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Timing and Subtitles Brought To You By Dr. Qin Forensic Team @ Viki

Ghost fire (will-o'-the-wisp)?

It has gone viral. They say that blue flames suddenly appeared above the surface of the lake.

The victim's face is almost skeletonized. His right side is totally skeletonized.

His limbs are decayed. The skin on both arms and right leg are peeled off.

But weirdly, his left foot didn't decay yet.

There is a very obvious dividing line about 5 centimeters above the ankle.

The victim's name is Lu Zhen, male, 13 years old. He's been missing for five days.

After checking the corpse, we noticed that this child had several wounds of varying shapes

on the day of his demise. First, in his brow bone, there is a very obvious laceration.

Only intense fighting can create such a wound.

The second kind of wound is an oval wound like this.

The third kind of wound appeared in the abdomen and his lower extremities. It's this U-shaped wound.

The last kind is on the back waist. This is an abrasion.

The longer the crime has passed, the harder it will be to find the killer.

Looks like this case won't be easy.

Thanks.

- Goodbye. - Goodbye.

- Is there a pond nearby? - There is. I'll take you there.

Dabao! Let's go.

This is the only pond nearby.

Do you still remember that Lu Zhen's left foot didn't decay?

But weirdly, his left foot didn't decay. The part above the dividing line is heavily deccayed.

But below the dividing line, it looks like a fresh corpse. Usually, if there are differing degree of decomposition,

it's in gradation. It's rare that there will be such straight dividing line.

Most parts of the corpse must have been submerged in a stagnant water like this, hence, producing the differing severity of decomposition.

When a person dies, he's no different with a biscuit.

I even thought that you're really a beast.

I know where the ghost fire is.

What ghost fire?

What ghost fire?

Do you still remember that ghost fire rumors in Weibo?

It has gone viral. They say that blue flames suddenly appeared above the surface of the lake.

The conditions that will support the occurrence of a will-o'-the-wisp is close to zero.

As long as there is a will-o'-the-wisp, then there might be a decayed corpse.

It's here.

For the will-o'-the -wisp to be produced, it needs a decomposing skeleton of an animal.

Lu Zhen's corpse is starting to decompose into a skeleton. It meets these specific criteria.

If we think that way, after the ghost fire rumors appeared on the internet, the murderer

was afraid that the corpse will get found out so he moved it again. Which also means--

Which means that the initial site where the body was dumped should be here.

Do you know who lives in that little house over there?

Gu Feng.

This is a glove we found on the side of the pond near your house.

It has fingerprints of both you and Lu Zhen.

How do you explain that?

Also, this train ticket we found on the same area.

It has Lu Zhen's name on it and his fingerprint.

This is a train ticket he bought two hours before he died.

Can I understand this as you being the last person

that Lu Zhen met before he died?

Does us being together not good enough?! That bitch abandoned you! Wake up!

You deserve to be in pain! I will not care about you anymore!

Da Lu...

He admitted to the crime. On the afternoon of the 19th, they had an altercation.

Out of anger, he pushed Lu Zhen to the ground, and that caused his death.

He got so afraid, so he dragged Lu Zhen into the pond of their house.

When the ghost fires appeared, he dragged Lu Zhen to a place that's far from his house

to decrease the suspicion on him.

But how could he die just by getting pushed to the ground?

His lethal wound isn't on the head.

What kind of fall will lead to U-shaped injuries on his abdomen?

I suggest we check it again.

Check it again.

Why did Lu Zhen go to you on the 19th?

He came to say goodbye to me.

Because the 20th is his mother's birthday.

Gu Feng, what do you think of the boxing gloves I gave you? It's for professional.

Not bad.

I'm leaving.

I've bought the ticket.

Must you leave?

You also know that I've been saving money just for this ticket.

I'm going to look for my mom.

She already doesn't want you, so why must you still look for her?

I am different from all of you. My dad, my stepmom, and my little brother

are living quite well as a family.

I'm completely just excessive. But my mom is different.

She's living alone. I must accompany her.

We are the same! We've been abandoned by our parents! Why must you still think of that bitch?!

What are you saying? That was my mom! I'm not allowing you to call her that!

Can't you understand? That bitch abandoned you!

With just us brothers being together, is that not good enough?! Wake up!

Sorry...

Sorry...

