"Doctor Ran, the inspection report is already printed out, please sign it."
In the office, a refined and handsome man dressed in a white lab coat, with a fair complexion and a high-bridged nose adorned with half-framed glasses, mitigating some of his handsomeness and making him appear gentle yet competent.
There was a pause and still no response, but the man seemed to know that the so-called Doctor Ran must be there. He stretched out his hand and knocked several times on the door panel and then raised his voice, "Doctor Ran?"
"Alright, just leave it here," a formulaic female voice came from amidst the piles of documents on the desk.
"Doctor Ran, Captain Li from the Criminal Investigation Team has already urged us several times, please hurry." The man carefully moved some of the stacked documents on the busy desk and placed the report in his hand on top, and finally, not reassured, he pressed it down with an antique inkstone on the table.
The man sighed; if he didn't get the signature and hand it out soon, he estimated that Captain Li would come over and kill someone.
Remembering Captain Li's fierce demeanor, the man immediately reminded her again, "Doctor Ran, I've pressed the file down with the inkstone, please sign as soon as possible."
From the thick stack of documents, a face as delicate as a porcelain doll lifted up, with pretty brows furrowed, and said in an even tone, "I know, I will personally deliver the documents tomorrow morning."
Assistant Zhang, upon getting a clear answer, relievedly responded with an acknowledgment and turned to leave. But inside, he was unsure whether to feel pity or admiration. It's often said there are three types of people: men, women, and female doctors. So, someone like Ran Yan, who held dual doctorate degrees, should be considered a fighter jet among doctors! However, that exquisitely beautiful face, perhaps due to facing corpses for too long, seemed lifeless, as if devoid of female hormones, which is why, to this date, she still remains an unapproached saint.
In the office, Ran Yan worked late into the night before she finally took a breath of relief. She got up to make tea and saw the autopsy report pressed under the inkstone, then set down the cup in her hand, sat back down, and began to read the report.
There were a total of five victims in this case, a family of five. Based on the examination of the wounds on the bodies, they had been tortured, including two women who had been sexually assaulted... Ran Yan frowned, her eyes moving to the last two lines. The fatal wound, a knife cut 1.3 cm wide and 7 cm long?
Had someone else re-examined the bodies, or had the autopsy report been tampered with?
Ran Yan put down the report and picked up the telephone, dialing the extension. The drone of the dial tone echoed. After a long while, no one answered. She glanced at the clock on the wall; it was twenty-three forty. Except for the doorkeeper, everyone else had left for the day.
Although she had already concluded someone had tampered with the report, there were a few self-proclaimed veterans among the forensic group who could have re-examined it, so it wasn't impossible. Ran Yan always adhered to her duty and had to verify it again. She grabbed her white lab coat from near the door, swiftly put it on, then took gloves and a mask, ready to go to the morgue.
But as she approached the door, Ran Yan suddenly stopped in her tracks, turned back, and placed the report on the copier to make a copy, pressing it under the inkstone and locking the original in the safe.
After completing all this, Ran Yan then left the office again. As she walked, she analyzed the purpose of the person who had altered the autopsy report in secret. The report needed her signature before it could be treated as evidence; such obvious tampering would surely be discovered by her at a glance...
"Damn it," Ran Yan muttered under her breath, her hand releasing the elevator button as she hastily turned and ran outside.
If that person knew it would be discovered yet still proceeded in this manner, it was highly likely they meant to lure her back for another examination! That meant—the target was her!
However, she had hardly taken two steps when a gust of wind came from behind and a sudden thud, something hard hit her on the back of the head.
Ran Yan felt something warm trickling down from the back of her head along her neckline to her back. She gave up any hope of shouting for help because this was the underground morgue, which had top-notch soundproofing and insulation. Besides, it was late at night, so the likelihood of her being rescued was less than zero.
Clang! The object that had struck Ran Yan fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces. She instinctively wanted to turn back to see her attacker's face, but her neck was grabbed from behind.
Ran Yan could feel it; the person wore rubber surgical gloves. It seemed to be a criminal professional. Normally, people couldn't access this morgue, which made it even more likely that the assailant was another forensic doctor from the team.