Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 503 Preliminary Examination Conclusion (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

From the moment Zhou Yi learned that Ma Weichang had committed suicide, he had always harbored doubts about Ma Weichang's death.

He originally wanted to hear what the doctor who performed the autopsy had to say, but the doctor just seemed to be muddling through, so he couldn't help but give him a piece of his mind.

Of course, the other party wasn't entirely without merit, after all, he mentioned the angle of the ligature marks on the deceased's neck and the contrast with the rope's texture.

But this alone is not enough to confirm anything.

So, having no other choice, he had to roll up his sleeves and do it himself.

The police officers present then saw a young, unidentified man in plainclothes, wearing white gloves, squatting next to the body with a phone tucked between his neck and his arm, making a call while examining the body.

Although everyone found it strange, the bureau chief was right there and didn't say anything, so naturally no one asked any questions, mainly because Zhou Xiangdong wasn't there either.

Yang Chuan, however, took the initiative to tell his colleagues that the young man was sent by the municipal bureau.

Upon hearing this, the colleague was immediately startled and hurriedly asked, "Did this case alarm the Municipal Bureau so quickly?"
Yang Chuan waved his hand and said he didn't know either; he only knew that the person was brought by the bureau chief himself.

Seeing Zhou Yi engrossed in the autopsy while on the phone, Li Linglong knew what he meant by "foreign aid."

So he asked Yang Chuan to assist him while he went to find out about other things.

Zhao Liang passed by and glanced at it unintentionally.

He had already walked past, but then he turned back because he thought he had misread it.

Upon closer inspection, who else could it be but Zhou Yi?

"What's going on? Didn't he leave?"

Zhao Liang was about to go up and say something when Yang Chuan quickly stopped him: "What are you doing? Don't interfere with the work of the leaders sent by the city!"

Zhao Liang was stunned: "A leader...sent by the city?"

At this moment, Zhou Yi was completely unaware of Zhao Liang behind him, because he was conducting an autopsy on Ma Weichang's body under Xu Nian's remote command.

"First, check for rigor mortis to confirm the time of death." Xu Nian's voice was calm and steady. "Check his fingers. Are they curled into fists or straight? Try moving his elbow joint to see if you can move it. Finally, try his jaw to see if you can pry it open a little. Tell me whatever you feel."

Zhou Yi followed the instructions one by one, and then replied: "The fingers were clenched tightly and were too hard to bend. When moving the elbow joint, I could clearly feel the resistance and could not push it, but it did not feel as stiff as the fingers; as for the jaw, the deceased's mouth was closed and clenched very tightly. It took a lot of force to slightly pry open a gap. I am not a professional forensic doctor, so I dared not continue to use force."

What's the approximate temperature range where you are?

Zhou Yi recalled for a moment and gave a rough temperature range.

"Next, examine the deceased's ankle joint to see if it can bend."

Zhou Yi's gaze shifted downwards; Ma Weichang's body was taut, perhaps due to the hanging.

"The deceased's ankle joint was completely stiff."

"Your fingers are stiff, and there is obvious stiffness in all the major joints of your body. The stiffness in your jaw and ankle joints is also very obvious. This is already in the range of severe rigor mortis. Considering the temperature where you are, the time of death should be more than twelve hours ago." Xu Nian took a pen and wrote on a piece of paper. "Take another look at the condition of the livor mortis. Find several points to observe, look at the color of the skin, and see if it fades after being gently pressed."

"it is good."

"Be careful not to use too much force, as the skin is prone to cracking in high temperatures," Xu Nian gently reminded her.

"clear."

Since the body was already severely rigor mortis, it was quite difficult to examine multiple points for livor mortis. Zhou Yi simply put his phone aside and then planned to ask Yang Chuan for help.

But when he looked up, he saw Zhao Liang.

"Brother Zhao, we meet again."

"Zhou Yi, what are you doing?"

Zhou Yi replied, "An autopsy. Come on, you two, lend a hand."

With the assistance of Yang Chuan and Zhao Liang, Zhou Yi performed a full examination by pressing on various parts of Ma Weichang's body.

"Alright, thank you both for your hard work." With that, Zhou Yi picked up the phone that was on the ground.

"Xu Nian, the inspection is complete. We found a few suspicious areas."

"Yes, you say it, I'm writing it down."

