National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 863 - 801: Persuasion

"Hello," Jiang Yuan greeted Jacob in Indonesian.

"Hello. Forensic Expert Jiang Yuan, I have read your autopsy reports," Jacob, a man in his fifties with a small, dark complexion but with a calm demeanor, possessed a British chill and a cool attitude.

"I just reviewed some of your previous autopsy reports; they are quite meticulous," Jiang Yuan returned the greeting.

Behind the two forensic doctors stood several policemen, who were curiously listening to the conversation. The Chinese side had interpreters, who had just arrived by bullet train and were quite proactive.

Liu Wenkai was the most excited; this case had nothing to do with him, yet his significant experience with such serious cases made him quite active among the crowd, saying in Chinese, "It seems like they are testing each other, two masters showing their skills, first acknowledging each other’s reputation and methods?"

"A probe, is it?" Wu Junhao flexed his muscles.

"Your comment sounds like something out of a pornographic film."

...

After a few exchanges, Jiang Yuan and Jacob began discussing the case.

Jacob, who had studied in the United Kingdom and had been an authority in forensic science since his youth, spoke directly, "Forensic Expert Jiang Yuan, you want to participate in the autopsy, don’t you? Actually, we don’t need much discussion on this; if you were here in Dama, it would be more appropriate to discuss further. Otherwise, my opinion is quite clear..."

"Mr. Jacob, I have seen the pictures and videos of the crime scene, and there are a few points I’d like to share with you," Jiang Yuan interrupted Jacob.

Jacob seemed displeased and glanced at the time, saying, "I am about to perform an autopsy soon. I made this video call specifically because of your request, Forensic Expert Jiang Yuan. However, this case has drawn widespread attention, and I must prepare in advance..."

"I can help you reconstruct the crime scene if you’re interested," Jiang Yuan offered the benefit.

Jiang Yuan possessed Level 5 skills in crime scene reconstruction and could even improvise a temporary +1. Despite how effortlessly he possessed this skill, for other technicians, crime scene reconstruction was like high-level magical expertise.

Anyone writing a thesis on crime scene investigation would command the full attention of their readers.

Jacob hesitated, saying, "Going to the crime scene now would be too rushed..."

"We can do it with videos and photos. I often perform such tasks." Jiang Yuan, active in various technical groups, frequently volunteered to help others with their image analyses and usually did not refuse requests. He could analyze these materials much faster than others, who might need several hours or even days to come to a conclusion.

There wasn’t anything mysterious about it; in his country, a number of experts reached Level 5 expertise, but hardly any would respond to WeChat inquiries. Typically, detectives had to respectfully schedule an appointment and personally visit with their materials to consult such high-caliber experts. Experts from Jiang Yuan’s generation, accustomed to smartphones, were only just starting to emerge.

Twisting a bit, Jacob said, "If the crime scene can be reconstructed through video and photos, of course, I have no problem with that."

If the crime scene reconstruction could be completed, many aspects of forensic work would become easier. Various complications in forensic cases, such as determining whether a victim was stabbed from above because the perpetrator was taller or because of their relative positions, like one standing while the other sat, ...

Such questions, while answerable by autopsy and forensic science, posed a high difficulty and risk of error.

Jacob faced national scrutiny now. The results of today’s autopsy would instantly hit the headlines of major media outlets. Even if the media couldn’t access the complete autopsy report, unprincipled politicians who read it wouldn’t keep the police’s secrets, similar incidents had occurred countless times.

Thus, if Jiang Yuan could assist him with crime scene reconstruction, it would greatly reduce the pressure on his autopsy work and enhance its accuracy.

Of course, Jacob had some crime scene investigation skills himself, but like most forensic doctors, his fieldwork focused mainly on aspects related to the body, and he wasn’t capable of conducting crime scene reconstructions.

There’s a specialization in each professional field, and those who could perform crime scene reconstructions were on a different level from Jacob.

But Jacob knew that Jiang Yuan probably wasn’t boasting.

Although he wasn’t very clear about Jiang Yuan’s exact capabilities in performing crime scene reconstructions, given the nature of the case and the context, Jiang Yuan wouldn’t be making casual claims.

Any lesser skills would not be brought up, to avoid embarrassment.

"Alright, let’s start from the beginning," Jiang Yuan said without any superfluous words, and without overthinking like Jacob had assumed. Having solved cases all over the place, Jiang Yuan had encountered many more forensic doctors from different places than Jacob had ever worked with, thus Jiang Yuan had long accumulated countless modes of communication with forensic experts.

