Insights Chapter 110: Disappearance

Chapter 110: Disappearance

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Shen Junci squatted down again to examine carefully. “Every tooth has been pulled out, leaving none behind. The handling is very clean and professional. Actually, this is a somewhat difficult task. Typically, only professionals with certain knowledge of medical examiner studies would know how important teeth are for identifying a corpse.”

In the field of medical examiner studies, there is a specific branch called forensic odontology. This discipline uses people’s teeth to identify them, determine their race, gender, age, and dietary habits. But now, the teeth of this skull have been removed.

Qi Yi’an, standing beside him, frowned and asked, “So, does the person who handled the corpse have a certain knowledge of medical examiner studies? Teacher, can you confirm how the injuries on the face were caused?”

Shen Junci replied, “Qi Yi’an, it should be just a small amount. If it were a large amount, even the bones would have completely dissolved.”

Compared to ordinary cases, this corpse has been handled too professionally. It seems like the person behind it had already anticipated how the authorities might investigate, if the corpse was discovered one day.

Listening to Shen Junci’s explanation, Gu Yanchen became more convinced that this could be the work of a professional cleaner. Without a complete corpse and without fatal wounds, it’s difficult to confirm the cause of death and the murder weapon. With an incomplete chain of evidence, this is a significant disadvantage for subsequent investigations and legal proceedings.

Shen Junci continued, “We will perform an autopsy later to see if we can determine the cause of death and identify the deceased.”

Bai Meng asked from the side, “With it being in this condition, can we still find any clues?”

Shen Junci replied, “This corpse has been excessively processed, which in itself is the biggest loophole.”

Qi Yi’an said, “I understand a bit now. Those who do wrong will eventually meet their end. With each additional step in handling the corpse, we can uncover more traces.”

Shen Junci nodded in agreement.

After completing the photographic inspection, Qi Yi’an brought a body bag and placed the bloody corpse inside.

Gu Yanchen helped them load the corpse onto the hearse, then turned to the others and said, “Conduct a spiral search of the abandoned corpse site to see if there are any more clues and traces.”

Shen Junci returned to the City Bureau first, taking the corpse to the medical examiner’s building. He changed into his medical examiner attire, put on a mask and gloves, and after disinfecting, entered the autopsy room. The powerful exhaust fan under the autopsy table hummed loudly, making the autopsy room otherwise very quiet.

After taking photos, Qi Yi’an placed them aside and began to observe and measure meticulously. Measurements, hair length, distinctive features… Although the face had been damaged, the neck of the female corpse remained intact, and the incision below the chest was very smooth.

Shen Junci pointed to several damaged areas on the neck of the corpse and said, “Look at these injuries, what characteristics do they have?”

There were some burn marks on the corpse, which didn’t seem to have a pattern at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they held significance. Some slightly deeper marks were circular points, with four or five on each side of the neck, as if chemical reagents had been applied with a stirring rod to form them. There were also some marks, which were straight lines drawn in one direction. The person handling the corpse was very careful, not leaving out any wounds or traces. But this method of handling seemed to be pointing them in a direction.

Qi Yi’an looked and said, “In this position… there might be subcutaneous bleeding. Is this to conceal the strangulation marks?!”

He gestured, demonstrating by placing his hand around the neck, and the fingertips landed on these spots. It was like someone had left footprints in a vast expanse of snow, and then someone else, to destroy those footprints, had imprinted other shapes on them, but inadvertently exposed that someone had been there.

Shen Junci nodded, “There are four to five marks on each side of the neck, which are signs of strangulation by both hands. Although the surface has been damaged, the deep structure cannot be completely destroyed. Combined with the pinpoint bleeding of the eye conjunctiva and oral mucosa, as well as the tongue injury, it is highly likely to be strangulation. And from the position of the strangulation marks, the severity of the wounds, we can infer the approximate size of the killer’s palm, finger length, and strength. Preliminary assessment suggests that the perpetrator is most likely male.” He then opened the mouth and observed the tongue. “Fracture of the right upper corner of the thyroid cartilage, fracture of the greater horn of the hyoid bone. There is bleeding in the loose tissue under the tongue.”

After recording these, Shen Junci continued, “The degree of decomposition of the corpse and the time of death do not match. I have another guess: this corpse may have been buried before.”

Qi Yi’an interjected, “But there isn’t much soil on the corpse.”

Shen Junci explained, “It was buried in a bag, then dug out by someone later.”

