen’s countenance stiffened upon hearing this: ”You mean... this can’t kill?”

”What I’m saying is,” Jiang An spoke calmly yet clearly, ”just at this height, the probability of death from traction isn’t high.”

”Behind this... perhaps there’s other hidden truths we haven’t perceived.”

As the words fell, the scene suddenly plunged into silence.