"First of all, the livor mortis is basically purplish-brown, and there is no sign of fading after pressing."

"Secondly, I found that the livor mortis on the back, buttocks, and outer calves of the corpse was much more pronounced than on other parts, especially the livor mortis on the back, which covered the largest area."

"The back?" Xu Nian muttered softly, then, as if remembering something, quickly asked, "Did you check the strangulation mark on the deceased's neck? Oh, the strangulation mark is..."

Before she could finish explaining, Zhou Yi replied, "I checked it. The ligature mark on the neck is crescent-shaped, deeper at the front and lighter at the back, becoming lighter behind the ear. But my skills are limited, and I can't find anything unusual from this ligature mark."

Xu Nian was about to say it's okay, you're already very good.

Then Zhou Yi said, "However, when I examined the side of the deceased's neck, I found that the side of the neck was very flat and there was no sign of swelling."

Upon hearing this, Xu Nian was startled; she hadn't expected Zhou Yi to know even such details.

Sure enough, she heard Zhou Yi ask, "I seem to remember that people who commit suicide by hanging often have a fractured hyoid bone, which can cause swelling on the side of their neck. Am I remembering correctly?"

Xu Nian replied, "No, you are quite accurate. However, this is not a sign that necessarily occurs in cases of suicide by hanging, but it is relatively more likely."

"I've learned something new, thank you."

"Let's check the other parts as well," Xu Nian said.

Yang Chuan and Zhao Liang stood by the side the whole time, not daring to disturb them.

Yang Chuan asked in a low voice, "Do you know this person?"

Zhao Liang nodded: "Yes, from a big city."

Yang Chuan suddenly realized, thinking to himself: Oh... so they're from the provincial capital.

Another ten minutes or so passed, and Li Linglong came over and asked, "How is it?"

Yang Chuan gave a thumbs up and said, "Director Li, where did you find such an expert? He's more than ten times more professional than that doctor surnamed Zhang."

Li Linglong's lips twitched slightly, but he remained silent with a smile, after all, Zhou Yi was someone he had brought with him.

"Xu Nian, thank you so much for today. I'll definitely treat you to a meal when I get back."

Xu Nian laughed and said, "Aren't you going to be transferred to Wuguang as soon as you get back? You won't have time to treat me to a meal."

"Hey, Wu Guang is so close..."

Before Zhou Yi could finish speaking, Xu Nian said calmly, "I was just joking. You should focus on your case first."

Xu Nian's response surprised Zhou Yi slightly. He replied with an "okay," said goodbye, and then hung up the phone.

Zhou Yi's sense of loss wasn't due to Xu Nian's cold attitude towards him.

After all, their fate from their previous life had run its course, and they shouldn't look back on the past.

After the major case, everyone in the bureau knew that he and Lu Xiaoshuang were together. He had also seen Xu Nian before. When he was injured and recuperating recently, Xu Nian and Song Yiming visited him in the hospital. Lu Xiaoshuang was there at the time, and Xu Nian did not show any unusual behavior.

Even if there might have been some budding feelings for each other back then, they never actually started anything in this life; they were just colleagues and comrades-in-arms fighting side by side.

What Zhou Yi was really worried about was Xu Nian's father.

Chen Gengyun's arrest implicated the Jianghai Haoting area, which was also related to the downfall of Xu Nian's father.

What Zhou Yi feared was that the changes in Xu Nian's family might have come sooner due to the solving of the major case.

This event was the real turning point that affected her entire life.

Zhou Yi's only worry was that Director Xu's case had been brought forward by several years, and he was currently powerless to help Xu Nian.

After all, apart from the major case, they no longer had the right to know about Chen Gengyun's political brokers and the things in that notebook.

He was also unsure how far things would develop or how turbulent the undercurrents would become.

"Director Li." Zhou Yi put away his nearly dead phone and walked over.

"How about it?"

"Based on rigor mortis and livor mortis, the time of death should be between twelve and eighteen hours, definitely less than twenty-four hours."

Li Linglong glanced at his watch. "So, the person died around midnight yesterday?"

"Yes. However, Director Li, the opinion I'm giving you is just for reference. The official autopsy report will have to be issued by your own forensic doctor."

Li Linglong nodded: "Don't worry about that, I know what I'm doing."