Let's sort it out again. The brow arch injury was caused by Li Li.

These and these were hits by Pang Chao.

The abrasion injury on the back was left by Gu Feng.

We are only left with this lethal injury that caused this.

These U-shaped injuries that corresponds to the lethal injury and these ones on the legs,

could they have been done by only one person?

Very possible.

The victim's stepmother has a son.

This son is like Lu Zhen. He has an injury on his left leg.

Is that just a coincidence?

Could it be domestic violence?

Looking closely at these U-shaped wounds, they are very similar to the heel of a high-heeled shoe.

Chen Xufei was indeed wearing high heels that day.

We want to know if the relationship between you and your son is good.

Quite good.

Is it really good?

It's true.

Based on the result of our autopsy, as for the numerous wounds on Lu Zhen's body,

other than being from fights and serving as a human sandbag,

there are still a lot of them that's from an undetermined source.

What do you mean?

Do you usually hit him?

If he commits a mistake, of course I will hit him.

On the 19th, do you remember if you've hit him.

I did.

Are you sure that you just hit him and didn't kick him?

You bastard! You bastard! Why don't you just die?! Go to die!

I didn't.

There are U-shaped injuries on Lu Zhen's abdomen caused by severe blows from a blunt object.

What shoes were you wearing on the 19th?

- High heels. - Which pair?

It seems to be that black one.

On the point of view of a forensic examiner, Lu Zhen's cause of death was intraperitoneal bleeding from a ruptured liver.

Which also means that it might be your action that led to Lu Zhen's death.

We will take these shoes back to compare to the U-shaped wounds on the victim's body.

If they match, you will have to answer to the law.

What do you mean? You suspect that it was me who killed Lu Zhen?

I didn't do it. I admit that I have cruelly beaten him up twice.

Just twice. But there were reasons for both.

First time was because when he brought my son out, just upon leaving our home, my son got hit by a car.

He caused my son to be crippled. Can I not hit him?

Second time was on the 19th. Upon entering the door, I heard my son calling for help.

- Mom! Mom! - Why did you tear my money? I just have that much money! You even tore it! Why must you tore my money?! Tell me!

- What are you doing?! What are you doing?! - I got so angry then so I lightly kicked him a few times.

I really never thought of doing anything bad to him.

Just lightly kicking him a few times.

Lightly kicking him...

Lightly...

- Why did you tear up my money?! I just have that much money! It's for a train ticket! - Stop hitting me!

- You even tear it up! Why did you tear my money?! Say it! - Mommy!

What are you doing?! Why are you hitting my son?! I provide you food and drink and you still hit my son?!

Bastard! Bastard!

You all just die! Just die!

The establishment of every unfamiliar relationship

always have hopes of ending it in a warm manner.

But, all affection that are seemingly so solid and unbreakable...

has the possibility of collapsing any moment.

What does this mean?

I'm gifting you that boxing gloves to strengthen this friendship of ours.

If one day, I angered you, you can use these gloves to beat me up.

I'd prefer using surgical blades.

Had a fight again?

Can I watch a ball game in your house tonight?

Old rules. Turn off the sound. I still have to write an autopsy report.

Come, eat a little.

Good.

Who the hell has nothing to do and placed something inside the well?! Are you crazy?!

This bunch of stinky kids... don't let me catch you!

If I catch you, I'll kick your ass to smash.

What's going on? This is weird.

A dead person! Someone jumped into the well! There's a dead person!

There's a dead person! Someone jumped into the well!

You're here.

Wow! Whose bag is this? So heavy.

Who else? Lao Qin.

Say, just for a field work, he has to bring so many books. Why don't he just call for a carriage?

Come.

Where is he?

He got trapped inside by an appealing relative.

- I'll go take a look. - Okay.

Potential disease?! Nonsense!

You're wrong. Strictly speaking, your father's heart can't be considered to have a potential disease anymore.

- He has coronary heart disease, hypertension, high-grade coronary artery stenosis... - What's going on?

- Someone who came to cause trouble. - Don't make up things like that.

How am I making up things? That woman inside was once an abandoned child adopted by a single old man.

That old man endured hardships to raise her, but she, just went out and lived on her own.

She never bought anything for the old man nor cooked him any meal for years.

The old man had an altercation with his neighbor and suddenly died.

She heard of a possibility of compensation. So, she's here.