The airtight plastic bag would keep the corpse in an anaerobic environment, slowing down the rate of decomposition compared to exposure to air. Next, Shen Junci began to remove the hair from the head, and the scraper made a slight sound as the hair of the deceased woman was quickly removed. He made a proficient incision from behind the ear of the deceased woman.

After the scalp was flipped open, the woman’s skull was exposed. Shen Junci took the electric skull saw handed over by Qi Yi’an and carefully removed the skull cap, “The brain tissue shows no obvious damage, but there is congestion and pinpoint bleeding in the meninges and brain parenchyma, with a small amount of bleeding in the temporal bone.”

These were all characteristics of death by suffocation. Shen Junci then extracted aqueous humor from the intact eye and drew a small amount of blood, asking Qi Yi’an to further analyze it in the laboratory.

After everything was processed, Medical Examiner Shen performed a skeletal scan of the head and inputted it into the computer for facial reconstruction. The autopsy of the head took about half an hour, and the skeletal scan reconstruction took about an hour.

When they finished, Gu Yanchen had also finished processing the scene and returned to the City Bureau. Captain Gu archived the physical evidence and, after handing it over to the laboratory, immediately came to the nearby medical examiner’s autopsy room to check the situation.

Shen Junci asked, “Are there any new clues from the scene?”

Gu Yanchen replied, “They found a bit of blood evidence over there, but it’s been contaminated by rainwater and just been sent to the lab. Not sure if they’ll find anything.”

Shen Junci was a bit concerned about him, “You’re so busy with the case as soon as you come back. Is your health okay?”

“Of course, I’ll get you checked later.” Gu Yanchen glanced at the autopsy that had just been completed and asked, “Have you found the cause of death of the victim?”

Shen Junci looked up, removed his mask, and looked at him under the shadowless lamp. “Strangulation.”

As they looked at the half-body corpse, a scene floated in Qi Yi’an’s mind: a young girl being strangled by someone’s hands. She widened her eyes in disbelief, struggling incessantly, making choking sounds in her throat. The other party kept exerting force until she lost her breath.

Thinking of this cruel scene, he couldn’t help but shiver.

Gu Yanchen then asked, “Can you determine the time of death?”

“Over two days. Probably died around midnight the day before yesterday. Then the corpse was handled, buried in a bag, and dug out by someone last night. In addition, I scanned the head and will reconstruct the appearance of the deceased later.”

Shen Junci had used this technology in a previous case involving Xu Yapei.

Now, the nearby computer was calculating, layer by layer, adding flesh to those bones, and then covering them with a layer of skin. The shape of the eyebrows, eye sockets, bridge of the nose, lips, jaw… The image of the girl on the computer gradually took shape, and Shen Junci, while observing the bloody bones placed aside, tirelessly adjusted until finally, a photo of the woman was completed.

After everything was done, Qi Yi’an went to store the corpse. Then the group went to the Criminal Investigation Building for a meeting. The search at the scene didn’t yield much information, so everyone pinned their hopes on the results of the autopsy. And Shen Junci didn’t disappoint them. He enlarged the reconstructed facial image and placed it on the whiteboard.

Everyone looked at the restored photo and could see that the deceased was a beautiful young girl.

Shen Junci informed everyone of the obtained information, “The estimated age of the deceased is around 20 years old, female. Based on the skull and cervical vertebrae, the woman’s height is approximately 1.65 meters, with a slim figure, weighing about 95 pounds. The time of death was the night before last night, and there are strangulation marks on the neck of the corpse. Judging from the congestion in the hyoid bone and temporal bone, the cause of death should be strangulation. The teeth of the corpse were completely pulled out, the face was injured by aqua regia, all traces were burned by aqua regia, and the corpse was dissected with a bone saw. The corpse was buried once and then dug out and dumped.

“Other conclusions can be drawn from the information of the body parts. The girl had mild myopia, well-maintained hair. Judging from the remaining skin on the forehead and neck, she had fair skin and didn’t often expose herself to the sun. She didn’t have much muscle and didn’t engage in sports often. Though her fingerprints were destroyed, her hands were slender, nails intact, with traces of watercolor paint in the nail folds, and calluses from writing.” Then he continued, “Taking all of this into account, I suggest starting with non-residential college students, especially those in art-related fields.”

Gu Yanchen began to assign tasks. He said to Bai Meng, “Send the reconstructed photos to all the police stations and see if there are any missing person reports.”

