SFTD -Chapter 93 Man in the Wall (Part 3)

Half an hour later, Chu Menghan followed the group back to the forensic center.

The on-duty staff members looked at the hearse behind them and felt their scalps tighten. It was as if the air itself had dropped several degrees. They forced a stiff smile at Xu Biao.

“Xú Trace Examiner, didn’t your second team only handle criminal cases starting on the first of each month? Why are you here at this hour?”

Xu Biao pulled his cap down and shrank his neck into his collar. The night wind was bone-chilling—after standing a while, even his feet felt numb. He patted the on-duty staff member on the shoulder in a familiar, brotherly manner.

“Old brother, check your phone. It’s already past midnight—now it’s January 1st, 2015.
Our second team is practical. Holidays or rest days don’t matter—work comes first. Hurry and get someone to help move the body.”

The man didn’t seem bothered by Xu Biao’s familiarity. After thinking for a moment, he nodded.

“Mm… Dr. Zhou is really something. I’ve never seen a returnee like him before. I’ll help move it.”

Together, they transported the body to Examination Room No. 1—the high-decomposition autopsy room. As the name suggested, its ventilation system was the best. It had essentially become Zhou Hai’s dedicated autopsy room, rarely used by others. Fortunately, it was winter, so although the smell was strong, it was still bearable.

After delivering the body, the on-duty staff’s face turned pale as he quickly left, glancing back at them with sympathy. Xu Biao held back his laughter.

“Hey, Hai-zi, look at Old Wang’s sympathetic eyes. We do such exhausting work for just a few thousand yuan a month, and even he can’t stand it. Chu beauty, when you meet the bureau leaders, help us put in a word, alright?”

Chu Menghan said nothing, but she actually nodded in agreement for once. Xu Biao immediately beamed.

Zhou Hai took a deep breath and put on his gas mask as he looked at the mass on the dissection table.

Seeing Xiao Liang already pushing the X-ray machine away, it seemed the imaging direction had already been sorted out. Zhou Hai made a clockwise circling gesture with his finger, and Xiao Liang quickly turned the ventilation system to maximum.

The airflow did seem to help a bit. Zhou Hai glanced at Chu Menghan.

“You should go upstairs to watch the footage. It’s too smelly here.”

“I need a gas mask too.”

Xiao Liang looked at Zhou Hai. Seeing her insistence, Zhou Hai nodded helplessly.

He knew Chu Menghan wanted a more detailed understanding—observing the autopsy directly would help her find clues. Many details couldn’t be captured in written reports.

She put on the gas mask and stepped up to the table. Xu Biao had already finished photographing the exterior for documentation, so the next step was cutting open the wrapping.

Still, Zhou Hai circled the bundle once more and flipped it over to inspect the back.

“Pliers.”

Xiao Liang brought over a large pair of pliers. Following Zhou Hai’s instructions, they cut through layers of copper wire. Xu Biao and Xiao Liang removed all the wires and placed them on a nearby table.

“Xu Biao, did you try to lift fingerprints?”

“Sprayed reagent—no reaction at all. Probably because the outer layer was pressed too tightly against concrete, leaving no trace.”

Zhou Hai nodded.

Together, they removed the outer wrapping—only to discover there wasn’t just one layer. Inside was another layer of plastic sheeting, also tightly bound with copper wire.

Xiao Liang quickly cut the wires again. Without being told, Xu Biao sprayed Luminol along an edge. A faint dotted glow appeared, and he immediately cut out that section of plastic.

Beneath it was a quilt.

The quilt had hardened into a shell. The four of them struggled to peel it open before finally revealing the full body.

“Damn… a mummy!”

The corpse was completely naked, dark brown-black in color, knees slightly bent, arms crossed and held against the abdomen.

The limbs and head were fully mummified. The torso showed significant adipocere-like changes. In a coastal city like East South City, such a state of decomposition was extremely rare.

Zhou Hai gently moved the victim’s arm. Beneath the abdomen was a small pillow. Together with Xiao Liang, he carefully separated it from the body.

They then discovered that only skin and ribs remained in the abdomen. There was a curved incision across it.

Zhou Hai reached under the sternum. Inside was completely hollow and hardened—no internal organs remained. The pillow had only been used to fill the abdominal cavity.

They peeled away a dark, stiff towel stuck to the pelvis. As it came off with a tearing “sizzle,” everyone behind him inhaled sharply.

Even in mummified form, it was clear the victim’s genital area and surrounding flesh had been severely mutilated.

All the men instinctively clenched their legs.

“Damn… a man-made eunuch!”

Xu Biao blurted it out, then quickly realized Chu Menghan was present and awkwardly shifted aside.

“Uh… Chu beauty, pretend you didn’t hear that.”

Fengzi, unlike Xu Biao, remained composed but frowned deeply.

“Boss, if it’s already mummified, why is the corpse still so strongly odorous?”

“Hard to say. Mummification requires very specific conditions. Maybe it decomposed in a sealed environment until reaching saturation, then slowly dried out? And later the environment changed—like when holes were drilled during renovation—so decomposition resumed.”

Zhou Hai pressed the abdominal cavity. The incision felt like leather under his glove, with a gritty texture.

Sand? Or salt?

“Chu team leader, has the construction timeline and contractor of the Sophia Hotel been confirmed?”

Chu Menghan paused.

“I asked the hotel manager downstairs. He said it was built by Dongjian Group. Construction started in September 2012 and it only opened at the end of 2014. As for ready-mix concrete and most construction work, it was subcontracted. The specific contractors would need to be provided by Dongjian.”

Zhou Hai nodded, dropping the grains onto a stainless steel tray with a crisp sound. Everyone gathered closer.

Fengzi picked up a grain with tweezers and examined it under a magnifier.

“What is this, boss?”

Zhou Hai reached into the chest cavity again. Using the handle of a scalpel, he scraped down more hardened mixed particles of salt and soil, which clattered onto the tray.

“This is a mixture of coarse salt and sand. All internal organs were removed, and the chest and abdominal cavities were filled with large amounts of salt and soil—essentially pickled. That’s likely why the body could become mummified.”

He carefully examined the body. No fractures or external injuries were found on the limbs or skeleton.

“Xiao Liang, did you take full-body X-rays?”

“Yes!”

He opened the images on a nearby computer. On the large screen, the first image showed the feet.

“The right foot’s first to fifth metatarsals show signs of healed fractures. The callus growth is parallel and all on the dorsal side—typical of crushing or heavy impact injuries. But the healing was poor. It looks like the cast was removed too early. So the victim likely did heavy physical labor and couldn’t afford long rest. The fracture is probably about six months old and didn’t heal properly.”

Zhou Hai continued scrolling through the X-rays—from legs to torso. No further fractures were found. Even ribs and hyoid bone were intact.

Until he paused at the skull.

It was a sagittal lateral X-ray.

A long, thin object was clearly embedded in the skull.

It entered from the occipital region and extended all the way to the orbital base. There was no obvious fracture or fragmentation—just a slender, sharp object.

What exactly was it?