SFTD -Chapter 153 Ghosts Beneath the Bridge (Part 8)

Xiao Liang tilted his head. “Daktarin is for treating athlete’s foot, right?”

Fengzi glanced at him. “Yes, but many stubborn fungal infections like tinea manuum and tinea pedis are very difficult to treat. The fact that the back of the deceased’s neck shows fungal suppression means she must have applied a large amount of antifungal medication on her entire hands.”

Zhou Hai lowered the body and picked up a pair of forceps, pointing to a wound on the rear right side of the deceased’s neck.

“Xu Biao, take photos of this!”

“The ring finger here is a bit strange—why is it so thick, and why are there two horizontal protrusions?”

“Could it be that the killer’s right ring finger was injured and bandaged? Wait… no, this is a finger splint!”

Fengzi leaned in for a closer look as well. Indeed, the ring-finger impression was very abnormal—thickened, with discontinuities, almost exactly like a splint.

“It should be a fracture splint. We can investigate in that direction.”

Click—click— camera shutters sounded rapidly.

Zhou Hai held a magnifying glass in one hand and forceps in the other, carefully lifting the skin at the wound site. The injury was small, only about two millimeters deep into the subcutaneous layer, but the edges were uneven. Judging from its appearance, it seemed to have been caused by a sharp, hard object.

As the magnifying glass moved, a dark green fiber-like fragment and some black particles were revealed within the tissue. Zhou Hai extracted them and placed them into an evidence box.

“Send them for testing?”

Zhou Hai shook his head. “After the autopsy.”

He then cut open the sutures on the body. A large, tightly sealed plastic bag appeared inside the thoracic-abdominal cavity. It seemed that an internal organ dissection had been performed previously, but the organs had not been separately preserved. The crude handling made Zhou Hai frown repeatedly.

Seeing his expression, Fengzi said, “Don’t get frustrated. Many forensic doctors in county-level cities work like this. They simply don’t have the conditions we do at the center.”

After rinsing, the bag was opened. As expected, all the internal organs were covered in fungal filaments. Zhou Hai carefully examined and sectioned each organ at a nearby workstation.

The liver, kidneys, lungs, and digestive system showed no obvious abnormalities. However, when he examined the heart, the cut surface clearly showed asymmetric interventricular septal hypertrophy. The previous examiner likely stopped at that conclusion.

“Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The deceased probably didn’t even know she had this condition during physical exams. But sudden death from this disease usually requires a trigger—alcohol, fatigue, high-intensity exercise?”

“Xu Biao, have Captain Wang check all of the deceased’s activities the night before death. See if we can find a trigger. If not, shock could also be a factor.”

Xu Biao nodded and quickly wrote it down.

The skull had already been opened, but the brain tissue was not in the organ bag. Zhou Hai frowned and sighed, giving up the plan to examine it. The cause of death had already been confirmed.

However, after a full inventory, he also noticed that the uterus was missing from the bag. Returning to the autopsy table, he checked the pelvic cavity and found that the reproductive system had not been dissected. This was a small but welcome surprise.

“Xiao Liang, check the external genitalia and vagina.”

Xiao Liang took swabs and a speculum over. With Fengzi’s help, he examined the external genitalia. “Brother Hai, it’s all covered in fungal filaments. I can’t distinguish anything.”

Zhou Hai tossed a spray bottle to Fengzi, who sprayed it to clear the fungal layer. Only then could Xiao Liang proceed, but after a quick look he stepped aside.

“Brother Feng, take a look. It’s completely leatherized—hard to distinguish.”

Fengzi examined it. “Old tears.”

Only then did Zhou Hai retrieve the uterus. It appeared somewhat enlarged, making it difficult to judge externally. Given the old tear, he became even more serious and carefully placed it onto a tray.

He turned on the shadowless lamp and began dissecting the uterus. As soon as he cut it open, a small embryo was separated from the thickened uterine wall. The three of them immediately tensed with excitement—this discovery could be a breakthrough leading to the killer.

After separating the tissue, Xiao Liang collected samples and rushed upstairs to Sister Zeng.

Fengzi handled cleanup and suturing. Zhou Hai took the green fiber fragments and black particles to the microscope. The fragments were extremely fine and elongated, resembling green bristles with rough, cracked surfaces.

The black particles were lighter than sand, very uniform in size, resembling carbon granules. Zhou Hai grew increasingly puzzled—what exactly were these things?

Xu Biao leaned over. “Let me see.”

After adjusting the magnification and examining them closely, he suddenly snapped his fingers.

“I know what these are!”

“What?”

Both Fengzi and Zhou Hai looked at him expectantly. Xu Biao opened his computer, searched online, and showed them a picture.

“This is artificial turf.”

Fengzi frowned. “The green fibers make sense—but what about the black particles?”

Xu Biao raised his chin proudly. “Those are rubber granules. They’re used underneath artificial turf for cushioning. My father’s company used to work in this industry.”

“However, to be certain, we still need a comparative test. I’ll have someone collect samples from the scene.”

Zhou Hai did not object. He opened the case file for the 6.20 incident. It stated that the deceased was found lying face-down on sandy soil at the track field of Yong’an Sports Academy, with a large amount of sand in her mouth and nose.

His eyes narrowed immediately.

If she was found on sandy ground, why were these materials embedded in her wounds?

Could she have struggled with the killer somewhere else?

“Was there artificial turf at Yong’an Sports Academy?”

Xu Biao was already searching. Soon he found several photos. From the layout, the artificial turf was located on a football field on the left side of the academy, separated from other sports and teaching areas by an artificial lake. Unless going to the basketball hall, no one would pass through there.

A perfect place for murder.

Looking at the layout, the football field and track field were separated by a line of trees. If cut straight through, the distance was only about 200 meters.

“Where’s Captain Wang?”

Wang Xuchao, who had returned at some point, stepped forward. “I’m here.”

“Did you obtain all surveillance footage for the 6.20 case?”

“Yes, but not all of it. Some corners had broken cameras. My people are still investigating.”

Zhou Hai pointed toward the wooded area between the football field and track field with the handle of a scalpel.

“Focus your search here. We suspect the victim was pushed down here first, then moved to the track field.”

“The wound on her neck contains embedded materials suspected to be from artificial turf and rubber granules. Send someone to the sports academy to collect samples for comparison. We need to confirm this evidence.”

Captain Wang’s furrowed brows slowly relaxed, a look of hope returning to his face.

“So… the cause of death of Xu Miaochi—has it been confirmed?”