Chapter Fourteen: Autopsy

  The autopsy first needs to determine whether the deceased died from suicide, homicide or accidental death, which is crucial in determining whether it constitutes a criminal offense. There were no ropes around Bai Xiaomei's neck, nor any objects supporting her bound arms. Her throat was fractured and there were subcutaneous hemorrhages on her neck, which could not have been caused by her own hands. Moreover, if she had tried to strangle herself with both hands, as she gradually lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen, her hands would have involuntarily relaxed, making it impossible for her to complete the act of suicide. Therefore, based on these observations, it is almost impossible that Bai Xiaomei's injuries were self-inflicted, and it can be concluded that she was murdered.

  Of course, to more accurately determine the cause of death, the best way is to perform an autopsy. However, Yang Qiuchi learned from his study of forensic history that in ancient times, without special necessity and after strict multi-level approval, autopsies were not allowed in principle.

  Yang Qiuchi grasped the arm of Bai Xiaomei's corpse and made a few flexing motions, discovering that rigor mortis had already begun to set in. Under normal circumstances, a corpse will stiffen within 30 minutes to 2 hours after death, become completely rigid between 9-12 hours, soften after 30 hours, and return to its original state after 70 hours.

  Yang Qiuchi turned the body over and saw that the back, buttocks, and the back of the thighs had already begun to show shallow purple-red marks, like the sediment at the bottom of a bottle of red wine. This was livor mortis, caused by the blood in the body's blood vessels stopping its circulation and settling in the lower parts of the body under the influence of gravity. Based on the patchy distribution of the livor mortis and the fact that rigor mortis had already set in for the most part, Yang Qiuchi estimated that the deceased had been dead for around three to four hours, taking into account the approximate temperature and humidity of the air.

  Careful observation of the location of livor mortis is all on the back, buttocks, and posterior thighs. This should be the primary scene of rape and murder. It should be noted that if livor mortis appears on the front or side of the body, it generally indicates that the body has been moved.

  Yang Qiuchi finished examining the body of Bai Xiaomei and was about to go check on the body of Bai Suimei when Yin De approached him quietly and asked, "Young master, have you found any clues? Can we find the murderer?"

  Yang Qiuchi didn't say a word, he just politely nodded his head. The autopsy was top secret until the case was solved, and any leak would cause immeasurable damage to the investigation. So, he didn't answer Yin De's question.

  Song Zhiyuan also got a bit impatient, standing outside the door and asking from afar: "Yang, Yang Wu, have you found anything? Can you catch the murderer?"

  Catch the murderer? Don't be ridiculous, the case hasn't even started yet, who can we catch? Yang Qiucheng looked at Song Zhixian with a bitter smile.

  At this time, outside came the faint sound of two women's voices: "Son! My son! Are you still alive? Where are you?" The voice was hoarse and sounded like an old woman. "Husband! Husband!" This voice was tender and sounded like a young woman.

  Yang Qiuchi was just wondering, the long-following who had just gone out had already stepped into the door and saluted Song Zhizhou: "Report to your lordship, the corpse has been brought." After a pause, he said, "Yang Wu's mother and wife heard that Yang Wu had returned and insisted on coming to see him. They were blocked by the catchers and militiamen at the door." He then handed several forms to Yang Qiuchi.

  Has my mother and wife arrived? Yang Qiuchi's heart skipped a beat, his hands took over the few forms, but his eyes were looking outward. Came to Ming Dynasty, unexpectedly gained an extra mother, not to mention also picked up a free wife, what a great deal! Wife of the Ming Dynasty, damn it, awesome!

  Yang Qiuchi was about to step out when he saw County Magistrate Song, with his goat-like beard, standing at the door with a gloomy face and no intention of giving way. Yang Qiuchi said, "Sir, please allow me to go see my elderly mother and wife." The most important thing was still his wife; Yang Qiuchi was eager to know what this little beauty from the Ming Dynasty looked like. Her voice was soft and gentle, so her appearance must be stunning. His heart couldn't help but surge with excitement.

  Song Zhixian shook his head: "First, first prioritize the important matter, you, after you have finished investigating, then meet with him, it's not too late!"

  This is also right, public first and private later. Yang Qiucheng made a fist to the long-following: "Thank you, brother, trouble you to inform my mother and wife that I will see them after finishing the official business." The long-following did not respond, looking at Song Zhizhou. After seeing Song Zhizhou nodding, he responded: "Good, I'll go tell them now." He turned around and left. Before long, the voices of the two women disappeared.

  Yang Qiuchi put the form on the table, and the servant of the Yin family had already prepared the pen and ink, which were placed on the round table in the room. Yang Qiuchi sat down, picked up the brush, and began to fill out the items one by one according to the requirements above.

  Although the form was a standard one, its contents were all about on-site investigations and autopsy reports. These were no problem, but the brush script was giving Yang Qiuchuan a headache. Fortunately, he had practiced some brush script in elementary school, so although his handwriting was ugly, it was still legible. Anyway, this little troublemaker who had borrowed a corpse to return a soul wasn't any kind of great writer, and his handwriting wouldn't be better than Yang's own. Just as he had written a few characters, a cold voice asked from beside him, "What are you writing, kid?"

  "Ah, Chinese characters!" Yang Qiuchi turned his head to take a look and saw a middle-aged man standing behind him, tall and thin, with a sarcastic smile on his face. It was the same teacher who had been whispering to Song Zhi County earlier. He asked: "Who are you?"

  "My surname is Jin, I'm the judicial expert of the county government, entrusted by County Master to be in charge of investigating homicide cases. How could you not even understand this?" Mr. Jin shook his folding fan, looked up at the sky with a smug expression and sneered.

  This type of law clerk belongs to the kind of long-following officials who were hired by the county magistrate himself in the Ming dynasty. In the grassroots government at the state and county levels, the main "civil servants" borne by the national finance were the county magistrate, county lieutenant, and chief clerk.

  Among the people hired, one of the main categories is the long-following. These people are either brought from their hometown by the county magistrate or are familiar with local conditions and are full-time teachers. There are many types of long-following, among which the most important are the criminal name-long following who assist the master in handling cases and the money-grain long following who is in charge of financial revenue. In addition to these, there are also specialized personnel responsible for keeping and using the county magistrate's large seal, the prison (actually a detention center) supervisor, the gatekeeper, the special liaison officer, etc.

  There is another type of official recruitment, namely the six houses of clerks, including the Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of War, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Works. Only a small number of these officials are part of the national establishment, receiving "yonglu" (official salary) from the state treasury as civil servants. However, this is far from enough, and many more people need to be hired to complete the complex administrative and judicial tasks of a prefecture or county. These recruited personnel were called "tie shu", "tie xie", "bang chai" and other names, collectively known as "non-establishment officials". Many people also paid money to buy an official title in the "mǎo cè" (register) of the government office clerks to avoid corvée labor, known as "guà míng shū yì".

  This prison name is the front row of the long follow-up, equivalent to the current criminal police team leader plus the security team leader, is the big brother in the long follow-up, even the county magistrate has to respectfully call him "Mr.", only the financial officer can barely mention with him. Qian Gu Zhang Suo, no wonder he is so arrogant.

  Yang Qiuchi didn't understand what this "Xingming Shiyeye" was, but hearing him say in front of the county magistrate that he was responsible for investigating homicide cases, he stood up and made a fist: "I've seen Master Jin!"