SFTD -Chapter 11 The Faceless Female Corpse (Part 3)

Xiao Liang opened the door and walked out. At the same time, an elderly man with white hair was practically dragged inside by Xu Biao, who was pulling and tugging at him.

This man was Forensic Doctor Gao from Team Three, with less than a year left before retirement.

“Da Xu, slow down a little! These old arms and legs of mine can’t handle being hauled around like this!”

Zhou Hai nodded toward Doctor Gao. Squinting his small eyes, Xu Biao spoke ingratiatingly.

“Doctor Gao, this victim is a bit special. We’ll have to trouble you to assist with the autopsy. Doctor Zhou’s assistant is new and can’t really handle it.”

Doctor Gao leaned forward and glanced at the victim lying on the stainless-steel autopsy table. He instantly coughed twice.

“Cough, cough! This miserable? No wonder the rookie couldn’t take it. Even this old man’s heart is about to go into overdrive! Tell me, Xiao Hai, are cases like this common in America?”

Zhou Hai nodded seriously. “Quite a lot. If you’re interested, Doctor Gao, I can lend you some related literature.”

Doctor Gao had already finished putting on his protective gear. He immediately raised a hand in a STOP gesture.

“This old man still wants to enjoy retirement and live a long life. If I read too much of that stuff, my heart won’t survive it. I’m not trying to improve myself anymore. Getting to retirement safely is good enough for me.”

Inside the autopsy room, only Zhou Hai, Doctor Gao, and Xu Biao remained.

The three of them bowed simultaneously toward the victim.

Though it was a ritual, it was also the final respect shown to the deceased. If they wanted to uncover the truth, they had to let the body speak.

And people like Zhou Hai were the spokespersons for the dead, speaking the truth on their behalf.

The clock in the autopsy room pointed to 08:20.

Zhou Hai raised the scalpel.

“Begin.”

He cut open the victim’s throat and examined the hyoid bone, thyroid cartilage, esophagus, trachea, and lungs.

There was no aspirated fluid and no injuries.

When the stomach was opened, there was almost no stomach contents inside.

Even the remaining intestines were nearly empty.

Zhou Hai’s knife paused slightly.

Could his estimation of the time of death be wrong?

Why was there no food in the gastrointestinal tract?

Zhou Hai’s hesitation caught Doctor Gao’s attention.

“Why’d you stop?”

“The victim’s digestive tract is completely empty. This doesn’t match the lividity and rigor mortis at all.”

Doctor Gao rolled his eyes dramatically and spread his hands with a very Western-style shrug.

“Doctor Zhou, you don’t have a girlfriend, do you?”

Zhou Hai frowned slightly, looking at the little old man in confusion.

The conversation had suddenly veered completely off-topic, leaving him unable to understand for a moment.

“Ahem! No matter their age, women always have one fashionable topic—losing weight. In their minds, beauty is built on two things: fair skin and being thin. My wife is two years older than me, and she still practices yoga every day at home, skips dinner, and drinks those meal replacement shakes. Looks like this girl really cared about her appearance!”

Zhou Hai nodded.

“I understand that. But the victim was only sixteen or seventeen years old. Judging by her leg circumference, her weight should’ve been around forty to fifty kilograms, and she wasn’t very tall. Why would someone her age diet?”

Xu Biao smacked Zhou Hai on the back.

“That nickname they gave you, ‘Fa Hai,’ really fits. You really are like a monk. A woman dresses up for the one she loves. This girl was probably in love!”

“Fa Hai?”

Doctor Gao laughed so hard his shoulders shook.

“That’s right—Fa Hai! ‘Forensic doctor’ plus ‘returned from overseas,’ and with that detached monk-like attitude of yours, it’s perfect!”

Zhou Hai’s face darkened.

Xu Biao shrank his neck and lowered his head, trying to minimize his presence.

“Uh… you guys continue, continue~”

Zhou Hai didn’t dwell on the nickname issue and resumed the autopsy.

He began examining the victim’s remaining vital organs. There were no fatal injuries at all.

