Insights Chapter 29: The First Autopsy

Chapter 29: The First Autopsy

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Another new day began, and the entire conference room of the Special Criminal Division had been cleaned twice by the janitors these days before anyone could enter. In the end, Gu Yanchen still borrowed a few sticks of incense from Shen Junci and lit them in the conference room, which improved the odor quite a bit. After this case, the Special Criminal Division began to summarize again, but the criminal medical examiner department received a new case.

Someone reported finding a semi-decomposed male corpse in a remote roadside ditch. The victim was in his fifties, and there were traces of being run over and dragged by a car on the corpse. Initially, this case was treated as a traffic accident. After the traffic police investigated, they found that there seemed to be more to the case. It was then transferred to the detective team. Shao, the leader of the criminal investigation team, led his detectives to investigate the situation.

At first glance, it looked like a series of hit-and-run accidents. It was a dark and windy night when the incident occurred. Several drivers claimed it was accidental, stating that the corpse was in their blind spots while they were driving. They believed that the victim was likely already dead before they hit him and that they merely grazed the corpse.

The police checked the surveillance footage, which showed the man initially in a blind spot. Subsequently, he was caught by a large bus, dragged into the monitoring range. After that, the man was run over by three cars and finally thrown into the nearby ditch by another car. The corpse was taken to the medical examiner center for an autopsy. Being run over by several cars and lying in the ditch for several days had caused considerable damage.

Cheng Gong, accompanied by Song Qiancheng, conducted the autopsy. Many of the injuries were caused by being run over by car wheels, and most of the wounds showed no signs of life reaction, indicating they occurred after death. Finally, during the autopsy of the head, after shaving off the hair, they discovered an even more inexplicable phenomenon.

There was a deep wound on the victim’s skull, measuring 5×5, located at the center of the victim’s forehead. It looked like it was caused by a blunt force, resulting in a skull fracture. At the core of the wound, it seemed as if something sharp had pierced through the skull, reaching the brain. The victim’s head also showed signs of subdural hemorrhage, indicating that this wound was the cause of death.

Cheng Gong stared at the wound on the skull and made a judgment that this kind of wound could not have been caused by a car collision. It appeared the victim had suffered a severe blow before death. This made the case even more peculiar. Could this person have been struck with a blunt object, thrown onto the road, and then run over by cars?

Unable to determine the cause of death, Cheng Gong asked Song Qiancheng to bring Shen Junci. Shen Junci, accompanied by Qi Yi’an, arrived at the third autopsy room and examined the corpse that had already been dissected.

The autopsy was complete, with the victim’s abdominal and thoracic cavities opened, and then the skull sawed off. The middle-aged man’s skin was pale, with prominent blood vessels, forming some decayed webs. His eyes were slightly open, and they appeared cloudy. There were traces of being run over and dragged by a car on his body, with fractures in his right leg, right arm, and ribs.

After Cheng Gong explained the situation, he added, “Toxicology has been tested, no poisoning or signs of intoxication. The wound on the head appears to be caused by a blunt object with a sharp point, but the internal manifestations are indicative of suffocation. Multiple organ pinpoint congestion. What could be the cause of death? Could it be murder disguised as a car accident?”

After looking at the corpse lying on the autopsy table and reviewing the autopsy report, Shen Junci quickly made a judgment, “It doesn’t seem like a car accident after murder. Consider electrocution by lightning. If the deceased was struck by lightning, similar wounds might appear on the head.”

Lightning strike was a special way of death, and the manifestations vary. Some lightning strike injuries are very obvious, with extensive damage to the body surface, while others show no visible signs.

The most obvious feature of death by lightning strike was a pattern resembling tree branches on the corpse. This was because after being struck by lightning, blood vessels dilate and congest, but these patterns on the corpse disappear over time. Sometimes lightning strikes occur in localized areas, and by the time the corpse is discovered, the storm has passed, and these features gradually disappear. Inexperienced medical examiners may not think of lightning as a possibility during the autopsy.

Having seen several corpses struck by lightning, Shen Junci recognized it at a glance. The wound on the victim’s head was not caused by blunt force but by a lightning strike piercing through.

Cheng Gong carefully examined the wounds on the corpse’s head and indeed found some slight burn marks. To be sure, he asked Shen Junci, “Doctor Shen, do you have any other basis for judgment?”

Shen Junci pointed to the shaved hair of the deceased. “The deceased did not have naturally curly hair. The hair might have curled due to mild burns caused by lightning.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Yi’an looked at the messy hair that had been shaved off the deceased and then took a magnifying glass to examine the body hair and sweat hair on the corpse. “Indeed, all of these hairs are curled!”

Cheng Gong finally found a direction and hurriedly thanked them. “Thank you, Doctor Shen. I will refine the details and provide the detective team with the final autopsy report.”

