American forensics, but the gourmet system

"Then let's take a look."

Aina said generously, taking the laptop from Russell and leading him into her bedroom.

This was Russell's first time entering Aina's bedroom.

As soon as he entered, Russell's eyes were immediately drawn to the computer desk placed against the wall.

When his previous roommate lived here, the computer desk was mostly empty, usually covered by snack containers, cola bottles, bowls, chopsticks, and other miscellaneous items.

But things are different now. A large curved monitor sits on the computer desk, and a transparent computer case sits next to it, shimmering with colorful light.

Russell had some knowledge of digital products when he was in school, and even built his own computer. However, he was too busy after starting work to have time to tinker with these things.

But he knows his stuff.

The accessories are all high-end...

Russell looked at the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card inside the transparent case and clicked his tongue twice in his mind.

  

He estimated that the complete set of accessories for Aina's computer would cost around $1.5...

He finally found out what was in Aina's two large suitcases.

"My job requires a lot of computer performance, and I also play some computer games in my spare time... Can you sit on the bed? There's no other chair here."

Aina clearly noticed Russell's interest in the computer accessories, offered an explanation, and then sat down at the computer desk.

Russell didn't stand on ceremony and plopped down on the bed behind Aina.

The mattress had definitely been replaced; it felt completely different from my previous roommate's. There were several plush toys on the bed, which was exactly the same as Russell's stereotype of young girls.

However, after seeing Aina's computer case, Russell couldn't bring himself to say that Aina was just an ordinary young girl.

But why would a girl who can afford to spend over ten thousand dollars on a computer choose to live in a poor neighborhood like Brownsville...?

Russell was a little puzzled, but he didn't have time to think about it for the moment. Aina had already copied the dozen or so image files Russell had taken to her computer. She opened Photoshop and dragged the images into it.

In the eyes of professionals, there are a few software programs that can be called "god-like," and Photoshop is one of them. From the FBI to ordinary photographers, everyone uses it as a productivity tool.

Russell was slightly excited. He had learned some basics of image processing during his master's studies and had also used Photoshop. He felt that he should be able to understand some of Aina's operations.

But he was wrong.

Aina held the mouse in one hand and her other hand flew across the keyboard, the sound of her pressing shortcut keys like a torrential downpour.

As Russell watched the computer screen display and Aina's slender fingers tapping on the keyboard, he wished he could grow compound eyes like a fly...

Two minutes later, Russell was completely baffled by Aina's actions.

The pasta and beef in his stomach began to digest, Russell's blood sugar began to fluctuate, insulin began to be secreted, potassium ions in his blood began to shift into muscle cells, and the brain began to secrete melatonin...

Russell was a little dizzy from carbon monoxide poisoning.

In his drowsy state, Russell heard the computer case cooling fan start to hum.

Moreover, the rhythmic sound of typing on the keyboard even became white noise that helped me fall asleep...

In addition, Russell had been truly busy all day, studying legs during the day and braised beef at night, so he was indeed quite tired.

Just as Russell was drifting off to sleep, Aina's cheers woke him up.

Russell subconsciously raised his hand to wipe the corner of his mouth, and only felt relieved when he realized he wasn't drooling.

"Any results yet?"

Russell quickly moved closer to the computer desk and looked at the screen.

On the screen, Photoshop had been replaced by a 3D modeling software called Blender. Russell had heard of it before, but had never used it.

Aina seemed to have used this to reconstruct a three-dimensional model of the wounds on the bone surface, highlighting the cracks and pits and carefully numbering them.

Optical microscopes have limitations. The results obtained are affected by objective factors such as the observation angle and the lighting angle, and are not always comprehensive.

After Aina's image enhancement and 3D modeling, the hidden details finally appeared on the computer screen...

"Enlarge crack number one..."

"Sizes two and three should also be enlarged..."

Russell stared intently at the computer screen, not missing a single detail.

"Can you tell what the result is?" Aina was also looking at the healing marks after the bone fractures, but she was clearly not an expert in this area. "These marks all look pretty much the same to me..."

"Of course you can see it," Russell said, pointing to the screen, barely suppressing his excitement. "Look, these healing marks are all different, but the fracture patterns are basically similar. Furthermore, there's mild, layered periosteal hyperplasia at the edges of the healing marks… the hyperplasia layer is perpendicular to the bone surface, and it's extremely thin. You can't see that under a Swift M3-F microscope!"

Aina heard another word she didn't understand, but she could roughly guess that it was a model of some kind of microscope.

She thought for a moment and asked again:

"What kind of hyperplasia you mentioned... what does that indicate?"

"I used to think that the repeated occurrence of similar bone fractures in the victim might be due to abuse..." Russell's eyes were bright, a stark contrast to his previous dazed state. "Now it's different. This is a typical stress fracture... Look at that little crater, Aina."

Aina obediently enlarged the small pit.

"The crater is shallow and flat, with a rough bottom, no cutting marks, no scraping marks... it was left by an impact from a relatively blunt point..." Russell murmured, "plus a stress fracture..."

"Have you been able to identify him?"

"I asked expectantly."

"A football player," Russell said definitively. "The deceased was a football player."

Before Aina could ask again, he took the initiative to explain:

"Stress fractures, also known as fatigue fractures, are common in athletes. They result from repeated fractures in a specific location due to training and prolonged high-intensity physical contact. Usually, such fractures don't cause much discomfort and heal on their own in a relatively short time. Plus, the shape of this small dent perfectly matches the pointed end of a soccer cleat, so I think he must be a soccer player..."

"Wow..." Aina exclaimed in admiration, only half understanding. "You can tell he's a soccer player just from a bone... That's amazing."

Russell responded while taking out his phone to make a call:

"You achieved this with just a dozen photos, you're amazing... Jesse, this is Russell. Are you still working overtime? Oh, I'm working overtime, what a shame... Could you check if there was a missing soccer player near New York two years ago who might have had a large tattoo on his right leg... Yes, that's right... You found it?"

Jesse's voice came through the phone:

"I found it, Russell. There was a Mexican-American soccer player named Romo Simeone who went missing... He frequently traveled between New Jersey and New York before he disappeared, playing some minor games, and he did have a tattoo on his right leg... People who knew him thought he had gone back to Mexico..."

"That's great! Thank you, Jesse. I'll buy you a drink."

Russell clenched his fist and said happily.

"Then I'll order the most expensive drink in the Irish pub..." Jesse's voice was very tired. "I swear, I'm going to ask Captain Hansen for paid leave this month, and he won't refuse me..."

"Good luck," Russell said with a smile, "but you'd better pray we don't run into any murders this month—"

"Wait!" Jesse suddenly interrupted Russell, "This person doesn't seem to be the one you're looking for..."

"Huh? Why?"

Russell quickly asked.

"You were just asking about the football player who went missing two years ago? But according to the reported disappearance dates, Romo Simeone went missing seven months ago. He played in a community match the week before he disappeared..."

"This...how is this possible?!"

Russell was stunned.