National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1114 - 1045: Not Quite the Same

"This is the case Jiang Yuan is currently working on. The suspect appears to be a serial killer, provoking the police."

"Provoking the police in Ningtai? Wouldn’t that be provoking Jiang Yuan directly?"

"The specifics aren’t entirely clear yet..."

"Forget about who the killer is for now, just focus on the case. Jiang Yuan is leading the investigation, right? Has he solved it yet?"

"No, not yet. It’s been over a week now, and they’ve only managed to confirm the identity of one victim. The sources for the other two bodies remain unidentified."

"Hmm, let’s take a look."

Over at the ministerial lodging, a group of forensic doctors gathered for a conference had shifted their discussion towards Jiang Yuan and the case he was investigating.

There are over 2,800 districts and counties nationwide, encompassing more than 20,000 towns, 7,000 villages, and 8,000 streets. Within such a vast scope, an ordinary person truly is just average—if you can’t rank first among those around you, then there’s no point in talking about a national ranking. But regardless of rankings, phrases like "one case, three corpses," "serial killer," and "provoking the police" combined still pack a punch.

This is the kind of case that an ordinary forensic doctor might never encounter in their lifetime.

A diligent, hard-working forensic doctor wouldn’t even be noticed by criminals, let alone provoke them into murder.

Even if targeted, a case of such importance probably wouldn’t fall to an entry-level forensic doctor to investigate—they might not even qualify to assist. Standing on the sidelines, handling evidence, perhaps that’s as far as they might go, and even then, it’s likely to involve handling the corpses directly.

Even the forensic doctors qualified to attend the ministerial conference furrowed their brows in envy when discussing Jiang Yuan’s case.

"This case is truly a tough one. The killer seems to be knowledgeable; they’ve cleaned the bodies, tossed them into the river, and with all the decomposition—usable clues are extremely limited."

"Now that’s someone who clearly knows what they’re doing."

"Do you have any documents on the case? Let’s take a look."

A forensic doctor did indeed pull out a notebook, saying, "I got some photos from the scene, along with images of the corpses and bones, from someone on Jiang Yuan’s Cold Case Squad. They wanted me to take a look—how about we all analyze them together?"

The eldest forensic doctor pushed the plate in front of him forward, signaling to place the notebook there.

The group gathered close without pretension, crowding around the screen, eyes fixed as they jostled to make space for each other.

The senior forensic doctor clicked the mouse at his own pace.

Everyone present was a nationally recognized expert, their technical prowess beyond question. Individually, they were far younger; if anything, they’d review the photos faster than he would.

There were only a few dozen photos in total. The elder forensic doctor pressed diligently through them all, then fell into deep thought.

The others adopted similar expressions.

After a while, someone squeezed to the front and started flipping through the photos themselves.

Some photos included scales for reference, which allowed for concrete measurements to be derived.

Different forensic doctors have different needs for data.

Several forensic doctors took out notebooks and began making notes.

Meanwhile, some others quietly returned to their seats.

No forensic doctor is entirely unfamiliar with forensic anthropology. Even the most junior forensic practitioners know how to determine gender based on the pelvis or pubic bone. However, few understand forensic anthropology deeply.

Among the nationally ranked forensic doctors present, their skills in forensic pathology were all above Level 3, with some renowned enough to start at Level 3 Great Perfection.

However, forensic anthropology lacks a certain rational standard—it’s akin to skull restoration techniques, blending half science with half mysticism, cloaked further in a hazy veil of artistry.

Those specializing in forensic anthropology are predominantly anthropologists, including physical anthropologists, who graduate with degrees in law. Forensic doctors, on the other hand, hold medical degrees. Though not entirely unrelated, the two fields are distinct.

Forensic doctors who understand and master forensic anthropology mostly acquired these skills later in their careers.

What schools can teach—and might be willing to teach—ends at the pelvis.

