The crackdown on organized crime began with the arrest of the mother-in-law.

Chapter 1192 Clues Found by the Autopsy

Looking at the report submitted by Xiao Zhou, Li Ming said in a heavy tone, "Zhang Juan, as the cashier, upheld her principles, but paid the ultimate price for it. We must find Zhao Lei as soon as possible and give Zhang Juan's family an explanation." He then ordered into the walkie-talkie, "Immediately launch a full-scale manhunt for Zhao Lei, retrieve his communication records and whereabouts, and at the same time conduct an in-depth investigation into the cement plant's financial accounts to find out where the 80 yuan in abnormal expenditures went."

As night deepened, the lights in the Criminal Investigation Division remained bright. Xiao Zhou and his team had begun to analyze Zhao Lei's social connections and possible hiding places. Everyone knew that time was of the essence; only by finding Zhao Lei as soon as possible could they uncover the full truth behind Zhang Juan's death and bring justice.

Meanwhile, the autopsy was underway. As Zhang Juan's body was slowly pushed into the entrance, the white sheet covering her body swayed slightly, revealing the hem of her light pink dress. The tear marks on the hem were clearly visible under the operating lights. Zhang Lin, wearing double-layered latex gloves, lightly touched the surface of the body with his fingertips—the skin still retained warmth, and the muscle tissue had not shown obvious stiffness, providing a basic basis for the preliminary determination of the time of death. Assistant Xiao Lin had already arranged the autopsy instruments in order on a stainless steel tray. The scalpel, hemostats, skull saw, and other tools gleamed coldly. The label on the edge of the tray read, "Unidentified female corpse from the East Suburb Cement Plant (Zhang Juan), autopsy date August 15th."

“First, record the basic information about the body, starting with the external features.” Zhang Lin’s voice came through the gas mask, carrying a slight muffled sound. Xiao Lin picked up a measuring tape and squatted down beside the body: “Female body, age 32 (based on the degree of tooth wear and ID card information), height 159cm, weight approximately 52kg, hair length 30cm, black, smooth hair. Wearing a light pink cotton dress, with a 12cm tear on the right side of the hem, and three ripped folds at the neckline, spaced approximately 2cm apart, presumably caused by external tearing.” She paused, pointing to the body’s ankles, “Both ankles have circular ligature marks, the left one 0.8cm wide and the right one 0.7cm wide, with epidermal peeling at the edges of the marks, reaching the dermis, and local bleeding, consistent with the characteristics of restraint before death.”

Zhang Lin took the magnifying glass and carefully examined the details of the ligature marks: "The ligature marks are regular in shape, with no jagged edges, suggesting that the restraints were made of a soft rope, such as cotton or nylon." He gently pricked the skin at the ligature mark with a dissecting needle. "The epidermal peeling direction is consistent, all clockwise, indicating that the suspect applied force from the left side of the body when restraining the body, possibly indicating right-handedness." He added, "A small amount of red fibers was extracted from the ligature mark, which is preliminarily consistent with the composition of the red rope found under Zhang Juan's desk during the initial investigation, and further laboratory testing is needed for confirmation."

Determining the time of death requires cross-verification from multiple dimensions. Zhang Lin first examined the rigor mortis of the body: "The jaw joint is slightly stiff, and the mouth can be opened slightly; the neck muscles are slightly stiff, and the head can be turned slightly; there is no obvious stiffness in the elbow and wrist joints of the upper limbs, and the range of motion of the knee and ankle joints of the lower limbs is normal." He compared the timeline of rigor mortis development with the timeline of rigor mortis development. "Based on the location and degree of rigor mortis, the preliminary judgment is that the time of death was between 6 and 8 hours ago, which is around 0:00 to 2:00 on August 15th."

Xiao Lin asked, "Professor Zhang, can the rate of rigor mortis development be affected by the environment? The low nighttime temperature at the cement plant might delay the onset of rigor mortis." Zhang Lin nodded, turned the body over, and examined the skin on the back: "No obvious livor mortis was found on the back, only light red dotted indentations on the shoulder blades, which fade when pressed," he explained. "Livor mortis usually begins to appear 2-4 hours after death, and enters the diffusion phase 6-12 hours later, and does not fade when pressed. Currently, livor mortis has not yet formed, and combined with the degree of rigor mortis, it indicates that the time of death was indeed 6-8 hours ago. The low temperature environment only slightly delayed the development of rigor mortis, and has little impact on the overall judgment."

The subsequent corneal opacity examination further confirmed the time of death. Zhang Lin shone a flashlight into the corpse's eyes: "The cornea is slightly cloudy, the pupil is still discernible, and the light reflex is absent," he recorded the data. "Corneal opacity is divided into three grades. Mild opacity corresponds to a time of death of 4-8 hours, which is completely consistent with the results of rigor mortis and livor mortis." He added, "There are a few punctate hemorrhages in the conjunctiva, which may be caused by hypoxia or external pressure before death. It is necessary to combine this with an internal autopsy to confirm whether it is related to the cause of death."

The analysis of the stomach contents provided a more precise basis for the time of death. Zhang Lin used a scalpel to cut along the midline of the abdomen and carefully separated the stomach wall tissue: "The stomach was empty, with only a small amount of semi-digested rice grains and vegetable scraps remaining, about 10ml," he said, placing the stomach contents sample into a test tube. "The edges of the rice grains were blurred, and the vegetable fibers were partially decomposed. Based on the degree of food digestion, it is estimated that the last meal was 4-6 hours before death, which is between 8 pm and 10 pm on August 14th." Xiao Lin immediately retrieved Zhang Juan's whereabouts records: "The cement factory canteen staff said that Zhang Juan ate dinner at the canteen at 7 pm on the 14th, with rice as the main dish and vegetables as the side dish, which corresponds perfectly with the stomach contents, further narrowing down the time of death to between 0 am and 2 am on August 15th."

Determining the cause of death is the core of the autopsy. Zhang Lin first examined the neck of the corpse: "No obvious strangulation marks or ligature marks were found on the skin of the neck, but there was a 2x3cm subcutaneous hemorrhage on the right side of the neck. The center of the bleeding area was darker in color and the edges gradually faded." He used hemostatic forceps to separate the subcutaneous tissue. "The bleeding depth reached the sternocleidomastoid muscle layer. The muscle fibers were broken in an irregular shape, which is consistent with the characteristics of a contusion caused by a blunt force trauma—the contact surface of a blunt force trauma should be round or oval, about 3cm in diameter, such as the tip of a fist or a wooden stick."

Xiao Lin suddenly pointed to the corpse's mouth: "The oral mucosa is damaged, and there is a 1x1.5cm ulcer on the right buccal mucosa with oozing blood. No teeth are loose or missing." Zhang Lin examined the throat with a laryngoscope: "The pharyngeal mucosa is congested and edematous, and there is a small amount of light red foamy fluid in the trachea. There is no foreign object obstruction, ruling out the possibility of death by mechanical asphyxiation." He added, "The damage to the oral mucosa may have been caused by the suspect covering the mouth with his hand or a tool to prevent Zhang Juan from calling for help."

The thoracic autopsy revealed a critical, fatal injury. Zhang Lin used a skull saw to open the chest cavity, exposing the heart and lungs: "The heart was of normal size, with multiple punctate hemorrhages under the epicardium, diffusely distributed; there was a 5x6cm contusion in the lower lobe of the left lung, with hemorrhage and swelling of the lung tissue and blurred edges," he said, picking up the lung tissue with forceps. "The lung contusion was severe, leading to pulmonary dysfunction and respiratory failure—this was the main cause of death."