Chapter 322: The Necropsy Workshop (1/2)

Making love in the Necropsy Workshop? This was only the biggest taboo for a Traditional Coroner!

Right then, Xiaotao entered the room, having forgotten her notebook. Dali jumped up in fear. ”What did you just say?” Xiaotao quipped. “Why don’t you come out and have a chat with me?”

”I-I didn't mean that…” Dali mumbled incoherently “Dude, say something!”

”How am I supposed to help you if you’re caught in the act?” I arched an eyebrow.

”Watch what you say!” Xiaotao snorted.

And with that, Xiaotao turned around and left. I set out to prepare the Thrice Steaming Bone Test, observing the same process as before so I didn't need to go into detail. The cement trench on the floor made it convenient for the test.

Purple marks appeared on the bones on the second test. I grabbed a blank notebook and a pen from the shelf and handed them to Dali. ”We’re considered professionals now, and as my assistant, you should be jotting down my observations.”

”Sure thing, boss!” answered Dali. “Don’t speak too fast!”

I put the skeletal remains on the autopsy table and began vocalizing my observations and conclusions. The victim’s hyoid bone was fractured, showing traces of being heavily trampled on.

There were several traces of blunt force trauma on her torso and ribs, but none of them were serious enough to cause a fracture, suggesting the victim might have been beaten before death.

The slight misalignment of the joint connecting the shoulder and the spine was caused by a strong pull, and chafing on the calcaneus all pointed to the victim being dragged by the arm with her body facing upwards over a long distance.

Additionally, there are signs of insect bites.

Aside from examining the victim’s skeleton, I also looked at the skeletal remains of the three hamsters in her abdomen. The skulls of the hamsters appeared to have been clamped by some sort of tool and judging from the shape of the indentation, I suspected it was similar to tweezers.

Ding Xu mentioned that the murderer cut open her uterus and stuffed hamsters inside, but there were no knife marks on her pelvis!

The victim’s pelvis wasn’t fully opened and showed no signs of pregnancy. Even if Ding Xu’s statement were true, then the pregnancy was three months along at most. A woman's uterus was about the size of an uninflated balloon before or in the beginning stages of pregnancy.

How could a man without professional knowledge and equipment accurately dissect the uterus and stuff hamsters within?

Ding Xu's depiction of the hamsters burrowing through her uterus was merely a product of her imagination.

As Dali listened to my detailed description, he frowned, ”Is there any difference? Anyway, the hamsters were stuffed into her uterus. This isn’t something just any old pervert could come up with!”

”There’s a big difference!” I retorted. “If the victim hadn’t had her abdomen dissected, she wouldn’t have shed blood or been infected. Stuffing a few hamsters into her vagina is disgusting but not fatal.”

”So what does that mean?” asked Dali.

”Although the victim was beaten and tortured, these wounds were not enough to kill her,” I summarized. “What really killed her was the heavy stomp on her neck. The murderer literally crushed her throat to death. This is perhaps the biggest contradiction in the case. The murderer could have buried her alive. Why did he fly off the handle and trample her to death?”

”Perhaps the victim said some unpleasant things,” voiced Dali. “Just think about it. At that point, anyone would say some really nasty things.”

I wasn’t convinced by his argument but the contradiction would certainly be solved as we continued on with our investigation. Through the autopsy, I realized one thing–we couldn’t believe everything Ding Xu said because his narrative was subjective.