Among the forensic doctors present, those confident in their forensic anthropology expertise were only about four individuals, capable of reaching Level 2 upper-tier proficiency.

The four analyzed and calculated for a while before someone finally spoke: "Judging by the state of this skeleton, it should be a male, between 21 and 28 years old?"

The senior forensic doctor murmured in agreement: "22 to 27 should work as well. Height should be somewhere between 170 to 175 centimeters."

"The long bones show signs of trauma, likely caused by impacts in the river. I think, considering the vertebrae, the height could be narrowed further to 171 to 174," said a confident expert local to Beijing.

The three who had given their opinions turned to the fourth, the notebook owner.

The fourth shrugged: "I agree."

Everyone chuckled at this, lightening the mood considerably.

"How’s Jiang Yuan handling things over there?" the senior forensic doctor inquired.

"From what I’ve heard, not very smoothly," someone replied.

"Let’s ask for an update on his progress," the senior forensic doctor paused before adding, "The condition of this corpse is indeed quite poor."

Someone went to make the call.

Soon enough, a note was brought back and handed to the senior forensic doctor. "Captain Ding, this is the update from Ningtai County Bureau—these are the assessments Jiang Yuan has made so far."

The group leaned in with curiosity.

"The victim is male, aged 24 to 26, height between 172 and 174, shoe size 42 to 43... medium-build, showing signs of carrying weight over long periods but not engaged in heavy physical labor..."

The slow reading gradually chilled the room’s atmosphere.

"Another young victim." The eldest expert exhaled sharply, remarking, "Bold and meticulous—the talent for forensic anthropology truly runs deep in Jiang Yuan."

"No doubt about it. The cases he worked on for the Beijing Bureau—his assessments proved highly accurate in hindsight."

"That’s just how he operates, leaving no margin for error. Narrowing age estimation down to within three years?"

"Limiting it to a three-year range is probably Jiang Yuan’s version of ’leaving room for error.’"

"His conclusion about carrying weight but without doing heavy labor—how did he figure that out?"

"Perhaps based on bone composition?"

Once more, the group delved into analysis, though the tone of the discussion began to shift.

Meanwhile, the work of Jiang Yuan’s Cold Case Squad also started to evolve.

With Qiao Shengli’s sampling process completed, Sulei brought her entire team of students. They filed straight into the Ningtai County Criminal Police Detachment’s laboratory, where brand-new equipment—some just recently installed—was quickly set into motion by the students’ skilled hands.

What was originally a lengthy process accelerated under Huang Qiangmin’s considerate urging, the professor’s direct oversight, and the tireless effort of the students. Luck, it seemed, was on their side.

Less than a quarter of the samples were processed before one matched the diatoms found on Victim 1.

"The location where Victim 1 entered the water is right in Qianjin District—Qinghe City’s bustling downtown area!"

Liu Jinghui was both surprised and delighted by this revelation.

"The audacity!" Wu Junhao, who had already prepared for searches, remarked in a composed tone. "Shuidong’s population is considerable, especially with its influx of outsiders. Even door-to-door inquiries might yield limited results."

Liu Jinghui mulled over it before suggesting, "Investigate companies—especially small businesses or temporary workers at medium-to-large companies. Go through them one by one to see if there are any recently missing individuals. Also, check delivery personnel and couriers. A 25-year-old man with long-term weight-bearing experience has a higher likelihood of being employed."

"Could he have just been working out at a gym?" Wu Junhao threw out this potential complication casually.

Liu Jinghui shook his head, "Gym memberships aren’t records we can investigate. If members stop going for extended periods, no one pays attention to them."

"Then what if he lived in Qianjin District but worked somewhere else?"

"Investigating companies would be quicker. If it’s about residency, it would be harder to conduct inquiries. If he had housemates, he would likely already be flagged as a missing person." Liu Jinghui reasoned it out clearly: "In any case, we’ll start with the area most conducive to progress. If door-to-door inquiries fail, we’ll consider alternative, more costly approaches."