Insights Chapter 7: The Bone Puzzle

Chapter 7: The Bone Puzzle

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

In the early stages of setting up the new team, Director Ding provided them with an adjustment period since there were no cases immediately available. The criminal investigation team was busy organizing files, arranging offices, and conducting training sessions.

Qi Yi’an and Shen Junci, however, didn’t have fixed tasks. When Qi Yi’an got bored, he would sometimes wander into the autopsy room and assist other medical examiners. Shen Junci spent his time reviewing the latest forensic investigation literature.

One day, as they just started their work, Director Lu from the medical examiner center knocked on their office door. Qi Yi’an went to open it, and Director Lu pushed up his glasses, saying, “Doctor Shen, I just signed off on the autopsy report for the infant murder a few days ago. The hydrostatic test was well done.”

Shen Junci nodded and humbly replied, “It was done with the assistance of Medical Examiners Wen and Cheng.”

Lu continued, “Doctor Shen, do you currently have a case on your hands?”

Shen Junci replied, “The department has just been established, and no cases have come in yet.”

Lu Cun got straight to the point, “Well, recently, someone discovered a set of skeletal remains near Fengliang Mountain. The bones are severely damaged and need to be pieced together for reconstruction. Our medical examiners are a bit tied up. Can you lend a hand, Doctor Shen?”

Shen Junci gathered his materials, “Let me understand the situation first.”

Seeing work coming their way, Qi Yi’an also stood up. Lu Cun led Shen Junci and Qi Yi’an to the adjacent autopsy room. A white light shone from under the worktable, the exhaust fan was running, and despite the precautions, Shen Junci could still smell the faint odor of decomposing flesh. He put on gloves and examined the decayed skeletal remains on the dissection table.

The body had undergone who knows what, as the bones were fragmented and many were incomplete. Lu Cun pointed, “This body was discovered the day before yesterday, severely decomposed, partially skeletonized. ¹ We can’t confirm the identity.”

Shen Junci inquired, “Were there any belongings or clothing found nearby?”

“The clothing was discovered not far away. All the records are here.” Lu Cun handed Shen Junci a file. It contained the medical examiner’s survey records detailing the time, location, temperature, surrounding environment, and several photos of the discovered bones.

Seemingly every now and then, the city would be plagued by such skeletal remains—unidentified individuals forgotten by the world, their origins and causes of death unknown.

Lu Cun explained, “The body was found the night before yesterday in the woods near Fengliang Mountain in the south of the city. I went to the scene myself. I suspect it might have been scavenged by wild animals, resulting in significant damage. The top priority is to confirm the identity and cause of death.”

Shen Junci nodded, “I’ll give it a try.”

Seeing that Shen Junci had taken on the task, Lu contentedly left.

As soon as Director Lu walked away, Qi Yi’an closed the door to the autopsy room and whispered, “I saw them discussing this set of bones in the group yesterday.”

Shen Junci continued studying the bones, making a sound of acknowledgment.

Qi Yi’an said, “This task was rejected by Dr. Liu before.” Shen Junci looked up, and Qi Yi’an continued, “It was related to the autopsy of the infant from a few days ago. After Dr. Liu found out, he threw a tantrum in the group, saying we should have called him and waited for him to come and handle it.”

Dr. Liu, full name Liu Shurong, had studied abroad and returned to China. At 32 years old, he was the city bureau’s top medical examiner and the successor to Director Lu. Although Dr. Liu had excellent skills, he was a bit petty. He eagerly took on high-profile tasks but would push away troublesome routine work, justifying it as being too busy, and claiming it required no more than a butcher’s knife for such simple tasks.

Qi Yi’an felt that Dr. Liu was probably unhappy that they had taken on the task in his absence. So, the work was reassigned to them. He understood why other medical examiners had refused it—reconstructing these severely damaged bones was challenging, time-consuming, and not very rewarding. Moreover, even if the puzzle was pieced together, what then? Could facial features be reconstructed? Could the identity be confirmed? Could the cause of death be determined? Too many unknowns; this case might turn into an unsolved mystery.

