Thwack, a staff struck heavily on Zhou Ning's shoulder, freezing him on the spot. Why was he being hit?
"What are you looking at? Hitting you is letting you off easy. If it wasn't for my mobility issues, I'd have kicked you instead. An autopsy is a meticulous matter. You do it step by step, and you can't skip any steps, especially with female victims. Do I still need to say what needs to be done? You've got such a good opportunity, and you're not practicing thoroughly?"
Zhou Ning nodded vigorously, knowing Doctor Liu was right. With an embarrassed look on his face, he didn't waste any words and hurried to extract the spleen and made a longitudinal cut.
No wonder nothing seemed abnormal from the front—the spleen had a split on the back side, and a semi-circular track was visible on the cut sagittal plane.
"Do you know how the killer did it now?"
"Hmm, this is after the stabbing and a twist. The killer was ruthless and decisive, intending to incapacitate the victim instantly."
Doctor Liu clapped his hands, giving Zhou Ning a thumbs up.
"Good lad, you got it right. Keep going, and pick up the pace!"
With such praise, Zhou Ning was even more confident. He knew that touching the organs of a corpse with his own hands was completely different from looking at pictures.
When reading forensic novels, many readers would comment that the graphic descriptions were "really appetizing," but if you actually touched an organ of a corpse, especially parts like the intestines, it could make you throw up meals from years past.
Putting aside these random thoughts, Zhou Ning started to check the other organs according to the autopsy protocol, not forgetting the uterus and external genitalia of the female victim.
After completing the last item, Zhou Ning let out a sigh.
Doctor Liu was also done examining the victim's head, tapping away on his chair. The X-ray showed no fractures on the skull, and there were no abrasions on the skin of the head, so there was no need to open the skull.
"Master, I've finished the autopsy. The uterine wall is too thin, the cervical opening is slit-like, and the hymen has old lacerations, suggesting the deceased underwent several curettage surgeries," Zhou Ning reported.
Doctor Liu kept nodding, writing swiftly and signing his name on the autopsy report before tossing the clipboard to Zhou Ning.
"Close the abdomen, make the stitches neat. The samples for inspection are in that box; label them properly. Have Mr. Liu and the others take away the body. I'll call Xu Da to update him. Once we've sent everything we need for inspection, our work here is done for now."
"Should I still go to the primary crime scene?"
Doctor Liu, flipping through his contact list, shook his head.
"We'll talk after they check the surveillance."
"Xu Da had someone check it already; the surveillance was broken."
Doctor Liu was taken aback.
"What a coincidence. How did the surveillance happen to break?"
"Apparently, they were replacing the entire section with new surveillance equipment, and even the traffic lights on the North Outer Ring were temporary ones."
Doctor Liu's brows knitted tightly.
"I don't know whether to say you're lucky or unlucky. Your first time with a case, and it's this tricky. According to the estimated time of death for the victim, it's going to be hard to find eyewitnesses. You really might need to check out the primary scene. Even if they find clues, they'll need you to verify them."
Zhou Ning was not surprised by this outcome. Having received the reward for forensic scene learning, he wasn't fazed; on the contrary, he was eager to try.
"Alright, I'll send the photos to you for review, Master. Xu Da just gave me a police terminal."
Doctor Liu blinked.
"Well done, kid. Xu Da is known to be tightfisted. For him to give you something proactively, that's unusual!"
Zhou Ning felt somewhat bashful. He knew that if it weren't for Doctor Liu's car accident, he would have had a minor role to play today, even less than what Mr. Liu was doing right now.
The device was given to him merely for case efficiency, yet Doctor Liu did not skimp on compliments.
Zhou Ning organized the samples and quickly began suturing. The girl, having died at such a tender age, deserved at least to be stitched up as neatly as possible.
While his hands were busy working, Doctor Liu had already dialed Xu Dayuan's number.
"The cause of death has been determined. The stab wound under the right rib caused the spleen to rupture, followed by trauma from being hit by a vehicle, leading to massive bleeding internally and death by hemorrhagic shock.
As for the murder weapon, Doctor Zhou has already provided a direction. According to the shape of the wound, it should be a flathead screwdriver, not counting the handle. The length is over 18 centimeters, with a diameter of about 6 millimeters. There was some grease in the wound, which we've already sampled and will send for testing along with the other samples," Doctor Liu explained.
After a response from Xu Dayuan, Doctor Liu praised Zhou Ning again before hanging up.
