Chapter 377 - Three Murder Weapons
Chapter 377: Three Murder Weapons
Qin Xuan took a look at Li Min’s lungs and he was confused. “Mo Li, was Li Min a smoker?”
“No, and the marks on the lungs are not from smoking, but lividity. The blood has coagulated so they look darker than normal tissues.” Mo Li didn’t think Qin Xuan’s question was dumb, after all, she had made many similar mistakes when she was young. The human body is a very strange instrument.
“Tell me about her cause of death.” Mo Li believed Qin Xuan had seen enough. If she explained everything then Qin Xuan wouldn’t have had the chance to learn.
“Erm… She was stabbed 7 times but only 1 cut was fatal, the one to her chest.” Qin Xian pointed at the wound on Li Min’s left chest. “This wound pierced through the victim’s aorta, causing her to bleed to death.”
Mo Li didn’t say anything but glanced at the container to the side. Qin Xuan grasped her meaning. He brought over a measuring cup, a container, and a spoon. He scooped out the blood from Li Min’s chest.
“1550 mm of blood has collected in her chest. Combine that with the blood that oozed out from her body, Li Min would have died from blood loss. Her cause of death is clear.” Only then Mo Li nod. Then they dissected Li Min’s neck and head, both were unharmed.
“What methods did you use for cranial dissection during class?”
Qin Xuan was surprised by the sudden question. “There are two methods. One, we will use an electric craniotomy saw, and the other, we will use a small manual hacksaw.”
Whenever he thought about craniotomy, Qin Xuan would be reminded of the smell of bone fragments.
…
Mo Li brought the autopsy report to Xiao Rui. When she arrived, there were still 3 people in the interrogation room. “How goes the interrogation?” Mo Li asked Kang Zhi.
“It’s bad.” Kang Zhi shook his head. “All 3 have hidden knives on them. The 3 knives look similar and none admits to the chest wounds. They all claimed to only aim for her abdomen.” Even the inmates in prison knew that aiming for the abdomen would be less likely to kill someone than to aim for their chest.
“They are clearly lying. The 2 chest wounds didn’t appear out of thin air. What about the prison guards? What did they say?” Qin Xuan frowned. This should be a straight case so he wasn’t expecting this.
Kang Zhi shook his head to answer.
“Are the knives here?” Mo Li flipped through the photos on the table. “Do you know which knife belongs to whom?”
“Yes, we do know that. The boss plan to deprive them of sleep. Eventually, they will talk.”
Mo Li signaled for Kang Zhi to bring her the knives. Mo Li examined the wounds and compared them to the 3 knives in the evidence bag. Soon she picked up the bag with the wooden hilt. “This is the knife which caused the fatal wound. Plus the wood on this hilt is similar to the weapon that killed Qi Yan, it’s mahogany.”
Qin Xuan gasped, “Mo Li, how can you tell that? The 3 knives look the same to me!”
“The knives have the same shape but once you look closer at the victim’s wounds, you’ll realize they are different. Look at the fatal wound.” Mo Li handed the photo to Qin Xuan as a test. He didn’t disappoint. He looked at the photo and uttered, “Is it because this wound has a skin flap?” Qin Xuan continued, “And the other wounds don’t… The shape of the wounds corresponds to the shapes of the blades. However, if there is a skin flap, that means that this is not a problem with the shape of the blade but the blade itself. Or rather, one of these 3 blades is not made with the same quality as the rest.”
Kang Zhi looked at Qin Xuan and Mo Li in confusion.
“Basically, the blade is not made from good material. After it was plunged into the victim and the offender pulled the knife out, the force caused the blade to curl. The curl scratched along the wall of the wound, leaving behind a skin flap. So this is the murder weapon.” Mo Li held up the dagger with the wooden hilt. “Of course, you should have the lab check if the blade has curled.”
“I’m confident in you, Mo Li. Then she has to be the murderer.” Kang Zhi told Mo Li.
Mo Li was still worried. She looked at the 3 knives, 2 of the hilts were made from plastic. The murder weapon had to be the one with the mahogany hilt. Mo Li didn’t want to tie every case to Flower Appraisal. But two female actors had died and the murder weapons were both related to mahogany wood.