Chapter 23: Hiding the Wood in the Forest, Hiding the Corpse in the Fire

Chapter 23: Hiding the Wood in the Forest, Hiding the Corpse in the Fire

Chapter 23: Hiding the Wood in the Forest, Hiding the Corpse in the Fire

“Frozen to death?”

Du Yu was slightly stunned, suspecting that he had misheard Xu Yiqing's words.

Common sense told him how could there be frozen bodies at the fire scene?

So he suspected that Xu Yiqing's voice was muffled because of the mask, causing him to hear some other word as "frozen to death".

But Xu Yiqing's eyes told him that he had heard correctly.

While Xu Yiqing was checking the condition of the ventricle with his hands, he explained the principle to Du Yu: "Generally speaking, there are many evidences for confirming death from hypothermia, such as the appearance of reddish blood spots on large joints such as elbows and knees. But this body has been burned beyond recognition... Fortunately, the main evidence for confirming death from freezing is the color of the blood in the heart."

"Before freezing to death, the deceased inhaled cold air, which increased the binding rate of hemoglobin and oxygen in the lungs. As the body temperature drops, the arterial blood will become brighter red, and the color of the ventricle can be distinguished with the naked eye. For example, this corpse is a typical feature of freezing to death."

"Similarly, the carbon monoxide concentration in the blood of No. 7's body is close to normal, much lower than the concentration of the other six bodies at the fire scene." After a pause, Xu Yiqing gave a conclusion: "This means that No. 7 was already dead before the fire, so he did not inhale toxic gases."

Du Yu would not doubt Xu Yiqing's professional knowledge. He was now certain that the deceased had frozen to death. So no matter what the body numbered 7 looked like after it was burned, it must have been frozen to death.

"Can that determine the time of death?"

"A follow-up autopsy is needed because the body was burned at high temperatures, so methods such as body temperature, livor mortis, and rigor mortis are no longer useful for quickly determining the time of death."

Frozen to death in a raging fire, Du Yu calmed down from his doubts and began to think.

After all, he was the captain of the Jiangcheng Criminal Police Brigade, and his years of experience came in handy immediately.

"It's to hide the body." He figured out the reason.

Lin Sheng was too sleepy to think straight, and subconsciously wondered: "Hide the body?"

Du Yu nodded: "Hiding trees in the forest is a common tactic used by many meticulous criminals."

Xu Yiqing continued, "Hide the bodies of murdered people among the casualties caused by accidents in order to dispose of the bodies and conceal the truth. This is also why some seemingly ordinary accidental deaths are also autopsied as much as possible... to ensure that the cause of death of each deceased person is found out."

Thoughtful and well-planned.

Such words made both Du Yu and Xu Yiqing vaguely think of a possibility...

This style of behavior is very similar to that of [Accomplice]!

Du Yu said: "But whether it was him or not, this fire was definitely not an accident."

Although thinking this way was somewhat disrespectful to the deceased, the leadership team of Jiangcheng City breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Yiqing said: "I can't imagine a group of people sharing a room with a person who was frozen to death, and then all burned to death in an accidental fire... I tend to agree with your guess, it is most likely a homicide case."

Du Yu said, "I'll go back and write a report, then take you to the crime scene. The fire department should have finished handling it by now... in an hour, no, in an hour and a half, come find me at the Criminal Police Brigade."

For forensic scientists, on-site investigation is also a compulsory course, but one and a half hours is not enough for two people to complete the sewing of the body and write the autopsy report.

So after a brief discussion, it was decided that Xu Yiqing would follow the serious crime team to the scene for investigation, while Lin Sheng would stay in the Forensic Department to continue the remaining work.

Before leaving, Du Yu said, "Since it has been confirmed that this was not an accident, it would be best to bring a criminal profiler with you."

He said to Xu Yiqing in an encouraging tone: "The task of contacting Zhou Shi is now given to you. Come with her."

