National Forensic Doctor

Chapter 1346: Chapter 1272: Point of Contradiction

The high-speed centrifuge was buzzing, making Jacob feel itchy. noveldrama

What is that non-muscular residue? Could centrifugal separation help with the investigation?

Jacob felt it wasn’t reliable. The body was dumped in the sewer, so it could have been contaminated with dirt or something.

Of course, it could also be some particle related to the case, but particle analysis usually ends at the elemental level, and this information rarely leads to any conclusion.

Jacob looked at Jiang Yuan’s expression again, only to find him extremely calm, and couldn’t help but ask, "What do you think it is?"

Jiang Yuan looked at Jacob strangely: "We’ll know after looking through the electron microscope, right."

"Oh, I thought you already had an expectation." Jacob was still impressed by Jiang Yuan’s demeanor during the autopsy.

Jiang Yuan shook his head: "Trace evidence is primarily analyzed in real-time. Guessing in advance is meaningless."

"That makes sense... but... what if we can’t analyze the results?" Jacob was a bit conflicted.

Jiang Yuan said indifferently, "If we can’t analyze the results, we’ll have to look in other directions."

For Jiang Yuan, the skill set he currently possesses is very comprehensive. He has a certain space to handle any clues given. Of course, some directions can’t be dealt with perfectly, but he can provide infinite technical solutions.

So, from Jiang Yuan’s perspective, gathering as many clues as possible and then deducing along the way is the main line, whether any cleverness along the way can save time and energy doesn’t necessarily affect the final result.

In Jacob’s eyes, Jiang Yuan, who is almost perfect, should originally be a character like Zhuge Liang who plans without fail... This mode of deducing answers based on results clearly doesn’t align with the portrayals in Chinese storytelling...

At this moment, Wei Shikan, holding a hand crank coffee grinder, strolled over upon hearing the translation and said, "Master is confident that any result can turn into a clue."

Jacob listened to the translated words reciting back and suddenly was dazed.

The centrifuge gradually quietened down.

The technician stepped forward, removed the centrifuge tube, and used sterile tweezers to open the lid, then transferred 30 microliters to a slide with a micropipette.

Next, the sample was placed in a vacuum coating machine to apply a 10-nanometer carbon layer. This is to avoid charge accumulation affecting imaging for non-conductive samples.

After such a hassle, the slide was placed into the vacuum chamber of a multimillion-dollar scanning electron microscope.

The equipment used by Dama is mostly produced in Europe and America, expensive and overpowered, but indeed effective.

The final result was quickly produced.

"Barium, antimony, aluminum, a total of three elements." The technician gave the answer on the spot and added, "This is likely bullet residue. Barium nitrate and antimony sulfide are commonly used in bullet primers."

At this point, even a random intern would understand why the killer dismembered the victim’s chest.

Dama is also a country where guns are forbidden.

Previously, the smuggler Cai Dachui had a gun, but it’s still somewhat difficult for ordinary people to get hold of one.

In other words, following the gun could also help find the killer, at least narrow down the range of suspects.

On another hand, the dismemberment by the killer was likely to retrieve the bullet.

Everyone at the scene fell into contemplation.

Soon, Ni Cha and Zhong Renlong arrived upon hearing the news.

At this moment, the technician also produced a report, which was handed to Ni Cha.

Ni Cha read it repeatedly, revealing a relaxed expression. God Jiang was still God Jiang; he could now feel relieved.

"As expected of God Jiang, this changes the dismemberment logic in this case entirely." Ni Cha praised, while explaining the case: "We previously investigated the nearby residents, all claiming they didn’t notice anything unusual, not even the sound of gunfire. So, could it be that the killer dumped the body from a distance?"

"Very likely." Jiang Yuan agreed. Although modern buildings have good soundproofing, and silencers exist, using an axe to dismember and retrieve the bullet wasn’t very professional.

"But, if that’s the case, why dump the body in a bustling area of the city, instead of somewhere more remote, where it might not be discovered so quickly?" Ni Cha questioned again sensibly. NovelFire

Jiang Yuan nodded slowly, "That is indeed a contradiction."

This contradiction could very likely be the key to solving the case, Ni Cha smiled triumphantly.

However, Jiang Yuan didn’t continue analyzing but said, "Let’s do trace evidence on that plastic sheet as well, and scan it with an electron microscope."

"Should we cut it down for that?" The technician hesitated a bit as this would entail a lot of work, given the microscope’s high magnification ratio, it can only scan a limited area each time.

Jiang Yuan shook his head: "The body wrapped in the plastic sheet has mixed everywhere, so pinpointing where we found the trace evidence is meaningless. Take part of the plastic sheet, brush the surface and send it through the centrifuge, into the microscope to see what we find."

The technician thought for a moment and immediately understood: "If the killer shot the victim while pressing them onto the plastic sheet or made them kneel on it before killing, there might be gunshot residue on the plastic sheet. Otherwise, it likely means the body was moved."

The police officers present also responded accordingly.

Ni Cha immediately said, "Execution-style killings are indeed different. We’ve recently encountered similar cases."

In the city, when needing to kill, pressing someone on a plastic sheet or making them kneel on it is the cleanest way to kill. Once the blood is washed clean, there’s generally little other human tissue exposed.

In the wild, killing need not be as troublesome; blood and small amounts of human tissue are dealt with by nature’s decomposers.

Execution-style killings also indicate that it’s not accidental or self-defense. It’s active murder, which still holds considerable value in Dama’s courts.

Additionally, execution-style killings showcase the perpetrator’s certain level of combat skills, potentially being professional or semi-professional - which again contradicts the body being dumped in a bustling area.

While Ni Cha and others were contemplating the associations, Jiang Yuan stood up and announced, "Next, I’m going to boil the body parts and perform an anthropological analysis on the bones. It’ll probably take about a day."

"Oh... okay." Ni Cha hurriedly replied and added, "We’ve prepared dinner, it’s Dama’s special hot pot, should we eat first and then boil the body?"

"Start boiling the corpse and then have dinner, the time to cook until bones detach should be about right." Jiang Yuan finished and asked Jacob: "Do you have a large water bath kettle?"

"Not large enough to boil a whole person, might need to cook them separately, luckily it’s already chopped up..." Even though Jacob is a forensic doctor, he felt a bit in hell saying this and quickly stopped, calling his subordinates, "We have a few pressure cookers and small water bath kettles, enough to cook about three-quarters... roughly eighty pounds, the rest might need a second batch."

Cooking twice wastes a bit of time since forensic anthropology only requires the bones, and cooking large chunks to the degree of bone separation takes a while.

As for cutting the already dismembered body parts further... that isn’t something forensic doctors are too fond of doing either.

Jiang Yuan then turned to Ni Cha and said: "You said you prepared hot pot, can we use the hot pot’s pot to boil the body first?"

Presently, Ni Cha wished Jiang Yuan couldn’t speak Indonesian.

Unfortunately, he understood.

Swallowing his saliva, Ni Cha sincerely responded, "Alright. God Jiang. I’ll have them bring the pot over now."

Anyway, he didn’t like hot pot.