After completing the autopsy report, Qi Yi’an and Song Qiancheng went to the detective team to submit the report to Shao. Yu Shen hurriedly checked the weather forecast and found that on the day of the victim’s death, there was indeed a brief but intense local rainfall.

The section of road where the victim passed was very flat, with no tall trees or other buildings nearby. The rain only lasted for a short while, wetting some of the ground, but there was thunder and lightning. The surrounding environment indicated that pedestrians were likely to be struck by lightning. The detectives also found nearby residents to question, several of whom witnessed the heavy rain and lightning, as well as seeing lightning strike not far away.

Shao sorted out the entire case. The victim was probably first struck by lightning, fell on the road, and then dragged, run over, and finally thrown into the ditch by passing vehicles. It was just that by the time those vehicles dragged the victim away, the lightning had stopped, and the corpse had been soaked in the ditch for several days, so the police initially did not consider that the victim might have been killed by lightning.

As the case unfolded, Shao sighed, “Doctor Shen is indeed as good as rumored. And I never thought that lightning could actually strike like this.”

Song Qiancheng smelled gossip, “Captain Shao, did this person do anything outrageous before he died?”

Yu Shen replied, “This deceased was once the principal of an internet addiction school.”

Qi Yi’an suddenly realized, “No wonder… it’s indeed karma at work.”

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After finishing the case, things quieted down in the medical examiner’s office. It was almost time to leave for the day, and Song Qiancheng, in gratitude, brought some snacks and fruits for them. He was still reflecting on the case they just had, leaning on the table and chatting with Qi Yi’an.

The two were of similar ages and both loved watching dramas, so they had plenty of common topics. As they chatted, somehow they ended up discussing their first experiences with autopsies.

Qi Yi’an said, “The first autopsy we did. The body was that of a middle-aged man who died in a car accident. His head and feet looked fine, but when we opened him up, we found that his sternum was completely crushed, and many bones had penetrated into his body. I was looking forward to my first autopsy, but after seeing that corpse, I had nightmares for several days.”

Meanwhile, Song Qiancheng was crunching on potato chips and chimed in, “I was fine. The first body I encountered was of a natural death, an elderly lady who had donated her body before passing away. She had her retinas donated for transplantation before she died, so the corpse was sent to our medical examiner department.”

Qi Yi’an marveled, “Your first time was with a female corpse.”

Song Qiancheng waved his hand, “Don’t simplify it. It was my first autopsy. Otherwise, if others hear it, where’s my innocence?”

Qi Yi’an understood and laughed, “Back then, female corpses were especially rare. You needed luck to come across one.”

Song Qiancheng added, “Our school rarely had them, especially the young ones. There were many infant corpses, and the most precious were child corpses. And usually, fresh corpses go straight to the medical department of our school. Sometimes, our department director would be so troubled to get more corpses for us that he almost went to fight with the medical department.”

Shen Junci sat across from them, tidying up his desk and adding water to the teapot.

Qi Yi’an, excitedly chatting away, looked up at him, “Teacher, what was the situation with the first corpse you autopsied?”

Shen Junci paused, then said, “I forgot.”

Qi Yi’an was taken aback.

Song Qiancheng chimed in, “Doctor Shen, how could you forget? You must not want to say. And you can’t even be bothered to make up a lie.”

Qi Yi’an added, “Yeah, our anatomy teacher said that for medical examiners, the first corpse they examine is like a first love, leaving a deep impression that’s hard to forget.”

In the world of medical examiners, this was a common topic that never failed to keep the conversation going. But Shen Junci’s reaction was noticeably abnormal. Doctor Shen brewed the tea and smoothly changed the subject, “Qi Yi’an, have you finished your monthly report yet?”

As soon as work was mentioned, the faces of the two “kids” fell.

Song Qiancheng stood up and said, “I’m heading back. Before leaving, I still need to submit a report to Medical Examiner Cheng.”

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When Song Shancheng left, the office became quiet. Shen Junci took a sip from his tea cup, his hands icy cold, and even trembling slightly. The warmth of the tea didn’t seem to help. The other medical examiners often talked enthusiastically about their first encounters with corpses. But for him, it was a wound in his life he didn’t want to touch. That’s why he always avoided such topics.

The first corpse he examined was none other than Lin Xianglan. At the time of Lin Xianglan’s death, he delayed holding the memorial service for a long time. The memorial service was scheduled for a Saturday afternoon at 3:30.

On that day, Gu Yanchen accompanied him. After having lunch, before one o’clock, they arrived at the venue ahead of time. Before placing the deceased on the flower-adorned platform, some time was allocated for the deceased’s family to bid farewell. He had already known and visited the room beforehand. In order for the living to bid farewell to the deceased, the room was small, with no windows and no cameras.

