Chapter 18 1/3 Palm Lines_1

"Stop dawdling and get to work,"

Zhou Ning's resistance was futile. He sighed and, despite his disgust, began the cleanup.

Once he got started, the cleaning went quickly. It took Zhou Ning just over ten minutes to finish. He secured the lid on the glass jar and placed it on the lower shelf of the stainless-steel cart beside him, feeling a bit more at ease.

This time, Doctor Liu didn't require Zhou Ning's assistance for the autopsy and took the lead himself. He knelt on a chair with his leg encased in plaster, swiftly dissecting according to procedure, all the while instructing Zhou Ning to take notes on the autopsy findings and collect samples.

The victim, Li Delin, had seven knife wounds. The slash on his neck had cut the carotid artery, but the opening wasn't large. Five stabs to his lower abdomen hadn't damaged any vital organs, whereas the one to his back had pierced his heart—a fatal blow.

Removing the glove-like skin from the hands revealed multiple cuts. The index finger on the right hand was almost completely severed, clearly a defensive wound.

The murder weapon was an ordinary stainless-steel pointed watermelon knife with a brand name Zhang Xiaochu, lacking a guard and with a stainless-steel handle.

Zhou Ning measured it: the tip had a 75° angle, the blade was 26 centimeters in total length, and the edge was 14.5 centimeters long. At the very end of the handle, there was a piece of dried cucumber skin no bigger than a grain of rice, still identifiable, a clear case of using what was at hand.

Li Delin's stomach was also empty. Zhou Ning quickly said,

"When we found the body, there was vomit beside the pool of blood. I estimated it to be about 500ml, and I've taken a sample."

Doctor Liu nodded in approval.

"Good job. Did you measure the maggots and pupae on the spot?"

"I did. Based on those measurements, we estimated the time of death. Oh, right, I found a shopping receipt from Ligun Supermarket in the pocket of the deceased's trousers, dated October 18th. It included a variety of meats, eggs, vegetables—a significant amount. However, the fridge at the female victim Zhu Meifeng's home was empty, and we found no packaging or similar items in the trashcan,"

Doctor Liu looked up at Zhou Ning.

"Show me the photos of the vomit sample and the receipt."

Zhou Ning peeled off a layer of latex gloves and brought up the photos on the camera, holding them before Doctor Liu, who leaned back to see them.

"Kid, do you not realize old eyes aren't that good? How can I see anything if you hold it that close? Woah, these are all high-end items, like tomahawk steak and avocados. They were gearing up for a Western meal!"

Zhou Ning nodded, agreeing with the assessment.

"Yes, I think so too. I can't make anything out of the vomit since it's all dried up."

Doctor Liu glanced at the sample and shook his head as he continued,

"Looks like there are carrots and some kind of meat. We'll know once it's tested. Alright, the autopsy is complete. Mark it, and let's compare the DNA of the fetus from the female victim with this male victim."

Zhou Ning paused.

"Master, do you suspect Zhu Meifeng's child is Li Delin's?"

Doctor Liu hummed affirmatively, his stitching didn't stop, and he secured the final knot before pausing.

"Yes, trust a young person's sixth sense. It doesn't hurt to check. We can't do DNA testing here; it has to be sent to the city's testing center, which is slow. Get Xu Da to hurry them up; the results might be available by tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.

Fingerprint the knife handle first, then send it for analysis and mark this: compare the substances collected from the knife with the contents of the male victim's stomach. That way, we can confirm whether the knife was sourced on the spot by the murderer."

Hearing this, Zhou Ning felt overwhelmed.

He glanced at the large transparent screen subconsciously. The countdown was already at 59:49. Twelve hours had passed, and they had just finished the autopsy. With the lab results not due until the next afternoon, there would be even less time left.

The second part of the intermediate task was to find the killer and all the evidence.

All the evidence... Isn't that setting us up for failure?

Doctor Liu sat in his chair and kicked Zhou Ning's shoe with his uninjured foot.

"What are you daydreaming about? Or has hunger made you stupid? Call someone to collect the bodies. You don't think it stinks enough already?"

Zhou Ning responded with an "Oh" and hurried to the door, kicking it open. Zhao Xinli and the others squatting in the corridor all stood up quickly.

"All done?"

"The autopsy is over. Quickly, call some guys to help move the body to the morgue."