Jiang Yuan leaned over to open his laptop and said, "First, let’s clarify one thing, the scene of the crime is the original scene, with no obvious alterations."

"Um... this..." Jacob, also on a video call on the other side, opened his laptop but couldn’t be as certain as Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan continued, "The apartment actually has only one entrance and exit. There are no traces of entrance or exit at the windows, so the door had to be the route the murderer took. Now, looking at the bloodstains at the scene, from the living room to the doorway and the bedside in the bedroom, there are lots of bloodstains wiped. Among them, there are spatter traces on the wall of the living room, indicating that this is where the assault began."

"Yes, that’s right," Jacob understood this point.

"From the direction of the blood droplets, it can be seen that the murderer first hit the victim’s head, and the latter, covering the wound, fled into the bedroom. The murderer followed in and stabbed multiple times. The victim then ran back to the living room, opened a live stream, and then died during the live stream."

"That’s right, the murderer probably saw the victim’s actions, and to be safe, did not approach the victim but instead cleaned up the scene and fled immediately." Both of them shared this basic content, providing each other with basic intelligence and establishing a basic mode of conversation.

Jiang Yuan said, "The scene appears this way, but the timing is wrong."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Jacob didn’t expect to be challenged by Jiang Yuan while they were discussing an agreement.

Jiang Yuan nodded and added, "Now, looking at picture C62, it shows some special circumstances—a lot of bed sheets..."

"Used to wipe the blood," Jacob interjected.

Jiang Yuan nodded and said, "If we conducted specific tests, I believe the blood on these bed sheets would far exceed the normal amount of bleeding. Of course, analyzing from this angle is too complex, let’s choose another angle that is easier to understand."

"Huh?" Jacob was slightly lost, wondering why they needed to change perspectives.

Jiang Yuan said, "Looking at the wiping marks on the floor, what can you tell?"

"This... could it indicate that the murderer wasn’t very experienced? The wiping is all over the place..."

"What you mean is actually that the area wiped is very large."

"Correct."

"Exactly, the area wiped far exceeds the extent of bleeding, and moreover, we can see in this wiped area in the center, the range of wiping is very small, and there are circular patterns and dabbing traces. This shows that the murderer, holding bed sheets or cloths, was not merely wiping, but using the fabric to soak up blood, reducing the amount of blood at the scene."

"It does seem to be the case, but... why? The murderer would be pressed for time and shouldn’t waste so much time on blood that can’t be dealt with completely." freёwebnoѵel.com

"Therefore, the timeline you all have is problematic. The large area of wiping marks and blood soaking traces point to one answer—this place formed a large pool of blood." Jiang Yuan put forth his conclusion and continued, "The formation of a blood pool, and its size, indicate that the victim stayed in this area for a while."

Jacob was stunned, "So, you mean the murderer chased the victim into the bedroom, then stabbed the victim, and next... the victim escaped to the living room?"

"No, the murderer stabbed the victim and must have thought she was already dead, then started rummaging through things, as evidenced by some objects covering the bloodstains. Subsequently, the victim must have regained consciousness, stood up, and stumbled toward the living room," Jiang Yuan explained while showing several pictures from the hallway.

Jacob, with widened eyes, asked, "Although the bloodstains appear this way, for a victim with such severe injuries to still stand up..."

"Therefore, during the autopsy process, it’s necessary to verify this hypothesis," Jiang Yuan paused before adding, "I haven’t finished yet; the victim most likely fell down in the hallway once because of excessive blood loss, creating a small blood pool, though the dripping columnar blood flow can be seen. At this time, the murderer probably focused on cleaning the bedroom..."

Jacob was already somewhat confused, "The victim got up after falling, then fell again, and then got up to go to the living room to seek help?"

"According to the crime scene, that is roughly the process. When she fell the second time, the murderer still thought she had died, so the murderer continued searching within the room, subsequently retiring from cleaning the room once realizing it couldn’t be accomplished, and then fled. By this time, the victim regained consciousness again, went to the living room, opened her phone to try and seek help."

Jacob listened, feeling dizzy, "Two unconscious episodes and then death by blood loss? That’s very rare."

"Yes, so we need the support of an autopsy," Jiang Yuan looked at Jacob.

Jacob immediately said, "Mr. Jiang Yuan, please do join us in the autopsy work!"