I had many thoughts then, and even after leaving Director Ma's office, my mind was still full of such questions. Fortunately, He Xin was quite efficient. Not long after I came out, she asked me to go to the Information Section. When I found her, she said, "Cao Xiangyang has probably had plastic surgery again. I can't find any recent activity of his in Sky Eye or other channels. Since he's had surgery, he's definitely planning to commit crimes again. He claims no connection to Cao Xiangchen, but I believe they are related. I just haven't found the link yet. This guy is hiding very deeply. The fact that his family has been undergoing plastic surgery for generations suggests there must be a master helping them. This reminds me of the Dragon Killer case, but wasn't the plastic surgeon arrested?"
"This time it's definitely more than just plastic surgery. Ever since the hospital incident, I've been thinking this is the work of a shapeshifter. This is much more terrifying than plastic surgery, as they can swap roles at any time, making it impossible for us to discern their true identities. It's just like the Dao Zhiyong incident this time. Now, even within our provincial department, people are starting to suspect the existence of shapeshifters."
"Uh... Father, that's quite scary. Maybe you and I are both fake..."
"That's an overstatement. How could we be fake? Oh well, let's just keep a closer eye on the people around us. We absolutely cannot let shapeshifters infiltrate our work. You know, that would be a terrifying thing. If they infiltrate us and we don't realize it, our entire organization could fall into chaos at any moment."
"I'll have the tech team keep an eye out. To deal with these shapeshifters, I've actually developed a new technology: using micro-probes..."
He Xin whispered a few things in my ear. I felt it was feasible and asked her to observe secretly, without telling anyone in the provincial department. She snapped her fingers and said she would handle it, then I went to the forensic lab.
It was time to personally examine Director Ma's body.
As I stood over Director Ma, I placed my hands on his forehead and said with emotion, "You worked tirelessly for the police during your life, with no regrets. Even in death, you can't let go of this case. But I will complete your final mission for you, Director Ma. I won't let you down..."
"You have a large stellate wound on your left forehead. The bullet entered your head from the left and exited from the right. However, there's no charring at this location, which indicates a long-range shot. When a muzzle is fired at point-blank range, the smoke, residual powder, and metal fragments expelled by the high-pressure gas are mostly injected directly into the subcutaneous tissue and deep tissues of the wound. At this point, the subcutaneous tissue and the surrounding tissue at the start of the wound track will be blackened and charred. A large number of particles will be attached, and the area of tissue damage will often be several times the size of the bullet. When the skin beneath the contact point is bone, the high-pressure gas is confined under the skin. The expansion force of the gas rebounds off the hard bone, causing the skin to form a stellate or cruciform defect with irregular edges and a larger area, known as an 'explosive' contact entrance wound, typically seen in the head. When contact shooting occurs in areas with abundant soft tissue on the surface of a body cavity, the high-pressure gas has enough space to expand, thus not causing significant skin loss and irregular edges. In such cases, the entire wound track needs to be examined to avoid misjudgment. Sometimes, due to a large amount of gas entering the abdominal wall contact wound, the abdominal cavity may suddenly expand, forming multiple concentric rings of subcutaneous or subdermal hemorrhage around the entrance wound."
I analyzed and spoke. Xie Chuchu next to me nodded repeatedly. "The smoke and residual powder particles mostly form a long, oval distribution area on the skin surface. The entrance wound is similar, but there seem to be signs of smudging, also called a fouling ring. This is a ring of dirty, dark brown material around the edge of the skin defect at the entrance wound, formed by metal debris, rust, and oil attached to the bullet as it rotates into the skin tissue. It's about 1mm wide, usually circular, and extremely noticeable when dry."
"Exactly. If there is one, let's retrieve the bullet!" I said carefully, then used a craniotomy saw to separate Director Ma's skull. I found the base of the skull to be relatively intact. After taking an X-ray, I discovered that the bullet had indeed passed through the deceased's head, creating a channel. However, the bullet was gone. It had likely exited. I would have to ask the first responders who examined it about this. I needed to retrieve the bullet for personal verification.
At this moment, Ling Xiaotao said, "The gunpowder particles are scattered in dots on the skin around the wound, gradually becoming sparser from the center outwards. These are all phenomena consistent with death caused by a bullet passing through the skull. This is due to the friction between gunpowder particles and the skin around the wound, forming dotted hemorrhages or embedments, similar to tattoos, hence the term 'powder tattooing.' The presence of smoke halo and gunpowder particles can serve as evidence to identify the entrance wound and are characteristic of close-range shooting. The closer the shooting distance, the more apparent the gunpowder particles."
"That's right, Xiaotao, your analysis is very detailed. Internally, there are also comprehensive injuries caused by mechanical force and heat. These are the marks left by him being shot. The absence of smoke halo and gunpowder burns proves it was a long-range shot. However, I never imagined Director Ma would commit suicide..." I analyzed.
Xie Chuchu and Ling Xiaotao both nodded. Now that Xiao Dong was gone, we could only rely on a male forensic doctor to help us analyze the deceased's blood and urine. After excising the deceased's internal organs, we performed detailed weighing and observed color changes. Regarding pathological biology testing, Xie Chuchu said, "The diameter of the femoral head is slightly less than 0.047 meters. His acetabulum has completely fused, and there are no signs of arthritis. The deceased's age should be between 25 and 45. Director Ma was 44, so this estimation is correct."
"Estimating age is just a basic indicator. Our main focus now is to analyze his relationships during his lifetime. Someone like him has likely apprehended many criminals in the past, especially people like Cao Xiangyang. I've already asked He Xin to investigate," I explained.
"That's good. It seems this autopsy isn't very useful this time!"
"Not necessarily. Don't give up on any detail. Every seemingly insignificant detail can sometimes be the key to solving a case."
I instructed her, and Xie Chuchu immediately became more serious. When we confirmed there were no anesthetics or poisons in the deceased's body, pathology also proved that Director Ma was in excellent health, making death by illness impossible.
When I left the forensic department, the inspection department had already calculated the footprints outside the desk for us. They did not belong to Dao Zhiyong.