Chapter 377 - 375: The Dismemberment Case (First Update)

Chapter 377: Chapter 375: The Dismemberment Case (First Update)

Chen Hu was taken aback, his eyes brightened and he said, "Indeed, Miss Xu, nothing escapes you. The news of Miss Xu returning was told to me by a colleague. Lately, he hasn’t been able to sleep well and his back and waist ache. Early this morning, he went to Xinglin Hall to see Lady Cheng. Lady Cheng told him that Miss Xu would be back today, so Xiangui’er and I came to try our luck, and who would have thought we’d actually run into Miss Xu."

"Although asking for your help just after you’ve returned is a bit embarrassing... A murder case occurred in Anping County this morning, and County Magistrate Deng asked us to inquire if Miss Xu would be willing to assist us in solving the case?"

Xu Jing’s eyes darkened slightly, "For an ordinary case, you can investigate it yourselves. This case seems to be unusual, I suppose."

Chen Hu’s face immediately fell, saying, "Miss Xu, you are wise. This time, it’s a dismemberment case. So far, we’ve only found some scattered body parts. We don’t even know where to start the investigation."

A dismemberment case? That would indeed be tricky for them.

However, she had originally planned to visit Guangming Hall later to check on Zhu Shunxi...

Xu Jing hesitated only for a moment before nodding, "Take me to see it first."

The matter at Guangming Hall could be postponed for a day or so without much issue, but in an investigation, even a slight delay could let the perpetrator escape.

Chen Hu and Wu Xiangui quickly and gratefully escorted Xu Jing onto the carriage, heading straight to the outskirts of Anping County.

Chen Hu rode beside the carriage, explaining the details of the case to Xu Jing, "The body parts were discovered in a forest outside the city by a local villager gathering herbs. He first found a burlap sack amid some weeds, and upon opening it, was horrified to find it contained a bloody piece of flesh. He immediately reported it to the county government.

After County Magistrate Deng and we arrived, we found several more burlap sacks containing body parts nearby. From these parts, it appears the victims were two people, a man, and a woman."

Two people died simultaneously? Xu Jing slightly frowned and pondered, "Do the parts found so far form a complete body?"

"They don’t. Both bodies still have several missing parts. County Magistrate Deng and his team are still searching there and have been for most of the day."

Chen Hu said helplessly, "Moreover, the most crucial part is that the heads of both bodies have not been found."

The head often contains the most information about a body, and in dismemberment cases, it is also often the most hidden.

What’s more, Xu Jing was unsure whether the heads they eventually found would still be recognizable as the victims’.

Xu Jing quietly considered for a moment and said, "It’s fine. As long as we have a sufficient amount of body parts, we can find out quite a bit."

Chen Hu immediately perked up.

Aah, the feeling of working with Miss Xu on a case again is truly nostalgic!

He—once the best assistant to Miss Xu—can finally be of use again!

There isn’t anyone else who could deduce so much from scattered body parts, except for Miss Xu!

The carriage traveled for nearly an hour before finally reaching the forest where the bodies were discovered.

Anping County is under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou.

This location is practically at the boundary of Qingzhou, nearing the neighboring Xinzhou.

Since the forest where the bodies were discovered was unsuitable for carriage entry, Xu Jing alighted and followed Chen Hu and the others in.

It was now late February, and the forest was lush and green. The ground was covered in colorful, unnamed wildflowers, and vibrant butterflies and bees flitted among them, which was quite a pleasing sight.

Indeed, this was the most romantic dump site one could find.

Chen Hu and Wu Xiangui led Xu Jing deep into the forest, where they finally met the blue-uniformed Deng Youwei, whom they hadn’t seen for a long time. On the ground beside him lay two white cloths, each with several bloody pieces of flesh.

Beside him stood several Government Officials, and a small, hunched elderly man in gray clothing was squatting, closely examining the flesh.

This elder was also an old acquaintance of Xu Jing.

Xu Jing couldn’t help but smile as she said, "County Magistrate Deng, Wu Wuzuo, long time no see."

County Magistrate Deng was stunned and immediately turned around with delight, while Wu Wuzuo, squatting on the ground, was so startled that he fell to the ground, stammering, "Miss... Miss Xu?!"

Who’s to understand! The biggest nightmare of his forensic career had returned!

Deng Youwei hurriedly stepped forward, saying, "Miss Xu, it’s hard on you to just arrive in Anping County, and yet you have to come and help with a case again."

"No need to be so formal, County Magistrate Deng. Before, while I was in Anping County, I said that whenever a murder case occurred, I would help wherever I could."

After exchanging a few simple pleasantries with them, Xu Jing approached and looked at the scattered body parts on the ground, her eyebrows slightly knitted, "What’s the latest on this case?"

It could be seen that the body parts were not clothed at all. At a glance, both bodies were dismembered at their joints, and Wu Wuzuo had roughly pieced the body parts together according to their anatomical structure.

The white cloth on the left side held parts belonging to the male victim: the torso, upper right arm, lower left arm, left hand, right thigh, left calf, and left foot.

The female victim’s parts included her torso, upper left arm, forearm, right forearm, right hand, and an entire right leg.

As Chen Hu mentioned, neither of them had a head.

What’s more striking was the brutal marks of violation on the female victim’s chest and lower body, with the lower part being particularly mutilated with knife wounds.

Xu Jing squatted and took a brief look, then said solemnly, "The female victim was assaulted, and it was pre-mortem."

Deng Youwei also stated solemnly, "Yes, that was something Wu Wuzuo just pointed out as well."

Wu Wuzuo hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward, "Miss Xu, both bodies have begun to show corpse greening in the right lower abdominal wall. Rigor mortis has begun to ease, leading me to conclude they were killed six to twelve hours ago. All the dismembered parts found so far match with these two victims, implying the parts belong solely to them.

Judging from the dismemberment marks, they were decapitated alive first and then dismembered piece by piece.

The perpetrator likely used a very sharp blade, as indicated by the clean, precise cuts. This shows the perpetrator had significant strength and prior experience in killing or butchering."

By this time, Xu Jing had already put on forensic gloves, took a quick look, and nodded, "Wu Wuzuo is correct. The perpetrator’s method of dismembering at the joints suggests some anatomical knowledge, which might stem from past experience in killing or butchering.

Since no similar unsolved murder dismemberment cases exist around Anping County, I lean towards the perpetrator having some butchering experience."

Wu Wuzuo was taken aback but then delighted.

Miss Xu actually endorsed his deduction! Ha, during Miss Xu’s absence, he wasn’t idle, continuously honing his forensic skills.

He could confidently claim that everything deducible from these body parts has been deduced!

No other forensic doctor could extract more information!