SFTD -Chapter 106 Where Did the Tadpoles Go? (Part 3)

Father Zhang shook his head and looked toward Mother Zhang. Mother Zhang let out a long sigh.

“Ah… we really don’t know about this. The only thing we know is Li Liqun. You don’t understand. It was already good enough that we were able to ease our relationship with her two years ago. How could we possibly expect to know all these things? We never actively asked about them unless she chose to tell us.

Her hardships and pressures… she always hid them in places where we couldn’t see.

And she also had reasons to be proud. A girl in her early thirties who had earned a luxury house and expensive cars on her own—everything was the result of her own effort. We just needed to share her happiness!”

Zhou Hai understood and nodded to the two of them.

“That’s all we need for now. You may go back. We’ll contact you again if necessary.”

Xu Biao escorted the two out and ran into Captain Huang at the door. They returned together to the autopsy room.

Seeing Zhou Hai already dressed again, Captain Huang gave an apologetic smile.

“My kid suddenly developed a fever. I had to take him to the hospital. How’s things here?”

Zhou Hai waved his hand.

“Xu Biao, show Captain Huang the footage from the bodycam just now. We need to start the autopsy immediately.”

Xu Biao pulled off the recording device from his chest and handed it over while lowering his voice:

“I suggest you watch it in the next room yourself—the sound gets really intense. There was a huge argument just now, and none of your team came. Be glad nothing happened, or the body might’ve already been sent for cremation.”

Captain Huang looked surprised. Today was a city bureau drill, most personnel had been pulled away, leaving only a few to keep things running. If it hadn’t been Zhou Hai’s team handling it, Director Liu would’ve flayed them alive.

“Thanks, buddy.”

Xiao Liang had already set up the recording system. Since the 5th, the center had installed a new video monitoring system requiring all autopsies to be recorded, and the procedures were posted right beside Zhou Hai’s screen.

Fengzi acted as the narrator, reporting the personnel involved and the external examination findings, introducing the condition of the body.

Zhou Hai’s eyes stayed fixed on the skull X-ray as he sank into thought. The ring-shaped injury looked strangely familiar—like something he had seen before, but he couldn’t place where.

He picked up a magnifying glass, swabbed the wound with a cotton stick, smeared the sample onto a slide, and placed it under the microscope behind him.

As expected, the blood contained brownish-red rust particles and some yellowish flakes that looked like paint.

“Occipital skull trauma with rust staining. Likely caused by a rusted iron pipe. There are traces of yellow paint on it. The pipe struck vertically, causing the injury. There is a skull fracture and bleeding, but it’s not the cause of death.”

Zhou Hai handed Fengzi a caliper. Fengzi measured the wound.

“Outer diameter of the ring-shaped wound is 48.3 mm. Inner diameter is about 42 mm.”

Xu Biao finished taking photos, then suddenly leaned in from behind the camera, eyes wide.

“That’s the size of scaffolding steel pipes from construction sites!”

Zhou Hai looked at him. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I checked the specs when we handled that ‘body-in-the-wall’ case before.”

Everyone paused when Zhou Hai remained silent.

“Xiao Liang, check whether there are any construction sites near the river where the body was found.”

Xiao Liang quickly searched online.

“Brother Hai, there are no active construction sites in the Yunhua section of Baisha River where the body was found.”

Xu Biao was shocked. “How can there be none? That’s exactly the size of scaffolding pipes! And there’s rust on it too—that’s typical scaffolding material!”

The autopsy room door opened again. Captain Huang walked in, already wearing protective gear. He had overheard their discussion and came over immediately.

“The Yunhua section is the main area of the old city redevelopment in the eastern district. All old buildings were demolished and rebuilt, and the projects were completed last year—there really aren’t any ongoing constructions. However, in the second half of last year, the southeastern riverbank was renovated. The embankment was widened into a green belt, old railings were removed, and replaced with wide marble steps—but the drop is very high.”

Zhou Hai froze. “No railings? No wonder Zhang Miaomiao fell straight into the river. But is the water that deep there? And it hasn’t frozen yet? Even the artificial lake in our neighborhood is frozen.”

Captain Huang smiled.

“You’re asking the right person. There’s a hydropower experimental section upstream of the Yunhua stretch. So normally, the water temperature stays around 16°C, much higher than typical rivers. Plus, the channel is wide, with large flow and fast current—so it never freezes.”

Zhou Hai raised an eyebrow.

“Good. Then send people to find the iron pipe that injured the victim. And I trust your math is fine—based on the time of death at 7:50 and the river current, you can calculate where she fell into the water.”

Captain Huang gave a bitter smile and quickly went to make arrangements, ordering a search along Baisha River for the possible iron pipe.

Zhou Hai drew a vial of intracardiac blood and handed it to Xiao Liang.

“Was river water sampled? Compare the heart blood and water samples using a diatom test.”

He took the scalpel from Fengzi and began the formal autopsy.

There was fluid, sand, and white foam in the airway, but not much. The tracheal mucosa showed hemorrhage, and there was lung bleeding. The lungs were a pale pink—clear signs of drowning.

The thyroid cartilage and esophagus were normal. The stomach contained a large amount of faint milky fluid—likely milk products mixed with water. Fengzi collected the gastric contents.

The gastric cardia and pylorus were tightly closed, meaning the contents still had strong forensic value, but also suggesting the victim had very weak consciousness and breathing after entering the water.

All other organs were congested and swollen but showed no major abnormalities.

Before examining the uterus, Zhou Hai asked Xiao Liang to collect a vaginal swab. Xiao Liang froze when he saw the long viscous streak on the cotton swab.

“Brother Hai, take a look!”

Zhou Hai turned sharply, washed his hands, removed a layer of gloves, and took the swab.

“Looks like semen. It’s rare for such preservation in drowning cases. Don’t proceed with uterine dissection yet. Collect all materials, prepare a slide, and send everything for testing.”

Xiao Liang looked uncertain, unsure how to describe his feelings about collecting evidence from such a place.

“Brother Hai… there’s something on the cervix. I don’t know what it is.”

Zhou Hai walked over, switched on the LED auxiliary light beside his goggles, widened the speculum, and saw a pale pink translucent ring-like object on the cervix.

No wonder Xiao Liang didn’t recognize it—this wasn’t commonly seen domestically.

“It’s a cervical cap. More commonly used abroad. Similar to a condom in function, but more comfortable. Some women also use it as contraception before menstruation.”

Xu Biao spread his hands.

“Pretty modern… seems like she often traveled abroad and accepted quite new things.”