Chapter 489: Autopsy (2/2)

The fatal wound was caused by some sort of heavy object. I discovered almost imperceptible wounds in the left temple, with grains of sand under the skin and shallow geometric textures around the wound.

After staring at the victim’s left temple for a considerable amount of time, I said, ”This was left by the murderer’s shoe. The position of the wound suggests the victim was kicked after collapsing to the ground.”

Captain Tang stared at the body open-mouthed. This was yet another clue ignored by a senior coroner!

Aside from that, I found a hard, transparent article on the victim’s shoulder. ”Was this mentioned in the autopsy results?” I turned to Bingxin.

”No!” she shook her head.

Observing the object with Cave Vision, I stated, ”Captain Tang, this is an important clue, yet it was overlooked.”

”What?” Captain Tang flushed with nervousness.

”This is solidified glue with the murderer's fingerprints on it.” Glancing at the top of the deceased's head, I added, ”It seems like the murderer got glue on his fingers while attaching the wig and absentmindedly wiped his fingers on the victim’s shoulder.”

Captain Tang widened to the size of saucers. ”Consultant Song, your powers of observation are amazing!”

I told Bingxin to take a sample. Since the fingerprint was rather fuzzy, I wasn’t certain if it would be of any use.

My eyes roamed the victim’s head that was covered with solidified glue and tiny, white cotton-like fibers. The murderer most likely dipped a cotton swab in glue and daubed it on the victim’s head.

Upon careful examination, I noticed the hair follicles protruded outwards, as if the victim’s hair had been forcefully removed.

”The victim’s hair was pulled out,” I surmised.

“The murderer seems to be filled with hatred for the victim, even torturing him after death!” noted Bingxin.

I shook my head. ”That’s incorrect. From the direction of the protrusion of the hair follicle, the victim’s hair doesn’t appear to have been pulled out at once, but in clusters.”

”Clusters?” Xiaotao was puzzled. ”Could it be hair extensions?”

”Have you ever had hair extensions?” I asked.

”No, but I’ve watched the process. Hair is separated in sections fused to individual locks. If done properly, no one can tell if it's hair extensions.”

I couldn't come up with any other probable explanations. ”Looks like the murderer tried to install hair extensions but failed and ended up shaving all the victim’s hair off and using a wig.”

”All that trouble!” blurted Xiaotao.

Turning my attention to the victim’s fingers, I found the fingerprints were removed with a sharp knife.

The coroner concluded that the victim's face had been melted with hydrochloric acid. When comparing the injuries on the victim’s fingers and abdomen, the injuries on the abdomen were obviously older, marked by the curled edges. I deduced that the murderer kept the body for quite some time in order to complete his ”work.”

The abdominal injury was caused by scissors, something easily found in every home. But the hydrochloric acid used to destroy the face as well as the knife used to remove the fingerprints could only be obtained with some amount of effort so the murderer went looking for the tools during the completion of the ”work!”