What?! (ω)
The expressions on everyone present were basically like this, just not quite as cute.
Except for Shinichi Kudo, whose expression was complicated, everyone else clearly showed shock on their faces:
Hey, hey, a suicide dismemberment case?
That’s a term you made up, right?
If the body was dismembered, how could it be suicide?
The crowd erupted in an uproar, but Inspector Megure, after a moment of surprise, asked with a lively mind:
"Um, Mr. Lin Xinyi, are you suggesting that..."
"The deceased committed suicide first, and then a second person dismembered and discarded the body for some reason?"
"Your guess is very good."
"This is indeed one possibility for a 'suicide dismemberment case'."
Lin Xinyi nodded seriously, agreeing with Inspector Megure's conjecture:
He had encountered such a case during his career:
A certain woman, in order to fraudulently claim her deceased husband's retirement pension, was afraid that disposing of the body casually would lead to discovery. Therefore, after finding her husband had committed suicide, she secretly cut his corpse into several pieces, bagged them, and discarded them. Afterward, she maintained the illusion that her husband was still alive until the bags containing the corpse were accidentally discovered.
This incomprehensible, bizarre action misled the eyes of all the personnel handling the case.
If Lin Xinyi, who was the forensic doctor conducting the autopsy at the time, had not confirmed through the autopsy that the deceased had indeed died by hanging while alive, no one would have believed such an absurd thing could exist in the world.
So, this world is vast.
When you see news headlines like "Corpse cut into three pieces, police confirm suicide" or "Deceased stabbed thirty times, police confirm suicide," don't rush to criticize.
These unbelievable cases actually exist; if you must criticize, criticize the self-media outlets that are always trying to create sensational news.
"However."
"Based on the clues the corpse is telling me right now..."
After praising Inspector Megure's flexible thinking ability, Lin Xinyi shifted his tone:
"This case did not involve a second person."
"From suicide to dismemberment, it was only the deceased."
"Huh?" This time, even Inspector Megure's chubby face showed an expression of disbelief.
"How could this be..." Ran suppressed her discomfort and quietly glanced at the mangled corpse on the plastic sheet, then couldn't help but ask Shinichi Kudo, "Shinichi, is it really possible the deceased committed suicide?"
...
Shinichi Kudo fell silent for a moment.
It was rare for him to show an expression that wasn't entirely confident in front of Ran:
"There are indeed many things about the deceased's body that are strange..."
"But, but I haven't figured out that most crucial question yet."
Saying this, with an indescribable sense of unwillingness and expectation, Shinichi Kudo cast his gaze toward Lin Xinyi again:
"Mr. Lin Xinyi, may we begin?"
In Shinichi Kudo's view, this had already become an invisible deduction competition.
It was a duel between detectives, a contest of brains and wisdom.
But Lin Xinyi didn't think so.
For him, this was not a game, much less a competition.
It was a job, a responsibility.
"We can begin."
His gaze gradually became deep and firm, like iron.
Lin Xinyi took the large aluminum alloy forensic investigation kit from Patrolman Komatsu and silently squatted down, gently opening the forensic investigation kit:
Magnifying glass, fingerprint plate, hemostatic forceps, puncture needle, scalpel, pointed scissors, blunt scissors, latex gloves, bone saw, bone hammer, bone chisel, bone shears, scoop.
All sorts of forensic tools were neatly arranged in the box, looking quite satisfying to someone with OCD.
But Lin Xinyi sighed helplessly:
The tools in the investigation box are quite complete.
So complete, it looks like they were never used after being bought.
After all, a professional forensic doctor who has actually worked a scene should know that dissection tools like bone saws, bone chisels, and scoops are completely unnecessary during the initial scene investigation.
What might be used at the scene are nothing more than a few common inspection tools like masks, gloves, rulers, measuring tapes, puncture needles, hemostatic forceps, thermometers, and rectal thermometers.
An experienced old forensic doctor wouldn't pack so many things in a scene investigation kit unless they were trying to increase their weight for exercise.
It seems this Patrolman Komatsu is truly incompetent to a professional level.
"Sigh."
Lin Xinyi quickly composed himself amidst his internal complaint, skillfully put on a mask, and slipped on two layers of latex gloves:
The mask must be worn as much as possible, as forensic doctors handle various corpses daily, and no one knows if the deceased carried any infectious diseases.
Two layers of gloves are also necessary; one layer allows odors to seep through easily.
Next, Lin Xinyi walked over to the deceased and squatted down.
Just like Patrolman Komatsu before him, he began gently pressing various parts of the corpse with his fingers.
"Patrolman Komatsu's previous investigation was mostly correct."
"There is already slight, whole-body rigor mortis on the corpse."
