The corpse was pale, and the exposed parts showed goosebumps due to rigor mortis. The livor mortis was bright red, which is because at low temperatures, oxygen can diffuse through the skin into the superficial blood vessels, converting reduced hemoglobin into oxygenated hemoglobin. Therefore, livor mortis on frozen corpses appears bright red. However, for corpses that died from other causes and were exposed to cold environments or refrigerated, livor mortis can also appear bright red, indicating that this phenomenon can also occur post-mortem. Thus, bright red livor mortis is not a characteristic of death by freezing.
I silently recited in my mind, if this is the case, then inferences must be made from other aspects. I looked at Xie Chuchu's autopsy report, which stated that the deceased had cerebral meninx congestion and edema, frozen cranial contents, and fractured cranial sutures. These were all signs of death by freezing. Furthermore, the deceased's esophageal mucosa was eroded, which also supported this conclusion.
The time of death was half a month ago. Liu Yuning must have been eager to find me during this period. I asked her, "No way? Your progress is too slow. You've dragged on for half a month without finding any breakthrough?"
"Yes, perhaps I was too conceited. Forget it, since you're back, please help me out!"
"Okay, I'll re-examine it."
I did not perform the dissection, as Xie Chuchu and Xiao Dong had already completed it. I first took out the shadowless reflector tube and scanned the deceased's body several times. Then, I used the auscultation bone and tapped on the deceased's body. Finally, I used the autopsy umbrella and seaweed ash.
After completing the overall steps, my attention focused on the deceased's skull. I pointed to that area and rotated it with the autopsy umbrella, saying, "Do you see? This is the real fatal injury. It seems to have been pierced by a screwdriver-like object, and it was deliberately rotated inside for several weeks. The deceased's forehead is severely abraded!"
"Yes, I studied this area at the time, but according to the muscle contraction, the cause of death should not be this wound!"
"There are some preservatives left on it. The skin has already died and the cells inside have mutated, causing the muscle contraction to be outside the normal range. However, the murderer used the preservatives very cleverly, making it difficult for you to extract them for a while."
"How cleverly?"
"He neutralized it with other substances, but I just used seaweed ash to re-stimulate the reaction of those substances. I've been researching this area recently, and it seems I'm using it so soon."
Hearing me say this, Liu Yuning became a little excited, "So, you haven't been slacking off during your disappearance!"
"How could I be slacking off!" I felt that Liu Yuning seemed to have forgotten what happened at the reservoir before. The way she looked at me was the same as before. How could this person's EQ be so low? I originally thought I was a bookworm, but I guess Liu Yuning is the type who can only work and not live.
In fact, if we were together, we would make a good match. As if sensing what I was thinking, Liu Yuning's cheeks suddenly flushed. She seemed to recall something from my pupils and immediately patted my shoulder, saying, "I'll talk to you tonight!"
Her voice was very soft, but Xie Chuchu and Xiao Dong still heard it. They both coughed deliberately. Xie Chuchu's tone was a bit cold, and her face fell, "It's working hours, can't you avoid discussing personal matters?"
I also coughed like them, then handed the autopsy umbrella to Xiao Dong and said, "Okay, help me rotate it around the deceased's entire body again!"
As I instructed, they continued to rotate the autopsy umbrella. I brought a ray of light in from the window and projected it into the shadowless reflector tube, then shone it on the deceased's skin, similar to UV light. This time, in addition to the abrasions on the forehead, we also discovered that the deceased's wrists and ankles had been scratched by something. I observed it with a magnifying glass for a while and said, "It's an ice pick!"
"An ice pick?"
"It means that after the ice condensed, it was used as a sharp object to stab these parts of the deceased, but the wounds seem to have been treated, making them difficult for us to discover during the autopsy!"
"I'm really sorry, senior. It's all my carelessness. Can I borrow that kaleidoscope you're holding?"
"Uh, that's not a kaleidoscope, it's called a shadowless reflector tube. It combines the functions of a UV lamp and a shadowless lamp. Don't you remember?"
"Oh, it's this one. I remember you developed this yourself in college. You know, senior, you and He Xin are both natural inventors!"
"You flatter me, I only invent things for autopsies, and I'm clueless about anything else."
"That's enough. No murder weapon was found at the scene. Could the murder weapon be ice?"
"I think the wound on the skull could also be pierced by ice. If that's the case, then this man really died in a 'hell of ice.' This way of dying sounds so vivid!"
Liu Yuning described it vividly. Although it was a bit speechless, the facts were indeed true.
"Did you find his death livestream video?" I changed the subject.
"No, there were no cameras or repeaters at the scene this time."
"Then why did you say this is related to previous cases? Just because of the way the deceased died?"
When I asked her this, Liu Yuning seemed a bit embarrassed. She waved her hand and said, "If you don't believe me, go back to the crime scene yourself! Aren't you better than Sherlock Holmes? This shouldn't be difficult for you!"
"Uh, please don't always mention him, okay? He's been dead for so many years!"
"Okay! Okay! So, are you going to the ice house now?"
I snapped my fingers and made a gesture to leave. Liu Yuning immediately understood and acted as my driver, accompanying me out of the police station.
In the car, she curiously asked me again, "What's the use of that cassia seed and chili spray?"
"I told you before, you'll understand when the time comes. Why ask so many questions? If I tell you everything, what's the reader's motivation to keep reading?"
"Uh, you're not hiding and writing a novel again, are you?"
"That's right. I thought this case was over. It seems I'll have to record what happens next when I get back!"
As the car passed a Venetian restaurant, I suddenly raised my finger and pointed out the window, "I used to go to that restaurant often when I was a child!"
"Hey, hey, can you focus on your work?"
"Okay, I'll treat you to a meal after the case is over!"
"Are you asking me out?"
"Uh, I think you're really getting senile!"
"Hmph, what did you say?"
"What I said, you know very well yourself. What happened happened, so why pretend not to remember? Alas, women these days..."