- What's going on. - It's good that you're here.

- I can't handle the victim's family. I'll get going now. - Hey!

- Don't go! Don't go! - Don't... Go...

- Older sister, if you need anything-- - Who's your older sister?

- If I call you younger sister (Xiaojie may refer to a prostitute) , that's a bit insulting, right? Tell me. Tell me. - Can you resolve this matter?

I'll try. There must be someone who will resolve this, right? Don't be mad. Sit here first. Drink some water. Okay?

Come...

Drink some water. Calm down.

- Look at how good your hair was permed. So lively. - Really?

It's like this. Since I just received this case, so I need to examine and verify some documents.

Once I'm done verifying them, I'll give you a conclusion, okay?

Let me tell you, don't anger me by dragging this for a long time.

If I do, I'll sue you to the Ministry of Public Security.

Yes... You have the right to sue us. But if we change our conclusions just because you are suing us,

doesn't that mean that we make irresponsible conclusions?

You think I'm just threatening you and won't really dare to go?

No... How about this? Right now, tell me your doubts on this case in details.

I'll then help analyze them for you.

Okay. It's like this.

You solved the problem that fast?

Of course. If you want to survive in today's society, just one good ability is not enough.

Then, you will need to do that a lot. Because our great Medical Examiner Qin never deal with the victim's family.

I can understand. Talented individuals usually have a bit of attitude.

Because a capable subordinate is more favored by the superior.

A car window doesn't have much sound proofing.

We're saying bad words about you.

Are you happy hearing them?

Sergeant Lin! Everything has been prepared. Let's go.

Let's set out.

Tell us what you know. Don't be silent.

What a bad luck of me!

Who the hell killed someone and threw him in my well?

I am cursing him to have no descendants!

Don't rush in cursing people first. When did you last use this well?

I can't remember clearly. Two days ago? Maybe three days ago.

Then, since you didn't use the well yesterday, did you notice any strange things?

None. I didn't notice anything.

Qin Ming, do you have anything that you want to ask?

No. If a live person can say the truth, why is there a need for medical examiners?

Areas where it's possible to find some shoe tracks has already been destroyed by the informant and the local police.

I think it's impossible to find any trace evidence on those areas anymore.

Can you secure the crime scene next time?

Make this pile of branches and its surrounding area as a key protected area. Even cops cannot get near them.

Okay.

Lao Qin! We've pulled the corpse up!

Because the well water was cold, the corpse didn't show any sign of decomposition or emit any odor. His abdomen is also not showing any greenish discoloration.

Do we need to check the corpse temperature to determine the time of death?

No need. The heat conduction of water is hundred times faster than air. And this is even groundwater with such low temperature.

Checking for a corpse temperature will become very inaccurate.

Rigor mortis is already gone.

Livor mortis is also not fading. Our initial assessment is

between 24 to 48 hours.

There are lot of people in the village. It's risky to move a corpse in the morning. They most likely chose to do it at night.

This way, the possible times of death can be narrowed down.

He most likely died between the night of the 16th to early morning of the 17th then the corpse was dumped into the well.

The corpse was dumped into the well? Although he looked as being murdered, we can't be prejudiced by the first impression, right?

Maybe he was drunk or got crazy and then carelessly fell into the well.

The way this shirt was placed is very weird.

Turn him over.

Look at the shoulders and the back of the victim.

There are indeed injuries, but it only damaged up to the adipose (fatty) tissue level.

There are also abrasions on the epidermis. The wounds have a grayish yellow color.

There are no signs of vital reaction. These must have been made after his death.

Since they were formed after death, this means that the victim was thrown into the well after his death.

Could they have been made while the corpse was being pulled up?

There are indeed some parts that could have been formed when it was being pulled up. When the corpse is being moved from down to up,

the direction of force of the abrasions should be from the hand up the shoulder.

Then, the direction that the skin flap curled should be downward.

But there are a portion that's the opposite.

The victim's position in the well is the head facing down.

If it's abrasion from falling down the well, then the skin flap direction should be from the head facing the waist.

If it's from the pulling up of the corpse, the skin flap direction is from the waist to the head.

But the details of if he died from drowning or as dumped after being killed, we can only confirm that after doing an autopsy.

This is great. Based on our speed, I have a feeling that we can go home by today.

Have you confirmed the identity of the corpse?

