Street Hustler and His Policewoman Wife

Chapter 213 213: Autopsy!

Sister Miao Doctor looked at Chen Xiao with a strange expression.

This made Chen Xiao a bit baffled.

"Sister, is there something wrong with my question?"

"What do you think? You either treat me as if I were part of Huang Zhao's family or someone close to him, asking me about whether his family has any Young Pioneers?"

Chen Xiao almost choked.

Indeed, the lady wasn't wrong at all!

Chen Xiao nodded apologetically: "I asked too hastily, there's no way you'd know about this."

The lady shrugged: "If you have anything else to ask, just go ahead."

Chen Xiao shook his head: "Sister, thank you so much, I...won't bother you anymore."

"Mm, if you catch the murderer, remember to let me know."

As Sister Miao Doctor spoke, Chen Xiao nodded and then left the Miao Medical Clinic.

Xiaoji and the other two had been waiting for a while, and upon meeting, they asked: "Bro, why did it take so long this time?"

"I asked some questions. Let's go to that old doctor's Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic again."

"Going back again? Could it be...?"

"There's a piece of information from the case that matches the situation at that old TCM doctor's place."

Xiaoji immediately drove back to the street where Xue Xiangdi previously lived, and finally stopped in front of Huang Zhao's TCM Clinic.

Just as Chen Xiao was about to walk in, a voice called out from behind.

"Mr. Chen."

It turned out Xie Wensheng had come looking for him.

Chen Xiao stopped in his tracks, curiously asking: "Captain Xie, why are you here?"

"I'm doing a walkthrough too. There are quite a few internet cafes around here. I spent last night learning a lot about the six people with Xiong Ruru, but it seems like they were always just hanging out among themselves."

As Xie Wensheng spoke, he continued: "What about you all? Any findings?"

Chen Xiao shared the results of his morning walkthrough, and Xie Wensheng couldn't help but look towards Huang Zhao's TCM Clinic.

"What a coincidence? Xiong Ruru and Xue Xiangdi were at early acquaintance stage in September and October last year, the timing and their characteristics match, and they even have intertwined relationships."

"Yes, so I planned to go in to ask more. However, seeing you here, I've changed my mind."

Xie Wensheng asked puzzledly: "What do you mean?"

"If this one question isn't clarified, it's useless to ask anyone right now!"

"The corpse smell?"

"It seems this question has been lingering in Captain Xie's mind too, yes... we must find the answer to this problem first. Let's head to the Criminal Police Department, to the Forensic Science Unit first!"

After Chen Xiao expressed his plan, Xie Wensheng nodded and said: "Alright, I'll take you there, but what about your three friends?"

"Xiaoji, you two and Dayou follow another lead."

"Got it!"

Both sides left Huang Zhao's TCM Clinic in two different directions.

Chen Xiao arrived at the Forensic Science Unit of the Criminal Police Department. When he changed and entered, the forensic doctor seemed surprised.

"Mr. Chen, why are you here?"

Chen Xiao smiled and said: "I'm here to learn a bit, Director Zhu doesn't mind, right?"

"It's no problem, Mr. Chen, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

"Alright, thanks in advance, Director Zhu."

Chen Xiao politely said, and then began walking around the dissection room.

But after not walking long, Chen Xiao felt the mask he was wearing was too thin, unable to block the smell.

Chen Xiao leaned next to Director Zhu and smilingly asked: "Director Zhu, you must have discussed the issue of corpse smell with Captain Xie, right?"

Director Zhu nodded and glanced at Xie Wensheng, saying: "We've discussed this issue many times, considering the current condition of the six corpses, things like refrigerated storage can be ruled out. Looking at the three male corpses, it's certain they were directly exposed to the air."

"Because of this, I can't think of any method to control corpse smell unless the murderer lives alone in a secluded mountain with no other people!"

Chen Xiao responded: "Is there a possibility that Traditional Chinese Medicine...?"

While speaking, Chen Xiao stopped himself, his hand already touching the corpse.

"Traditional Chinese Medicine can't do that either; the corpse here is naturally decomposed. No matter how skilled a TCM doctor is, it's not possible. Even if they intended to preserve, measures would have to be taken at the beginning. And once measures are taken, other substances would be detectable, and the same logic applies to Western medicine."

"Right, it seems like an unsolvable problem." Director Zhu nodded in agreement while saying so, and then sliced open Wu Rui's stomach.

In an instant, the already strong odor became nearly unbearable.

Reflexively wanting to step back, Chen Xiao persisted and asked: "Director Zhu, I've done my protection, can I observe up close?"

With widened eyes, Director Zhu replied: "I don't mind, but can you handle it?"

Without answering, Chen Xiao moved closer, cautiously lifting Wu Rui's arm.

Rather than an arm, it was more akin to a skeleton.

The moment he touched the bones, Chen Xiao activated his Gold-Picking Drill ability.

At that moment, the knowledge points in Chen Xiao's mind began to collide.

While Director Zhu observed the inside of the corpse, the knowledge points he had seemed to become active as well.

"The stomach is likewise full; this means Wu Rui and all the boys were killed after a full meal."

"The deceased's bones showed no signs of major injuries but had marks of being bound... "

"Under my Power of Awakening, it increasingly seems that Sister Miao Doctor's 'covering odor with odor' is particularly sensible."

"What kind of smell would cover the smell of decay?"

As Chen Xiao pondered, he withdrew his hand.

Director Zhu continued his autopsy work, and Xie Wensheng patted Chen Xiao's shoulder, suggesting: "Maybe we should step out for now?"

Chen Xiao shook his head: "Not in a hurry, I've only seen one corpse, I should look at the others too."

Seeing Chen Xiao insisting, Xie Wensheng did not stop him.

Chen Xiao looked at the three corpses on the dissection tables, all males.

The others, limited by space, were temporarily placed in the storage cabinet.

Chen Xiao paused in front of each corpse, but whether by touch or feel, they all seemed similar.

"Director Zhu, where are Xiong Ruru, Xue Xiangdi's numbers in the cabinet?"

"Cabinet numbers 05 and 06."

Chen Xiao nodded and proceeded towards cabinets 05 and 06.

Upon opening, the smell lightened significantly, prompting Chen Xiao to say:

"Director Zhu, can you distinguish in what kind of environment these deceased rotted?"

"The first three seem to have been in a relatively cooler environment, like a basement; the latter three weren't placed in a low-temperature environment."

Thinking for a moment, after checking Xiong Ruru and Xue Xiangdi, Chen Xiao squinted and said: "Do you think the corpse smell of the first three and last three might be somewhat different?"

Director Zhu paused: "Where's the difference? It's all decay odor! If there's any difference, it's in the degree of decomposition, but the smell is basically the same, the only difference is the intensity of the visual impact."

"No, no, it's different; the smell was covered by another smell. Yes, during decomposition, the murderer concealed it by 'covering smell with smell'! And when we discovered the bodies, they were similarly masked with another smell!"

Noticing Chen Xiao's certain tone, Xie Wensheng solemnly asked: "What did you think of?"

Chen Xiao didn't answer, quickly saying: "Where are the victims' cut-away clothes, let me see!"