“Lu Ying, you and Yu Shen retrieve surveillance footage from the city’s surveillance system. Compare the tire tracks at the scene with the outbound traffic surveillance from last night to see if you can identify the vehicle used to dump the body.”

In the afternoon at Penang City Bureau, after a short break, the special investigation team began their work. To improve efficiency, they had also pulled in several officers from other teams.

Lu Ying began comparing the passing vehicles from last night. It was a huge task. With just one tire tread print, they could only determine it was a Nissan vehicle, but even after an initial screening, there were still hundreds of possibilities, and the information might not be accurate.

Yu Shen was conducting a survey of the highways. He found that despite the heavy rain last night, there was still considerable traffic at major intersections in the city. Yu Shen reported this to Gu Yanchen.

Gu Yanchen said, “Make a statistical analysis and observe these vehicles in the city to see where they mainly come from.”

The sudden increase in traffic on a rainy night yesterday was abnormal. Perhaps those people had received some information and were searching for the missing corpse. Mapping the paths of these cars was a considerable task, but Gu Yanchen felt it was worth pursuing this lead.

Bai Meng was busy communicating with various police stations. After a while, she spoke up, “Captain Gu! We found her. The photo provided by Medical Examiner Shen is amazing!”

Gu Yanchen came over to take a look. Bai Meng had matched it to a missing person report. The report was from yesterday. The missing girl’s name was Xia Tian’en.

Bai Meng opened the file, which contained her ID card photo and several photos provided by her family. Then she looked at the reconstructed image. “It’s very similar to the photo provided by Medical Examiner Shen. The age, height, and body type match.”

The girl in the photos was youthful and beautiful. Xia Tian’en was 20 years old this year, a student at Penang University majoring in advertising. She rented a house off-campus because she found the graduate dormitory too noisy. The day before yesterday was the deadline for submitting a paper, but she hadn’t submitted it. Her classmates tried to contact her but got no response. When they called her, her phone was turned off, which had never happened before.

Her friends couldn’t reach her either. When they opened her room, they found she wasn’t there. Her parents, upon hearing the news, became anxious and rushed over. So her classmates and teachers went to the nearby police station to report her missing. Unfortunately, DNA and blood type tests had not yet been completed, so confirmation could not be made through information alone.

Gu Yanchen said, “Contact the family as soon as possible and call her friends to come in for questioning.”

Finally, a suspected victim had been found. Bai Meng and Lu Ying were busy contacting the police stations to verify. By three in the afternoon, it was finally confirmed that the victim was indeed Xia Tian’en. But now, a new problem has arisen. A regular college student with simple social connections, why would someone dismember her corpse and place parts of it under a lover’s tree?

After receiving the notification, Xia Tian’en’s class director and her best friend arrived at the City Bureau. Gu Yanchen personally received them, and Shen Junci also came over after finishing his work at the medical examiner’s office, joining them for the hearing. Gu Yanchen talked to the teacher for a few moments, confirming that she didn’t know much. Xia Tian’en’s classmate, however, kept their heads down, hesitant to speak. Gu Yanchen asked the girl to stay behind and brought her into a meeting room.

Bai Meng and Shen Junci also entered the room.

Deng Anlu took out her ID card from her backpack and said, “My name is Deng Anlu. I’m Xia Tian’en’s classmate and also her former roommate…”

Deng Anlu had shoulder-length hair and a very delicate and attractive appearance. She had a student-like aura, looking innocent and lovely. Her face turned pale, tears swirling in her eyes as she said, “Has something really happened to Xia Tian’en?”

Gu Yanchen looked at Deng Anlu and noticed goosebumps on her forearms. He had a hunch that Deng Anlu might know something, so he asked her, “What else do you know?”

Deng Anlu, still in shock, had a layer of mist in her eyes, looking like she was on the verge of tears. “I lived with Xia Tian’en for less than three months, and I always felt something might happen. Later, I moved out. I didn’t expect… I didn’t expect…”

Shen Junci frowned slightly as he listened to her.

Gu Yanchen asked Bai Meng to pour some water for Deng Anlu. After she took a few sips, her emotions stabilized. “There might be something wrong with the place we used to live in. Various terrifying incidents kept happening nearby, and there were strange people.”

“I came here today and brought something specially.” She rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “I found this under the door crack before I moved out.”

Gu Yanchen, afraid of contaminating the evidence, put on gloves and opened the paper. Inside were a few words written with the left hand, “Leave this place!”