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

Chapter 932 Discoveries in Anatomy

"Autopsy begins, 10:05 AM, case number 20250331-02, deceased Wang Xiaoyu, female, 28 years old." Zhang Lin's deep voice came through the recording equipment. His fingertips first gently touched the deceased's eyelids. "Moderate corneal opacity, pupils still visible, scattered pinpoint hemorrhages visible on the bulbar conjunctiva, a sign of asphyxiation." Then, he pressed on the deceased's jaw joint. "Rigoletto has spread to the jaw, neck, and shoulder/elbow joints, and is in the development stage of rigor mortis. Considering the current ambient temperature of 18°C, the preliminary judgment is that the time of death was 12-14 hours ago, that is, between 18:00 PM and 20:00 PM yesterday."

Zhang Lin picked up a cotton ball soaked in iodine and carefully disinfected it along the predetermined anatomical line. The dark brown liquid spread across the pale skin. "Now we will proceed with the routine thoracic and abdominal dissection, using a straight-line incision method, from the suprasternal notch downwards to the pubic symphysis." The slight sound of flesh separating as the scalpel cut through the skin was exceptionally clear in the silent dissection room. The subcutaneous tissue appeared an unhealthy pale yellow. "No obvious bleeding or emphysema was observed in the subcutaneous tissue, indicating that the deceased's body surface did not suffer extensive blunt force trauma." As Zhang Lin spoke, he carefully separated the subcutaneous fat layer with forceps.

Once the chest and abdominal cavities were exposed, Zhang Lin's gaze immediately focused on the wound on the neck. "The fatal wound is located on the left side of the neck, with an irregular 'V' shape, approximately 8.3 cm long and 4.6 cm deep." He used tweezers to lift the edge of the wound and adjusted the angle of the operating light. "The wound edges are neat and smooth, with one blunt and one sharp angle, consistent with the cutting trajectory of a single-edged sharp instrument from right to left and slightly upward. The wound width is measured at approximately 0.3 cm, suggesting the weapon was a sharp fruit knife or a small dagger." He gestured for Xiao Wu to hand over a ruler so he could take a scaled photograph next to the wound. At the same time, he used a suction device to clear the accumulated blood from the chest cavity, and the dark red blood flowed into a collection bottle through a transparent tube.

"Remove the heart for examination." Zhang Lin carefully cut the major blood vessels connecting the heart with dissecting scissors, removed the heart intact, and placed it on the measuring tray. "A large amount of blood is visible on the surface of the heart. The left ventricle and aortic arch are not ruptured, but there are splatter-like bleeding marks at the point where the carotid artery was severed. This is consistent with the large amount of blood at the scene. The deceased should have died from acute hemorrhagic shock." He carefully measured the size of each chamber of the heart and recorded the detailed data.

The lung examination revealed more details. "There was significant congestion in both lungs, with scattered punctate hemorrhages in the lower lobes, a common lung change during asphyxiation," Zhang Lin said, cutting open the lung tissue to observe the cross-section. "However, there were no substantial lesions in the lungs themselves, indicating that the deceased's respiratory system function was normal before death." He took 2cm x 6cm tissue samples from the upper, middle, and lower lobes of both lungs, marked their locations, and handed them to Xiao Wu, "to be sent for pathological sections, with a focus on observing the bleeding."

While examining the stomach, Zhang Lin carefully used intestinal scissors to cut along the greater curvature. The stomach contents emitted a sour, putrid odor. He frowned slightly but continued: "About 100ml of undigested coffee grounds and biscuit crumbs were visible in the stomach. According to the gastric emptying pattern, it takes 4-6 hours for a mixture of food to be completely emptied from the stomach. Considering the time of death, the deceased's last meal was likely 1-2 hours before death." He suddenly stopped, picked up half a white crystalline substance with tweezers, and said, "An unidentified particulate matter was found. It was separately packaged and sent for analysis. It is very likely a drug."

Next came the examination of the reproductive system, and Zhang Lin's expression became extremely serious. "Multiple irregular lacerations were visible inside the deceased's body, approximately 0.5-1 cm deep, distributed in patches. This is typical damage caused by violent assault." He repeatedly wiped the inner fornix of the body with cotton swabs to collect secretions. "We will collect perineal and anal swabs for preliminary semen stain testing and DNA analysis." Under ultraviolet light, pale blue fluorescent stains appeared on the inner thighs and sheets of the deceased, confirming the presence of bodily fluid residue.

Zhang Lin then processed the deceased's pubic symphysis to accurately determine his age. He carefully cut open the pubic bone with a bone saw, and fine bone powder splattered onto his protective mask. "Observing the pubic symphysis surface, the grooves and ridges are obvious, and the morphological characteristics are consistent with the age range of 28-30 years old, which matches the deceased's identity information." He removed a portion of the pubic bone tissue, "to send for bone age testing to further confirm the age."

While examining the victim's fingernails, Zhang Lin used a vacuum negative pressure extraction method to collect any possible skin tissue. "The sampling tube was placed tightly against the fingernail, and tissue debris was adsorbed using negative pressure." Under a microscope, he carefully observed the extracted substances. "Skin tissue was found, cell nuclei were extracted, and STR typing was performed. This may be key evidence left during the struggle with the murderer." At the same time, he also collected biological samples from the victim's mouth, nasal cavity, and other areas.

Finally, Zhang Lin extracted 10ml of the deceased's blood and 20ml of urine, which were then centrifuged for separation. "The focus was on detecting common drug components such as methamphetamine, heroin, and benzodiazepines." After centrifugation, he used a pipette to collect the supernatant and injected it into a gas chromatograph for analysis. "No drug components were detected in the blood, but the concentration of benzodiazepines reached 0.8mg/ml, confirming that the deceased had indeed ingested sleeping pills before her death, which explains why she lost her ability to resist."

After the autopsy was completed, Zhang Lin began to organize the records. "The deceased, Wang Xiaoyu, died from acute hemorrhagic shock caused by a single-edged sharp instrument severing her carotid artery; the time of death was between 18:00 and 20:00 on the 30th; she had been sexually assaulted before her death, and bodily fluids from the suspect were extracted from her body; benzodiazepine (B3O) was detected in her stomach contents, indicating drug-induced unconsciousness; skin tissue was extracted from under her fingernails and has been sent for testing. All samples and records have been organized and are awaiting further comparative analysis."

When Zhang Lin took off his protective mask, his forehead was covered in sweat. He rubbed his aching shoulders and looked at the body that had been stitched up again on the autopsy table.

While Zhang Lin was performing an autopsy on the body, the on-site investigation team was comparing and testing the fingerprints, footprints, and biological information collected from the scene.

The footprint analysis has not made much progress. In addition to the footprints of the deceased Wang Xiaoyu, two other unfamiliar footprints were also found at the scene, which, based on current information, should both belong to men.

Another point that prompted the on-site investigators to ask new questions was about the fingerprints they collected. One of the fingerprints, found on a picture frame, was successfully matched in the system.

The photo frame was placed on the coffee table at the crime scene, but not on the TV cabinet. Generally, photo frames are not placed on coffee tables. In fact, there were several photo frames on the TV cabinet in Wang Xiaoyu's home, but this particular photo frame with the stranger's fingerprints was not on the TV cabinet, but on the coffee table.