Zhao Xinli and his team entered, and aside from Doctor Liu, everyone pitched in to transfer the body to the gurney and away.

Back at his workstation, Zhou Ning collected fingerprints from the knife handle. After some effort, he lifted two complete prints and several more that belonged to the creased gloves. Next to the glove marks, he also found a third of a palm print.

This discovery made Zhou Ning pause and look up at Doctor Liu.

"Master, we found two fingerprints and a palm print on the knife, along with more traces of lined gloves. Since the knife handle had no guard, and given the fierce stabbing with defensive wounds on the victim, does that mean the killer's hand might also be injured?"

Doctor Liu had already taken off his heavy isolation suit, his hair completely stuck to his forehead, and he wiped his sweat away with a smile.

"No wonder Xu Da likes you, this inclination to think is really rare, your analysis is very reliable. The killer's right hand might have injuries, let's wait for the final test results, if we're lucky enough, we might extract the killer's bloodstains from the knife."

Zhou Ning knew that finding the killer's blood would be like hitting the jackpot.

But having the wound was good, at least it could narrow down the range of suspects to search.

"Stop dawdling, call Xu Da, he has been waiting for the autopsy results."

Zhou Ning dialed Xu Dayuan's cell phone, it rang once and the call connected.

"Is the autopsy finished?"

"Yeah, Xu Da shall we report the autopsy results to you now?"

Time was ticking, he was more anxious than Xu Dayuan and the others; there was no need to hide it now, and Zhou Ning hurriedly shared his thoughts.

"Ha, you're even more impatient. Let Zhao Xinli and the others bring you back, we're at the station."

Doctor Liu finished washing his hands and wiped the sweat from his face, then waved at Zhou Ning.

"Take the autopsy records with you, just listen in at the case meeting, and bring all the samples and the weapon too. Talk about the sent tests first, we can't wait for that, I'm heading back now, have been standing for nine hours, my legs are numb."

Zhou Ning didn't hold him back, he was already very grateful that Doctor Liu had come along today and volunteered to work on the highly decomposed body, and being so considerate of the newcomers when he was just half a year from retirement, this master was indeed a rarity.

"Thanks, Master, I'll leave with them now, but how will you get back?"

Doctor Liu waved his hand.

"I'll just take a taxi and go, don't worry about these trifles, hurry up and leave. Xu Da is an impatient man, the kind who wants to be a father the day after getting married. Keep up with his pace to avoid getting scolded, got it?"

"Okay then, I'm off!"

Zhou Ning quickly cleaned up and packed all the evidence bags into boxes, took the two autopsy records and the camera, and left straightaway.

Zhao Xinli was on the phone at the door, and beckoned to Zhou Ning as he saw him.

"... Okay, Chief, we'll head back to the station right away."

The group got into the car and sped off toward the criminal police team's headquarters.

Doctor Liu limped out of the autopsy room. The old man from the morgue came over and took the pack of cigarettes from Doctor Liu, pulled one out, and very naturally pocketed the rest. They lit their cigarettes and started chatting casually, puffing out clouds of smoke.

"This young man doesn't seem too bad, but your leg has just gotten better, why is it in a cast again?"

Doctor Liu glared at him.

"If I didn't pretend to be injured, I wouldn't have bothered coming to the scene today. How else to train him? The difference between theoretical learning and actual practice is huge. The apprentice I had before was quite capable too, but ran away after less than two months, so this time I had to use some tactics."

Elder Cui laughed, shook his head, and humming a tune, walked back toward the morgue.

...

October 27, 21:37

Qidong County Criminal Police Team Meeting Room.

As Zhou Ning opened the door, Xu Dayuan and the others looked over. Seeing the boxes in Zhou Ning's hands, they quickly motioned him over.

"Chunyang, hurry and send someone to take the samples to the forensic lab's testing department in the city. I've called ahead, they've got people ready to work overtime for us."

Zhou Ning exhaled, put the list written on the way on top of the box, and handed it over to He Chunyang.

"Mr. He, this is the list of things that need testing, corresponding to the sampling numbers. There's one that needs DNA comparison, and that should be done first. It's best to have someone wait for the test results to come out and email them to me immediately."

He Chunyang smiled and nodded, taking the box to make arrangements as Xu Dayuan gestured for Zhou Ning to sit down.

"Sit, tell us the results of the autopsy, has the estimation of the victim's time of death changed at all?"