Chapter 19

At four in the morning, Lin Xiuran, who had transported the bodies back to the funeral parlor, had already begun his work. The two bodies were placed on separate stainless steel autopsy tables, awaiting examination. The entire autopsy room had no windows, illuminated only by shadowless lamps, and two powerful ventilation systems were specially installed.

The forensic work in Nancheng was ahead of many other cities. The city bureau had a modern autopsy room divided into standardized sections for body examination, case discussion, and body storage. It was mainly used for dissecting bodies with complex causes of death. Considering the inconvenience of transporting bodies between the funeral parlor and the city bureau, when the cause of death was relatively certain, bodies awaiting burial were processed in the funeral parlor’s autopsy room.

Since there were two deceased individuals this time, to save time, besides Lin Xiuran, there was another young forensic doctor from the city bureau assisting in the autopsy. Lin Xiuran was responsible for Dong Fang’s body, while the other doctor handled Ma Aijing’s.

The forensic doctor was named Wan Zong, nicknamed Duanwu (Dragon Boat Festival). He was a small-framed forensic doctor with glasses, having graduated from the forensic science department three years ago. Due to the shortage of forensic personnel in Nancheng, someone with his qualifications had long been handling cases independently. The nickname Duanwu was somewhat related to Lin Xiuran. The nickname originated from the sound similarity between “Zong” and “Zongzi,” and Wan Zong’s nickname was Little Zongzi. Later, when he reported to this place, fearing that others might find it hard to remember, he decided to use this nickname and said people could call him that.

Those years were the peak of popularity for tomb-robbing novels. Lin Xiuran frowned upon hearing this nickname, saying, “Although those are all feudal superstitions, people might think our forensic center is playing tricks. In the future, you might as well be called Duanwu.” So, Duanwu was adopted at the city bureau, and later on, more people called him by his nickname than his real name.

The autopsy room was extremely quiet, and the temperature here was much lower than outside. The time of death for the two bodies was approximately four hours ago. Rigor mortis typically appears within ten minutes to seven hours after death and gradually subsides afterward. Currently, the bodies were in the stiffest stage, lying unnaturally on the autopsy tables.

Duanwu, just pulled from his sleep, was still a bit dazed. After observing the appearance of the bodies for a moment, he said, “Today doesn’t seem too troublesome. They probably died of poisoning.”

Lin Xiuran reminded him, “Don’t be careless. Conclude after conducting the tests.” A forensic doctor must never have the thought of making assumptions. Sometimes, the seemingly straightforward cases were the ones where details were most likely overlooked. Duanwu had a bold personality, but someone with a bit of carelessness. Fortunately, the previous cases were simple and didn’t involve any major oversights.

The two started to get busy, observing and communicating while filling in various test details on forms. This step was crucial for checking the autopsy. Every trace on the bodies had to be examined. They circled around the autopsy tables, and Duanwu said, “No external injuries on the body. The pupils of the deceased have contracted, mucous membranes are congested, and livor mortis presents a bright red color—clear signs of poisoning.”

After examining the external appearance of the bodies, Lin Xiuran began making incisions. With the knife slicing through, skin and flesh were cleanly separated, forming a large Y incision on the bodies. A more intense scent of bitter almonds wafted through the air as Lin Xiuran checked from the upper end, gradually moving down to the digestive glands.

“The muscles and blood are both bright red. There’s edema and congestion in the digestive tract… Due to the victim vomiting, there isn’t much stomach content. However, there are dark chocolate-colored particles.” With Lin Xiuran’s skilled movements, the stomach contents and blood were quickly extracted and placed into test tubes for analysis.

On the other side, Duanwu’s progress was also smooth. He swiftly opened the body cavities and removed the organs for weighing.

Time quickly passed, and the two had been busy for nearly two hours. Duanwu finished first, putting down the dissecting tools and saying, “This side is done. It can be basically confirmed as poisoning. If there are no issues, I’m ready to suture.”

“Wait, I’m coming over to take a look.” Lin Xiuran put down his work and walked over to inspect Ma Aijing’s body. As the head of this forensic center, he needed to sign on all the test reports and take responsibility for these deceased individuals.

Lin Xiuran looked at the body for a few seconds, his expression becoming serious. He furrowed his brows in thought. Lin Xiuran was a bit sleep-deprived and extremely exhausted at the moment. Whenever he closed his eyes, the image of the girl’s body entwined tightly with the blanket flashed before him, somehow lingering. It felt like there was some kind of implication in the depths of his mind…

Maybe influenced by the high-power refrigeration unit in the adjacent room, the temperature here was much lower than outside. The bodies of the two girls, whose organs had been extracted, lay side by side on the autopsy tables. Their skin was illuminated by the white shadowless lamps, emitting a faint glow.

