Chapter 38: Locking in the Identity

Wang Kai left, walking away with a satisfied smile.

Qin Yong and Lu Chuan saw him out.

Looking at the energetic Lu Chuan before him, Qin Yong let out a long sigh and patted Lu Chuan on the shoulder.

"You heard what Deputy Director Wang just said. You are being added to the special task force for this skeletal remains case."

No case is simple enough to warrant the formation of a special task force.

Originally, the skeletal remains case wouldn't have reached this level; after all, it didn't involve major economic crimes or direct loss of life.

However, Lu Chuan's skeletal analysis report had defined the very nature of the case.

The bone age was thirty-four, and the bone rotation judgment placed the deceased's age at thirty-four.

This proved that these were not ancient remains.

Furthermore, Lu Chuan's report contained much more information.

In Meeting Room No. 1, Lu Chuan and Liu Guodong sat together.

This was the first time two people from the Forensic Identification Office had attended a special task force analysis meeting.

Qin Yong presided over the meeting: "Regarding the skeletal remains case, I would now like Comrade Lu Chuan to introduce the analysis findings of the skeletal identification."

Lu Chuan's skeletal analysis report had already received an authoritative appraisal from Zhang Yuanchao, a forensic expert from the Provincial Department, making it fully admissible as judicial evidence.

And now, with the skeletal DNA information unable to be matched, Lu Chuan's analysis was the only lead currently available.

As Qin Yong's voice fell, everyone's gaze converged on Lu Chuan.

News of the skeletal identification report had already spread throughout the entire detachment.

The special task force had been established specifically because of this report.

And the source of it all was Lu Chuan.

Although it was his first time attending a meeting of this caliber, most of the people present were from the detachment, and Lu Chuan recognized most of them.

Turning on the projector, Lu Chuan began his report.

"Based on the identification and analysis of the skeletal remains found in the hotpot restaurant, we can determine certain basic information about the deceased."

"The owner of the remains is female, thirty-four years old, 1.63 meters tall, weighing 67 kilograms, and the time of death was three months ago."

The skeletal identification report had been sent to all task force members in advance.

However, reading a report was one thing; listening to Lu Chuan present it was quite another.

With only eighty fragments of bone, how could you know if it was a man or a woman?

How could you know their height, weight, and even the time of death?

Even though Qin Yong had mentioned before the meeting that the report had been verified by provincial experts and was therefore accurate...

It was still quite hard to believe.

As Lu Chuan finished speaking, he scanned the room and naturally saw the doubt in everyone's eyes.

In truth, it wasn't that they didn't believe skeletal analysis could yield such conclusions.

Rather, they found it hard to believe that *Lu Chuan* was the one who had reached these conclusions.

"Next, I will explain these identification conclusions in detail."

Qin Yong did not stop him, as he also wanted to know exactly how Lu Chuan had arrived at these conclusions.

"Look at this photo. These are fragments of the sacrum. From the extension of these patterns, we can analyze the morphology of the entire sacrum."

As he explained, Lu Chuan drew the shape of the sacrum on the whiteboard: "There is no difference in the number of sacral vertebrae between men and women, but a male sacrum is long and narrow, while a female sacrum is short and wide to better adapt to childbirth."

"Through the morphology of the deceased's sacrum, we can confirm the individual is female."

"Also, this is a section of the tibia. From its thickness, we can extrapolate that the length of the tibia is 25.3 centimeters. Based on the Pearson's index (crural index), we can estimate the deceased's height to be 1.63 meters."

"Weight and calcium absorption have a significant impact on bone density. Based on the calculated calcium content of the remains combined with the height, we can determine the deceased's weight to be 67 kilograms."

"Look at this section of the ulna. It is 0.5 centimeters thicker than the average ulna of a female of similar height, suggesting the individual likely engaged in heavy manual labor."

...

An hour later, parched, Lu Chuan took a sip of water. Looking at the criminal investigators sitting around the table listening intently to his analysis, he suddenly felt like a teacher.

"Determining basic information can help us cross-reference the identity of the remains' owner with missing persons databases."

"But most importantly, is the time of skeletal formation."

Lu Chuan's expression became exceptionally serious: "The most important factor in skeletal formation is the external environment."

"If remains are buried normally, it generally takes at least a year to skeletonize in the south."

"In the north, it takes longer—three, four, or even five years."

"However, I did not find any soil components on the remains, and the time since death was no more than three months."

"This indicates that the remains were never buried. Furthermore, look at this bone."

The projection showed a fragment resembling a rib.

"Based on the shape and size, we can basically confirm this is the fifth rib. Look here..."

Lu Chuan pointed to the middle of the bone: "There is a distinct scratch here, which should have been left by a puncture from a sharp object."

"Therefore, I infer that the owner of these remains was likely intentionally murdered!"

Lu Chuan's analysis was simple and clear. He didn't bother explaining the process of how to perform skeletal identification; it was a very concise report.

As the lights came back on, the crowd listened as if they were spellbound.

"Sigh... to think you could see so much from just a few pieces of bone..."

"I feel like my years as a criminal investigator have been wasted."

"The Forensic Office... has produced a real talent."

Unprecedentedly, after the report was finished, the members did not discuss the case details, but instead voiced many sentiments of awe.

Even Qin Yong's expression as he looked at Lu Chuan was somewhat dazed; it took him a moment to react.

*Ahem.*

"Xiao Lu's analysis was very thorough. Does anyone have anything to add?"

The group looked at one another.

Add what?

It was just a few bones, and the people from the hotpot restaurant and the feed factory were already under control.

"Since there are no additions, Ren Qiang, follow Lu Chuan's conclusions and screen the missing persons database to try and lock down the identity of the owner."

"Sun Jun, your team will conduct a sweep of the area surrounding the feed factory."

"Meeting adjourned!"

Leaving the meeting room, Lu Chuan let out a long breath.

Liu Guodong smiled and patted Lu Chuan's shoulder: "What's wrong? Nervous?"

Lu Chuan nodded heavily. There were over twenty people there, all of them core members and leaders of the detachment, and he was just a recent college graduate giving a report.

To say he wasn't nervous would be a lie.

"It's fine. You did great. This case... if it gets solved, you'll definitely be the one with the primary credit!"

As they spoke, the two headed upstairs to the Forensic Identification Office.

"Xiao Lu, how did it feel participating in your first special task force analysis meeting?"

Yang Sen teased as he poured Lu Chuan a cup of hot tea.

"Brother Yang, you have no idea. My palms were sweating from nervousness."

He felt like he was about as nervous as if he were meeting an empress for the first time.

"Haha, Xiao Lu, you've been on the job for less than three months and you're already participating in task force meetings and giving reports. You're officially the first in our detachment."

There was an indescribable emotion in Yang Sen's praise.

He and Old Bai were already at this age; although they had attended task force meetings, they had never been the primary presenters.

Zhang Hui from Action Group Two had been working for five years and was considered an elite investigator of the detachment.

But even he could only offer opinions and suggestions at meetings; he had never led a report.

That was always the job of Ren Qiang and Sun Jun.

But Lu Chuan? How many days had he been here?

Truly, comparing oneself to others only leads to misery.

As the three were chatting, before they could even finish a cup of tea...

The office phone rang.

Liu Guodong picked it up and hung up within two breaths.

He grabbed a notebook and walked out: "Lu Chuan, come with me to a meeting."

"We have a lead on the identity of the deceased!"