SFTD -Chapter 263 Rabies Virus (Part 18)

Xiao Liang moved quickly. Taking the bone fragment, he hurried to grind and polish it on the machine. He had done this once before, back when Hai-ge had taught him step by step. Now he could actually demonstrate it for the trace evidence technicians himself, and he felt a little excited inside.

Very soon, he obtained a bone slice 0.9 millimeters thick. After pouring water over it, he placed it under the microscope. It was easy to clearly see clusters of red blood cells inside the bone canals.

“Hai-ge, blood cells were found in this bone slice, and there are a lot of them.”

Zhou Hai nodded and pointed at the skeleton.

“Xiao Liang, start recording.

Victim No. 107, male.

Estimated age: 15–16 years old.

Height around 165 centimeters.

Thin build.

Severe wear on the dental occlusal surfaces, along with brown spots. This is dental fluorosis.

The victim lived in poor conditions, with a high fluoride content in the water supply. Based on regional characteristics, his living environment should have been in western Ludong or southeastern Luxi.

As for the cause of death…

Hemorrhagic shock. There was mechanical injury to the neck, though it was not fatal. The cut through the ribs was the fatal wound. In addition, there are fracture marks on both sides of the ribs—these were caused by forcefully breaking them apart by hand.

As for the time of death, although the body has already skeletonized, that was because the corpse had been specially treated. Judging from the cut marks along the outer edges of the bones, the muscles of the limbs, chest, abdomen, and back were all meticulously removed.

Therefore, this victim died around three months ago.”

By the time Xiao Liang reached this point in his notes, he could barely continue writing.

A teenage boy had been cut open alive like livestock, his organs harvested, his muscles stripped away, then discarded in a burial pit to rot.

“Removed the flesh? Hai-ge, why would they strip away the victim’s muscle tissue?”

“Removing the muscle tissue was simply to accelerate decomposition. That way, skeletonization would happen much faster. Including the hollow cavity you mentioned behind the tomb earlier—that served the same purpose, allowing mosquitoes and flies to enter and speed up decay.”

“But if a teenager disappeared, wouldn’t the family search for him?”

Zhou Hai pressed his lips tightly together.

“Now isn’t the time for emotions. Hurry and examine the next one. Afterward, we’ll conduct a unified search for missing persons.”

Zhou Hai did not voice the rest of his suspicions.

After seeing the method used, along with the professional rib saw, he had already determined that the person performing these operations was a doctor.

And an extremely experienced one at that.

The perpetrator had chosen the easiest sections to cut through while still being able to retrieve the organs quickly. The more Zhou Hai thought about it, the colder he felt inside.

Fengzi sat to the side. After watching Zhou Hai and the others finish examining one skeleton, he had recovered somewhat and followed them to the next corpse.

With the experience gained from the first autopsy, examining this one no longer left either Fengzi or Xiao Liang completely overwhelmed. It was as though they had suddenly become enlightened. They carefully picked up every bone and inspected each part closely.

Fengzi lifted the victim’s skull and discovered a boat-shaped fissure fracture on the occipital region. A heavy blow to that location could instantly knock someone unconscious or even gradually cause respiratory failure leading to death.

Meanwhile, the ribs on this victim’s chest had been removed even more thoroughly. A section over thirty centimeters wide had been neatly cut away.

At the same time, clear knife marks could be seen on the outer edges of the ribs, as well as on the humerus and femur.

“Boss, I’m not too sure about this male victim’s age.”

Zhou Hai stood up and walked over. Taking the pubic symphysis, he examined it, then looked at the surgical neck of the humerus.

“When we get back, I’ll give you a book. It contains the relevant calculation formulas. Estimating bone age can’t become one of your weak points. After all, skeletonized remains are an important category in forensic identification.”

Fengzi nodded.

“Thank you, Boss!”

“This victim was even younger, probably around thirteen to fifteen years old. Time of death is also around three months ago.”

“So young?”

Fengzi froze after hearing Zhou Hai’s conclusion.

From certain characteristics along the rib edges and humerus, he had already suspected the victim was either very young or extremely small in stature. But hearing such a young age still shocked him deeply.

Zhou Hai stood up and looked toward the skeletons still being continuously carried into the hall.

“Don’t be surprised. Perhaps most of the skeletons here are around this age. And their causes of death are probably all very similar.”

Fengzi clenched the pen in his hand and rapidly continued recording.

He tried his best not to think too deeply about it. The moment he saw that dissection room, he had already guessed people were murdered here. But actually uncovering and documenting it himself brought a level of shock beyond imagination.

At the same time, in the Forensic Department of the Ludong Provincial Public Security Department’s Evidence Identification Research Center—Hu Nan returned to her office carrying all the reports.

Outside the window, dawn was gradually breaking. Holding a cup of coffee, she stood before the window, watching the occasional vehicle pass along the road below.

The human organs and preserved biological materials discovered inside Xinglin Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital had far exceeded Hu Nan’s imagination.

She had never expected that, right under the Provincial Department’s nose, there existed such a massive human organ trafficking and transplant network.

The sheer scale of it was truly shocking.

Thinking of Zhou Hai, the man who had first discovered the clues leading to this case, a trace of curiosity appeared in Hu Nan’s eyes.

The mobile phone lying on the desk vibrated continuously, flashing and spinning, interrupting her thoughts.

After finishing the last sip of black coffee, she quickly walked over to the desk and answered the call.

“Forensic Doctor Hu, the interrogation of Lin Xiuying has already ended. The scope of this case is enormous, but relying on a confession alone probably won’t be enough. Have all your reports been completed? As for the organs and tissues involved so far, how many individuals are connected to them?”

Hu Nan opened the final statistical report.

“In the underground cold storage of Xinglin Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital, we found a total of twelve corneas, two kidneys, and twenty-four marrow samples. Altogether, these originated from twenty-eight individuals. As for the donors’ origins, the paperwork itself doesn’t reveal any obvious problems. However, Forensic Doctor Zhou and his team from Dongnan all headed to Xuzhou yesterday. I believe it won’t take long before they identify the donors’ sources.”

The man on the other end paused for a moment before suddenly laughing in surprise.

“Oh? Looks like the sun’s rising from the west today. Forensic Doctor Hu actually trusts someone else to investigate evidence? Is this person even better than you?”

Hu Nan looked out the window, the corners of her small lips curving slightly upward.

“Remember the dismemberment case from two days ago?”

“Of course. Didn’t you directly identify the murderer and locate the place where the weapon was discarded?”

“That wasn’t me. The murderer and the hiding place of the weapon were both deduced by Zhou Hai. And he did it while extremely busy. He only glanced at the case once before giving the conclusion. It didn’t even take twenty minutes, while we spent an entire month getting nowhere.”

“Damn, that impressive? I thought you’d discovered some new evidence and finally found a direction.”

Hu Nan brushed her hair back.

“Enough nonsense. Organize the case files and wait for my call. Once they report back, we can directly present the case to Director Yuan. A cross-city, cross-province case of this scale—start preparing your argument and volunteer yourself. Otherwise, it’ll be hard for you to get into the special task force.”

Those words completely stunned the man on the other end.

“Wait, what do you mean? You’re ditching me after using me—no, wait, I’m not a donkey!”

Hu Nan suppressed a laugh.

“Alright, stop joking around. I’ll send you all the data and examination reports immediately. These are the most convincing pieces of evidence.”

“Okay, I’m going to write the report right now. After hearing you say all this, I’m suddenly not sleepy anymore. I really want to meet someone like him.”

A gentle smile spread across Hu Nan’s lips.

“You’ll definitely get the chance.”