Chapter 29: Dining Together

Lu Chuan had studied the human skeletal system back in university.

However, it had only been a general understanding.

While this subject is a mandatory course for forensic pathologists, for crime scene investigators, it is merely a matter of general knowledge.

But the information rewarded by the system this time gave Lu Chuan an incredibly profound understanding of the structure and characteristics of the human skeleton.

For instance, the number of bones.

A normal adult has 206 bones, but what about children?

A child's bone count is around 217 or 218, with variations between the skull and the sacrum.

During the growth process, a child's skull and sacrum gradually merge, growing from multiple pieces into a single unit.

There are even differences in some finger bones.

This is related to the mechanism of human height growth.

Within the limb bones of a child, there is a segment of cartilaginous bone inside every joint.

This is the key to skeletal growth, but as age increases, the cartilage gradually shrinks until it disappears.

At that point, height growth ceases.

However, in some individuals, the cartilage does not disappear but instead calcifies into ordinary bone.

This is equivalent to having an extra bone.

There is even a saying that, medically speaking, the difference between a child and an adult is as vast as the difference between a human and a chimpanzee.

In fact, from a medical perspective, the two could almost be considered different species.

And in skeletal identification and analysis, it involves much more than just the number of bones.

The time of formation, the rate of skeletalization, and the degree of decay under different conditions all vary between different remains.

How to judge a deceased person's physical characteristics, cause of death, and more, based on the hardness, bone density, and surface roughness of the remains—these are all competencies within the skill of Intermediate Skeletal Identification and Analysis.

It could be said that with Intermediate Skeletal Identification and Analysis, Lu Chuan had, to a certain extent, already become a forensic pathologist.

Of course, forensic science has many branches.

Such as forensic pathology, clinical forensics, forensic toxicology, and so on.

There is even forensic entomology.

An average person wouldn't quite understand this—how could forensics have a branch dedicated to insects?

This pertains to determining the time of death.

Generally speaking, the time of death can be judged by the degree of rigor mortis and the color and depth of livor mortis.

However, this is not precise and can only be used for temporary assessments at a scene.

To determine the time of death, a forensic pathologist must comprehensively evaluate the surface condition of the body and, after dissection, judge based on internal organ temperature, the degree of decomposition, and the coagulation of blood.

But in highly decomposed bodies, rigor mortis has vanished, livor mortis has dissipated, and even venous marbling may appear.

At this stage, one can only judge the approximate number of days since death through surface observation, rather than obtaining an exact time.

This is where forensic entomology comes in handy.

After a human body decomposes, the body nourishes various bacteria, which slowly produce maggots, which may even hatch into blowflies.

By studying the life cycles of the insects found within the corpse, forensic entomology can determine the time of death with relative accuracy.

Skeletal identification and analysis is a very niche discipline within this field, usually contained within forensic anthropology.

Thinking of this, a figure flashed through Lu Chuan's mind.

When he was extracting the deceased's fingerprints in the forensic autopsy room yesterday, he had promised to treat Senior Shen Yan to dinner tonight.

Whether they are forensic pathologists or crime scene investigators, they essentially perform preliminary work.

Regardless of whether a case is solved, while the workload isn't exactly light, it is relatively less stressful compared to ordinary criminal investigators.

After all, when things truly get busy, a single all-nighter is usually enough.

It's like the difference between a courtesan and an ordinary girl; although the essence of the work is the same, there is a difference in treatment and prestige.

However, before the dinner date, Lu Chuan needed to go home and catch up on sleep.

He was quite exhausted after pulling an all-nighter yesterday.

As for the follow-up of the case, the suspect had already been caught; the remaining tasks were to secure the evidence and organize the materials.

The Wang Song case would most likely result in the death penalty.

Therefore, every single detail of the case had to be scrutinized with extreme precision.

Lu Chuan had not been on the force for long, but he had experienced the review of a death penalty case before.

After the Zhang Wen murder case was solved, fifty to sixty people from three or four different departments arrived to interview every single criminal investigator involved.

As the crime scene investigator who provided the crucial clue, Lu Chuan was naturally included and was a primary focus of the questioning.

At that time, seven or eight waves of people bombarded Lu Chuan for an entire day.

Just thinking about it now gave him a headache.

But this was standard procedure.

In the review of a death penalty case, everyone involved must bear responsibility.

If problems are not identified and rectified during this process, and are only discovered during a review ten years later, it might involve more than just a simple interrogation.

Everyone in the entire chain would face disciplinary action, or even more severe penalties.

After scanning a shared bike, Lu Chuan wobbled away from the Criminal Investigation Detachment.

Once Lu Chuan left, Yang Sen and Old Bai also headed back, but Liu Guodong was still staying up.

There was no helping it; as the head of the crime scene investigation office, he had to attend all the meetings.

If Lu Chuan wanted to take his place, he didn't have the qualifications.

As for the crime scene report, it had already been completed in the early hours of the morning.

Compared to the Zhang Wen murder case, this case actually exposed even more details.

Sun Jun from Action Group One and Ren Qiang from Group Two had actually already discovered some clues.

The killer, Wang Song, was already within the scope of persons under close observation.

However, the footprints and fingerprints Lu Chuan's team extracted from the electric scooter completely locked Wang Song in.

With these two pieces of ironclad evidence, Wang Song had no room for denial.

In fact, that was exactly what happened; upon seeing his own fingerprints, Wang Song completely broke down.

What he couldn't understand was how his fingerprints could still be found when the vehicle had been submerged in water for three days.

At 4:20 PM.

Lu Chuan arrived at the Criminal Investigation Detachment once again.

After he sent a WeChat message to Shen Yan, she replied instantly.

"The Great Detective Lu is treating us? I have to show my face then. Where are we going?"

"Senior, stop teasing me. What do you want to eat tonight?"

Lu Chuan truly didn't feel like he was some kind of "Great Detective."

Without the system, he was just an ordinary graduate.

At most, he was a graduate with the memories of a previous life—a reincarnated graduate.

"During the case summary meeting this afternoon, Captain Qin praised you quite heavily."

"Oh... I really didn't know. I went home to catch up on sleep during the day..."

Shen Yan sent a sour-faced emoji: "A homicide case... only you crime scene investigators dare to go home and sleep..."

Lu Chuan didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Once the work was done, what was the point of idling around at the office instead of going home to rest?

"Senior, what do you want to eat tonight? Work is almost over, let's head out!"

"Don't call me 'Senior,' it makes me feel old. Just call me Shen Yan..."

"As for food... I heard Chen Lu from the government office say a new wellness hotpot place just opened on Youhao Road. Shall we go try it?"

Lu Chuan sent an "OK" gesture.

Hotpot was good; the beautiful woman could eat the vegetables, and he could eat the meat.