American forensics, but the gourmet system

Russell walked into the lobby of the Brooklyn Criminal Investigation Center carrying a cup of hot chocolate.

Two uniformed agents were carrying a silicone doll dressed in a white shirt, straight skirt, high heels and black stockings out of the elevator.

A delivery van carrying supplies was parked at the entrance. The two men carried the silicone doll out the door and threw it into the van.

Russell quickly turned his head to the side to avoid letting others see the strange expression on his face.

For this type of found evidence, the NYPD has its own processing procedures. After being registered and stored, it is transferred to a special temporary storage warehouse. If it remains unclaimed within 120 days, the processing procedures will be initiated, and it will be auctioned or disposed of.

Obviously, this item is unlikely to be auctioned off. Russell estimates that its final fate will be to be thrown into the trash heap in about 120 days and eventually destroyed.

A week has passed since Russell and his team arrested the silicone doll. As expected, such bizarre news always spreads like wildfire, becoming a temporary joke within the Criminal Investigation Center.

If nothing unexpected happens, this joke will likely circulate for a while longer...

After taking the elevator to the third floor, it was already 11:30. Russell had just returned from the medical examiner's office. That morning, he had performed an autopsy on a drowning victim for Dr. Beckman, determined the cause of death, and then rushed back to the criminal investigation center.

Although the Criminal Investigation Center has been less busy lately, Russell's main job is still to work with the Major Crimes Unit, a collaboration that makes the investigation process much smoother.

Otherwise, following the usual procedure, after a murder occurs, several hours would be wasted just waiting for the forensic doctor to arrive at the scene.

This delays the crucial time for solving the case.

This hybrid collaboration model is already becoming a trend within the NYPD and the Department of Forensic Medicine. For example, the comprehensive forensic identification, trace evidence, and biological testing laboratory that Dr. Beckman plans to establish can also be categorized as such.

This hybrid laboratory or major crime squad can reduce bureaucratic wrangling and make the investigation process smoother.

In fact, the FBI is already using this model.

……

Russell sat down at his workstation and turned on his computer.

Dr. Beckman recommended several backlogged murder cases from the medical examiner's office, the oldest of which was 15 years old.

  

Russell planned to study the forensic reports and case files of these murders to see where he could find a breakthrough.

Anyway, I'm just idling around.

The first murder case seemed very simple: six years ago, a man was hit on the head with a hammer and robbed of his cash and cell phone in an alley on his way home from get off work one evening. The murder weapon was left next to the body.

The only problem was that a heavy rain fell that night, washing away almost all the clues at the scene, and the fingerprints on the hammer could no longer be extracted.

Russell thought about it and realized that although the murder case was simple, it was incredibly difficult.

Whether it's a police officer or a forensic doctor, the most dreaded crime scene is after a heavy rain.

Rainwater can wash away almost all traces left by suspects; footprints, fingerprints, and skin flakes will all be washed away with the rain.

There was simply no suitable entry point for investigation.

Moreover, this was a standard random robbery-murder, so investigating the victim's social relationships would be completely useless...

If Russell's culinary system were replaced with a Sherlock Holmes system, perhaps Russell would take on this cold case again.

but now……

Russell closed the case file and opened the second case.

Just as I was about to scroll down the page, Jesse's shout rang out:

"Russell, Russell! Come here!"

Russell looked up and saw Jesse standing in front of Captain Hansen's office, waving at him with a somewhat anxious expression.

Russell quickly stood up and walked over.

"What's wrong?" he asked Jesse. "What happened?"

"Something's strange..." Jesse pushed Russell by the back and ushered him into the office.

Captain Hansen sat behind his desk with a serious expression. His phone was on the table, in the middle of a call, and on speakerphone.

A male voice came from the speaker.

"...I'm on the rooftop right now, I can see that place...actually, I saw it the day before yesterday, but I'm still worried—"

The speaker's voice trembled, and Russell found the voice very familiar.

In an instant, he remembered.

The person who called Captain Hansen was the same person who reported the arrest of the silicone doll that day—the guy who looks a bit like Tom Holland.

"Then how can you be so sure now that it's not a silicone doll but a corpse, Mr. Jason?"

Captain Hansen asked seriously.

"That stuff's rotten!" Tom Holland's voice trembled. "The stuff that leaked out has stained my white shirt... a disgusting color!"

Russell immediately understood what had happened.

There's been another incident on the rooftop where the silicone doll appeared, and this time it seems to be a real corpse...

"Is the corpse's abdomen bloated?"

Russell asked loudly.

"What? I don't know!" Tom Holland's voice trembled as if he'd been electrocuted. "I can't tell... You guys better hurry up and get here... I swear this isn't a silicone doll!"

……

Yellow and black safety barriers have been erected on the rooftop of the abandoned low-rise building.

A blonde woman wearing a white shirt, brown pencil skirt, black stockings, and shiny high heels was lying face down on the edge of the rooftop, her blonde hair cascading over her shoulders.

Her abdomen was visibly swollen, and grayish-white skin peeked out from under her shirt. Yellowish-green liquid seeped from beneath her, staining her white shirt a... disgusting color.

A faint stench of decay lingered in the air. Two crime scene technicians, wearing masks, were busy working beside the body. Judging from the gaps in their masks, their expressions were grim.

Captain Hansen and Russell stood a few meters away, with the examination kit placed at Russell's feet.

"Judging from the recent temperatures in New York and the degree of decomposition of the body, the time of death was approximately three days ago... The killer dressed her in clothes exactly like that silicone doll," Russell said in a low voice. "In other words, that silicone doll wasn't a prank, nor was it an accident..."

"It's a warning of the crime."

Captain Hansen said through gritted teeth.

As a veteran detective with 25 years of service, Captain Hansen abhorred this provocative method of committing crimes.

"That's one way to put it." Russell nodded. "The only wound on the body was a stab wound to the left chest, which is probably the cause of death. But there wasn't a large amount of blood on the clothes, proving that this wasn't the primary crime scene... More clues will only be available after the autopsy."

When will the hearse arrive?

Captain Hansen asked, frowning.

"They're already waiting downstairs," Russell replied. "Once our colleagues at the crime scene have finished collecting the evidence from the body, we can go to the medical examiner's office for the autopsy... Has the victim's identity not been confirmed yet?"

"Jesse went to investigate," Captain Hansen sighed. "Marty and Diaz took the complainant back for questioning... hopefully they can get some useful information out of him."

Before Russell could speak, the iron gate behind him was smashed open.

The familiar hearse driver appeared at the door carrying a stretcher. Climbing the stairs seemed to have taken a toll on him; he looked at Russell and Captain Hansen, panting heavily.

"Who brought the body here... These murderers really don't seem to mind the trouble, do they?"