Chapter 321
Right after leaving Lao Yao’s dormitory, I received a call from Xiaotao, "Song Yang, I have good news and bad news."
"What’s the good news?" I asked.
"The good news is that we’ve managed to investigate Qiu Wanxia."
"What about the bad news?" I chuckled.
"The bad news is that Qiu Wanxia died of cancer ten years ago!"
What on earth was going on? Wasn’t Qiu Wanxia’s body lying in the morgue waiting for me to perform the autopsy? How could a person die twice?! The bones we found last night suggested the victim was killed no more than three years ago.
"I"ll be right there!" I said.
When I got to the school gates, I called Dali who happily recounted his conversation with Luo Youyou, but I was too preoccupied with the case to pay him any attention.
As soon as we arrived at the station, I almost sprinted into Xiaotao"s office. She was a.s.signing tasks to several officers when I barged into the room so she quickly sent them off and handed me a file.
It was Qiu Wanxia’s household registration doc.u.ment. The picture showed a girl with clear eyes and a graceful temperament. She was a Northerner who came to Nanjiang City ten years ago for work and eventually died of a terminal illness.
"Perhaps they happen to have the same name?" I wondered out loud.
"I thought so too at first, but her surname is rather rare,” explained Xiaotao. “She’s the only one in the country with this name, and her blood type matches the victim’s. More importantly, they look exactly the same!"
"How so?" I remained doubtful.
"The Physical Evidence Identification Center has restored the victim’s face. Let"s go and have a look."
As we headed out the building, we b.u.mped into Dali who had just parked the car. "How’s the new car?" asked Xiaotao.
"It certainly gives me recognition among my cla.s.smates,” Dali grinned. “Xiaotao-jiejie, when will the bureau give Song Yang a helicopter? I’d like to share the glory as well!"
"Why don’t you make some money and buy him one?" she laughed.
The three of us headed to the Physical Evidence Identification Center, where the equipment vastly differed from the technical team’s. We were greeted by a researcher named Li at a laboratory with many computers. He immediately showed us the image of the victim’s reconstructed face.
The black and white 3D image in the computer showed no hair but the girl in the picture was blessed with beautiful facial features, bright eyes and straight teeth. "Wow, what a beauty!" exclaimed Dali.
The image of Qiu Wanxia in the computer matched the picture on the household registration doc.u.ment. Of course, visual inspection alone didn’t count for everything. The lab had a facial recognition software that was able to match faces based on their bone structure by stacking the photos of the victim’s skull and Qiu Wanxia’s face.
Dr. Li compared the two photos and summarized, "From the computer’s calculations, the skull is a 98% match to the face in the photo, which basically confirms that it’s the same person."
"98%? So there’s still 2% that doesn’t conform," I stated.
“Because the body was exposed to open air for two years and bitten by insects and mice, a certain extent of damage falls within the range of error and can be ignored."
The word "damage" inspired an idea. I turned and left the lab without waiting for the other two. Xiaotao ran out after me, shouting, "Song Yang, where are you going?"
"I need to look at the dead body again!" I replied.
I rushed back to the station and headed straight to the morgue. The skeleton had been placed on the morgue slab and was covered with a white cloth. Because the skull was used for comparison, it had been carefully cleaned with alcohol.
Xiaotao soon came in after me. "I"m sorry,” she apologized. “We needed to identify the victim so they cleaned the skull..."
"It"s okay, I had to clean it anyway."
I ran my eyes all over the skull, carefully examining as I asked Dali to prepare a metal bowl, some cling wrap, a bottle of vinegar and a pot of succulents, as well as some realgar, borneol, teasel root and rehmannia from the Traditional Chinese pharmacy.
"Are you planning on conducting the Thrice Steaming Bone Test?" asked Xiaotao.
"No, this isn’t the Thrice Steaming Bone Test,” I stated. “It’s a unique technique created by Song Ci–the Bone Injury Unveiling Test which resurfaces old wounds on the bones."
"But there aren’t any wounds on the skull!" argued Xiaotao.
A while later, Dali returned with the items. I placed the metal bowl above the alcohol burner, heating it up while I poured vinegar, threw all the powdered herbs and medicine and crushed the succulents into the bowl. When the mixture started steaming, I placed the skull inside and covered it with cling wrap.
"In a different setting, people would actually believe you’re a shaman," Dali remarked.
I chuckled, keeping my gaze fixed onto the metal bowl. Five minutes later, Xiaotao cried, "There’s a color change in the skull."
As the skull began to turn yellow, Dali interjected, "Is it almost ready?"
"Discoloration is normal,” I explained. “This method actually damages the corpse so it’s not something I would usually do. But this time it had to be done to verify my conjecture."
"You don"t believe the conclusion given by the Physical Evidence Identification Center, do you?" laughed Xiaotao.
"You know me so well!"
“What is your conjecture?" she continued.
I narrowed my eyes enigmatically, "Wait and see, won’t you?"
After another ten minutes, steam filled the metal bowl and more changes appeared on the skull. When I uncovered the cling wrap, an acidic smell filled my nose. Choked by the smell, Dali coughed uncontrollably and hurried to turn on the ventilator.
I put on rubber gloves before carefully removing the skull. There was an obvious shaded area on the skull–the cheekbones and the arch of the eyebrows. This was exactly what I was hoping to find.
"What does this mean?" Xiaotao puzzled.
I pointed to the shaded area and said, "The victim had her bones cut here and here. She had cosmetic surgery done, and it was a major procedure! She’s not the real Qiu Wanxia, but an imposter!"
Xiaotao’s eyes widened in shock. "That’s to say we’re now back to square one and we don’t even know the victim’s ident.i.ty."
"That’s not entirely true,” I mused. “a.s.suming Ding Xu is telling the truth and the victim was sent by another to seduce the murderer, then the murderer and Qiu Wanxia must have been close. This means we can start by investigating the real Qiu Wanxia!"
"Qiu Wanxia died ten years ago,” Xiaotao pointed out. “It"ll be difficult to find out but I"ll do my best!"
I placed the bones into a waterproof bag. "Let"s work separately. Dali and I will find a place to conduct the Thrice Steaming Bone Test while you check for clues."
I was about to leave when Xiaotao stopped me, "Where are you going?"
"To find a place where there’s no one so I can work in peace!"
"Didn"t I mention last time that the bureau would set up a laboratory just for you? Although it"s still under construction, you can use it,” said Xiaotao. “I"ll take you there now!”
Xiaotao led us to a warehouse behind the city bureau building. There was a rectangular trench on the floor with three autopsy tables beside it as well as tool stands and shelves made of wood on which materials I often used were placed.
"You’ve certainly gone the extra mile!" I said, touched by the effort.
"I come to supervise the construction every now and then. The room is still empty because I wasn’t sure what sort of furnis.h.i.+ngs a Traditional Coroner would like,” added Xiaotao. “Would you like to hang a portrait of Song Ci or put up an incense burner?"
In ancient times, the coroner’s workshop was called the "Necropsy Workshop.” Since autopsies were taboo for ordinary folk, the Necropsy Workshop was usually located facing south, in the opposite direction of residential buildings. Additionally, these huts couldn’t be built facing the street to prevent the Yin energy of the dead bodies from ruining the local feng shui.
I was delighted to have my own Necropsy Workshop in the bureau, so why would I care about feng shui? So I said, "How can I ever thank you?"
"You don’t have to be so polite with me!" she laughed.