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

After verifying the information, Zhang Lin took a deep breath and said to Xiao Lin, "Let's begin. Start with the head and torso; these two areas are key to determining the cause and time of death."

The operating lights in the autopsy room emitted a blinding white light, illuminating the dissection table with meticulous detail. Zhang Lin and Xiao Lin put on double gloves, masks, and protective face shields, and first opened body bag number 5 containing the head. A smell mixed with blood and slight decay filled the air. Xiao Lin subconsciously frowned, but Zhang Lin was already used to it, his gaze focused intently on the head remains. "Xiao Lin, first record the basic condition of the head," Zhang Lin said, gently moving the head tissue with sterile forceps.

Xiaolin picked up his camera and took photos of the head from different angles, while recording in his notebook: "Head intact, male, short and black hair, about 3 centimeters long. There is a small amount of dust and bloodstains on the face, eyelids closed, pupils dilated, and cornea slightly cloudy. There are multiple irregular wounds on the forehead, temples, and occipital region, with irregular edges and signs of tissue bruising."

Zhang Lin gently pressed his fingers against the bones around the head wounds, feeling their hardness: "These wounds weren't caused by a sharp object; the edges are bruised, consistent with blunt force trauma. Look at this wound, it's about 2.5 centimeters deep, and there's a small amount of mud and tissue fragments inside, probably brought in during the impact." He took out a skull measuring ruler to precisely measure the size and shape of the wounds. "The largest wound is located at the occipital region, about 6 centimeters long and 3 centimeters wide, with irregular edges and obvious subcutaneous bleeding around it."

“Teacher Zhang, could these blunt force injuries be fatal?” Xiao Lin asked. Zhang Lin shook his head: “It’s not certain yet. We need to further examine whether the skull is fractured and whether there is intracranial bleeding. Subjective assumptions are strictly prohibited in autopsies of dismemberment cases; every conclusion needs clear anatomical evidence.” With that, he picked up the electric craniotomy saw and carefully began opening the skull along the temporal lines on both sides of the head. Because the head tissues were already somewhat stiff, the craniotomy process was not smooth, and the roar of the electric saw was particularly jarring in the quiet autopsy room.

More than half an hour later, the skull was successfully opened. Zhang Lin gently lifted the dura mater with tweezers and carefully observed the internal condition of the skull: "Xiao Lin, look, there is a large area of ​​bleeding under the dura mater, the brain tissue is compressed and deformed, and there are also bleeding points in the subarachnoid space. There are multiple fracture lines on the inner table of the skull, distributed radially, extending from the wound in the occipital region to the anterior cranial fossa." He pointed to the fracture lines with his finger, "These fracture lines are typical of those formed by multiple blows with a blunt instrument, indicating that the blunt instrument used by the murderer was hard and the force of the blows was great."

"So, the cause of death is most likely blunt force trauma to the head, leading to a skull fracture and intracranial hemorrhage?" Xiao Lin asked. Zhang Lin nodded: "At present, this possibility is very high, but we still need to rule out other causes of death, such as poisoning, suffocation, and damage to vital organs. Next, we will examine the torso to see if there are any other injuries."

The two carefully moved the head remains to a nearby shelf and began processing the torso in body bag number 3. The torso remains were tightly wrapped in a black plastic bag. Upon opening the bag, multiple cuts were visible on the torso, consistent with those found during the previous scene investigation. "The torso was placed in a supine position, with multiple cuts on the chest and abdomen. The edges of the cuts are irregular and show signs of tearing, which matches the characteristics of the kitchen knife blade retrieved from the scene. It was likely caused during the dismemberment," Zhang Lin said as he observed.

He made a longitudinal incision along the midline of the torso with a scalpel, cutting through the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and muscles in sequence to expose the thoracic and abdominal cavities. "There was a small amount of blood in the thoracic cavity, and the heart, lungs, and other organs were intact, with no fatal injuries found." Zhang Lin carefully examined each organ. "The liver, spleen, stomach, intestines, and other organs in the abdominal cavity also showed no obvious damage. There was a small amount of undigested food residue in the stomach, which looked like rice and meat. The preliminary judgment is that the food was eaten about 2-4 hours before death."

Xiao Lin immediately wrote down: "Stomach contents: rice and meat residue, about 50 grams, not fully digested." Zhang Lin added: "The stomach contents need to be tested to see if there are any common poisons, and the degree of food digestion will further confirm the time of death." He used tweezers to extract a small sample of the stomach contents and put it into an evidence bottle labeled "Stomach contents-001".

"Teacher Zhang, were all the cuts on the torso caused during the dismemberment? Were there no signs of violence suffered before death?" Xiao Lin asked. Zhang Lin carefully examined all the wounds on the torso again: "The edges of these cuts show no signs of life, such as bleeding or tissue contraction. They were all formed after death. In other words, the deceased was first killed by a blunt force trauma to the head, and then dismembered."

After dealing with the head and torso, it was already 11 p.m. Zhang Lin and Xiao Lin rested briefly, drank some water, and then continued processing the remaining body parts. "Next, we'll examine the limbs, focusing on the cut details to determine the dismemberment tools and the order of dismemberment," Zhang Lin said. The two opened the body bags containing the right calf, right thigh, left arm, left calf, and right arm, carefully examining the cuts of each piece.

“The cuts on all the body parts were irregular, with obvious tearing marks and numerous small tissue fragments along the edges, perfectly matching the characteristics of the kitchen knife blade retrieved from the scene.” Zhang Lin carefully examined the cut on the right calf with a magnifying glass. “The muscle tissue at the cut showed obvious contraction, but no signs of life, further proving that the dismemberment was carried out after the victim’s death. Moreover, the degree of tissue damage at the cuts varied; some places were cut deeper, while others were shallower, indicating that the murderer may have been flustered during the dismemberment or lacked professional anatomical knowledge.”

"Teacher Zhang, can we determine the order of dismemberment by looking at the characteristics of the cuts?" Xiao Lin asked. Zhang Lin nodded: "We can try. Look, at the cuts on the thighs and calves, the tearing of the muscle tissue is less severe than at the joints connecting the torso and limbs. This suggests that the killer may have first separated the limbs from the torso, and then divided the limbs into smaller parts. Moreover, judging from the direction and force of the cuts, the killer probably stood to one side of the body and repeatedly cut the same area with a kitchen knife until the body parts separated."

He took out a scalpel and gently scraped a tissue sample from the cut.