Chapter 1: The Nightmare Begins 5

  Wang Yanan thought for a moment and said decisively: "I'll come over right away to get it."

  Zhang Tong heard the bell above the autopsy room door ring once, and then the door was pushed open.

  "Yanan, you're here?"

  "Hmm." Wang Yanan hummed. She didn't directly go to Zhang Tong's side, but instead walked towards the only large office desk in the room, put down the file bag in her hand on it, and then walked to the door.

  Put on work clothes.

  "How was it? What's the outcome?"

  Zhang Tong shifted her body slightly to the other side, and the dissecting table that had been blocked by her was now fully exposed in front of Wang Ya Nan.

  Wang Yan took a deep breath, and in front of her, on the dissection table, was placed a human skull. If it were just bones, it wouldn't be so shocking, but this was a face...

  A face completely stripped of its skin, with strange muscles crisscrossing on it, those grayish-white eyeballs, and that wide-opened terrifying yet hollow mouth, as if death had been frozen in this moment.

  Finished.

  "This is a female skull, very young, judging from the development of her wisdom teeth, she shouldn't be more than nineteen years old." Zhang Tong sighed, "Look at her protruding eyebrow bones and short lower jaw,"

  “has obvious characteristics of the Lingnan Asian race.”

  "This skull is a bit strange!" Wang Yan's two eyes stared fixedly at the dissection table in front of her, "Has it also been boiled? The color is very different."

  "Yes, and like those pieces of flesh, they have been boiled in high-temperature water. The perpetrator has extremely skilled surgical skills, ordinary people can't peel off the epidermis so cleanly. Including me."

  "As he spoke, Zhang Tong pointed to the area near the bridge of his nose, "Take a closer look here, this is the richest place in the facial nerve system, and if you're not careful when cutting, you'll damage the skin underneath."

  "Even the slightest scratch on your muscle tissue wouldn't escape my eyes, but now I don't see any trace at all."

  "It's as if the skin on her face never existed." Wang Yan muttered.

  "Right!" Zhang Tong walked to the other end of the autopsy table, pointing at the bones that had been arranged in the order of the human skeletal sequence and brought back from the scene, saying with a helpless expression, "The deceased's pelvis also confirmed..."

  I just made a judgment about the age of the deceased, she would not be over twenty years old, very young, and had no childbearing history. Based on the weight of the skeleton, her body weight would not exceed 90 pounds, slightly thin. From the situation of the corpse

  It can be inferred that the murderer is not only a master of surgery, but also very familiar with human skeletal remains. You see, all the bones are here, except for the small piece of phalanges at the beginning, which was probably left behind.

  The remaining bones are not few. Moreover, from the surface of these bones, it can be seen that the murderer did not use rough external forces, such as knives and axes, to separate the skeleton. The joints are clean and tidy, without any damage.

  None at all! He can really be described as 'butchering an ox with ease'!"

  "Then, can you restore the human figure? I need to post a 'Notice of Identifying the Corpse'." Wang Yan turned her gaze towards Zhang Tong, who had his hands inserted into the pockets of his work uniform and looked solemn.

  "No problem, the facial muscles are still relatively intact. This will be of great help in making a restored image that resembles the deceased's original appearance! When do you want it?"

  "Hurry up!" Wang Yan said with a frown, "Is there a result for the cause of death now?"

  Zhang Tong puckered up his mouth, pondered for a moment, "Currently, there are no signs of external trauma on the skeleton, but because the muscles of the corpse have been cut into many pieces and boiled in high-temperature water.

  So I couldn't determine the damage to the superficial soft tissue. I've also done an X-ray scan of her skull, and there's no internal injury. In short, all I can say is that she didn't suffer from severe external trauma. Anything else...

  I don't know for now. Sorry, Yinan, I can only speak based on the evidence in my hands: it cannot be inferred."

  Wang Yanan nodded: "Is there anything else I need to know?"

  "There are two special garments that were placed with the deceased's remains. I have sent them, along with the outer snakeskin bag, to the trace evidence lab."

  "Alright, then you quickly give me the restored portrait." Wang Yan said as she walked towards the door, putting her work uniform back on the hook. At the moment she opened the door, she stopped.

  "Footsteps, turning back and saying, 'The inspection report of the letter and lily bouquet is on your desk!'"

  Zhang Tong was taken aback for a moment, then realized the implication of Wang Ya Nan's words. She expressionless and lightly said: "Thank you."

  Reconstructing a person's likeness is no simple task, requiring not only expertise in anthropology but also a certain level of artistic skill.

  Zhang Tong instructed his assistant, Pan Jian, to bring over a specially made digital camera and take several photos of the deceased's skull from specific angles. Due to the presence of some muscle tissue still attached to the deceased's face,

  So the final imaging work is relatively much easier. After taking a good photo, the data was immediately input into the computer and quickly printed out. Zhang Tong stretched out his hand to take over a specially made paper cover on the skull image

  On the basis of a series of characteristics of previous victims, including age, weight and ethnic origin, a basic image was quickly sketched out. Further scanning and comparison with existing databases in the computer then revealed...