Let's confirm first if he is from this village.

- Xiao Hei, call him over. - Yes.

Please take a look. Do you know him?

Lijun! Xie Lijun! Our village's Xie Lijun!

- Do you know his place? - Yes! Yes!

Please take us there.

Okay...

Xiao Hei, take care of the corpse. Prepare for autopsy.

Yes.

This is his house.

Okay. Thanks. Go back first. We'll call you if we need anything else.

Okay.

We've spent a total of 10 minutes and 15 seconds on the way here. Wear shoe covers before entering.

Cordon this place. Other than us three, no one is allowed in.

The night of the 16th until early morning of the 17th...

Based on the state of the blanket and the location of the slippers,

the victim might have been killed while he was sleeping.

There are a lot of cigarette butts and beer bottles on the floor.

There are used tablewares over there. Take them all for DNA testing.

Based on the position of the chess pieces, the red side has checkmated the black side.

You also know how to play this? Jack of all trade?

I know it since I was little.

From the foot of the bed

up to the door, there is a wide drag mark.

Within this drag mark, there are broken parts.

From the width, it must have been left by dragging the corpse. Both sides represent the victim's arms.

It then means that the crime was done by one person. If there are two, they could have carried him.

They also would leave behind their footsteps.

Very good. We can determine the number of perpetrator already.

The mark extended and ended here. Which means, that starting from here,

he might have transferred him to a vehicle.

Estimated by eye, the victim is about 80 kilogram.

The victim's eyelids are full of petechiae (red or purple spots on the skin) .

His fingernails and toenails are cyanotic (Lack of oxygen in the blood causing a bluish discoloration in the skin) .

His oral mucosa has a huge amount of limited bleeding and injuries.

This is a classic case of death by mechanical asphyxia (strangulation) .

The quality of the case has been determined. I'll immediately tell it to the special case team.

Wait a minute. In order to determine the cause of death, we must rule out other possible causes.

Or else, we can conclude it as having a combined causes of death.

This is what he means. Death by drowning and by covering one's nose and mouth both can lead to mechanical asphyxia.

We need to do an autopsy to determine that further.

If we conclude arbitrarily, it might affect the direction of the investigation.

I understand.

Say, what's the use of this rope on this corpse?

Was it tightened to kill him?

The victim's neck has an obvious rope mark but there are no vital reaction.

This rope must have been tied after his death.

Could it be as a means to hold this shirt in covering the victim's face?

That's possible. If that's the case, it's out of fear or guilt.

But there's one thing that's weird. This rope mark is very deep.

If it's only to cover the face, why must he tie the rope so tightly?

How about this? It was used to tie the shirt over his face

Other than that, there is a weight tied on the other end of the rope.

The weight of the heavy item opposed the buoyancy of the immersed corpse

so it formed such deep ligature marks on the corpse's neck.

This also explains why this rope is 2 meters longer than the diameter of the victim's neck.

Judging at the other end of the rope, it does look like it got damaged by a weight.

Then it means that there might be some other object inside that well.

Inform Sergeant Lin to continue fishing the object used as a weight.

Yes.

The internal organs of the victim is congested. There is hemorrhagic spots in the cardiac apex.

There is bleeding in the pyramidal part of the temporal bone. Adding it up with the injury in his oral mucosa,

he indeed died from mechanical asphyxia from getting smothered.

His stomach is basically empty. Adding up the situation of his livor mortis and rigor mortis,

the time of death is most likely more or less than six hours after dinner on the night of the 16th.

There are a lot of injuries in his shoulders and back. All are abrasions.

No vital reactions. It all happened after his death.

These most likely occurred when the corpse was being moved.

There are ecchymoses on the skin on both sides of the pelvis. This means that the murderer was straddling

on this part of the victim and then smothered him to kill him.

But with this movement, the victim can still move his four limbs.

Why then does he have no defensive wounds or any restraint wounds?

Unless the murderer is stronger than the victim. But the victim looks sturdy.

He has the strength to resist.

Based on our investigation, the victim is Xie Lijun, 61 years old.

Never married, living alone. He has an older brother named Xie Liguo.

His house is 500 meters north of Xie Lijun's house.

Their interaction was not much, but their relationship was quite good.

Because Xie Lijun was single. That's why, Xie Liguo's family would frequently send food to Xie Lijun.