He said to Gu Yanchen, “I want to bid a proper farewell to my dad. Could you wait outside for a while?”

Gu Yanchen agreed without much thought.

He added, “I have a lot to say to my dad, so it might take a while.”

Gu Yanchen said, “I’ll wait for you in the corridor.”

After Gu Yanchen left, he locked the door and returned to the corpse. The corpse was taken out of the freezer and thawed. Lin Xianglan lay quietly, eyes closed, with a pale complexion and no signs of blood. Later, someone would come to apply makeup to make him look better. He set up his phone on a stand, turned on the recording function, took a deep breath, and said, “Dad, I’m sorry, but in order to find out the cause of your death, I have to perform an autopsy on you.”

Then he held his breath and unbuttoned the buttons of Lin Xianglan’s shroud. Lin Xianglan lay quietly, his pale body exposed, with a row of black threads stitching the corpse together. He looked at the corpse, his hands trembling. Then he steadied his mind, took out a scalpel and hemostatic forceps from his pocket. He deliberately wore loose clothing to hide these tools.

This was the method he had come up with in the days leading up to this moment. He still didn’t believe that Lin Xianglan had died of a heart attack. He also didn’t trust the examination results of those medical examiners in the City Bureau. His father’s colleagues had urged him several times to cremate the body and urged him to take care of the funeral arrangements as soon as possible.

It seemed like there were eyes everywhere, making him unsure of whom to trust. He had always been very sensitive since he was a child. Although he didn’t know the specifics of what had happened, he knew the situation must have been very bad. Once cremated, many pieces of evidence would be lost. But he couldn’t keep delaying it either.

So the best way to verify was to take some of Lin Xianglan’s internal tissue and have it tested later. He majored in communications in college, which had nothing to do with forensic investigation.

In the past few days, he had bought forensic investigation textbooks from the bookstore, downloaded some autopsy videos, secretly bought forensic investigation autopsy tools, and relied entirely on self-study. Before this, although he often went to the medical examiner’s office and had seen some corpses, watching videos and doing it himself were two different things. Seeing the body of an unfamiliar dead person and personally dissecting a deceased loved one were completely different things.

At that time, he regretted a bit why he didn’t listen to Lin Xianglan and chose forensic investigation as his major. If he had listened to Lin Xianglan and become a medical examiner, maybe things wouldn’t have turned out so miserable. The room in the funeral home was quiet, almost eerie. He felt his heart pounding, and his fingertips were ice-cold. He cut open the stitches, summoned up his courage, and inserted his gloved hand into Lin Xianglan’s cold body.

He had always thought his psychological endurance was very good. When watching horror movies, while others were scared and screaming, he remained unfazed. But what he saw before him was too cruel.

After all, this was the father who had raised him for more than twenty years, his beloved relative. He controlled his emotions, preventing himself from collapsing, and tried to distract himself, diverting his attention, and steadying his hands as much as possible. He distinguished the various colorful organs inside the human body.

Lin Xianglan’s heart was removed, his stomach completely taken out, and not put back in its original place. Fortunately, his liver was still intact. At that moment, his brain was extremely tense, but his thoughts were unusually active. Scenes from the past, words spoken by Lin Xianglan, and things done by him, all flashed through his mind.

Fragments kept flashing back.

Suddenly, Lin Luo remembered something.

When he graduated from elementary school and got admitted to a good middle school, Lin Xianglan always said she would make him a big meal, something delicious to eat. That day, Old Lin bought all the ingredients, and everything else was stewed almost ready, but there was a sudden emergency that required him to leave for a while.

Lin Xianglan hurriedly left, “I’ve stewed the beef, just need a grouper, it’s in the fridge, I’ll send you a cooking video later, you try making it.”

He didn’t think there was anything wrong; in the past, Lin Xianglan often did such things. Seeing that it was about time, he watched the video again, then went to the fridge’s cold room, opened the door, and took out the grouper. The fish had been in the ice for a while, its body cold. He was about to follow the steps to prepare the fish when he suddenly realized that the fish had not been gutted. He had dissected small animals in biology class before and had seen how fish were processed at market stalls.

So he began to process the fish according to his memory.

The grouper’s abdominal wall was thick and hard. He struggled to cut it open with scissors, removed the fish’s internal organs, and then scraped off the mucus on its body, rinsing it with water. The water flowed noisily, leaving the fish’s body icy and sticky. He was about to remove the gills when something unexpected happened as his hand reached into the fish’s gill cavity. The fish suddenly opened its mouth, took a breath, and came back to life.

