The crackdown on organized crime began with the arrest of the mother-in-law.

Chapter 1062 Clues from the Autopsy

Xiao Wang took the button and examined it carefully under the flashlight—it was a button from a work jacket, with a blurred brand logo engraved on the back, and the edge was chipped as if it had been scraped by a sharp object. He put the button into the evidence bag, suddenly realizing that this might be the most valuable clue at the moment, but it still couldn't put the puzzle of the truth together.

The police lights flashed again, illuminating the winding mountain path. Xiao Wang watched as the two young people were taken to a guesthouse at the foot of the mountain to rest; the handwriting in his notebook trembled slightly from the bumpy ride. The information gathered during this interrogation was like pearls scattered in the grass, seemingly everywhere, yet lacking a thread to connect them. And the man in the black jacket—was he the murderer, or just an unrelated passerby? The answer might be hidden somewhere beneath the cliff, waiting to be discovered.

By evening, the body had been transported to the Criminal Investigation Division.

The autopsy room's air conditioning maintained a precise temperature of 16°C, and the operating lights cast cold, piercing light spots on Zhang Lin's protective mask. As the deceased was wheeled onto the stainless steel autopsy table, dew condensed on the blue body bag dripped down the zipper, forming small puddles on the floor. Zhang Lin put on his rubber gloves, his fingertips brushing against the number "202X-073" on the body bag. Amidst the soft clinking of metal instruments, a silent "dialogue" was about to begin.

The moment the body bag was opened, a strong stench of blood mixed with the smell of earth assaulted the senses. The deceased's face was severely deformed from the impact, and his right earlobe was torn open, exposing the white cartilage. Zhang Lin used tweezers to pick up a blood-stained hair and examined it carefully under the investigation light: "The hair is 12cm long, with obvious split ends, and the wear on the hair cuticles indicates a long period of neglect." His gaze moved down to the neck, where three parallel scratch marks extended from the collarbone to the jaw. "The lunulae on the fingernails are light pink, indicating that the deceased's nutritional status was relatively good before death."

When the blood-soaked mountaineering clothes were cut open, the knife wounds on the body were clearly visible. "Two sharp-force wounds on the right anterior chest, inserted at a 45-degree angle." Zhang Lin measured the wounds with calipers. "The main wound is 11.2 cm long, with one blunt and one sharp angle, consistent with the characteristics of a single-edged knife." He suddenly paused, gently touching the edge of the wound with tweezers. "The subcutaneous tissue around the wound is pink and shows signs of life, indicating that there were still vital signs when the knife was inserted." The assistant immediately placed a microscope slide on the wound to extract tissue samples.

Next, Zhang Lin's rubber gloves made a soft clanging sound against the metal instruments. He gently pried open the deceased's right eyelid with tweezers. The cloudy cornea resembled glass veiled in mist, the iris barely visible against the grayish-white background. "The cornea shows moderate opacity, and the vascular network is beginning to blur, consistent with grade 2 characteristics," he said to the recording equipment, while gesturing for his assistant to record. "This level of opacity usually begins to appear 18-24 hours after death, but considering the low temperatures in the mountainous area that slow down the decomposition process, the actual time of death may be longer."

The examination of rigor mortis is a crucial indicator. Zhang Lin grasped the deceased's stiff right arm and tried to bend the elbow, the muscles and joints making a slight resistance sound. "The rigor mortis has spread from the large joints of the limbs to the torso, but its intensity has weakened," he explained. "The shoulder joint can be passively moved about 15 degrees, indicating that the rigor mortis is in the early stages of relief. Normally, rigor mortis begins to appear 2-4 hours after death, peaks at 12-16 hours, and gradually subsides after 24-48 hours. Considering the current state, the time of death is at least more than 24 hours."

Turning to the corpse's back, Zhang Lin pressed his fingers on the area where livor mortis had accumulated. The dark red patches briefly faded under his fingertips, then slowly returned to their original color after he released them. "The livor mortis appears as a cloud-like, merged mass, dark red in color, and the fading is incomplete when pressed," he pointed to the most prominent area in the lumbosacral region. "This is a typical manifestation of hemoglobin infiltration of tissue, consistent with the characteristics of death 12-36 hours prior. However, it should be noted that the deceased was in a prone position, and the distribution of livor mortis is affected by gravity, which may lead to some misjudgment."

The most accurate assessment comes from rectal temperature measurement. Zhang Lin slowly inserts a special thermometer into the anus; the moment the metal probe touches the intestinal wall, the display screen begins to flash numbers. "Rectal temperature 30°C, ambient temperature stable at 15°C," he pulls up the Gleeson formula calculation table, "Assuming the initial core temperature of the corpse is 37°C, decreasing by 0.83°C per hour, after adjustment by the correction factor..." The pen tip quickly glides across the paper, "The precise time of death should be 28-30 hours ago. This conclusion perfectly matches the comprehensive assessment of the cornea, rigor mortis, and livor mortis."

To ensure the reliability of the conclusions, Zhang Lin also extracted a vitreous sample. A slight "pop" sound was heard as the syringe needle pierced the eyeball, and a pale yellow, transparent liquid was slowly drawn out. "Vitreous potassium ion concentration detection is one of the gold standards for estimating time of death," he said, placing the sample into the analyzer. "The potassium ion concentration increases by approximately 0.17 mmol/L per hour. Once the test results are available, the calculated results can be cross-validated."

Throughout the process, the assistant meticulously recorded every data point and observation. The air conditioning in the autopsy room ran continuously, maintaining a stable temperature of 18°C, the most suitable environment for autopsy. Zhang Lin removed his gloves and rubbed his aching shoulders: "Determining the time of death requires multi-dimensional evidence; any single indicator can introduce error. We can now confirm that the deceased was murdered between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. yesterday." Outside the window, the night was deep; this hourly conclusion would become a crucial time coordinate in solving the case.

Skull measurements solved the age mystery. Zhang Lin activated a 3D laser scanner, the orange-red beam tracing the surface of the skull: "The bone density in the mastoid process of the occipital bone is reduced, and the prominence of the zygomatic arch is weakened, consistent with the characteristics of a 40-45 year old." He removed the deceased's mandible and tested it with a bone densitometer: "The mandibular angle is 125 degrees, 15 degrees larger than that of a younger person, further corroborating the age inference." But the real breakthrough came from the dental examination—as he gently touched the molars with a dental probe, Zhang Lin's voice suddenly rose: "The third molars have fully erupted, and one-third of the dentin on the occlusal surface is exposed, which is typical wear from long-term chewing of hard foods."

Under the microscope, the secrets of the tooth's cross-section were completely revealed. "Cementum deposits 0.02mm per year," Zhang Lin pointed to the projection screen, "The deceased's cementum thickness reached 0.8mm, corresponding to a 40-year growth cycle." Even more surprisingly, cornstarch particles were detected in the tiny tartar found in the gaps between the molars. "The starch residue from this primitive grinding method indicates that the deceased may have been consuming hand-ground coarse grains for a long time."

Next, Zhang Lin, holding a scalpel, steadily made a cut below the victim's sternoclavicular joint, the blade making a soft "shh" sound as it touched the skin. Once the Y-shaped incision was complete, he used tissue forceps to grasp the edge of the skin and slowly peeled it back.