  After checking the data for a few minutes, the computer made a series of beeping sounds and a vivid portrait of a 17 or 18-year-old girl appeared clearly on the screen.

  "Print it out and send it to Captain Wang Yanan's office at the Criminal Police Brigade immediately!"

  "I'm going right away!"

  Zhang Tong stood up, yielding his seat to Pan Jian, and walked alone to the other side of the workbench, where the large yellow envelope left by Wang Ya Nan lay quietly.

  Zhang Tong took a deep breath, picked up the envelope, hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and tore open the adhesive tape on the envelope, pulling out the inspection report inside.

  The inspection report was printed on a thin A4 paper, Zhang Tong felt her hands trembling uncontrollably, as if she was just one step away from the truth, and she could even be sure of it.

  One day, she will be able to solve the mystery that destroyed her family. But then, Zhang Tong felt a kind of fear that followed, and in her subconscious, she knew she didn't have the courage to face the truth.

  。

  "Zhang Faye, are you okay?" Pan Jian's concerned voice sounded in her ear.

  Zhang Tong finally came to his senses, and his first reaction was to quickly stuff the inspection report into the pocket of his work uniform. He then waved his hand and regained his usual calm demeanor, "I'm fine, you..."

  "Hurry up and send it over, they're waiting for it!"

  Pan Jian hesitated for a moment, then nodded and turned to leave the autopsy room.

  "Xiao Tong, is that you?"

  The voice was unfamiliar, and except for Wang Ya Nan, colleagues around her had never called herself that way before. Zhang Tong turned back with a look of surprise, standing in front of her was someone who was about the same age as her, wearing

  The man in the prosecutor's uniform, about thirty years old, with prematurely white hair, but his eyes were full of spirit. At this moment, he was smiling at himself, with a look of surprise on his face.

  "Who are you?" Zhang Tong still hadn't reacted.

  "It seems you don't recognize me? I'm Liu Chunxiao!" The man's smile had a hint of disappointment.

  "Liu Chunxiao?" Zhang Tong quickly searched for this name in her mind, and soon a smile appeared on her face, and a nickname from the depths of memory came out, "'Dandan'! It's really you!"

  "How did you end up here?"

  Liu Chunxiao smiled awkwardly and quickly changed the subject: "I've just been transferred back to Tianchang City Procuratorate, in charge of criminal affairs. Today I came here to familiarize myself with the situation. How about you?"

  "Still the same old thing, forensic doctor and all. After doing this for so many years, it seems like changing jobs is no longer a possibility."

  Liu Chunxiao's eyes had an unusual sparkle: "Xiao Tong, how have you been? It's been so many years since we last met..."

  "It's okay, just showing up for work every day."

  Liu Chunxiao hesitated for a few seconds before finally plucking up the courage to suggest, "Then, are you free after work? I'd like to invite you out for tea."

  Zhang Tong nodded: "I get off work at 5:30. If there's nothing special, come to the forensic office to find me."

  "Alright, I'll definitely go!"

  Watching Zhang Tong's receding back, Liu Chunxiao couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

  "Hey! Old friend, what's wrong with you? I just went out for a bit and you're acting like you've been possessed." Zhao Junjie appeared behind Liu Chunxiao, carrying a bag, and suddenly slapped him on the back.

  Still see beautiful women?

  Liu Chunxiao smiled awkwardly: "I just saw my high school classmate. It's been a long time, she has changed a lot."

  "Is that your high school classmate? Here? Male or female?" Zhao Junjie's journalistic instincts and curiosity took over again. He subconsciously turned his head to look towards the other end of the corridor.

  "Would you mind telling me?"

  "She's a woman, named Zhang Tong, and she's the forensic doctor here."

  "Director Zhang? Why didn't you tell me earlier that you and she were high school classmates?" Zhao Junjie became abnormally excited, he walked towards the elevator with Liu Chunxiao while complaining, "I came here..."

  "All the hardships I've endured are for her sake! Dealing with dead people all day, don't laugh at me little brother, but when I first started that one month, I had nightmares every night!"

  Zhao Junjie's words were pouring into his ears, but Liu Chunxiao didn't hear a single word, his thoughts had returned to over a decade ago.

  He remembered very clearly that it was the day when the school announced the division of liberal arts and science classes, everyone was discussing how many girls would be assigned to the science class this time, and whether or not they would be tall.

  It's beautiful. At this moment, the teacher read out a special name - Zhang Tong, and a very delicate little girl stood up in response, Liu Chunxiao was stunned, he couldn't help but hastily lowered his head.

  At that moment, he blushed for the first time in his life because he liked a girl.