Nancheng City’s funeral parlor was located in the northern suburbs, grandly constructed but sparsely populated. Especially in the dark night, besides the on-duty staff, there were only the two of them—far more dead than alive. While it hadn’t bothered them during work, the sudden silence made even the bold Duanwu a bit uneasy. He looked at Lin Xiuran, who appeared serious, feeling a bit guilty. After carefully comparing the body in front of him, he cautiously asked, “Aren’t these typical signs of potassium cyanide poisoning?”

“This body doesn’t seem right.” Lin Xiuran didn’t hastily draw conclusions. Instead, he walked over to Dong Fang’s body for another check. Then he opened the eyelids of the deceased, gazing into her eyes for a moment. After releasing his hands, he continued, “Poisoning is correct, but there are obvious subtle differences with my previous examination. For example, poisoning wouldn’t cause blood spots on the eyelids and cheeks…”

Lin Xiuran pulled a white lamp closer as he spoke. Under the light, some red spots on Ma Aijing’s face became more visible. These marks were unclear right after her death, but over time, they had become increasingly evident.

Duanwu leaned in to observe. The red dots were scattered and very tiny on her face, not easily noticeable without careful examination. It looked as if the capillaries on her face had burst for some reason. From this close, it seemed eerie, as if someone had sprinkled cinnabar on the face of the corpse.

“Also, she applied nail polish to conceal the cyanosis on her fingertips.” Lin Xiuran pointed to the tips of Ma Aijing’s fingers, where the color appeared purplish. He poured some chemical solution onto a cotton pad, wiping away the remaining nail polish on Ma Aijing’s nails. The girl’s fingertips appeared bluish, and the color of the nails was abnormal, with the traces of cyanosis becoming more pronounced.

“Among other things…” Lin Xiuran pointed to some spots on the deceased’s internal organs.

As each clue surfaced, a chilling truth gradually emerged. Lin Xiuran felt a slight constriction in his chest, realizing that the killer was incredibly depraved.

“Tardieu spots…” Duanwu recognized them this time. Tardieu spots refer to some punctate bleeding beneath the mucous membrane and are one of the characteristics of death by suffocation. “So… the real cause of death is… suffocation?”

Lin Xiuran opened the victim’s mouth, observed her teeth, and noticed a pink color at the neck of the teeth. This phenomenon had a romantic name: rose teeth.

Seeing this, Lin Xiuran, with a solemn expression, concluded, “Yes, this victim was smothered to death with a blanket.” Then he straightened up and added, “The victim was already experiencing poisoning at the time of death, so some characteristics of poisoning, like the bright red livor mortis, were present. This led you to overlook the signs of suffocation.”

Due to the combination of smothering and the late stage of poisoning, there were no mechanical signs of asphyxiation, such as a fractured hyoid bone. This made it easy to confuse with death by poisoning.

This was a terrifying result upon further consideration. Two victims died almost simultaneously, yet their causes of death were completely different. Perhaps there was an unexpected turn of events during the poisoning process, and the killer couldn’t wait for Ma Aijing to succumb to poisoning. However, she had to ensure her quick death. Poisoning and suffocation are both extremely painful, and it’s hard to imagine what this girl went through before her death.

“I didn’t look carefully enough.” Duanwu realized his mistake at this moment. His initial judgment was swayed by the obvious signs of poisoning. He made subjective inferences, thinking it must be death by poisoning, and didn’t consider other possibilities. Now pointed out by Lin Xiuran, Duanwu realized he narrowly avoided a major mistake, breaking into a cold sweat. “Director Lin, does this cause of death have a significant impact on the case?”

Lin Xiuran glanced at him. “Certainly, it’s substantial. There are no signs of forced entry in the dormitory. As a result, the killer is confined to the dormitory. Also, this killer is excessively cruel.” He spoke, looking at the two dissected bodies lying on the autopsy tables. The two young girls had wide-open eyes, not peacefully closed in death.

During the crime scene investigation, Ma Aijing’s body was entangled with a blanket. At first, they thought it was because the victim experienced severe pain due to poisoning, causing her to tightly clutch the blanket. Now, in hindsight, that blanket should have been the murder weapon. When Ma Aijing was succumbing to poisoning, the killer, fearing she might scream, likely straddled her, suppressing her with both hands. The blanket covered her head, smothering her to death, and that’s why she clutched the blanket tightly until death. This action, just before her demise, helped Lin Xiuran determine her true cause of death and further narrowed down the suspect. The murderer was inside Room 108.

At half-past five in the morning, the questioning by the criminal investigators continued. After sending away Bai Xiaoxiao, Song Wen and Lu Siyu’s focus shifted to Deng Jia. It was this female student who discovered Guo Hua, who was poisoned and collapsed at the door. Her face still pale, it seemed she was still immersed in that nightmare.

