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墨書 Inktalez
There were many aftermath matters to handle, and soon it was bright. I watched as they busily searched through the ruins for the bodies of the victims, cleared the fire scene, arranged for subsequent compensation matters, and coordinated the schedule with the experts from the Water Department. By the time everything was wrapped up, it was nearly noon.
In the burned inn, seven bodies were found, all charred beyond recognition, their limbs contorted as if they were ready to fight. Although I had read about how bodies appear in a defensive posture due to muscle contraction when burned, I had never seen such a horrific sight before. Now, this row of tragic corpses lay on the ground, sending a chill down my spine.
If my intuition about something being off was true, then it was no longer just a chill; it was immense anger!
During this process, I wasn't idle either. I activated my charm mode and did my utmost to calm Zhang Erlang. He was clearly reluctant to go with the County Constable to the county office, crying and desperately wanting to take his brother's body home for burial. I gently reassured him that this was an arson case involving many lives and that going to the county office was just a routine procedure.
Originally, this kind of task was Han Meilan's specialty, but she had been dispatched elsewhere to accompany the Master Bricklayer from the Water Department for river surveying. I didn't understand why she was sent instead of me since I had proposed this matter. However, this arrangement suited me just fine; with an incident like this occurring, who would still be focused on surveying rivers?
I quietly called upon my ally, Night Phantom.
Night Phantom was indeed observant. He arrived before midnight and immediately asked, "How did you figure out that Zhang Erlang was acting strange? Don't give me any stories about taking care of injured brothers."
For some reason, every time I saw him at night, I felt an impulse to challenge him. So I replied, "This has to be an equal exchange; you need to tell me how Qiu figured out he was off!"
In truth, I was even more curious about what Nie Qiuyuan had discovered.
Night Phantom paused for a moment and let out a long sigh. It seemed that sighing in front of me had become his habit; perhaps I was his nemesis in life. Reluctantly, he began to explain in vivid detail as if he had experienced it himself.
"When Zhang Erlang entered the fire scene, he found that his brother was trapped under a cabinet, which struck Nie Qiuyuan as odd. Upon inspection at the scene, it turned out to be true. Just think about it: that cabinet is heavy; even if there was a large fire, it should have collapsed or fallen over rather than being burned like that."
So Nie Qiuyuan crouched down and carefully observed the corpse of the deceased and indeed found some suspicious details.
"Qiu had seen many burned bodies before; they all shared a common feature: in areas that hadn't been charred, you could see swelling, blistering, and bleeding. But this body showed none of those signs—it was as if blood had stopped flowing before it was burned."
I was taken aback by his keen observation of human tissue responses. Yes, whether injuries were sustained while alive or after death could be determined quite clearly. If injuries occurred after death, then congestion, edema, and bleeding—many life responses—would be absent. Since Nie Qiuyuan found no expected signs of life response on the charred body, he initially judged it to be post-mortem cremation.
"Moreover," he continued thoughtfully, "if a person is engulfed by intense flames and smoke, they would instinctively close their eyes. Qiu had observed before that in cases of burning deaths, eyelashes wouldn't burn completely; only the tips would be singed while the roots remained intact. The insides of their eyes would almost never have soot. But this corpse is entirely different; its eyes were completely scorched—perhaps they were already wide open before encountering the fire."
I couldn't help but admire Night Phantom even more; his understanding encompassed typical evidence distinguishing whether someone died in a fire. If these conclusions were drawn from his own observations and insights in this era, it would truly be remarkable.
As thanks for his insights, I explained to him the relationship between burns and nerves as well as the timeline for loss of pain sensation. Night Phantom listened intently, occasionally clicking his tongue in fascination and showing great interest in the human Nervous System.
"You can tell Qiu, but don't bring me into it!" I warned him.
"Don't worry, I know my limits. It's not like I'm asking for a lightning strike!" he assured me, though he muttered under his breath, "If it burns badly, will it really not hurt?"
"You can go try self-immolation if you want," I replied coldly.
Night Phantom had long grown accustomed to my indifference and smoothly shifted to the next topic: "So, what do you think our next step should be?"
Based on what we both observed, this was likely a case of arson and murder. Naturally, the lying Zhang Erlang was the prime suspect.
"To confirm this is murder, we should first figure out how the person actually died. What do you think?" I said.
Night nodded. "That's why I came to find you tonight."
That made me laugh. "Come on, I was the one who called you here! I wanted us to go see the body together!"
I had prepared masks, gloves, homemade disinfectant, and a sharp knife. Night Phantom looked at me curiously.
"What are all these for?"
I had a bad feeling; this poor Young Master Zhang might unfortunately become my first dissection subject. After all, it's hard to tell much from a charred corpse just by looking at it.
Honestly, I was quite scared. My expertise wasn't in Forensic Science, and I had only scratched the surface of forensic knowledge. My skills were limited to having observed a few autopsies and memorized some theoretical knowledge from books. As for actually wielding a knife myself? That had never happened before. No matter how brave one might be, overcoming psychological barriers during one's first time is still quite difficult.
I felt frustrated. Recently, there had been so many deaths around me that I found myself relying heavily on forensic knowledge. It's important to note that in a Criminal Investigation, examinations are typically handled by professionals. There are specialized programs for Forensic Science in schools; as Criminal Investigation Majors, we only needed to learn enough to get by. I truly regretted not participating more actively back then and getting hands-on experience. Now, there wasn't even a reliable person around—just a half-baked ancient thief.
"No matter what happens, you mustn't leave!" I instructed my partner.
Night Phantom nodded eagerly. "Of course! You must be planning something interesting again; I won't leave."
Sigh, this carefree guy.
The presence of the night, with its relaxed aura, effectively eased the tension in my heart.
"Let's go, take me to the morgue!" I gritted my teeth and commanded the Man in Blue Robes.
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