Diary of a Criminal Investigator

Lu Chuan had investigated several bodies found in water before, so he was not unfamiliar with this kind of work.

However, in past cases, the bodies were relatively intact, having only floated in the water for a few days. Despite severe bloating, the general appearance of the bodies could still be discerned.

This time was different. The dismembered body had been left unknown for how long in a suitcase.

The chains outside were completely rusted, with silt from the riverbed on them. Amongst the mottled spots, the rust was falling off in patches.

Lu Chuan’s first investigative target was the chains locking the suitcase.

The chains made of pure iron were cross-patterned and tied around the suitcase without a lock, but instead secured with rivets and welding.

With Intermediate crime scene investigation skills in hand, Lu Chuan could determine the condition of iron objects rusting in water.

The shape changes of iron objects in water are mainly judged by the degree of corrosion, which helps to determine how long the iron objects have been submerged.

Just having communicated with Wang Changjiang, the forensic doctor wanted to determine the time of death through the body more accurately, but this can most likely only be judged through bone analysis, which is relatively inaccurate.

In terms of bone identification, Lu Chuan was likely stronger than the forensic doctors present. Although he could judge the deceased’s age through the bones, without combining the deceased’s identity, it would be impossible to accurately determine the exact time of death.

Now, the degree of corrosion of the chains in water could be used as an auxiliary judgment basis.

"Corrosion flakes falling... yellow-brown... average corrosion depth 0.3 millimeters..."

The degree of corrosion of iron objects must also be judged in conjunction with water quality. Different water qualities have different pH levels, which can lead to subtle differences in corrosion even over the same time period in different water bodies.

Five suitcases, all similar in size but different in style; investigating through the suitcase’s brand...

Not very likely.

Lu Chuan merely took notes.

Lifting the suitcase, inside was a partially liquefied body.

The limbs were dismembered into eight pieces, the torso split open in the middle, horizontally divided into four pieces, and there was no head.

Because the majority of the body had already liquefied, it was impossible to discern the gender from external features, but the delicate bones were more indicative of a female.

This time, Lu Chuan wore five layers of rubber gloves, reaching in to scoop out the pieces of the body from the suitcase one by one. After glancing at each piece, he handed them to the forensic team behind him.

Lu Chuan examined each body piece very carefully; there were twelve pieces in total, and it took him a full ten minutes to retrieve them from the suitcase.

"Female, height 1.62 meters, 26 years old, long-term high heel wearer, right hand had a comminuted fracture... likely engaged in massage work before."

Hmm?

Sun Jian paused slightly when handed one of the femurs. The victim had done massage work?

What was going on?

How did they figure that out?

Across the province, as Zhang Yuanchao’s disciple, Sun Jian ranked in the first tier in the forensic team based on skill, arguably even in the top five.

With years of experience and having dissected hundreds of bodies, he had accumulated a wealth of experience.

While Lu Chuan was observing each piece, Sun Jian was also observing.

Except for the headless condition, the body in the suitcase was complete elsewhere, and although seriously rotten, determining the gender and height from these pieces was relatively easy.

As for the comminuted fracture, Sun Jian noticed it when he first touched the bones. Determining basic information about the deceased from the body is a fundamental skill for a forensic doctor.

But, the age determination...

Twenty-six years old...

This was extremely precise. The body was severely decomposed and headless, making it impossible to judge age based on teeth, yet Lu Chuan reached such a precise conclusion...

Frankly, Sun Jian thought it was very challenging.

But Sun Jian knew Lu Chuan, knew him well indeed.

Last year’s bone case in Tianzhou City still had lingering impact, and even Zhang Yuanchao had to give a thumbs up to Lu Chuan’s capabilities in skeleton identification.

But even so, how did Lu Chuan determine that the deceased had most likely engaged in... massage work during her lifetime?

"Lu... The deceased engaged in massage work during her lifetime?"

Not only Sun Jian, but everyone else also didn’t understand.

Age, weight, height, experience aside.

But massage work...

How did he see it?

Wang Changjiang frowned, not understanding either.

"The hands, the deceased’s hands."

Lu Chuan picked up the two forearms from the dissection table.

The murderer dismembered the upper limbs starting from the shoulders, using some kind of saw to cut, then cut again at the elbows, dividing the upper limbs into two parts.

"The bones of the deceased’s hands are relatively thick, compared to the average woman’s hands, with obvious signs of acquired bone edge hyperplasia, which is only formed through long-term exertion of strength with the hands. And look here..."

Lu Chuan pointed to the finger bones revealed by the rotted flesh: "The bone material at the front end of the finger bones is significantly thick, indicating the deceased’s grip strength was much stronger than that of an average person."

"Without intentional training through grip exercises, this situation is hard to form."

Wang Changjiang and ten other forensic doctors moved closer to carefully observe the hands, indeed they were somewhat different from the bodies they usually dissected.

"Of course, this is just a probability issue I mentioned. The deceased might have engaged in other work requiring frequent finger use, like tightening screws in an electronics factory, but it’s rare for all ten fingers to be like this."

Sun Jian felt like wondering what use his team of forensic doctors really was.

These should have been the kind of information discerned from the body by forensics after the flesh had rotted off, yet Lu Chuan just glanced and identified this basic info.

Of course, the exact cause of death definitely couldn’t be seen yet.

Lu Chuan continued collecting materials from the suitcase, preparing to perform some trace evidence analysis to see if anything could be gained.

The first body bag’s investigation was soon completed, and after sorting out the photographic information and recording the preliminary observations, Lu Chuan began to inspect the second body bag.

In the order they were discovered, Lu Chuan numbered the five body bags sequentially, from one to five.

The first body bag was submerged approximately half a year ago, though the exact time remained uncertain and required more detailed analysis, but the degree of chain corrosion roughly pinpointed that time frame.

At least six months, no more than a year.

The dismemberment style of the second body was similar to that of the first.

The killer dismembered them brutally, using some kind of electric or oil saw to cut; there were no axe or knife chopping marks, it was like the dismemberment done in a slaughterhouse on frozen cattle and sheep.