Two minutes later, Zhang Chao said, "Exactly! From the very start when we discovered the White Bone, to the two subsequent excavations, we didn't see any clothing on the deceased."

"Could it be that the clothes were damaged by the soil over time?"

Jiang An shook his head.

"It's very unlikely, almost impossible."

"Nowadays, clothing material buried in soil may have holes eaten by worms within a year or two, but they won't completely disappear."

"Furthermore, while examining the skeletal remains, I noticed fragments of black plastic bags on some of the White Bone; the killer likely used black plastic bags to dispose of the bodies."

Then, Jiang An added, "From a material comparison standpoint, the clothing material should be much better than that of the black plastic bags."

"If the bodies had clothing, it would certainly remain in the soil."

Jiang An squatted down, picked up a bone, pointed to the black fibrous material on the surface, and said, "See this; it's the degraded remnants of a black plastic bag in the soil."

Zhang Yean walked over, picked up the camera, and pressed the shutter with a "click."

Wan Junjie said, "Two women without clothes, buried together; the reasons behind this are not simple."

He turned to Zhang Chao and asked, "Are there many health clubs around here?"

Zhang Chao replied urgently, "There are quite a number, but they are all legitimate health treatments."

Li Jian's expression was solemn, his brows furrowed into a "川" character.

This case is complicated.

For a case with no identification, no clothes, unknown appearance, and even the disposal bags decomposing, Li Jian was encountering this for the first time.

In criminal cases, if even the identity of the deceased is unknown, solving the case is virtually impossible.

These two piles of White Bone are currently the only leverage.

Li Jian asked, "Jiang An, now that both piles of White Bone have been examined, share your thoughts."

Instantly, everyone quieted down, gazing at Jiang An.

Jiang An said, "Mr. Li, after my initial examination of the two piles of White Bone, I have the following three thoughts."

"First, regarding the death time of the deceased."

"For bodies buried in soil, the time for skeletonization varies greatly, as little as 1 year, up to 5-10 years."

"Of course, this is related to the integrity of the body, burial depth, animal scavenging, and climate conditions."

"If the body is in a well-made coffin or encased in cement, it may take decades to skeletonize."

"However, if there is no covering or wrapping on the body, and even the skin integrity is damaged, skeletalization accelerates significantly."

Then Jiang An raised his hand to point at the White Bone on the ground.

"These two deceased individuals wore no clothes, merely wrapped in black plastic bags."

"Moreover, their bodies were cut."

"The body's integrity is compromised, providing a good entry for many animals to scavenge."

"Additionally, ruptured blood vessels at the limb ends, blood flow, and intense smell of blood are the best attractants for many microorganisms and animals."

"Actually, when we observed these two piles of White Bone, some bones were exposed."

"This is mainly because the killer buried the bodies shallowly; large animals smelled them and dug up the soil."

"This precisely accelerates the skeletalization process."

"Thus, based on burial depth, animal scavenging, and surrounding environmental climate, I estimate the death time of these two deceased individuals to be around 8 months ago."

After hearing Jiang An's analysis, Li Jian nodded, indicating agreement.

Zhang Yean suddenly thought of the teacher who taught forensic principles at the police academy.

She vaguely remembered that when the teacher talked about the time of death, it wasn't as detailed or professional as this.

Police station officers were meeting Jiang An for the first time; although the analysis principles were unclear, they sounded reasonable and convincing.

Zhang Chao smacked his lips and said, "If you backtrack with this timeline, the date of death was around last November."

"In November, the temperature here is already very low; why did the deceased not wear clothes?"

Wan Junjie stood next to him, saying softly, "Hence, the location of their deaths was not outdoors, likely in a heated room."

Under everyone's expectant gaze, Jiang An continued, "Second, regarding the cause of death of the deceased."

Zhang Yean stood by his side and asked softly, "Junior, can the cause of death be determined from this pile of White Bone?"

Jiang An nodded and said, "Generally, we determine the cause of death through a thorough and systematic forensic autopsy, complete toxicology testing, and even microscopic examination of the organs to clarify the cause of death."

"Unfortunately, these two deceased individuals are now just piles of White Bone; not only skin and muscle but the brain, lungs, and heart are all gone."

Everyone looked at the White Bone on the ground and shook their heads.

Many of them often dealt with forensic experts due to death cases at grassroots police stations.

They hadn't seen determining cause of death from a pile of White Bone.

It's like buying ribs at a supermarket; you can't know if the pig was electrocuted, had its throat cut, or died of disease by looking at the bones...

Jiang An said in a deep voice, "However, the cause of death of the deceased can still be inferred."

Amid everyone's skepticism and anticipation, Jiang An squatted down.

Using human anatomy, he laid out the deceased's 24 ribs.

"Please look, this victim has 14 fractured ribs."

With these words, everyone gathered around.

Under intense lighting, Jiang An pointed out each fracture on the ribs.

Some ribs were completely fractured, broken, and separated.

Others were not completely fractured, with fractures only visible on the inner edge of the ribs.

While observing the fractures, some shook their heads and whispered.

"14 fractured ribs, such hatred."

"Beating a woman to cause 14 fractured ribs, the killer is demented."

.....

Then, Jiang An said, "Senior sister, please bring the skeletal remains of the other deceased."

Zhang Yean turned and carried over an evidence box made of kraft paper.

"All the bones of the female victim are here."

Jiang An opened the evidence box and took out the deceased's 24 ribs.

Using the same method, Jiang An laid all the ribs of this deceased on the ground.

Jiang An said in a deep voice, "This female victim has 12 fractured ribs."

"Moreover, from the fracture shape and distribution range, the two deceased are very similar."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes focused on these 48 ribs.

Everyone had one question on their minds.

How did these 26 fractured ribs come to be?

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