Chapter 5 Cause of Death Found_1

Zhou Ning shook his head.

"Xu Da, just tell me specifically what more to look into, I didn't understand."

Xu Dayuan chuckled twice.

"Don't pretend, you youngsters are all at an age of restlessness, acting all innocent with me. Whatever needs investigating, you tell me what needs investigating?"

As he spoke, Xu Da raised his hand, and Zhou Ning quickly dodged. A thought flashed through his mind, and he understood what Xu Dayuan meant—it was the hymen he was referring to, no need for all the sneaking around.

"Got it, got it!"

Xu Dayuan lowered his hand, put his hat on properly as if the person about to hit someone wasn't him.

"Right, any new developments on your end?"

Zhou Ning was somewhat embarrassed. Could he admit that if the school badge hadn't stuck him, he wouldn't have found out?

"I just spoke with my mentor on the phone. I've measured…"

"State the result."

"The time of death of the deceased, we estimate it to be between 2:00-3:00 A.M. on the morning of September 27, which is today. Later, after my mentor finishes his injection, he'll come over to start the autopsy. I haven't done one independently before."

Xu Dayuan glanced at the time—it was already 11:40. If they started now at noon, it wasn't realistic.

"Alright, notify me immediately once the cause of death is determined. Oh, and take this police communicator,"

With that, Xu Dayuan tossed the police communicator to Zhou Ning and turned to leave. Zhou Ning examined it and couldn't help feeling it looked familiar. Wasn't this Mr. Liu's?

Zhou Ning was speechless for a moment, glanced at the body, and his stomach growled loudly.

Brother's hungry, they just left, what about lunch?

Zhou Ning walked out of the door, and sure enough, Mr. Liu was gone. He sighed in frustration.

Complaining was useless; any further delay and lunch would be ruined.

He jogged out, heading straight for the morgue. Surprisingly, he found Mr. Liu squatting there with an old man, smoking. Seeing Zhou Ning approach, they instinctively hid their cigarettes behind them.

"Doctor Zhou, ah, you gave me a fright. Why have you come out?"

Seeing a familiar face, Zhou Ning also relaxed. Being alone with a body wasn't scary, but it was definitely not a pleasant feeling, even if the girl had once been beautiful.

"Help me put the body into the refrigeration cabinet first. I'll perform the autopsy after lunch."

Mr. Liu and the old man both stood up, put out their cigarettes, and it was clear the old man was the morgue attendant. No young person wanted this job.

The three of them bagged the body, placed it on the cart, and wheeled it into the refrigeration cabinet. Zhou Ning stripped off his medical gear and washed his hands several times before leaving the autopsy room.

Mr. Liu grinned at Zhou Ning, raising a bag in his hand.

"The hospital canteen sent this, where shall we eat?"

Before Zhou Ning could respond, the old man pointed towards the gazebo in the south of the courtyard, where there were stone tables and benches.

Zhou Ning wasn't fussy; the canteen had delivered boxed lunches, and he presumed Doctor Liu had this habit before. He certainly didn't want to eat in the autopsy room.

Even though it didn't disgust him, the thought of food smells drifting around during the afternoon autopsy made him queasy.

Pulling the old man along, the three of them ate well—stir-fried peppers with pork, braised ribbonfish, roast pork, and hot and sour shredded potatoes. Four boxes of dishes, four boxes of rice, they devoured everything like a tornado.

With plenty of time to spare, they had a long chat. Zhou Ning learned that Mr. Liu was named Liu Yong and that his father was a traffic cop who hoped he could land a permanent position, which is why he started working as an auxiliary police officer.

Zhou Ning drank a bottle of water and took a short rest, checking the time to see it was already half-past one, before dialing Doctor Liu's number.

"Mentor!"

"You've been monitoring me, haven't you? I just finished with my injection; wait for my wife to push me over."

Liu Yong efficiently packed away the stuff while the old man waved and headed towards the morgue; he needed to retrieve the body with Liu Yong.

Zhou Ning stood up, looking toward the small path on the south side of the courtyard, deducing from Doctor Liu's words that he must be in the county hospital.

After a short wait, Doctor Liu, pushed along by his wife, approached. Seeing the cast on his leg, Zhou Ning knew he would have to conduct the autopsy himself.

He quickly stepped forward, greeted Doctor Liu's wife, who was told to return first and to call later to pick him up. She didn't speak, but her face was full of concern.

"Auntie, don't worry, I won't let Doctor Liu do any work. Just supervise me because this is my first autopsy and I'm really not confident."

Zhou Ning quickly took over the wheelchair and explained.

The woman waved her hand.

"I know it's not easy for you all, go on then. If you need to use the bathroom, hold it in rather than letting the young folks take care of you. It's rather embarrassing."