“Don’t think too much; foundational work always needs someone to do it,” Shen Junci said while attentively discerning a pile of bones, eventually extracting half of a skull. Quickly, he located the two teeth of the corpse and found a piece of the lower jaw. From a clump of mud, Shen Junci picked out a small bunch of silver-white hair. Subsequently, he selected several bone fragments, swiftly distinguishing and placing them in their appropriate positions based on their shapes. Head, torso, limbs—the primitive outline of a person gradually emerged. 

“This is quite a good practice for human bone reconstruction,” Shen Junci asked Qi Yi’an, “What can you deduce?”

Qi Yi’an examined the decomposed bones before him. “The deceased appears to be a female, relatively older. The height is approximately around 1.6 meters. Most of the body has skeletal remains, and judging from the environmental conditions at the scene, the time of death is over a year ago. The remaining rib cartilage can be used for DNA testing, ² and other aspects need further examination for confirmation.”

Shen Junci inquired, “How long do you think the reconstruction will take?”

Qi Yi’an replied, “It will probably take a few days to piece it together.”

Shen Junci said, “It won’t take that long. Let’s first extract the larger bones and proceed with reconstruction, examination, and differentiation.”

Lights illuminated both the upper and lower parts of the dissection table; the upper part had shadowless lights, while the lower part had a white lightbox. Shen Junci divided the table into several areas for the skull, torso, and limbs. Some bones still had traces of flesh, while others were smooth and clean. Some even showed bite marks from animals.

He added, “You handle the parts you are confident about; leave the unclear ones to me.”

Qi Yi’an lowered his head and observed a longer bone segment, recognizing the radial tuberosity. “This piece is…?”

Shen Junci glanced and quickly judged, “Radial bone.”

Qi Yi’an hesitated, “But the shape…”

Shen Junci explained, “It’s an old injury from before death, approximately two years prior. The deceased fell and suffered a radial bone fracture, which healed well. This suggests timely medical treatment, likely from a standardized large hospital.” He paused and added, “So, I suspect this elderly person was a missing person.”

Elderly individuals often experience falls, and attempting to break the fall with their hands can lead to radial bone fractures.

Qi Yi’an suddenly realized reconstructing a total of 206 bones in an adult body was a remarkably patient task. As they progressed, Qi Yi’an discovered Shen Junci’s profound understanding of human bones. With a single glance, Shen Junci could quickly identify and place each bone in its correct position. Shen Junci patiently explained the methods of distinguishing these bones and how to read a person’s life from their skeletal remains.

It was like an unconventional anatomy lesson, and in a short period, Qi Yi’an learned more than he did during his formal education. After an hour, the basic structure was complete. In two hours, many smaller bones were also in place. Three hours later, the entire skeleton was pieced together, and missing bones were marked with notes.

At this moment in the large medical examiner’s office, several medical examiners were finishing up a post-mortem examination. Wen Wan, feeling a bit idle, remembered the unidentified skeletal remains from the day before.

“Oh right, what happened to those nameless dry bones? Do you still need help? I have some free time this afternoon and can assist in piecing it together,” Wen Wan inquired.

Cheng Gong, glancing at Director Lu, who was absent, replied, “Director Lu assigned this task to Doctor Shen early this morning. He should be in the process of assembling it.”

Wen Wan was surprised, “Doctor Shen is from the Special Criminal Division. It’s a bit odd to directly assign him the task without consulting Captain Gu, isn’t it?”

Liu Shurong, nearby, chuckled, “We’re all medical examiners from the City Bureau. If they have free time over there and we’re swamped, it’s fair for them to contribute.”

After hearing this, everyone fell silent in the large office. 

There was an intern medical examiner at the City Bureau, named Song Qiancheng, who joined around the same time as Qi Yi’an. Timidly, he asked Liu Shurong, “Doctor Liu, how long does it take to piece together damaged skeletal remains like this?”

