American forensics, but the gourmet system

Night falls on the Big Apple.

Russell sat on the sofa, chewing gum, holding his laptop in his arms, the screen still displaying those same few photos of tibias.

Russell originally didn't want to work overtime at home, but when he saw that the progress bar for the braised beef in the system was progressing slowly, he idly scrolled through TikTok for a while, and then, feeling a bit bored, he simply took out his computer and continued to study the creases and scars on his shinbone.

On the notebook beside him, a few words were scribbled:

Abuse (?), bone fracture, repeated injuries, obvious external injuries, similar injuries, small dents.

Bertrand Russell traced the word "abuse" several times with his pen, and then drew a question mark to indicate his doubt.

Judging from the muscle tissue in the victim's legs, he was a fairly strong young man. Generally speaking, abuse only occurs to people who lack the ability to resist.

But the recurring, similar injuries made Russell involuntarily think about abuse.

On the other hand, the three almost parallel bone fracture marks are concentrated in an area of ​​about five centimeters on the front of the tibia, while the small pit on the bone surface that has not healed appears on the side of the tibia, which is the area that the murderer specifically targeted with an alcohol spray gun...

Is it possible that the three fracture marks are unrelated to the small pits on the bone surface?

Russell could only confirm that the killer intensified the burns on the side of the lower leg to cover up the dent caused by the previous wound. In other words, the killer believed that the wound could potentially help forensic experts and police identify the victim…

Things are getting a bit messy.

Russell tried to sort out his thoughts, but still couldn't come up with a clear idea.

Now he could completely understand why Dr. Black didn't reopen the investigation into the case.

In modern times, with highly advanced criminal investigation methods, there must be a reason why a case can become a cold case.

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However, Russell still wanted to point out that if the sewer where the remains were found was completely covered by surveillance cameras, then no criminal investigation methods would be needed to easily solve the case.

UI.

Of all the criminal cases in the world, only surveillance footage can be easily solved.

Russell spat the tasteless chewing gum into the trash can and rubbed his slightly tight temples.

The stew pot in the kitchen was bubbling away, and the aroma of beef wafted out. Russell frowned and wrote another word in his notebook:

muscle.

Whether it was the previous forensic report or Russell's own observation, the victim's leg muscles were indeed more developed than those of ordinary people, especially the victim's thigh muscles. Even though they were charred and contracted by the high-temperature flames, they were still a size thicker than the thighs of ordinary people.

Victims who have a habit of exercising...

People who exercise regularly are indeed more prone to bone fractures due to intense exercise, but their fractures are usually located at joint connections, such as the ankle, knee, and wrist.

What kind of exercise can cause a fracture on the front of the tibia?

Or perhaps the cause of the fracture was actually unrelated to the victim's exercise habits?

Russell's train of thought stalled again.

Russell proposed hypotheses, then refuted them, going back and forth repeatedly until he finally got fed up, threw his laptop aside, sat on the sofa, and sighed deeply.

I really shouldn't have worked from home; it ruined my good mood of leaving get off work early.

As Russell leaned back on the sofa and sighed deeply, the sound of the door opening came from behind him.

Aina yawned as she walked out of the bedroom, her delicate nose twitching as she looked toward the kitchen.

"I smell something nice..." she chuckled to Russell, "otherwise I could have slept for another hour or two..."

Russell shrugged:

"It will indeed take about another hour to eat. By the way, the living room is very clean."

"Only then can I feel a little more at ease."

Aina sat down on the sofa diagonally opposite Russell, with half a coffee table between them. She kicked off her slippers, curled her legs up on the sofa, and yawned.

"Today really exhausted me... Cleaning the living room wasn't that tiring, I also tidied up the things I brought... I can't wait to treat myself to braised beef."

Russell managed a weak smile.

He could have comforted himself with braised beef, but his previous analysis and self-doubt completely ruined Russell's mood.

Even the braised beef that I'd been looking forward to for 24 hours doesn't smell as good now.

"You seem to be in a bad mood? Did you encounter a difficult case today?"

Aina looked at Russell and asked.

Last night before going to bed, Russell told Aina about his identity as a forensic pathologist.

Aina's first reaction was:

"cool!"

My second reaction was:

"Could you tell me about a few interesting cases?"

Russell said it was too late, but he would definitely tell Aina about his forensic experience when he had time.

Of course, Russell's motives weren't entirely pure either. A young man in his twenties would naturally want to show off his extraordinary qualities in front of a pretty girl.

To put it bluntly, it's pretentious.

Russell thought about it and concluded that this long-standing case of a severed leg should not be within the scope of so-called confidentiality, since the reward had been posted for more than a year and the details of the case were also published on the NYPD's official website.

"I'm definitely in a bad mood... because of a cold case that's unclear whether it was intentional assault or murder, which is making me feel somewhat frustrated... Two years ago, in an old industrial area, someone found a severed leg in the sewers..."

Russell turned on his computer, pointed to the photos on the screen, and vividly recounted the long-standing case of the broken leg to Aina.

It was clear that Aina didn't have much knowledge about forensic medicine, so Russell tried his best to explain to Aina in simple terms why the cold case couldn't be reopened.

Of course, the secret communications between Dr. Beckman and him are omitted from the text.

After listening to Russell's explanation, Aina looked thoughtfully at the photos on the computer screen and asked Russell:

"Did you only take this one photo?"

"What's wrong?" Russell asked, slightly puzzled.

He took more than one photo; he took more than a dozen photos just of the three fracture marks and the small pits on the bone surface. However, since Aina knew nothing about forensic identification, he did not show the other photos to her.

"If we have photos from other angles, we might be able to use image enhancement to magnify these tiny scratches and make them clearer and more intuitive, or even create 3D models... but it's a bit difficult if we only have one photo."

Aina pointed to the bones in the photo and said.

"Ah...that's true." Russell nodded. He wasn't surprised that Aina knew about image enhancement technology; after all, Aina was a modern, high-tech painter who worked with images. "But the image enhancement technicians at the NYPD are too busy..."

Image enhancement, a new-era criminal investigation technology that has emerged in the last decade or so, can accomplish many things that were previously unimaginable.

For example, making heavily smeared fingerprint photos clearer, or making blurry surveillance footage high-definition... and so on.

However, experts who can apply image enhancement technology to criminal investigation can usually find higher-paying jobs than criminal investigation technicians.

Therefore, there is a waiting list to get help from an NYPD image enhancement technician.

Moreover, Russell didn't really believe that clarifying these dozen or so photos would confirm the victim's identity...

"Actually, I'm better at this," Aina smiled mischievously. "If you have photos from other angles... maybe I can help you. But before that, I'd like to try your braised beef first..."

Russell jumped up from the sofa and rushed into the kitchen.