The crackdown on organized crime began with the arrest of the mother-in-law.

Chapter 1483 The detachment prepares to dissect the corpse

At 8:30 PM, the operating lights in the autopsy room of the forensic identification center came on, illuminating the entire autopsy table with a cool white light. The autopsy room was fully equipped, with various autopsy instruments, specimen containers, and testing reagents arranged on both sides of the autopsy table. The ventilation system was running continuously, dispelling any possible odors in the air. Following the operating procedures, Xiao Lin removed the body from the refrigerated bag and placed it on the autopsy table. She then carefully washed the mud off the body's surface with warm water, moving gently to avoid disturbing any potential traces. Zhang Lin, dressed in a full autopsy gown, sterile gloves, and a protective mask, stood beside the autopsy table, holding an investigation lamp, carefully observing the overall condition of the body.

"The deceased is male, initially estimated to be between 35 and 45 years old, approximately 175 cm tall, of medium build, and of fair nutritional status." Zhang Lin's voice came through the protective mask, calm and clear. "There were no obvious deformities on the body surface, about 30% of the hair was gray, the teeth showed varying degrees of wear, and the upper left lateral incisor was missing, presumably due to long-term chewing of hard objects or external injury. The clothing consisted of a dark cotton jacket and blue jeans, both deformed from being soaked in silt. The tear on the chest of the jacket has been preliminarily cleaned; the irregular edges of the tear are consistent with the characteristics of a sharp object cutting, consistent with the findings of the on-site investigation." Xiao Lin quickly took notes while nodding in response: "Professor Zhang, after the clothing was cleaned, trace amounts of silt and fibrous material were extracted from the seams of the clothing. These will be sent to the laboratory after the autopsy to be compared with the fibers extracted at the scene. A small amount of suspected skin tissue and fibers were found under the fingernails and have been extracted and fixed with cotton swabs."

“Very good. Next, we will begin the systematic autopsy. We will start with a surface examination, followed by the thoracic cavity, abdominal cavity, and cranial cavity dissections, focusing on ruling out fatal injuries, accompanying injuries, and other abnormalities.” Zhang Lin, holding a scalpel, first conducted a detailed examination of the body's surface. “Besides the chest wound, there are multiple minor abrasions and contusions on the limbs and torso, mainly distributed on the wrists, elbows, knees, and back. The epidermis of the abrasions and contusions is peeled off, with irregular edges, and some areas are accompanied by subcutaneous bruising, which is dark purple in color. Combined with the drag marks at the scene, it is speculated that they were formed by friction with silt and stones during the dragging process.” He used a ruler to measure the size and depth of the abrasions and contusions, recording them one by one in the autopsy record book. “The abrasions and contusions show no signs of worsening with vital signs, indicating that the injuries were formed before death or in the near-death period, around the same time as the fatal injury.”

Next, Zhang Lin focused on examining the chest wound. "The chest wound is located between the fourth and fifth ribs on the left side of the sternum. It's fusiform in shape, 5.2 cm long and 1.3 cm wide. The wound edges are neat, with one blunt and one sharp angle, the sharp end pointing inwards and the blunt end outwards, consistent with a single-edged sharp instrument stab wound." He gently probed the depth of the wound with a probe. "The wound depth is approximately 8 cm. The wound path slopes obliquely inwards and upwards, penetrating the chest wall muscles and pleura, entering the pleural cavity. There are no interstitial bridges within the wound path, and the surrounding tissue shows slight contusions, consistent with typical sharp instrument stab wound presentation." Xiao Lin leaned closer to observe, asking with a hint of doubt, "Professor Zhang, there are a few irregular tear marks on the wound edges. Is this due to the material of the sharp instrument, or uneven force during the stab?"

