SFTD -Chapter 248 Rabies Virus (Part 3)

Wang Man was startled and quickly pulled out his phone to call Xiao Zeng.

“Go get a rabies vaccine immediately. We’ve confirmed it already—the deceased suffered a rabies outbreak, which is why he suddenly went mad and attacked you.”

Xiao Zeng had answered on speakerphone. The doctor and colleagues beside him heard everything clearly and were all shocked. After hanging up, they hurriedly dragged Xiao Zeng off for the shots, completely ignoring his miserable cries about being afraid of needles.

Wang Man frowned as he looked at Zhou Hai.

“Forensic Doctor Zhou, you just said the deceased didn’t have any wounds. Then how exactly did he contract the rabies virus?”

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes, recalling the external examination process. There truly had been no external injuries on the body, much less any bite marks. Could it have been a long-dormant virus?

“After rabies enters the human body, most cases develop within three months. Cases exceeding six months account for about 4% to 10%, and only around 1% exceed one year. According to records from the World Health Organization (WHO), the longest incubation case lasted six years. But I didn’t find any wounds or scars on the deceased. Contact Yancheng for now—I need to conduct a more detailed examination of the body.”

Xu Biao tilted his head, deeply puzzled. He actually knew a little about rabies.

“Hai Zi, could the rabies virus have mutated? Like, skipping normal transmission methods and spreading through air or food?”

Zhou Hai shook his head.

“Rabies is an extremely stable virus and rarely mutates. Because it’s incurable, research on it has been very thorough. At present, vaccines can only prevent infection. Once the nervous system has been damaged, there’s no effective treatment.”

Xu Biao fell silent. Wang Man looked helplessly at the two of them, nodded, and turned to leave.

Zhou Hai’s phone vibrated twice. He pulled it out and saw it was from the provincial special investigation group app Liu Da had told him to install. It was similar to QQ, except much more private. Opening it, he saw several announcements from the administrator.

Zhou Hai clicked through them one by one. Most were notices and nationwide wanted bulletins. Seeing such policy-related information gathered in such a small private group felt oddly strange.

Just as he was about to close the chat window, a file labeled “Special Case Sharing” suddenly popped up.

Special case?

Zhou Hai clicked into it.

The very first case was already quite interesting—a dismemberment case with no leads whatsoever. Compared to the Agricultural University case, it wasn’t nearly as complicated. The victim’s identity had already been confirmed, but investigators still had no direction regarding the killer.

The local forensic examiner in the provincial capital had discovered a special black grease under the victim’s fingernails.

Tests identified it as graphite grease lubricant. However, among the victim’s social circle, many people had access to such material. After all, he himself worked as a technician at a heating company, so the clue was practically useless.

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes and carefully read the appraisal report. Most of the values looked normal, except for one substance—Fe₃O₄ (magnetic iron oxide)—which appeared in the lubricant. Though the quantity wasn’t large, that material definitely didn’t belong in ordinary lubricant grease.

If that was the case, then the grease had probably been applied to frequently worn parts or handled by maintenance personnel. After all, grease was used for lubrication, rust prevention, and corrosion resistance. Excessive rust would affect the machinery’s function.

If the victim worked at a heating company, then perhaps boiler operators or maintenance workers were more likely suspects?

Zhou Hai entered his deductions and analysis into the opinion collection section below and submitted them.

Only after posting did he notice his username was actually “Southeast Zhou.” The setting was so ridiculous he nearly couldn’t complain anymore. Would typing two extra characters kill them?

But when he saw his avatar, his face darkened even further.

To his utter disbelief, the avatar was the actor portraying Fahai from The Legend of the White Snake, holding a golden alms bowl in one hand and a monk’s staff in the other.

Zhou Hai instantly felt speechless. Who the hell thought this was funny?

He continued scrolling downward when suddenly his finger stopped on another case. Zhou Hai immediately opened his computer. Xu Biao leaned over in confusion, watching his movements.

“What’s wrong?”

Zhou Hai tossed him the phone.

“There’s a case shared in this provincial investigation group. I think it’s somewhat similar to what we encountered today. Let’s analyze it together. Help me scan these reports so I can upload them.”

Xu Biao moved quickly and helped scan all the reports. Zhou Hai opened the desktop version of the software, wrote up the entire case summary, attached all the reports, and clicked send.

Perhaps because he had just posted earlier, the upload immediately showed three people had already viewed it.

Not long after, the person who uploaded the previous case updated the file with additional details, including the autopsy and lab reports.

Zhou Hai opened them.

The victim had died the afternoon before yesterday. While on the street, he had suddenly attacked an elderly man, shoving him to the ground and smashing the things the man was carrying.

Then he charged into the road just as a bus happened to pass by, instantly sending him flying.

The autopsy found that aside from rib fractures caused by the vehicle impact, the victim had no external injuries whatsoever. Only after pathological examination did they discover he had been infected with rabies. This kind of violent, frenzied behavior was considered a relatively rare manifestation of rabies.

Zhou Hai frowned as he examined the photographs one by one. These were all pictures taken during the autopsy process. Apparently they didn’t use full autopsy video recording like Zhou Hai’s team did, but the body parts were photographed quite clearly.

Other than the chest trauma from the collision, there truly were no bite wounds on the body. Everything about the victim resembled Ye Xiuyuan’s case from today.

Just as Zhou Hai was feeling puzzled, one particular photo caught his attention.

It was a close-up photo of the victim’s eyelid being pried open.

Zhou Hai enlarged the image until the entire screen displayed nothing but the eye. At that size, it looked horrifying, but it also made certain details clearly visible.

Along the edge of the cornea was a highly regular ring-shaped mark.

Zhou Hai enlarged it again to confirm his suspicion. Suddenly, he slammed the desk and shot to his feet.

“I know how he contracted the rabies virus!”

Xu Biao, standing nearby, watched Zhou Hai suddenly leap up and instinctively shuffled aside. Seeing Zhou Hai this energetic was rare, though honestly it was good to see him lively again.

Without another word, Zhou Hai turned and hurried downstairs straight to the cold storage room. He found Ye Xiuyuan’s body and shoved a high-powered flashlight into Xu Biao’s hands.

“Hold the light for me!”

Xu Biao blinked.

“What’s with all the mystery? Did you find gold or something? Didn’t we already perform the autopsy? Don’t tell me we missed something?”

Ignoring Xu Biao’s nonstop muttering, Zhou Hai glanced back at him.

“Focus. Don’t interrupt me. Follow my hand and shine the light on the eye!”

Xu Biao raised the flashlight and saw Zhou Hai pointing toward his own eye. He quickly aimed the beam over, though not bold enough to shine it directly into the eye. Zhou Hai’s face instantly darkened.

“I think transferring you into this team was a mistake. You’re way too unreliable. Maybe I should consider replacing my trace examiner.”

The moment Xu Biao heard that, he stopped fooling around and immediately directed the flashlight beam properly toward the dead man’s eye.

“I’m ready already. If you’re going to examine it, hurry up. A trace examiner like me only comes once in a thousand years. We’re the perfect team—you’re not getting rid of me.”

Zhou Hai snorted and lifted a magnifying glass, beginning a close inspection of the deceased’s cornea.

“Xu Biao, take pictures. Tell me—what do you see here?”