Doctor Liu's old face turned red.

"Get going, talking such nonsense!"

Zhou Ning dared not laugh. Pushing Doctor Liu to the autopsy room. As soon as they entered and saw the body, Doctor Liu put on his reading glasses and, with Mr. Liu's help, struggled to stand up.

"It's quite tragic. Have you found the information on the deceased?"

Zhou Ning gave a brief introduction, handing over to Doctor Liu the information he had compiled, the results of the external examination, and the X-rays, which Zhou Ning didn't quite understand.

"Kid, you've done well. Mr. Liu, get me a taller chair, the one next to the microscope, yes, that's the one!"

Mr. Liu, following commands, found an adjustable chair, on which Doctor Liu sat and used his uninjured foot to shuffle over to the other side of the autopsy table.

"Cut off the clothing. Begin the external examination. Afterward, you start the autopsy. Just go for it, everyone has their first time. If you make mistakes, I'm here. Don't worry if you work slowly. I'll tell you the steps. Focus on the stab wound between the right ribs after the routine check."

Zhou Ning nodded. After a morning's ordeals and absorbing a lesson from the forensic scene over lunch, he wasn't as bewildered as he had been that morning, and with Doctor Liu by his side, he felt much more confident.

Liu Yong heard an autopsy was starting and darted out.

Zhou Ning dressed appropriately, handed Doctor Liu a mask, and a telescopic rod while he positioned himself at the side of the autopsy bed with scissors, cutting away the deceased's clothing, which he placed on a side table, along with a branch that was embedded in the lower left leg.

He systematically recorded each characteristic of the body, from the pupils, conjunctiva, nasal cavity, mouth, to the external genitalia down to the toes, carefully observing and recording step by step according to Doctor Liu's instructions.

After completing these tasks, Zhou Ning looked up at Doctor Liu, who was tapping his rod on the autopsy table.

"Don't just stand there, start. First probe the wound below the ribcage."

Zhou Ning, wearing double layers of latex gloves with fingers interlocked to ensure a perfect fit, picked up a blunt probe and tried inserting it into the round wound below the deceased's ribcage. The probe sank deep into the flesh and it seemed to have not yet reached the bottom.

The probe didn't move much from side to side.

Doctor Liu uttered a sound of surprise and stretched his neck trying to look in this direction.

"That's deep. Use a longer probe and then measure the width of the wound. Such a narrow wound, what kind of stabbing weapon would make such a deep puncture?"

Zhou Ning switched to a longer, slightly thicker flat-round probe and carefully inserted it into the wound. This time it seemed to have touched bottom and he could feel the tip moving slightly up and down.

He measured the length and it was an astonishing 185 millimeters, the width barely 6 millimeters. Examining the edges of the wound under the magnifying glass, he saw sharp points protruding outward on both sides, aligned horizontally. He also found some black greasy substance mixed in with the congealed blood clots.

Zhou Ning scraped the greasy substance onto a glass slide and handed it to Doctor Liu.

"Master, I'm not sure what this black grease in the wound is. However, the wound is so narrow, the weapon must be both thin and long..."

Zhou Ning paused, noticing Doctor Liu staring at him with an encouraging look.

"A screwdriver, one of those very thin and long ones. I've seen a lot of computer repair guys use those."

Doctor Liu slapped his thigh, a movement that jostled his injured leg causing him to grimace in pain.

"Not bad, kid, you've figured it out. A thrust in that location beneath the rib would certainly cause severe damage to the organs. Go on and cut, just watch your hands! As for the greasy substance, we'll send it out for testing later."

Zhou Ning looked at Doctor Liu with gratitude. The old man obviously knew what the murder weapon was but had been waiting for his own judgment. Such a mentor was truly moving.

He made no further talk as he started the Y-incision, cutting from the neck to the abdomen to open up the thoracoabdominal wall. As he cut, he saw black-purple blood clots filling the abdominal cavity.

"Don't worry about those, just take samples and continue."

Zhou Ning nodded and proceeded to do as instructed, later separating the muscle tissues and ribs to examine the lungs and heart, collecting stomach contents.

He held up each of his findings for Doctor Liu to see, who continuously corrected Zhou Ning's technique, from the initial shaky incisions to the eventual organ examinations, until Zhou Ning had forgotten his nervousness.

After clearing most of the congealed blood clots, Zhou Ning was about to examine the spleen when Doctor Liu tapped Zhou Ning's arm with his rod.

"Don't rush with the scalpel. See whether the stab wound below the right rib affected the spleen."

Probing the stab site with the probe, Zhou Ning found the spleen moved in response, and Doctor Liu nodded in satisfaction.

"That settles it. We've found the cause of death."

Zhou Ning halted.

"Master, does that mean we're done with the autopsy?"