Xu Yiqing put down the scalpel and said helplessly: "What are you expecting?"

Du Yu pretended to be stupid, shrugged his shoulders, took off his mask and went to wash his hands.

Seeing him like this, Xu Yiqing sighed softly, knowing that Du Yu was referring to his "failed" marriage and hoped that he could win back Zhou Shi.

But in fact, it is not appropriate to use "reconciled" to describe his relationship with Zhou Shi.

The obstacles between the two people cannot be easily resolved with just a few words.

Putting these things behind him, Xu Yiqing turned to Lin Sheng, who was about to take over his shift and continue the autopsy, and said, "Ah Sheng, why don't you go lie down next door for a while?" The Forensic Department is equipped with a lounge for the two only forensic doctors in Jiangcheng to rest when they work overtime.

There are 20,000 forensic scientists in the country, but there are more than 300 prefecture-level cities, 2,800 county-level cities, and more than 30,000 townships. The manpower is far from enough.

In addition, people have a weak awareness in this regard, and in many cases the police declare the case closed after ruling out homicide, and no one, including the family members, has ever suggested a forensic examination.

Lin Sheng listened to the advice, packed up and prepared to take a short rest. In his current mental state, it would be difficult for him to complete the autopsy alone.

"Brother Xu, call me if you have anything."

After washing his hands, Lin Sheng went to the next room to rest. Xu Yiqing hesitated for a while, but still took out his cell phone.

There aren't many people in his address book, so he can reach them all with just a swipe.

The name "Zhou Shi" is one of them.

After dialing, the call was connected quickly.

Zhou Shi's voice was cold and a little lazy.

Before Xu Yiqing could speak, she asked directly, "Was it murder?"

Xu Yiqing was not surprised by this sudden question.

He knew Zhou Shi's intelligence better than anyone else and was able to immediately deduce the most likely situation based on just one phone call.

"We can't confirm it was homicide, but the cause of death was not fire." Xu Yiqing said: "Du Yu will take us to the scene for investigation. The criminal police team will gather in an hour and a half."

Zhou Shi said, "Wait for me at the door later."

Unlike Xu Yiqing's frugality, Zhou Shi's family is wealthy, so he likes a life of luxury.

A tan Panamera stopped at the door of the Forensic Department building.

"You changed cars."

Xu Yiqing opened the passenger door and sat in.

I subconsciously prepared to adjust the comfort of the seat, but found that I was sitting just right and very comfortable.

He was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Zhou Shi could still remember his habits after ten years.

Glancing at Xu Yiqing's expression, Zhou Shi smiled calmly: "I didn't expect that you haven't bought a car in ten years."

Xu Yiqing said frankly: "I don't like driving."

Zhou Shi joked: "That's right, you are driving while fatigued. Safety comes first... the safety of passers-by."

Many years ago, before Lin Sheng passed the entrance exam to Jiangcheng Forensic Identification, there was only one forensic doctor in Jiangcheng, Xu Yiqing.

No matter where they went, Zhou Shi always drove him. It was only after their divorce that Lin Sheng took over... As a personal driver, she could be considered Lin Sheng's senior.

Zhou Shi stepped on the accelerator to start the Panamera. Xu Yiqing rubbed his eyes and began to read the autopsy report to Zhou Shi.

From corpse number 1 to number 7.

"The autopsy of body No. 7 has not been completed yet. Mr. Lin will take over the follow-up work. He is resting now."

"If only one body has a different cause of death, then we need to focus on analyzing whether the six dead bodies, No. 1 to No. 6, knew about No. 7's death." Zhou Shi thought for a moment and said, "If they knew about No. 7's death, then we can start with interpersonal relationships."

Xu Yiqing understood what Zhou Shi meant. "It's impossible for a person who froze to death to walk into the fire by himself, so the key point is whether someone hid the body of No. 7, or whether it was related to the other dead."

(End of this chapter)