It was then that he realized the fish might not have been dead but had passed out from being frozen in the fridge. In its state of unconsciousness, he removed its internal organs and heart. With a sudden movement, the huge fish fell into the sink, then began thrashing around wildly, blood splattering all over the kitchen walls. He watched the fish jumping incessantly, wanting to hit or strike it to end its life, but the fish moved too vigorously, making it difficult for him to even grasp it firmly.

He knew it couldn’t survive, but the process of struggling with the dying fish made him even more horrified. He fought with the fish for over ten minutes until its movements finally slowed down. As a young boy, he wielded the knife with all his strength, chopping off the fish’s head bit by bit. After dealing with the fish, blood stained the walls, and the entire kitchen looked like a scene of carnage.

He silently cleaned up the messy kitchen, then steamed the grouper.

Later, Lin Xianglan praised the dish endlessly.

Because the fish was freshly killed, there was no hint of fishiness, the meat was fresh and tender, and the seasoning was just right. Yet, he didn’t eat a single bite.

Since then, he had developed a shadow over the kitchen and didn’t like cooking for himself.

At this moment, standing by the bed in the funeral parlor, handling his father’s corpse, he remembered that unlucky fish. Facing such a gruesome scene, he felt a strong sense of fear in his heart, as if silently screaming. He endured the nausea, his fingers swimming through the slippery, cold viscera, using his meager medical examiner knowledge to examine the condition of the organs.

He recorded with his phone, clumsily using a blade to cut off several pieces of liver tissue and placing them in test tubes containing different solutions. Some were pure alcohol, some were formalin. While doing all this, his scalp tingled, his whole body numb, thinking only, “I have to finish this,” “I must figure out the cause of Lin Xianglan’s death,” “Once started, I can’t stop.”

Fortunately, the corpse had been lying for a long time and had been dissected, so not much blood flowed out. After preparing the organ slices, he began to sew up the corpse, stitch by stitch. The frozen corpse was hard and slippery, and there were a few times when the needle pricked his fingers. He gritted his teeth, forced himself to calm down, and continued sewing until it was all done.

The entire process took longer than he had anticipated, and by the time he finished, sweat had soaked his back. A knock came from outside the door, and staff needed to do Lin Xianglan’s makeup and set up the venue. He hoarsely called out, “Just a moment.”

Then, he steadied himself, removed his gloves, dressed the corpse, wrapped various dissecting tools in tissues and concealed them on his person. Everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. Only then did he stand up and open the door. Funeral parlor staff entered to do Lin Xianglan’s makeup, while Gu Yanchen waited outside on a chair.

He spent a total of fifty minutes, and others probably thought he was grieving inside and came to comfort him, especially Gu Yanchen, who gently hugged him. His mother had passed away early, and this was the first time he formally attended a memorial service, unexpectedly for his own father. Lin Xianglan lay with closed eyes amidst white flowers.

The atmosphere of the memorial service was heavy; everyone wore dark clothes and sat quietly. Floral wreaths sent by people lined up from the funeral parlor’s hall to outside the front door. Gu Yanchen hosted the memorial service, with several colleagues from the City Bureau delivering brief speeches. People reminisced about this dedicated chief of the Public Security Bureau, recounting his achievements and recalling the changes he had brought to the city.

Many of those attending the memorial had been saved by Lin Xianglan. As people spoke emotionally, tears flowed freely. Sitting in the front row as a relative, his eyes were slightly red, expressionless. After the memorial service, the corpse was directly taken to the crematorium. After burning, it turned into ashes.

When he received the urn, those around him seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief. It wasn’t until later that he realized some of those surrounding him were afraid of him getting close to the truth. And some were afraid that he might encounter danger once he got close to the truth. He stored the urn and went to see the burial plot he had chosen for Lin Xianglan.

At the tombstone, he burned some paper money for Lin Xianglan, the black scraps fluttering in the wind. People dispersed, and finally, everything was over.

Only Gu Yanchen remained, and he walked over to him, saying, “Lin Luo, I know you suspected that your father’s death was suspicious.”

He pondered for a moment, then denied it, “I just found it difficult to accept my father’s passing at the time.”

But Gu Yanchen whispered, “I’ll look into this matter. No matter how long it takes, I’ll give you the truth.”

He remembered that day, Gu Yanchen wore a black coat, his expression unusually solemn, as if making a solemn promise. He responded softly, but inside, he felt he didn’t need Gu Yanchen to give him the truth; he could find it himself. At that time, no one knew he was carrying several specimen boxes containing Lin Xianglan’s body tissues. He didn’t expect that such a risky move would bring him into deadly peril…

Just as he recalled this, there was a sudden knock on the door outside the office. Shen Junci took a deep breath, looked up, and saw Gu Yanchen standing at the door. Time had passed, as if it were a different world. Then he glanced at the time displayed on the computer and realized it was already after work hours.

He shut down the computer, stood up, and left the office.