Chapter 409: Eight Wounds

Translator: Lonelytree

“Just because she is fully dressed, it doesn’t rule out the possibility of sexual assault.” Xiao Rui glanced at Kang Zhi. Since when did this kid’s brain become so simple?

“But she is our patient. Who would do that to her?” Lu Xuan shook his head. He was very confident in their staff.

“I agree with Lu Xuan. The crime scene looks too fake.” Mo Li sent a message to Mo Yun, telling him that she needed to leave because she had something to do. “Plus, I don’t think the victim was robbing this place. After all, she is wearing her slippers.”

“But why can’t a robber wear slippers to the crime scene…” Lu Xuan then closed his mouth. He better focus on his job. Detective work was too hard.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take a look around first.” Mo Li said calmly. The most imminent problem they needed to solve was what the victim was doing at the crime scene.

“Is there surveillance at the dorm?”

“Why would a dorm need surveillance?”

Mo Li ignored Xiao Rui. She touched her chin as the trace analysts bagged the evidence on the furniture and the floor. They were hoping to find a footprint or fingerprint.

Lu Xuan and Mo Li squatted down. Lu Xian moved the victim’s fingers and elbows. “Rigor mortis is limited to the smaller joints.” Then Lu Xuan pulled back Yang Yue’s hair. He noticed there was a trail of fresh blood under her nose. He pressed at a few specific places and concluded, “There are clear bone abrasions. There is a skull fracture near the eye.”

Yang Yue’s big eyes had lost their luster. They were wide open as if accusing her murderer of their cruelty and madness.

“There is a blood spatter on the wall 20 cm to the side of the victim’s head. The victim was hit where she fell. The victim’s cornea is still clear but rigor has already settled. After combining all the other observations, I believe the time of death should be 5 hours ago.”

“5 hours ago, that would be around 6 am. That is when we change shifts.” Lu Xuan was confused. Who could have avoided all the cameras at the hospital and led the victim to the dorm? Also, why the dorm? If the killer wanted to find an isolated place, wouldn’t the morgue make more sense?

After they did the initial autopsy, Lu Xuan called two doctors to carry the body to the morgue. They would move to the morgue for the next step of the autopsy.

Mo Li paced in the small dorm, hoping to find more clues. “Who lives here?” Something didn’t sit right with Mo Li. Other than the mess caused by the victim, the room was very clean. Even the vanity table had no dust. The owner of this room should be very tidy.

“I think it’s a male nurse in the psychiatric department. He had just gone back to study.”

Mo Li’s eyes flickered to a pair of dumbbells. The dumbbell was 10 kg each. They seemed to suggest there was more than 1 tenant occupying this dorm. Mo Li motioned for the analyst to pick up the dumbbells. Mo Li opened the analyst’s work case and pulled out a piece of paper. She rubbed it against the dumbbell and soon the paper turned blue.

“Wait, we have a positive on the benzidine test?” Lu Xian gasped in surprise.

…

At the morgue, the atmosphere was filled with the sound of clinking machines. Lu Xuan and Mo Li were dressed in their gowns and they worked in an orderly fashion.

“We just got news from the DNA lab. The victim wasn’t sexually assaulted.” Lu Xuan arrived with Kang Zhi.

Lu Xuan wiped at his sweat and nodded. “Yes, we confirmed that too. Based on our observations, we believe the victim died around 6.30 am. The cause of death is serious head trauma.”

“What about the murder weapon?” Xiao Rui frowned.

“There are 8 wounds on the victim’s head. The angles of the wound are blunt, there are gaps between each wound, and the entry wounds are uneven so they should be caused by a blunt weapon. Combining that with the fractures on her skull, we could imagine the killer had swung a hard blunt object on the victim’s head.”

“Look at this wound.” Mo Li pointed at a spot where Yang Yue was bleeding under the skin. She added, “This was another blow from the killer. However, he didn’t have enough strength and the wound didn’t even break through the skin. Because of that, he left behind this evidence on the scalp.”

This was a very small injury and one had to be very careful to spot it.

“But what kind of object would cause this kind of injury pattern?” Kang Zhi scratched his head.