Lin Xinyi withdrew his hand, turning back to retrieve tools from the investigation box while explaining in detail:
"But the time of death is not necessarily over four hours ago:"
"Because when a person drowns in water, they struggle and convulse, causing intense muscle movement, and the environmental water temperature is low, so the onset of rigor mortis will be much earlier than normal."
"Uh..." Patrolman Komatsu's expression was extremely embarrassed.
He had only managed to deduce this much from the corpse, and he was still wrong.
"Sorry, I was mistaken..."
"Indeed, I remember reading in books that drowned people do show early rigor... wait a minute!"
"Mr. Lin, are you saying the deceased drowned?"
Patrolman Komatsu asked loudly, as if suddenly awakened.
"That's right."
"And this is something a professional should have seen at a glance."
Lin Xinyi gave the Patrolman Komatsu, whose professional capability was worrying, a helpless look, then gently cast a slightly appreciative gaze toward Shinichi Kudo beside him:
"I believe this Famous Detective has also seen the problem here, right?"
"That is correct."
Shinichi Kudo nodded and agreed:
"Although the corpse is mangled, it is not difficult to see:"
"The overall skin color of the deceased is pale, and there are goosebump-like bumps on the skin of both arms and the outside of both legs—these are characteristics resulting from the deceased's skin being stimulated by cold water, causing vasoconstriction, arrector pili muscle contraction, and raised hair follicles."
"Furthermore, the deceased's fingers and toes show signs of maceration, whitening, and swelling of the stratum corneum."
"Considering the whole-body rigor mortis that Mr. Lin Xinyi just determined..."
He paused slightly, his tone becoming somewhat complex:
"These body parts have likely been submerged in water for about three hours."
"My previous deduction about the murderer discarding the body time was probably wrong."
Initially, Shinichi Kudo had concluded that the body had been in the water for a very short time, meaning the murderer had just finished disposing of the body, upon seeing the bloody water.
Because of this, Lin Xinyi, who happened to be watching at the scene, was considered the primary suspect.
But now, all the signs on the corpse clearly told him—
His deduction was wrong.
He had trusted his intuition as a Detective too much, leading him to make a judgment prematurely when the clues were extremely limited.
Thinking of this, Shinichi Kudo, who rarely made mistakes in deduction, fell somewhat silent.
But Lin Xinyi didn't notice the self-critical emotion almost written on the Great Detective's face.
He seemed to have unconsciously become Shinichi Kudo's partner, starting to systematically supplement the details of Kudo's deduction:
"Kudo is absolutely right."
"The pale skin surface color, the goose-skin change on the skin, and the changes to the stratum corneum, which forensic medicine calls 'washerwoman's hands,' are all basic characteristics of submerged bodies."
"However, these characteristics only prove that the deceased was submerged in water for more than a certain period."
"To prove that the deceased died from drowning while alive, one generally needs to examine this first..."
Saying this, Lin Xinyi displayed the tool he had just taken from the investigation box:
"This is a finger straightener, used to straighten the clenched fingers of the deceased."
"Drowning victims struggle violently before death, causing muscle spasms, and their hands often remain in a tightly clenched fist shape after death."
"So, just open the deceased's palm like this..."
Under the complex gazes of everyone—a mix of horror, fear, yet unable to suppress curiosity—
Lin Xinyi picked up the only severed arm section from the plastic sheet, then slowly and steadily inserted the straightener into the fingers, straightening each finger of the severed hand one by one.
The tightly gripped palm was opened.
In the palm that was finally spread open, everyone could see:
"Is that waterweed?"
"That's right, it's waterweed."
Lin Xinyi put down the severed arm section and said in a deep voice:
"Not only waterweed, but before opening the deceased's palm, I noticed that there was some silt and sand in the fingernail grooves."
"This is evidence that the deceased drowned while alive—"
"Because only someone who drowned while alive could possibly grab waterweed and silt from the water during an instinctive struggle."
"If the body was discarded after death, there wouldn't be these things in the palm and under the fingernails."
"And by analyzing the type of waterweed, and further comparing the aquatic microorganism species in the deceased's lung fluid with samples taken from this river water, it should not be difficult to confirm that the deceased drowned in this very river."
"And the time of drowning, just as Kudo analyzed, was around three hours ago."
His voice was extremely serious, his eyes filled with a unique focus.
This focused gaze was enough to win people over.
Unconsciously, everyone forgot that Lin Xinyi was originally a criminal suspect in this case.
Their gazes even contained admiration:
"This 'Shinichi' is also this good at deduction?!"
Someone exclaimed unconsciously.
But Lin Xinyi wouldn't become complacent because of the entry-level forensic knowledge he had just displayed.
The bizarre spectacle in the eyes of the audience was just his everyday routine.
"Deduction? No."
Lin Xinyi said in a calm tone:
"Deduction is the work of a Detective."
"My job is simply to speak for the deceased."