The forensic doctor is responsible for signing the autopsy report, so he understood Zhou Yi's implication.

"Go on." "Okay." Zhou Yi explained all the findings from the autopsy, and finally said, "Director Li, my conclusion is that Ma Weichang did not commit suicide by hanging."

Li Linglong's expression was serious. He had already figured it out halfway through the conversation; otherwise, Zhou Yi wouldn't have gone to such lengths to explain.

He asked, "So he was murdered by the killer, then hung up to make it look like a suicide?"

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi shook his head: "No! It's not like that."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"He must have been smothered unconscious and then hoisted up before he was dead."

Li Linglong asked incredulously, "Is it possible to draw such a precise conclusion?"

"Director Li, come and take a look." Zhou Yi walked up to Ma Weichang's body and began to explain.

“There is only one ligature mark on Ma Weichang’s neck, which matches the pattern of the hanging rope. The skin at the edge of the ligature mark shows signs of redness and congestion. These details indicate that Ma Weichang was not dead when he was hanged. Otherwise, if a body is hanged after death, the edge of the ligature mark should be pale, because after a person dies, there is no blood pressure in the blood vessels, and blood cannot pool.”

Zhou Yi called Yang Chuan and Zhao Liang for help, turned the body to its side, exposing the back and buttocks, and said, "The lividity on the back and buttocks of the deceased is more obvious than other parts, which means that before the death, these two parts were subjected to greater pressure or friction, resulting in more obvious lividity after death."

“And here too.” Zhou Yi said, lifting up Ma Weichang’s two trouser legs. “The lividity on the outside of his calves is also very obvious, indicating that he also suffered pressure or crush injuries.”

“You can lay it flat now,” Zhou Yi said to Yang Chuan and Zhao Liang.

"Director Li, look here again. There are some slight and fine red spots around the deceased's mouth and nose. These should be caused by the rupture of capillaries in the subcutaneous tissue."

Li Linglong leaned closer, examined it carefully, and nodded.

Zhou Yi looked up and said, "The murderer is very cunning. He must have known the difference between hanging a living person and hanging a dead person, so he smothered Ma Weichang until he was unconscious before hanging him up. If we only judge from the ligature mark on his neck, we would mistakenly conclude it was suicide, just as that Dr. Zhang thought."

The murderer also had another very cunning trick up his sleeve: the victim's feet.

Previously, Xu Nian asked him to examine the deceased's ankle joint, not only to check the stiffness of the joint, but also to check the direction of the foot.

If the body was hanged after death, the feet will not hang down naturally.

However, in people who commit suicide by hanging, the legs will straighten due to gravity, and after rigor mortis develops, they will form a line with the legs before the rigor mortis subsides.

Ma Weichang's feet were like that, so the murderer's arrangement was very deceptive.

"The small red spots around the deceased's mouth and nose were likely caused by someone covering their mouth and nose. The lividity on the deceased's back and buttocks was probably left from friction against the ground during the struggle. As for the outer legs..."

Li Linglong said in a deep voice, "That means he's been held down."

“That’s right. Director Li, there’s definitely more than one murderer.”

Ma Weichang is in his thirties and in good health. It would be very difficult for one person to forcibly control and knock him unconscious.

Zhou Yi examined Ma Weichang and found no other obvious external injuries, indicating that he had not fought with anyone before his death.

In addition to the lividity on his back, buttocks, and other parts of his body, Zhou Yi and Xu Nian deduced that Ma Weichang's death was neither a suicide before death nor a hanging after death.

Instead, they hanged the unconscious person to make it look like a suicide by hanging.

Therefore, not only could one person not control Ma Weichang, but one person also could not hang up the unconscious Ma Weichang to stage the scene.

This was a premeditated murder case involving multiple perpetrators!

Li Linglong gasped in shock. If this were to be diagnosed based on the perfunctory conclusion of the previous doctor, what a huge problem that would be!

“Director Li, this case is no small matter,” Zhou Yi said. “I believe that from the very beginning, from the moment Ge Fangfang disappeared without a trace, the real target of the murderer was Ma Weichang.”

Li Linglong did not respond to Zhou Yi's words, but instead instructed Yang Chuan to immediately arrange for the body to be sent to the county funeral home for proper preservation, and then apply to the city for a forensic doctor to issue a formal autopsy report as soon as possible.