Zhou Ning had just finished suturing. He called Mr. Liu in, and the body was covered with a white cloth and carried away. Once Zhou Ning cleaned the autopsy table, he approached Doctor Liu.
"Master, let me take you back to the ward."
Doctor Liu glanced at the time and, gripping Zhou Ning's hand, transferred from the chair back to the wheelchair.
"My wife is outside; she's been here for a while and can push me back. It's almost six o'clock already. You go ahead and head back as for the scene, Mr. Xu will tell you what to do next."
Without wasting words, Zhou Ning had been performing an autopsy for several hours. The fact that Doctor Liu could come with his injured leg was already the greatest support he could offer. Zhou Ning wheeled Doctor Liu out, and sure enough, his wife was already waiting outside.
Zhao Xinli was also waiting nearby, seemingly chatting with her.
"Doctor Liu, Doctor Zhou, you two have worked hard!"
Doctor Liu chuckled and turned to look at Zhou Ning.
"Forget what I just said, it looks like you can't go home after all. Mr. Zhao is here to pick up Doctor Zhou, right?"
Zhao Xinli grinned, scratching his head and trying to hide his awkwardness.
"The boss sent me to pick up Doctor Zhou. We found some brake marks at the scene as well as some bloodstains."
Zhou Ning knew he had to go no matter what.
It was better to be proactive at this point. Although he was tired, the day's findings were quite significant.
"Master, you rest first. I'll go and take a look. I'll calculate the victim's flight distance as well as the speed of the impact; solving the case sooner is for the best."
Doctor Liu didn't say anything else; after all, his wife was there.
"Good, bring your camera. That thing is expensive; don't drop it, or Xu Da will be upset."
After saying this, his wife pushed him away. Zhou Ning grabbed the camera and the inspection kit and got into the car with Zhao Xinli, heading back to the North Outer Ring.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the first scene.
There were plenty of police officers assigned to cordon off the area. They parked their car outside the isolation strip, and Zhou Ning, wearing a mask and gloves and carrying the inspection kit and camera, followed Zhao Xinli toward the southernmost bend of the intersection.
By now, there were far fewer onlookers. The incident had occurred in the morning, and almost eleven hours had passed. After the body had been taken away, there wasn't much left to see here.
Policemen were entering and exiting shops in the vicinity, likely in search of eyewitnesses and checking for any surveillance cameras as well.
When they reached the very end of the overpass, Zhao Xinli stopped and pointed to a dark mark on the bridge:
"This is one of the most recent brake marks. The braking distance is not long, but the marks are very deep. Also, we found bloodstains here."
Zhou Ning crouched down where there were several cone signs on the ground, each marked with a number; he quickly lifted his camera to take photos.
"One of?"
"There are two more about 30 meters away with no blood next to them. We aren't sure if these brake marks are related to the accident."
"Did you measure the length of the brake marks?"
"The brake marks end 4.5 meters before the bloodstains, and there is another 5.2 meters' continuation beyond them. However, we found two figure-eight marks at the end, which we think were made when the car became unstable after hitting the person and spun several times here."
"How far is the bloodstain from the tree where the victim was hung?"
"The straight line distance is 112 meters."
After saying this, Zhao Xinli also seemed unsure, as the distance was too great. There had been many cases of car accidents where people got hit, but being knocked 112 meters was rather incredible.
Zhou Ning bit his lip, recalling a news story he had read where someone was thrown 100 meters by a car, and the speed had to be over 100 kilometers per hour. That meant this case involved even higher speeds, and it happened while braking.
Zhou Ning remained silent and observed the shape of the blood droplets closely; they were round without any directional spurs, which even without looking up he knew signified that they had fallen vertically in a stationary state.
Opening the inspection kit, he recorded the diameter of the blood droplets and took samples with a cotton swab. If the bloodstains belonged to the victim, the brake mark could identify which vehicle hit the victim.
As Zhou Ning contemplated, the content on the display in front of him was continually updated. He had been focused on the autopsy before and hadn't noticed the changes on the screen.
Now, looking carefully, there was a line of green text at the bottom.
System prompt: A temporary mission is issued. Does the bound individual choose to accept the mission?
Zhou Ning froze, a temporary mission? He wondered what the reward could be – perhaps more textbook knowledge?
Ding! Congratulations to the bound individual for accepting the temporary mission; the temporary mission will be issued in thirty seconds.
Zhou Ning jumped to his feet.
Damn it! When did I accept it?