Life in North America, you call this an autopsy officer?!-Chapter 489 - 275: Corpses Can Talk, Shi San is Happy to be a Mother
Chapter 489: Chapter 275: Corpses Can Talk, Shi San is Happy to be a Mother
’’’Low Gift Energy talents can also have their own magic, like Brian’s Supercomputer Perception or now, Death Perception.’’’
’’’The principle of this talent was unclear to Brian, and its functions still needed further research, but at least it would make moonlighting much easier for him.’’’
’’’He could gather more fresh obsessions over time, and in the long run, it might not be inferior to those difficult and significant obsessions.’’’
...
’’’With a decent mood, Brian returned to the morgue.’’’
’’’The skeletal remains had been assembled.’’’
’’’There were a total of eight victims.’’’
’’’From subtle details, it was evident that there were five females and three males among the deceased.’’’
’’’Looking at the state of the bones and the wear on the teeth, the youngest victim was estimated to be over thirty years old, and the oldest was over sixty, who was also the only victim whose identity could be confirmed.’’’
’’’Assistant Tom found the identity information of the deceased from the code on the inside of a lost false tooth.’’’
’’’The deceased was named Osak, a white male, 63 years old, who had relatives, but after making contact, it was discovered that they had not been in touch for many years.’’’
’’’Osak was a blue-collar worker in his youth and lived a pretty good life until he went bankrupt from stock trading in middle age, lost everything afterward, and became homeless, with no further records available.’’’
’’’Homeless... death over five years ago.’’’
’’’These two pieces of information together basically amounted to useless information.’’’
’’’Apart from Osak, the rest of the seven victims were truly unidentifiable.’’’
’’’Faced with this situation, even someone as savvy as Brian felt somewhat helpless.’’’
’’’He could only conduct some basic trace investigations.’’’
...
’’’Inspecting bones is somewhat different from inspecting complete bodies.’’’
’’’This relies more on modern technology and experience.’’’
’’’For example, through bone analysis, the race and gender can be determined, and from the wear of the teeth and the structure of the skeleton, one can roughly estimate the age, likely profession, and pre-mortem height of a person. From the marks on the bones, one can determine possible pre-mortem traumas such as blunt force trauma, sharp instrument injuries, or other causes of death...’’’
’’’This was not Brian’s strong suit.’’’
’’’Even when he was at the Forensic Bureau, he seldom dealt with cases featuring only skeletal remains.’’’
’’’Such cases were generally handled by senior forensic doctors, and there was no need for someone like Brian to assist, so he had little experience with them.’’’
’’’Luckily, he had an edge.’’’
’’’Brian, wearing gloves, his eyes transforming into magnifying glasses, observed these cleaned bones meticulously.’’’
’’’From the surface traces, there were no apparent signs of pre-mortem tool injuries on these bones.’’’
’’’These people seemed to have been manual laborers, with severe wear and compression marks between their skeletons.’’’
’’’These were symptoms of long-term heavy lifting, climbing stairs for extended periods, bending over, etc., which, in a living person, would manifest as reduced spinal gaps, reduced stature, severe cartilage wear, herniated lumbar discs, and evident deformities in calves, toes, and fingers.’’’
’’’These victims also all had poor periodontal conditions.’’’
’’’This implied that they struggled economically.’’’
’’’People here often ate or were forced to eat sweet foods, making dental health a common issue.’’’
’’’Seeing a dentist isn’t cheap, and it forms a significant part of living expenses.’’’
’’’Most people would purchase health insurance to reduce potential expenses.’’’
’’’The problem is, not everyone can afford this insurance.’’’
’’’Take Brian’s younger brother Green as an example.’’’
’’’Before joining NW, Green was a low-ranking patrol officer at LAPD.’’’
’’’His after-tax annual salary was about forty to fifty thousand US dollars, which was only because Los Angeles is a wealthy major city with rich finances that he could earn this much.’’’
’’’Last year, the average hourly wage in Los Angeles ranked seventh globally, with a pre-tax average hourly wage of 19.6 US dollars, which approximates to 15.3 US dollars after taxes per hour.’’’
’’’That is to say, a monthly income of about 3300 US dollars after taxes was considered average.’’’
’’’Los Angeles itself has a vast gap between the rich and the poor.’’’
’’’Everyone who understands, knows.’’’
’’’Green’s income was slightly above the average annual income in Los Angeles.’’’
’’’But his life was exhausting.’’’
’’’He had to cover the property tax, home insurance, his supplemental commercial medical insurance, continuously rising car insurance, daily commute costs, etc., every month. This meant taking his family out for a meal a few times was difficult, so he, like most people, resorted to eating cheap, high-calorie food.’’’
’’’What about those earning less than Green?’’’
’’’First, they must ensure they can feed themselves.’’’ freeωebnovēl.c૦m
’’’Only then can they consider other things.’’’
’’’In summary.’’’
’’’These eight victims were all at the bottom of society, engaged in many ’unskilled’ manual labor jobs, lacked adequate health insurance, and had low resistance to external risks.’’’
’’’The reason I highlight ’unskilled’ manual labor is because labor here is expensive due to the skills required, not just mere labor, as purely mechanical labor is not valued highly in Los Angeles, abundant with illegal underground workers.’’’
’’’Don’t think there’s no competition here.’’’
’’’During times of lenient immigration policies, dishwashers who previously earned three to four thousand US dollars before taxes for working eleven to twelve hours a day were driven down to eight or nine hundred dollars a month, excluding food, with working hours even reaching up to fourteen hours, effectively turning into cheap human dishwashing machines.’’’