Zhang Lin shook his head and further explained, "Judging from the shape of the tear marks, it's not a problem with the material of the sharp weapon. It's more likely that the victim struggled slightly during the stabbing, causing the sharp weapon to rotate slightly within the wound, or that the blade had a minor nick. Combining this with the metal residue extracted from the scene, we speculate that the weapon used was a single-edged knife, with a blade length of at least 6 centimeters and a width of about 2 centimeters, made of steel, and possibly with slight wear. In addition, there were a small amount of splattered blood residue around the wound, which had dried and solidified, echoing the splattered blood on the reed stems at the scene, confirming that the victim was stabbed in the chest with a sharp weapon at the time of the incident, and the blood splattered onto the surrounding objects." He used a cotton swab to collect the blood residue around the wound, sealed it, and preserved it, "to conduct DNA comparison with the blood at the scene later to confirm whether they are from the same source."

After the physical examination, Zhang Lin began the thoracic dissection. Holding a scalpel, he made a longitudinal incision along the midline of the sternum, from the lower edge of the mandible to above the pubic symphysis, sequentially cutting through the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and chest wall muscles to expose the sternum and ribs. "There was no obvious bleeding or swelling in the chest wall muscles, no fractures in the sternum or ribs, and the pleura was smooth with no adhesions." Zhang Lin used a bone saw to cut open the sternum and open the thoracic cavity. "There was a small amount of blood in the thoracic cavity, about 200 ml. The blood was dark red and poorly coagulated, indicating a short bleeding time; the deceased died rapidly after being stabbed."

He carefully examined the organs in the chest cavity, checking the damage to the heart, lungs, trachea, esophagus, and other tissues one by one: "There is a puncture wound in the upper lobe of the left lung, corresponding to the location of the wound on the chest wall. The wound edges are neat, and the depth is about 3 centimeters. The lung tissue is dark red due to bleeding, but there is no emphysema. There is a puncture wound on the anterior wall of the left ventricle of the heart, which is 2.1 centimeters long and 0.8 centimeters wide. The wound tract penetrates the ventricular wall and enters the ventricular cavity. There is a lot of blood in the ventricular cavity, and the myocardial tissue has obvious contusions." Zhang Lin gently lifted the heart with tweezers. "The fatal injury is clear. It was a single-edged sharp instrument stabbing the chest, penetrating the chest wall and lung tissue, and damaging the left ventricle of the heart, resulting in cardiac rupture, hemorrhagic shock, and death, which is consistent with the preliminary judgment."

Xiao Lin quickly recorded the autopsy data and asked, "Professor Zhang, death from a ruptured heart is usually very quick. Did the victim have time to struggle? Judging from the drag marks at the scene, was the victim already completely dead when the murderer dragged the body?" Zhang Lin pondered for a moment and replied, "A ruptured heart is a fatal injury, especially a ruptured left ventricle. Blood will rapidly rush into the chest cavity and ventricular cavity, causing a sharp drop in blood pressure and insufficient blood supply to the brain. The victim usually dies within 1-3 minutes of the injury, with very little time to struggle. Judging from the abrasions and contusions on the body surface and the state of hemothorax, the dragging should have occurred in the victim's dying phase or shortly after death. At this time, the victim no longer has the ability to move independently, which is consistent with the characteristic of a relatively strenuous drag mark at the scene."

After completing the thoracic autopsy, Zhang Lin continued with the abdominal autopsy to check for any damage or lesions to the abdominal organs: "The abdominal organs were in normal positions, and the liver, spleen, stomach, intestines, and other organs showed no damage or bleeding. The stomach contents weighed approximately 100 grams and consisted of semi-digested rice, vegetables, and a small amount of meat. The food composition was simple, and there were no signs of abnormal toxin residue. Based on the degree of digestion of the stomach contents, it was preliminarily determined that the last meal was taken 4-6 hours before death." He extracted some of the stomach contents and placed them in a specimen container, "sending them to the laboratory for toxicology testing to rule out the possibility of death by poisoning, and further refine the time of the last meal to provide a basis for determining the time of death."