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墨書 Inktalez
A body floated on the surface of the water, slender and delicate, with long black hair swaying with the ripples, looking eerily reminiscent of a horror movie. It was evident that this was a female corpse.
The body was dressed in a simple, plain garment and a floral skirt. If I wasn't mistaken, this should be the common attire of a maid from a wealthy household.
Could it be that some maid from a noble family had suffered some grievance and, in a moment of despair, jumped into the river?
The corpse lay face down, obscuring its features, but from the two hands that were visible, the skin had already turned slightly pale from soaking in the water. Clearly, it had been submerged for quite some time—at least over an hour—so it couldn't have just been thrown in.
However, it was currently a bustling time in the marketplace with many people around. This female corpse floating on the river was horrifyingly conspicuous; how could it have only just been discovered now?
I quickly scanned the surroundings and noticed not far from us was a stone arch bridge where several people had stopped to point and discuss the body in the water.
Perhaps the corpse had been caught under this stone bridge at night by something, making it difficult to spot. I thought this was the most reasonable explanation.
So how did this person die? Was it suicide or murder?
This was the first question that arose in my sixth sense as a police officer. Yes, it was my instinct.
A long-lost feeling of excitement surged through my veins; even when held in my beloved's arms, I had never felt this way. Of course, being close to my idol was a different sensation altogether; the two couldn't be compared. If I had to choose between this thrill and that feeling, I would absolutely refuse.
In any case, I was so excited that I almost forgot about my idol, prompting the man beside me to clear his throat in discontent.
"Ye Zhenzhen, when we were being affectionate, I didn't see your eyes shining like this," he whispered shamelessly in my ear.
"Ugh! In broad daylight, what are you talking about?!" I took a couple of deep breaths to steady my racing emotions. It would be so embarrassing to turn bright red out here on the street.
"Whatever you like to do, you should honestly tell your husband. Can your husband not fulfill your wishes?"
This pairing of husband and wife made me break into a sweat, but before I could speak up, I heard "husband" clear his throat, pull out a gold badge, and raise it high, proclaiming loudly, "Do not panic, the Constable is here!"
The crowd fell silent at once, their eyes quickly focusing on the two of us. Although I wasn't bad-looking myself, as a "man," I could never compete with "husband" in terms of handsomeness. Therefore, all the attention was on him. The male deity instantly captivated everyone with his looks.
Nie Qiuyuan pulled out a piece of silver from his pocket and handed it to a fellow dressed as a servant nearby, instructing him, "Go report to the authorities." The man gleefully accepted the silver and took off running.
I nudged him with my elbow. "Aren't you afraid he might take your silver and not do anything?"
Qiu looked at me with a mocking gaze, as if laughing at my lack of intelligence. "I already told you I'm the Constable. His clothes are embroidered with the name of the tavern; it's clear he's an employee there. He can't run away."
While answering my question, he organized the townsfolk to retrieve the body from the water and took out some money to encourage them to continue searching for any suspicious items.
The deceased was a woman. Although her face was somewhat pale and swollen from being submerged, it was still easy to tell that she was a very young girl. It was truly a pity that someone so young had met such an untimely end.
However, once the body was pulled out, my focus shifted primarily to determining the cause of death. This was where my knowledge could truly be applied, wasn't it?
When you discover a corpse in the water, the main questions to address are: Who is this person? Did they drown? How did they end up in the water? Was it suicide, homicide, or an accident?
Among these questions, determining whether drowning was involved is the first issue that needs resolution.
In modern times, to ascertain whether someone drowned in natural bodies of water like rivers or lakes, we typically use diatom analysis. Both freshwater and seawater contain diatoms; over fifteen thousand species have already been identified, making them valuable for identification.
Of course, if someone drowned in a hot spring, swimming pool, bathtub, or toilet at home, this method of identification would be useless.
Initially, the Forensic Scholar believed that as long as the lungs of the deceased were filled with Plankton, it could be concluded that drowning had occurred. However, this viewpoint was later proven incorrect, as Plankton was also found in the lungs of bodies that had been disposed of in water after death. Eventually, it was discovered that using Diatoms found in various organs as a basis for determining drowning was more scientific, because Diatoms are such that they can enter the Alveolus and pass through Capillaries into the entire Blood Circulation.
Why can this point be used to determine drowning rather than post-mortem disposal? Isn't it clear? If a person is already dead, what Blood Circulation is there? Diatoms can at most enter the Alveolus; they cannot possibly reach other internal organs through the circulatory system.
Thus, the process of identifying Diatoms is quite terrifying. It requires taking samples of Lung Tissue, Myocardium, liver, Marrow, teeth, and several grams of each for Organic Matter destruction, followed by filtering to separate residues. Then distilled water is used for washing and centrifuging before testing for Diatoms. Generally, if Diatoms are detected in multiple locations such as the lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, Marrow, and teeth simultaneously, it has value in determining drowning.
Moreover, since different water bodies have different types of Diatoms, this examination can also help ascertain where the deceased fell into the water.
The more I thought about it, the more excited I became. I particularly wanted to rush over and dissect the body to conduct a Diatom test to see if she had indeed drowned. But then I realized—oh no! I am in the Tang Dynasty! Diatoms are invisible to the naked eye, but in this era, there are no Microscopes… no Microscopes… ah!
What a backward era this is; it's really frustrating. Suddenly, I felt like cursing someone.
Perhaps my expression showed a bit too much emotion because Nie Qiuyuan glanced at me and seemed to be holding back laughter. He squatted down and began examining the corpse leisurely.
Sighing, I decided to resort to primitive methods. Since there was no way to dissect the body and examine the internal organs, I could only look at its surface. If she had drowned, there would generally be a large amount of froth around her mouth and nose resembling white cotton balls. The skin would show signs of cold water stimulation with hair follicles raised and hair standing up like goosebumps. Additionally, when a person struggles in water, they often grasp at aquatic plants, branches, or mud. However, it seemed that this female corpse did not exhibit any of these characteristics.
So? Was she not drowned? Had she been killed elsewhere and then thrown into the river? Was this… murder?
"What are you thinking?" Qiu asked while flipping over the corpse.
"Um, I'm wondering whether this woman actually drowned," I replied with a hint of pride. I believed my judgment was correct; I just didn't know if Nie Qiuyuan understood this.
"Oh? Does that question even need pondering?"
What? Did he come to a conclusion faster than I did? Could there be more advanced methods in this era?
But at that moment, I heard a few commoners nearby discussing, "Sigh, a young girl, her life taken at such a young age, how tragic!"
What? Taken?
Oh my goodness, am I dreaming? How have the people of the Tang Dynasty become detectives? Is this era really so sharp?
"You... how do you know she was murdered?" I couldn't help but blurt out.
A commoner who was fishing something out of the water looked at me as if I were an alien.
"Sir, can't you see I'm standing in the water? This river is quite shallow; look, it's barely over my thighs! This river can't drown anyone!"
I felt a wave of embarrassment wash over me. I admit that my intelligence quotient of 169 is somewhat excessive; what on earth am I doing?
It turns out that sometimes being too professional isn't a good thing at all; it can make you forget the common sense of life.
This reminded me of a joke about a group of PhDs discussing whether a drop of water falling from a great height would kill someone under the influence of gravitational acceleration. The discussion became heated, with formulas flying around. Just then, a completely clueless guy weakly asked, "Haven't you all ever been caught in the rain?"
Oh my goodness, here I am, stepping into a bizarre cycle. This is truly embarrassing!
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