After arranging all this, he said to Zhou Yi, "Come with me."

Seeing his serious expression, Zhou Yi knew that he must have made some other discovery.

Zhou Yi followed him to the outside of the quarry office. Li Linglong waved to a police officer and asked him to bring over the evidence bag.

Soon, an evidence bag was handed to Zhou Yi by Li Linglong.

Zhou Yi glanced at the contents of the evidence bag in his hand, and his expression instantly changed.

Inside was a pair of women's underwear stained with blood.

The underwear is very small; it looks like it would fit a six or seven-year-old girl.

"Director Li, where was this found?" The underwear in the evidence bag was still covered in dust and stains that looked like blood.

Li Linglong pointed to the office behind him and said, "It was found in the corner under the bed inside."

"In addition, some bloodstains that had been wiped away were found in the room. Therefore, we have reason to suspect that this office may be the primary crime scene where Ge Fangfang was murdered."

Looking at the evidence bag in his hand, Zhou Yi finally understood why Li Linglong had been wearing a dark expression since earlier.

Li Linglong added, "Furthermore, Ge Fangfang may have been sexually assaulted by the murderer before she was killed."

This result was completely unexpected for Zhou Yi.

He turned his head and looked toward the small wooden house where Ma Weichang's body had been found.

Then he looked at the villagers who were blocked outside the quarry by the cordon not far away.

A thought suddenly popped into my head.

Is this revenge? Or something else entirely?
……

The on-site investigation included a detailed search of the quarry and surrounding areas where the body might have been dumped or buried, and interviews with villagers.

Under Li Linglong's decisive and efficient requirements, these tasks were fully launched.

At the same time, he strictly ordered a complete blockade of case information, and anyone who leaks details of the case to the outside world will be investigated to the fullest extent of the law and severely punished!
Zhou Yi could tell from his serious expression that he took this case very seriously.

Based on Zhou Yi's understanding of the local situation over the past few days, the case in Xipinggou should be the biggest criminal case that Director Li has encountered since taking office.

In other words, Zhou Yi had just helped him solve a long-standing case when a new murder case came along.

Li Linglong expressed his gratitude for Zhou Yi's findings and assistance during the preliminary autopsy and formally agreed to Zhou Yi's request to participate in the investigation of the case.

He also spoke by phone with his direct supervisor, Wu Yongcheng, using the number provided by Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi didn't know what Wu Yongcheng and the other party said on the phone, but during the call, Li Linglong clearly gave Zhou Yi a shocked look.

"Captain Wu, thank you for your strong support from the Hongcheng City Bureau. I will expedite the procedures. Thank you." Li Linglong walked over, hung up the phone, and Zhou Yi only heard the last two sentences.

"Comrade Zhou Yi." Li Linglong walked up to Zhou Yi and suddenly saluted him.

This solemn scene startled Zhou Yi.

But he reacted very quickly, immediately stood at attention, and returned the salute.

Then Li Linglong gripped his hand tightly and said, "Why didn't you tell me sooner that you received a first-class merit award from the Ministry of Public Security?"

Zhou Yi suddenly realized why Wu had looked at him with such shock during the phone call—it turned out that Captain Wu had mentioned this.

"The story behind that first-class merit is a long one. In fact, it was mainly due to Captain Wu's excellent command. I just benefited from it."

Zhou Yi thought to himself, "I can't just wear this honor on my chest."

"You're too modest. To receive a first-class merit at such a young age is truly heroic."

Although Li Linglong was unclear about the specific case for which Zhou Yi received this first-class merit, he was well aware of what it meant for a 23-year-old policeman to receive an individual first-class merit.

It doesn't mean that this young person will be highly valued by the leadership, or that they will have a bright future or great development.

It means that this young man can risk his life without hesitation to complete the mission.

This is what deserves the most respect!
Behind the honors lie countless tears and bloodshed.

"Director Li, thank you for your approval. May I now formally participate in the investigation of this case?"

"Yes, you don't need to worry about the procedures. I've already communicated with your Captain Wu, and we'll complete the formalities later."

With those words, Zhou Yi was completely relieved and could finally act freely.

Without mincing words, he immediately said, "Director Li, there are a few things that need to be done right away."

"You said."

"The first thing to do is to summon Miao Genhua!"

"This woman is the key to this case!"

(End of this chapter)