SFTD -Chapter 123 Campus Gunfire (Part 4)

Chu Menghan took it and said, “Alright, then let’s go to their school and take a look, and also visit Lin Jiajia’s residence. As for Lin Jiajia’s personal belongings, we will return them to you as soon as the case is closed.”

Lin’s father said nothing more. He sat back in the chair, slumped in exhaustion, as if all the strength had been drained from his body. Chu Menghan suddenly thought of Zhou Hai—after all, she had heard from Liu Da about Zhou Hai’s background. The pain of losing a loved one stays with a person for life; it is not something one easily recovers from.

“Mr. Lin, if Madam Lin’s emotional state improves, you should consider seeing a psychologist. I don’t think Lin Jiajia would want to see the two of you so heartbroken,” she said.

Lin’s father nodded, though his gaze had become somewhat unfocused, as if lost in memories. The two of them then left the room and headed straight for Dongnan University. They needed to collect traces Lin Jiajia had left behind at the school.

Forensic Identification Center, Autopsy Room No. 1

The body had already been placed on the autopsy table. On the adjacent table were all of the deceased’s personal belongings arranged in order. Beside it was a large blue evidence box, containing another girl’s belongings.

Zhou Hai had changed into surgical clothing, put on protective goggles, and raised his hands slightly. He nodded at Xu Biao, who immediately went to photograph the body.

“Xiao Liang, check the deceased’s outer clothing and pants for any findings. Fengzi, check the fingernails,” Zhou Hai ordered.

He turned on the remote control and reviewed the X-ray images that had just been taken. Then, using forceps, he extracted several plastic flower petals from the deceased’s neck and collarbone area.

“Open skull fracture. Fractures to the nasal bone and mandible. Patella fracture and fracture of the left humerus. It looks like this girl was thrown out of a vehicle, hit the ground headfirst, and then rolled off the roadside.”

“The right little finger is slightly inwardly bent; the middle phalanx shows signs of a previous fracture. What a pity for such a beautiful pair of hands.”

“The initial impact to the head should have been the windshield. The neck injury came from fragments of an air freshener attached to the front of the vehicle.”

Fengzi raised a cotton swab. “There seems to be some skin tissue under the fingernails, and there’s a red, oily trace on the pad of the right index finger.”

Zhou Hai leaned closer, sniffed carefully, and wiped it with the swab once. “It should be oil-based ink. This can be given to Chu Menghan; it may help reconstruct the victim’s timeline before death.”

“Send the skin tissue and ink samples for testing.”

Xiao Liang had just finished examining the clothes and raised two sample boxes, taking the swabs from Fengzi.

“The pants are covered in grass debris, but I found some white powder—don’t know what it is. Also, there are gray-white gravel fragments stuck in the gaps of the soles of her sneakers. They look very brittle and unusual. Stones like these don’t seem common in Dongnan City.”

Xu Biao put down the camera and leaned in to look. His eyes flickered.

“This is limestone. Most of Dongnan City has sandy soil, granite, and volcanic rock. Limestone is very rare here. It mainly appears in Wulian County near Rishao, where the Lotus Peak Scenic Area is full of this kind of limestone.”

“But going to Lotus Peak at this time?”

“There’s a place there called Little Jiuzhaigou—lakes scattered everywhere, each with different colors and scenery.”

Zhou Hai frowned slightly. “I’ve never heard of it. Does Langya Terrace have limestone?”

Xu Biao paused. “I’m just helping you analyze it!”

“Langya Terrace is now just a man-made scenic area with statues and pseudo-ancient buildings everywhere. A perfectly good astronomical observatory ruins site has been turned into something like Confucius Academy.”

“Boring. Who young people even go there?”

Zhou Hai thought for a moment, then nodded. “Makes sense. Both girls are locals. They would know these details better than tourists.”

“Alright, send everything for testing. We’ll begin the autopsy.”

Zhou Hai lifted the scalpel and cut open the chest and abdomen. A large amount of blood gushed out, and Fengzi quickly assisted with suction, calculating blood loss.

“Internal organ damage is extremely severe,” Zhou Hai said calmly.

He nodded and did not follow the conventional autopsy route, instead directly tracing the injury path.

As expected, the bullet entered between the T11 and T12 vertebrae in the back, slightly to the left side of the spine. Due to kinetic energy release, the bullet created a spiral wound track inside the body, shredding all affected internal tissues.

The spleen ruptured, the pancreas was torn apart, the lungs were penetrated, and at the exit near the armpit, there was even a six-centimeter-wide hexagram-shaped wound.

Xu Biao and the others were seeing a gunshot victim like this for the first time. They stared wide-eyed, leaning in closer. Seeing the internal organs completely shredded left them shocked.

“Oh my god… how can it be like this? Outside it only looks like two holes!” Xiao Liang pushed his glasses up, swallowing nervously. “Brother Hai, in TV dramas people still talk and pay party dues after getting shot… this is way too severe!”

Zhou Hai paused slightly. “Because of rifling, bullets spin at high speed during flight. Even pistol bullets rotate like a drill, twisting into the body and creating a massive temporary cavity.”

“They tear through skin and muscle, and once inside, the unstable forces make the trajectory no longer a neat ballistic arc—it just goes wherever it wants.”

“A person who is shot is often like being hit by a hammer. To put it bluntly, they twist and collapse instantly, often unable to make a sound.”

“The intense pain can make you unable to breathe or speak. But there are exceptions—psychological illusions. When people see others injured, they may assume they are fine themselves.”

“This victim was likely in that state. She was still able to get into the car after being injured, meaning her first perception was that others were injured. That kind of psychological suggestion can keep a person moving for a short time, but by the time she was thrown from the vehicle, she was already essentially dying.”

“Alright, continue. If you want academic references, I have them.”

The three exchanged glances but said nothing further. The scene was too brutal.

Zhou Hai continued examining the digestive tract. The stomach contents clearly showed food shape, indicating the victim had eaten about an hour before death. Other organs showed no additional injuries. The girl was still physically intact.

Zhou Hai exhaled, removed his gloves, and Fengzi began suturing the wound. He glanced at the measured abdominal blood loss—this amount alone was not fatal.

“Xiao Liang, record this: cause of death is hemorrhagic shock. Cranial injuries were not fatal. The gunshot wound was the real cause of death. But was there much blood on her clothes?”

Xiao Liang pointed to the side table. Zhou Hai walked over and looked carefully—there really wasn’t much blood. That didn’t make sense.

Internal bleeding wasn’t large, and only a small amount of blood was on the clothes. So where was all the blood?

Wait.

“Where’s the coat?”

“Did you bring back all the clothes? Didn’t you see a coat?”

Xu Biao also came over and rummaged through everything. There really wasn’t one. Even if the girl dressed lightly for beauty, she should still have worn a coat or down jacket.

Thinking further, he opened the evidence box on the floor and searched through all the bags—still nothing.

“Huh… the surviving girl also didn’t have a coat. Could it be that the coats were left at the scene?”