Liu Shurong, eager to mentor, patiently explained, “For skeletal remains like that, it tests the medical examiner’s understanding of bones. For those of you who are not very proficient, it might take about a week to reconstruct.” He then asked Wen Wan, “Medical Examiner Wen, how long do you think it would take if you were doing it?”

Wen Wan thought for a moment, “If I take my time, probably around two days.”

Liu Shurong was satisfied with this answer, saying to Song Qiancheng, “For someone like me, who is more familiar with human bones, it can be completed in less than a day.”

Song Qiancheng looked at Liu Shurong with admiration, “Doctor Liu, you’re so skilled.”

While they were conversing, someone knocked on the door of the large office. Wen Wan went to open it and saw Shen Junci standing outside. She quickly asked, “Doctor Shen, is there something you need?” 

Shen Junci looked inside and noticed Director Lu was absent. “I apologize; I was looking for Director Lu.”

Liu Shurong spoke loudly, “Director Lu is on an assignment. If you have something, you can tell me.”

Shen Junci calmly said, “Could you please inform Director Lu that I’ve completed the reconstruction of the skeletal remains he assigned me this morning? I’ve placed them on the dissecting table in Dissection Room 3.”

The air in the office seemed to freeze momentarily. It had only been a few hours, and he had already completed it? Especially after the recent discussion, this news was quite surprising.

“Completed?” Liu Shurong couldn’t hide his astonishment and stood up. “I’ll go take a look.”

Wen Wan and Cheng Gong also stood up. Even the intern, Song Qiancheng, didn’t miss the opportunity to learn and joined them as they walked towards the dissection room.

Upon entering, Liu Shurong looked down and indeed saw a fully assembled set of skeletal remains lying quietly on the dissecting table. Dr. Liu’s first instinct was to find flaws, but after scanning, he found no mistakes. Some fractured bones were even put back together, and the missing ones were marked with notes.

Wen Wan quickly intervened, “It’s completed. I’ll contact the detectives to cross-reference with missing person records.”

Cheng Gong turned to Shen Junci, “Doctor Shen, any thoughts on the identity of the deceased?”

Shen Junci, upon being asked, shared his insights. “The deceased was approximately 75 years old, female, and died about one year and five months ago. Most of the damage to the skeletal remains occurred post-mortem. The left hand of the deceased had a previous fracture with signs of healing. I suggest focusing on searching for missing elderly individuals, especially those with Alzheimer’s disease, near Fengliang Mountain.”

Liu Shurong furrowed his brows, “What about the cause of death?”

Shen Junci replied, “When discovered, the skeletal remains were in a sheltered area. The skull sutures were cracked, and the clothing was found not far away without any signs of damage. I suspect it might be an abnormal undressing.”

Qi Yi’an asked, “Abnormal undressing, does that mean death from hypothermia?”

Shen Junci nodded, “I suspect the deceased died due to hypothermia. The specific conclusion will require further testing and the elimination of other possible causes.”

After a few words, the other medical examiners in the dissecting room fell silent. Especially Liu Shurong.

To complete the reconstruction of the corpse and identify a reasonable cause of death in such a short time was quite impressive. Dr. Liu had to admit that Doctor Shen’s abilities might surpass his own. Dr. Liu frowned at this thought, but it didn’t quite add up. He had seen Shen Junci’s resume and even inquired with a friend who graduated from the same school. Considering Shen Junci’s current skills and performance, it didn’t align with the exceptional achievements he supposedly had in school.

Seeing them still in a daze, Shen Junci calmly said, “Do you have any other business? If not, I’ll go have lunch and rest.”

Liu Shurong racked his brain on how to salvage his reputation. After hesitating for a while, he decided to be straightforward and knelt down, saying, “No problem, Doctor Shen. You’ve worked hard.” 

Qi Yi’an chased after him, “Teacher, where did you learn these techniques?”

Shen Junci calmly responded, “Accumulation of practical experience. In a world with billions of people, there are many places where there are many corpses.”