SFTD -Chapter 363 White Spots Reappear (Part 4)

Half an hour later, the Forensic Identification Center.

Zhou Hai was already fully geared up and standing in the No. 1 autopsy room. Fengzi and Xiao Liang stood opposite him. The deceased, Dong Bin, had been stripped of clothing and was lying supine on the autopsy table.

Xiao Liang was constantly calculating something. After a while, he stopped and handed the result to Zhou Hai.

“Based on liver temperature and rigor mortis, the estimated time of death is about 11.5 hours ago—between 21:00 and 22:00 on September 5.”

Zhou Hai nodded. “Good calculation. Start the external examination. Xiao Liang, check the clothing again carefully and see if anything was missed.”

Xiao Liang agreed and went to inspect the clothes.

Zhou Hai glanced at the body and walked to the head area. He reached out and carefully palpated from the neck up into the hairline, then looked up at the X-ray displayed on the monitor.

Next were the limbs. Zhao Xinli had already taken nail scrapings and clipped samples for further testing.

Zhou Hai held the deceased’s hands, breaking the stiffness of the elbow joints. On both the back and palms of the hands, there were varying degrees of burns and cuts. At the junction of fingers and palms, there were calluses—more pronounced on the right hand.

Such a pair of scarred, rough hands were completely inconsistent with the deceased’s fairly handsome face. It suggested long-term work involving machining or welding.

There were almost no postmortem lividity spots on the limbs, trunk, or face, likely related to the fatal injury to the chest.

At that moment, Xiao Liang returned.

“Brother Hai, there are no remaining traces on the clothing. I’ll send them for inspection later, including sampling fabric around the wounds.”

Zhou Hai nodded. “Turn on the recorder. Begin the autopsy.”

Xiao Liang skillfully started the recording.

Zhou Hai took a deep breath and made a single decisive Y-incision from the jaw down to the chest and abdomen, then began examining the organs one by one.

But the more he dissected, the more confused he became.

The stomach was completely empty—no chyme at all. It seemed the man hadn’t eaten dinner.

At this time, alone in a factory… not eating dinner—what was he trying to do?

Doing research?

If nothing unexpected, those iron-tube knives were probably made by him. A person like this… how many secrets was he hiding?

Zhou Hai suppressed his thoughts and continued.

As expected, there were severe ulcers in the duodenum. The gallbladder also had issues. The liver showed nodules and severe fibrosis. The lungs were dark brown overall, especially the lower parts, which contained thick black oily deposits.

Seeing this, Fengzi turned away and took a few deep breaths to ease his nausea. Xiao Liang looked puzzled.

“Brother Hai, why does the lung look like this?”

Zhou Hai had already taken a large syringe and was extracting the black oily substance.

“Smoking. Long-term heavy smoking causes this. But it’s rare for someone this young to reach this severity.”

Fengzi waved his hand at Xiao Liang. “Don’t ask anymore. Otherwise, I won’t even be able to hold a cigarette again.”

Xiao Liang held back what he wanted to say. It seemed Zhou Hai, Xu Biao, and Fengzi were all heavy smokers. With such work pressure, it was unavoidable.

Zhou Hai tapped the autopsy table.

“Record this: the deceased had gastritis, duodenal ulcers, chronic cholecystitis, intestinal polyps, liver nodules, hepatic fibrosis, and pathological lung changes.”

“There were burns and cuts on both hands and feet, consistent with long-term welding or lathe work. As for the injuries on the toes and nails, they appear to be sports-related trauma, likely from playing football.”

Fengzi shivered. “He’s only thirty-four… no, thirty-three, and he’s already full of diseases!”

Zhou Hai nodded. Finding so many conditions made him suspicious, but they were all caused by poor lifestyle habits.

“Smoking, alcohol abuse, irregular meals. Xiao Liang, report this to Team Leader Huang. Also check with the family for background information.”

Xiao Liang quickly sent the information and photos to Huang Zhongsheng, who replied almost instantly with an “OK.”

Only then did Zhou Hai focus on the wound.

Fengzi handed him a probe. As it entered the wound, Zhou Hai immediately felt a curved structure inside.

His fingers paused.

This sensation… was not unfamiliar.

It was exactly like Xi Xi’s wound.

To confirm, Zhou Hai asked Fengzi to help him lift the body upright.

As expected, when the probe entered again, it still formed a slight curve.

Fengzi looked at Zhou Hai’s serious expression and immediately understood—he had guessed correctly. The method of death was the same as Lu Xi’s.

A trace of worry flashed across his face.

“Boss… are you okay?”

Zhou Hai shook his head and laid the body back down. This time, he directly removed the heart.

As expected, there was a single stab wound penetrating the entire heart—clean and decisive.

After finally finding a small amount of blood in the relatively intact right atrium, Fengzi quickly collected it.

He then began suturing.

Zhou Hai removed his gloves and took Xiao Liang’s notes.

The deceased’s height was 175 cm. Even after blood loss, the weight was about 67.5 kg (135 jin).

An adult male’s blood typically accounts for about 7% of body weight.

Adding the lost blood, his weight would have been around 72.5 kg (145 jin). Not thin at all. Moreover, he was a laborer with considerable strength.

Being attacked from behind meant either the victim trusted the killer enough to expose his back, or he obeyed him completely.

Could he have been controlled by the killer like the driver in the Duping poisoning case?

Zhou Hai shook his head again, then closed his eyes.

He recalled the footprint found in the residential room above the photo studio, which had allowed them to infer the killer’s height and weight—an assessment even Xu Biao had made earlier and Zhou Hai had agreed with.

Size 42–43 shoes. Slight outward foot pressure (eight-character gait). Sliding marks between steps. Age estimated 20–35.

Now, Dong Bin’s body data surprisingly matched that profile even more closely.

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes.

So the original analysis wasn’t wrong—but incomplete.

Dong Bin was right-handed based on calluses.

However, both the killer who murdered Xi Xi and Dong Bin were left-handed.

This meant there was not just one killer.

When the killer entered the vacant room on the third floor, he likely executed a perfect “escape through deception.” Dong Bin was merely bait—designed to draw police attention.

The killer had handed over clothing, shoe covers, everything to Dong Bin for disposal. Dong Bin was used to erase evidence and act as a decoy during his day working at the photo studio.

A highly meticulous plan.

At that moment, the autopsy room door suddenly opened. Xu Biao rushed in.

From the weight of the box in his hands, it was clear he had found something significant. In his other hand, he carried a large bag.

Before Zhou Hai could ask, Xu Biao spoke excitedly:

“I found a lot of good stuff! That workshop is basically an armory—look at these!”

As he spoke, he opened the investigation box on the adjacent table. The contents were revealed: tactical knives, multi-function blade sets, and weapons disguised as various everyday objects—ingeniously designed and highly skilled craftsmanship.

Several small items even had numbered labels. Although the meaning of the numbers was unclear, Zhou Hai suspected they were related to orders.

“Good. Anything else? Any blueprints?”