The body didn't answer Jiang Yuan, but that didn't hinder Jiang Yuan's judgment.
Uncle Seventeen was a distant cousin of his father's family. They didn't see each other often, but they would always meet during the holidays. Coupled with his distinctive build, Jiang Yuan was confident he hadn't mistaken his identity.
For a moment, Jiang Yuan felt his emotions fluctuate.
He then couldn't help but recall his father's words when urging him to return to his hometown for a public service exam, "Our hometown is filled with relatives and acquaintances; everything is more convenient there. It's much more comfortable than living in the big city."
Indeed, his father was not wrong—even as a forensic doctor, he could encounter a relative's body.
...
Shortly thereafter, the senior forensic doctor Wu Jun arrived at the scene.
He was wearing a white lab coat with a slightly protruding belly, resembling an old office cadre, squinting his eyes to look around. Then he lifted his head to glance at Jiang Yuan and said with a smile, "Little Jiang, have you arrived first? Will you bring over the investigation box?"
"I've brought it." Jiang Yuan was exceedingly eager, having already carried a large black case from the investigation vehicle, thick and heavy with a sense of quality to it.
Upon opening it, neatly arranged on the top lid hung pliers, tweezers, bone saws, chisels, hammers, and bone shears, while the bottom was haphazardly divided into three areas, messily containing cotton, gauze, syringes, measuring tapes, stainless steel lunch boxes, towels...
"Get a few extra masks and distribute them to everyone. One for each person." Wu Jun put one on himself, and after seeing Jiang Yuan hand out masks to the police officers at the scene, he asked in an instructive manner, "Do you know why the first thing we do is distribute masks to everyone?"
Jiang Yuan replied, "They serve as protective gear and also prevent contaminating the scene."
"That's the textbook reason," Wu Jun put on a third glove over his already double-gloved right hand and said, "Another reason I have you give masks to everybody is to cover their expressions."
Jiang Yuan was taken aback.
Wu Jun continued, "Police officers and forensic doctors, we've all seen our share of bodies. Some people, especially the young ones among you, can't control their facial expressions while talking. If someone were to laugh and it happens to be caught by the media or the public, that could spell trouble. Therefore, the most numerous item in my investigation box will always be masks. Everyone at the scene should put one on before we talk."
Jiang Yuan suddenly understood.
Only then did Wu Jun bend down to begin surveying the scene.
Jiang Yuan also followed suit by putting on two more pairs of gloves, and then said, "Master, this person... the body, I recognize."
"Oh? How so?" asked Wu Jun as he observed the body's position, turning his attention to Jiang Yuan.
"It looks like Uncle Seventeen," Jiang Yuan exhaled.
Wu Jun fell silent for two seconds before asking, "Are you certain?"
"Double chin, big belly, large nose, and a big mole on the side... it should be Uncle Seventeen." Jiang Yuan described conservatively.
"Condolences for your loss. Tell me about Uncle Seventeen," said Wu Jun as he lowered his head and then said, "Thermometer."
Jiang Yuan's gaze shifted away, and he fetched a thermometer from the investigation box for Wu Jun, before continuing, "Uncle Seventeen should be 50 years old this year; he's the youngest son of my grand-uncle. Born in the year of the Pig. His family moved to the family housing of the county's first middle school quite early. He opened a small restaurant nearby and has a car. He likes to smoke and has some debt issues..."
As Wu Jun listened, he continued to examine the body, instructing Jiang Yuan to take notes. He also requested a biopsy needle and syringe, in order to collect blood and urine for later use.
It wasn't long before the chief of the Criminal Police Squad arrived at the scene, followed closely by the deputy director in charge of criminal investigations and the chief of the county bureau, both arriving in haste.
"Has forensic reached any conclusions?" the chief personally inquired, with the deputy director, the chief of the Criminal Police Squad Huang Qiangmin, and several squad leaders from the Criminal Police Squad including Captain Liu following behind him.
Murder cases receive the utmost attention among criminal cases, especially newly occurring ones. When it comes to assigning resources based on administrative level, they are considered hundreds of times more significant than ordinary cases.
In recent years, the occurrence rate of murder cases has clearly been on the decline, but the level of attention they receive from the police has risen sharply.
Wu Jun stood up leisurely, stuck out his belly, and said, "The cause of death is preliminarily estimated to be cranial injury due to the insertion of a sharp instrument into the back of the neck; currently, no other wounds have been found. We'll need to perform an autopsy for a thorough examination."
The chief responded with a "Hmm" and also started to observe the scene for himself.
Wu Jun continued, "There are signs that the body was moved, and there is very little blood on the ground. Therefore, the victim was most likely dumped here..."
"It's very possible that it was a crime of passion followed by body dumping," Huang Qiangmin, the chief of the squad, offered a judgment as soon as Wu Jun was nearly done speaking.
The chief nodded slowly, observing the police officers taking photographs and collecting blood and trace evidence, and asked, "What information do we have on the victim now?"
"The deceased was 50 years old, born in the year of the Pig," Wu Jun reported in the same tone as before.
The gazes of the chief and others automatically refocused on the forensic doctor.
Wu Jun calmly looked at the crowd and stated, "The deceased lived in the family housing of the county's first middle school, ran a small restaurant, owned a car, liked to smoke, and had some debt disputes."
Captain Liu, who was bending down to examine the wounds, involuntarily straightened up, looking at Wu Jun in surprise, "Old Wu, impressive! You've deduced all this—you're like Sherlock Holmes. But about the restaurant and the smoking, did you infer that from the greasy smudges and tobacco stains on his fingers? How did you figure out the debt disputes?"
Wu Jun smiled without speaking, looking quite pleased with himself.