Deng Jia, older than Bai Xiaoxiao by a year, initially shook her head, claiming ignorance about the neighboring dormitory. After some time, with Lu Siyu going out to pour her some hot water, Deng Jia gradually eased up.

“There are thirty students in the Civil Engineering class, mostly males. There are only four female students, and Dong Fang is the wealthiest and most generous. Ma Aijing is the most attractive and was selected as the department’s beauty queen…”

“How did Dong Fang treat Ma Aijing? Do you know?”

“Not very well. I saw it once. Dong Fang made a joke, saying Ma Aijing was a flatterer, a little follower, picking up things she didn’t want. But I think Ma Aijing took it to heart; she seemed resentful.”

“Do you know about Dong Fang bullying Guo Hua?”

Deng Jia hesitated, nodded, then shook her head. Timidly, she said, “Bai Xiaoxiao and Guo Hua are somewhat acquainted. My relationship with her is average.”

Song Wen understood. Even if they knew, ordinary girls like them didn’t dare to intervene. They could only pretend not to see when they witnessed such incidents. They asked Deng Jia a few more questions, and her answers were generally consistent with Bai Xiaoxiao’s description.

Outside, the sky was getting light. Sunlight poured through the poorly drawn curtains, dispelling the dark clouds. The rain that had threatened earlier never came.

Song Wen and Lu Siyu exchanged glances, preparing to conclude. As part of the routine, Song Wen asked, “We’ve asked most of what we wanted to know. Is there anything else you’d like to add?”

Deng Jia bit her lip, seemingly making a significant decision. “About half a month ago, very late, probably around 11:30 pm, I left something in the self-study room. When I went to retrieve it at night, I saw Ma Aijing and a middle-aged man entering from outside together. That man seemed to be a professor in their Civil Engineering department…”

“Did you see it clearly at that time?” Song Wen asked an additional question, considering Deng Jia’s description. It was very late and quite far away, making it easy to misinterpret.

“It should be Ma Aijing…” Deng Jia recalled, “I recognized her umbrella. She has a distinctive floral umbrella with sunflowers, very eye-catching on a rainy night.”

Song Wen nodded. “Thank you for providing this lead. We’ll look into these matters later.” He escorted Deng Jia out.

The questioning on Fu Linjiang’s side had also concluded, and several detectives gathered to compile the information.

Song Wen briefly summarized the results from their side and looked at Fu Linjiang. “How about your end? Any findings?”

“We asked their class teacher and a few other professors who taught them, but they were all evasive. The class teacher was initially very emotional, claiming it couldn’t be Guo Hua or Lin Wanwan. Her students were well-behaved. When I asked if she knew about Guo Hua being bullied, she changed her tune, saying she didn’t know. She’s just a 26-year-old graduate student, not much older than the students themselves.”

Song Wen nodded. He didn’t expect to find more clues on that side. The age difference created an insurmountable gap; one side consisted of adults entering society, while the other side was still schoolchildren.

If students were likened to a flock of sheep, teachers were like sheepdogs. They only cared about which sheep had strayed from the herd but were indifferent to the skirmishes within the flock.

Turning to Lu Siyu, Song Wen asked, “What do you think now that we’ve investigated here?”

Lu Siyu, unprepared for being called upon, thought for a moment before speaking, “We still have no clue about the exact source of the poison or who administered it. The interpersonal relationships seem simple, but something feels off.”

Fu Linjiang interjected, “Indeed, these Civil Engineering students aren’t from the Chemistry department. How could they get hold of such highly toxic materials? Do they know someone from the Chemistry department who could provide them with poison from the laboratory?”

Song Wen said, “Universities have various methods to control drugs. It’s challenging to take poison without leaving traces. Later, check the surveillance footage and ask the teachers here.” In previous similar cases in China, instances of obtaining poison from chemistry laboratories have occurred. After those incidents, universities nationwide strengthened their control over laboratories.

As they were discussing this, Song Wen’s phone rang. Seeing that it was a call from Lin Xuiran, he raised his hand and answered, “Hello, Lao Lin? How’s the situation?”

After a two-minute conversation, Song Wen turned to the others and said, “The preliminary autopsy results are out. Dong Fang died of poisoning, and Ma Aijing was suffocated. The main component of the poison is sodium cyanide, and they also found a small amount of anesthetic in their bodies.”

There was a slight change in Lu Siyu’s facial expression. His furrowed brow seemed to relax, as if the lingering doubts had finally been confirmed. Then he lowered his head and said, “So, is the suspect either Guo Hua and Lin Wanwan?”