Folk Street had never been this desolate since its inception.

The reverence for life and fear of death made the whole street seem like a Ghost Realm.

The cold wind howled, and Liu Guodong tightened the collar of his down jacket.

Behind him, over a dozen criminal police officers were conducting a carpet search along the street.

Half an hour ago, Lu Chuan and Liu Guodong were just conducting a routine inspection of the street.

In crime scene investigation protocols, there are different requirements for surveying various types of homicide scenes.

In dismemberment cases, generally, a wide-ranging survey of the surrounding environment is required.

What was thought to be routine work turned out to be more; ten minutes ago, Lu Chuan discovered a black plastic bag in a gap between trash cans by the roadside.

Subsequently, each of them took over a dozen criminal police officers to conduct a meticulous survey on both sides of Folk Street, centering on the Tongguan Young Master's Roujiamo shop.

"Officer Lu!"

"Here!"

Half an hour later, a similar black plastic bag was found in a drainage ditch less than two hundred meters from the Tongguan Young Master's Roujiamo shop.

Donning a mask and triple-layer gloves, Lu Chuan frowned deeply, squatted down, and lifted the black plastic bag from the drainage ditch.

Around him, over a dozen criminal police officers stood, forming a human wall.

The plastic bag was an ordinary black plastic bag that could be bought at any supermarket.

Upon untying the tight knot of the plastic bag, an indescribable stench assaulted the senses.

Ugh!

A few young detectives couldn't help but retch upon seeing the contents of the plastic bag.

Their faces turned as white as paper.

Lu Chuan's face wasn't looking good either, but as the leading crime scene investigator, he nonetheless took out his notebook.

"Half of a severed hand, seemingly a forearm stump, meat chunks of various sizes..."

Lu Chuan let go of the pen, rummaged through the plastic bag, and continued recording: "About ten cm meat chunks… fourteen pieces."

The entire morning, Lu Chuan and his team discovered seven black plastic bags on Folk Street.

Each contained dismembered limbs and chunks of meat in various sizes.

Lunar January 23rd, 4:30 p.m.

Criminal Investigation Team meeting room.

The first case analysis meeting for the dismemberment case was in session.

During morning meetings, Liu Guodong from the crime scene investigation office, and Wang Changjiang, the forensic doctor, usually sat at the end of the meeting table.

However, during murder case analysis meetings, they were usually the first to speak.

"Besides the meat fragments found in the Tongguan Young Master's Roujiamo shop, we found seven black plastic bags on Folk Street," Liu Guodong reported succinctly and clearly.

"DNA testing has been completed, confirming all these body parts belong to the same individual."

"Among the dismembered limbs, a complete finger was found, and Lu Chuan is currently extracting fingerprints to match with the victim's information."

"Also, efforts are underway to extract fingerprints from the plastic bags."

"Any findings from the scene in the shop?"

Liu Guodong shook his head: "We can basically determine the Tongguan Young Master's Roujiamo shop was not the primary crime scene; no other discoveries for now."

Qin Yong nodded and turned his gaze to Wang Changjiang.

*Cough, cough.*

After clearing his throat, Wang Changjiang slightly shifted his position in the chair: "The initial examination of the body parts has basically been completed."

"Currently, it appears the dismembered portions are quite varied, including both limbs and cuts from the chest, legs, and abdomen."

Just like an experienced butcher assessing the meat on a chopping block can distinguish which part of the pig it comes from.

Leg meat, pork belly, or pork head, each part has different muscle textures and fat contents.

"We've done a preliminary reconstruction of the body parts but haven't arrived at any conclusions yet."

"Preliminary judgment suggests these body parts account for roughly one-tenth of the body."

"What about the cause of death? Can it be determined?"

Wang Changjiang shook his head: "The cause of death cannot be determined yet, but the body had been refrigerated."

"Though not for a long time; the exterior was frozen, but there were no signs of freezing internally."

"The time of death should be within forty-eight hours."

Dismemberment cases differ from regular homicide cases, as relying on external indicators like rigor mortis and body temperature to determine time of death becomes less accurate.

"Among the body fragments, there are portions of liver and stomach pieces. Based on their color changes and the state of food decomposition in the stomach, the time of death can be roughly determined."

Liu Guodong nodded. Though his estimations of time of death are not as precise as a forensic doctor, his experience as a crime scene investigator gives him some insights.

Evidently, Liu Guodong agrees with the time of death being within forty-eight hours.

While the case analysis meeting was convening in the meeting room, Lu Chuan was in the autopsy room.

Seven sizable bags of body parts, along with the fragments found at the Tongguan Young Master's Roujiamo shop, were all laid out on the dissection table.

Fully equipped, Shen Yan was organizing the body parts.

"Female body, age…"

Shen Yan was conducting a routine surface examination of the body.

"From the tightness and laxity of the skin, it appears to be under forty years old."

Wang Changjiang had completed the basic work, and now it was Shen Yan's learning session.

Lu Chuan was capturing the fingerprint of a finger from the deceased.

*Ding!*

"Advanced task: The host is requested to assist the forensic doctor in conducting an autopsy analysis of the body and, based on the body's characteristics, determine the identity of the deceased, and assist the special investigation team in solving the case based on crime scene leads."

Receiving this task, Lu Chuan hadn't expected he would need to aid in the forensic analysis of the body.

The fingerprint capture was quickly completed.

Clear and complete, it would be easy to match if a sample of the deceased's fingerprint existed within the system.

"Shen Yan, do you need help?"

Since he was to assist the forensic doctor in conducting an autopsy analysis, Lu Chuan simply teamed up with Shen Yan.

Facing her first dismemberment case, Shen Yan didn't find it as hard to accept as imagined.

She viewed it as if the killer had assisted the forensic doctor with an autopsy.

For criminal police, a dismembered body was far less nauseating than a decomposed body.

For instance, seeing a bloated body guarantees no one forgets it for a lifetime.

The decay of bodies happens faster than ordinary people expect.

At normal temperatures of over twenty degrees, in standard external conditions, it only takes two to three days for a body to significantly transform.

Like describing a corpse's eyes, the term "dead fish eyes" hadn't emerged out of nowhere.

No matter the size of the deceased's eyes when alive, within two days after death, the swelling of eyelids reduced an entire eye to a mere half-centimeter slit.

The murky, milky-colored eyeballs completely conceal the pupils, leaving only a cloudy white behind.

With Lu Chuan present, Shen Yan's work mood remained steady: "There's nothing much that requires help."

"The deceased's body has been extensively cut, making it difficult to determine the cause of death, and currently, identifying the deceased's basic information is a priority."

Lu Chuan nodded.

For both crime scene investigators and forensic doctors, determining the identity, cause, and time of death of the deceased was always the foremost task.

"The fingerprint collection was smooth; I'll run a check in the fingerprint database shortly to see if we can identify the deceased."

"As for basic information…"

Lu Chuan put on gloves and picked up a piece of broken bone and flesh from the autopsy table.

"This is a tibia… Judging from its length and diameter…"

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