After opening the skull and examining the brain tissue, there were still no additional findings.

Looking at the girl’s hip area, Zhou Hai paused and chose not to remove the pubic symphysis.

After all, the third molars had already allowed them to estimate her age. He simply aligned the remaining chest and abdominal skin together so the body would at least appear relatively intact.

He carefully clipped the victim’s fingernails and collected intracardiac blood samples for testing.

The two men returned once more to the injuries on the victim’s face. Doctor Gao kept clicking his tongue in amazement.

“The killer is right-handed. Every wound has a very clear directional pattern. The force used was weak—or perhaps the killer intentionally prolonged the suffering. See how the cuts overlap one another? And more than ninety percent of the wounds show vital reactions. Truly cruel.”

Zhou Hai gave a quiet acknowledgment.

“The crime scene was chosen brilliantly. Packs of stray dogs roam that area, and the murder happened at night after rainfall. All traces were concealed and confused. If the scavenger hadn’t discovered the body at dawn, by another morning all that would’ve remained of the victim would’ve been a skeleton. Perhaps that was also part of the killer’s plan.”

Xu Biao nodded.

“When I was searching for clothing, I spotted at least a dozen wild dogs nearby staring at the woods. The killer must’ve known long ago that stray dogs frequented that location.”

“Mhm. Calm, hateful, vicious, and methodical. This killer is definitely not simple. Either they’ve studied this sort of thing before, or they’re a natural-born criminal. Alright, send the body to the freezer.”

Xu Biao cried out dramatically.

“It’s already past one o’clock! I’m starving to death!”

As Xu Biao spoke, Zhou Hai’s phone rang.

The caller was an unfamiliar number. Zhou Hai quickly stripped off his latex gloves and protective gown.

“Hello, this is Zhou Hai.”

“Doctor Zhou, this is Wang Xuchao. We may have identified the victim. We checked all the high schools in the city and found that Zhong Yishan from Class Six, Grade Two, at No.1 High School failed to return to campus last night and currently cannot be contacted. Her physical characteristics match our comparison criteria very closely. Her teacher didn’t see her this morning, so they contacted her parents. Her mother said she left yesterday afternoon. About half an hour ago, Zhong Yishan’s parents already headed toward your center. Since the victim is no longer recognizable, we should still conduct a DNA comparison.”

“Mhm, that’s necessary.”

Zhou Hai hung up the phone.

“Xu Biao, we may have identified the victim. Her parents are already on their way. Let’s go receive them.”

He turned back to Doctor Gao.

“Thank you for your help, Doctor Gao. The two of us will head out now.”

Doctor Gao waved his hand.

“Go on, get busy. And remember to keep the body camera running the entire time while talking to them.”

Zhou Hai understood immediately.

It was advice from an experienced veteran—meant to reduce the possibility of disputes later.

He nodded gratefully.

“Thank you.”

He and Xu Biao changed into police uniforms. Xu Biao put on the body camera.

The moment they reached the lobby, a heart-wrenching wail echoed through the hall.

To be precise, it sounded more like an animalistic howl.

When humans reach a level of pain beyond words, language often fails them. Only primal crying and screaming can release even a fraction of the agony.

Zhou Hai understood that feeling.

He had experienced it before.

Losing both parents on the same day—the sensation of the sky collapsing overhead—he could understand it completely.

So he immediately quickened his pace.

“Hello, I’m Zhou Hai from Team Two’s forensic department. Are you Zhong Yishan’s parents?”

The father nodded through tears.

“Please don’t be too upset yet. According to procedure, we need to draw blood samples for comparison testing. We still can’t confirm that the deceased is your daughter. Please sit over here.”

Seeing Zhou Hai’s glance, Liang Honggang hurriedly assisted the pathology department staff in drawing blood from the couple.

By this point, the mother had stopped howling.

Suddenly falling silent, she grabbed Zhou Hai’s wrist and dropped to her knees.

“Officer! Please let me see my daughter. I can recognize her. I really can.”