Tong Meng prattled on for a long time, and Lu Qingqing asked only one question, "Can you perform autopsies?"
Tong Meng faltered.
"If not, then get out of the way. Instead of trying to make yourself known here, you'd be better off finding something actually worthy of recognition," Lu Qingqing said, not even looking at Tong Meng. She bypassed her and found a local police officer, inquiring about the location of the body.
"Yes, of course I can. Why wouldn't I?" Tong Meng could never admit she couldn't. She hurried after Lu Qingqing, which made Lu Qingqing glance at her twice. "What? You want to come along?"
"Hmph, who wants to come along? I'm just afraid you'll damage the body and deliberately erase important clues," Tong Meng retorted.
Heh...
Lu Qingqing didn't argue, continuing forward.
The female corpse had been severely burned, to the point where even Lu Qingqing, who had seen her share of grim sights, felt a surge of nausea. Tong Meng was even worse.
Lu Qingqing asked the local patrol officer for a mask and gloves. Although it was still difficult to control herself, she felt mentally better.
This was a female, over 1.6 meters tall.
More than 80% of her body was burned, especially the front. Lu Qingqing carefully examined the woman's head, neck, and other areas, finding no obvious external injuries, although there was some peeling of the epidermis on her neck.
Another noticeable feature was the woman's hands. Compared to other parts of her body, they were better protected, with less area burned.
Lu Qingqing glanced at the figure standing by the door and a slight smile touched her lips.
"Officer Lu, do you think this was suicide or homicide?" the accompanying patrol officer asked, observing.
"That's simple. As long as a person is breathing, their nasal cavity, oral cavity, and throat will contain soot and carbon particles. But this young woman's mouth, nose, and throat are quite clean. Also, look at her hands. Perhaps..."
Lu Qingqing deliberately didn't finish her sentence. The accompanying patrol officer exclaimed, "So she wasn't breathing before she died? Homicide!"
Lu Qingqing remained silent, while the accompanying officer sighed, "Alas, to suffer so much."
Lu Qingqing ignored him, continuing her examination of the body.
In the evening, Qiao Huali, Tong Hua, Ouyang Wen, and Hu Jia all sat in the conference room. Following the principle of fairness, Lu Qingqing and Tong Meng were to report their findings from the day in written form.
Firstly, this was to check how much information each of them could gather in the same time and at the same location. Secondly, it was to see what methods they would employ when facing the same case and the same information.
"Who wants to go first?" Qiao Huali looked at the case summaries submitted by the two female officers.
"I will!" Tong Meng stood up first. Her reason for wanting to go first was simple: she feared being upstaged if she went later, as her findings were the same as Lu Qingqing's.
Tong Meng tugged at the hem of her clothes. After briefly introducing the basic condition of the female corpse, she stated, "Based on the surface characteristics of the body, we can infer that the victim died last night, March 6th, Wednesday. Considering the strong smell of fuel oil at the scene, we can conclude that fuel oil was used as an accelerant to burn the body."
Tong Meng paused, then added, "There were many footprints at the scene, indicating the woman was very panicked before her death. She must have been threatened."
"So you conclude she was murdered?" Qiao Huali looked at Tong Meng's conclusion.
"No, as a professional police officer, I cannot jump to conclusions based solely on that. That would be too hasty. My conclusion is based on the surface characteristics of the body after examination."
Tong Meng explained that it was simple to distinguish between burning while alive or after death by examining the mouth, nose, and throat.
As she spoke, Tong Meng echoed the theory she had heard from Lu Qingqing. "In conclusion, I believe the victim was murdered. Furthermore, she had injuries on her hands, likely sustained during a struggle with the killer."
Tong Meng finished, full of confidence. Tong Hua couldn't help but applaud her.
This applause was partly because he was genuinely surprised that his sister knew how to perform autopsies and presented her findings coherently. Another part was to put pressure on Lu Qingqing; even if she also concluded it was homicide, she would be merely repeating Tong Meng's findings.
However, Tong Hua only managed two claps before stopping. He felt that the atmosphere in the room was off. Qiao Huali was frowning, lost in thought, Ouyang Wen looked at him with mockery, and Hu Jia had a smirk on his face.
Was something wrong?
Tong Hua immediately reacted, flipped to Lu Qingqing's case statement below, and after a quick glance, his expression changed.
Lu Qingqing claimed the person was burned alive?
Instinctively, Tong Hua trusted Lu Qingqing more.
Indeed, Lu Qingqing stood up unhurriedly. "I won't go into the general condition of the deceased; that's all obvious. Anyone with eyes can see it. I'll focus on the details that only a professional would notice."
Tong Hua's face darkened further. Lu Qingqing really knew how to insult without using profanity.
Hu Jia pursed his lips, almost laughing aloud. His fiancée was so cute, practically saying Tong Meng wasn't professional without explicitly stating it.
Tong Meng wasn't stupid; she understood Lu Qingqing's subtext. But hadn't she just stated what Lu Qingqing had said?
Lu Qingqing slowly stood up. "First, I have no conclusion regarding the cause of death yet, because she was engulfed in flames while alive. Currently, there is insufficient evidence to support whether it was suicide or homicide."
As a police officer, she wouldn't rush to conclusions when there was doubt.
"Impossible! Her mouth and throat showed no soot or carbon particles, so how could she have been burned alive?" Tong Meng was the first to object.
Lu Qingqing feigned surprise and looked at her. "How could there be none? Did you look closely? Perhaps you should go and see again?"
Lu Qingqing took a plastic bag from her evidence kit, containing two dark objects. "This is the soot and carbon particles I found in her mouth and nose."
Afterward, she couldn't resist goading Tong Meng: "Surely you didn't come to a conclusion without even examining the body, did you?"
"Of course I did! Didn't you say at the time that she..." Tong Meng suddenly stopped. She realized Lu Qingqing had tricked her. Lu Qingqing had only said half of what she meant and hadn't specified whether the deceased's mouth and nose contained soot.
Heh!
Lu Qingqing gave a mocking smile, and even Qiao Huali shook his head. Tong Meng was truly disappointing.
Seeing Tong Meng flustered, Lu Qingqing didn't continue to mock her, but proceeded with her analysis. "Based on the current evidence, the deceased was alive when she caught fire. However, this does not necessarily mean it was homicide, because no third party's footprints have been found at the scene. Most importantly, the deceased has no external injuries."
"No external injuries? What about her hands?" Hu Jia couldn't resist adding fuel to the fire. He remembered Tong Meng saying the deceased had injuries on her hands.
Lu Qingqing shook her head. "That's a question for Tong Meng. What did the injuries on the deceased's hands look like? I didn't see any."
Seeing everyone looking at her, Tong Meng truly hated Lu Qingqing. How would she know what the injuries on the deceased's hands looked like? She had just been repeating what Lu Qingqing had made up.
Seeing Tong Meng stammering, Tong Hua couldn't stand it any longer. "Enough, aren't you embarrassed enough?" This was the true meaning of repeating someone else's words.
Qiao Huali slammed the case report materials on the table and stormed out. He shot Tong Meng a glare before leaving, a look that sent Tong Meng into an ice-cold chill.
That gaze was terrifying!