On the night of the 16th, Xie Liguo's wife, Liu Cuihua, delivered the meal

to Xie Lijun's house around 6 pm.

Around 6:30 pm, when she went to Xie Lijun's house to get the tableware,

she noticed that Xie Lijun was arranging the chess board and said that he would be having some rounds that night.

This correlates with what we saw in the scene of the crime. And based on our investigation,

Xie Lijun is addicted to playing chess and it's usually associated with gambling.

Do you know who Xie Lijun was playing chess with that night?

Because there are a lot of people in the village who would go to Xie Lijun's house at night to play chess with him,

Liu Cuihua didn't dare to ask more and just left after taking the tableware.

On the morning of the 17th, Liu Cuihua went to Xie Lijun's house again to deliver breakfast.

She noticed the bedding was lifted but the house was not rummaged, and he wasn't there.

When Liu Cuihua delivered the breakfast and noticed that Xie Lijun's house isn't locked,

didn't she think it was strange?

That's because the lock of Xie Lijun's house has been broken for a long time.

He is an old single man. He owns nothing that's worth stealing. So, he never thought of fixing the door lock.

Also, a few days before the crime, Xie Lijun told Liu Cuihua that he'll be going out of town.

That's why, when Liu Cuihua noticed that there are no people in his house, she didn't suspect anything.

Sergeant Lin, you still haven't said who is that person playing chess with him.

Based on the DNA on the cigarette butt, it's Lao Zhao, the man that reported this case.

Okay. It's time to go back to the crime scene to look around.

Integrating the situation at the crime scene, let us enumerate what motive can the suspect have.

First, cigarette butts with Lao Zhao's DNA were found here.

That's why, Lao Zhao most likely was sitting here.

Based on the situation of the chess, the red side has checkmated the black side.

If Lao Zhao was sitting there, it means that he lost this game.

Could it be that because they had a bet on this game which was quite huge,

Lao Zhao had lost but he refused to pay. Instead, he got angry and killed Xie Lijun?

That's right. Lao Zhao's actions were also quite suspicious.

First, he never actively admitted to us that he played chess with the victim.

Second, he said that he saw the corpse and then called the police.

But before we were able to dig out all the tree branches, we can't really see the corpse inside the well.

That's why, I am suspecting that he's lying.

Isn't he a thief crying "stop thief"? He dumped it far but buried it somewhere near?

That's right. I think that because he is very familiar with the topography of his house,

he chose to dump the corpse in the well of his house. But he was afraid that it'll get discovered, so he placed branches on top of it.

But after two days, he still was afraid, so he called the police. Wait a minute.

There is one thing that doesn't fit. The murderer should be way stronger than the victim.

Lao Zhao is a dark and thin man.

Not really. The murderer needn't be stronger than the victim.

Let us look at the marks left by dragging the corpse. There are a lot of blanks in between.

These blanks were made because of stopping while moving the corpse.

This means that despite this short distance, the murderer had to rest a few times in moving the corpse.

Other than that, the victim died while lying on the bed.

He was on a sleeping state. Which means that he most likely was covered with this towel blanket.

If that's the case and someone pressed on his body, this towel blanket would form a shackle,

letting him unable to extend his hands. This way, he wouldn't have been able to resist.

The victim started struggling after being bound by the towel blanket.

His body has a large surface area, so the pressure is small.

This can explain why we never found any restraint injuries in his body.

Based on our current evidences, we can't remove Lao Zhao as a suspect

or the possibility that other people did this.

We're back at the beginning.

Sergeant Lin, Section Chief Qin, the item below the well has been dug up. Let's go and have a look.

Okay. You two go check it. I'll go meet Lao Zhao.

Timing and Subtitles Brought To You By Dr. Qin Forensic Team @ Viki

This rocks are commonly seen when fixing roads or building houses, but it will not just suddenly appear in a farm area.

- There are a lot of small holes on this. - It looks like it was punctured by someone.

This is a classic print left by a tricycle that U-turned. You can use these tire marks as comparison.

We don't own a tricycle.

If his house has no tricycle, how come there is a brand new tricycle handlebar here?

The victim is Hu Qi, 37 years old, a props master

in a film production base.

Killing in a closed area like this, could the killer have planned this for a long time?

This is self-made hunting rifle.

It's his own gun.

Based on the patterned impression on the muzzle of this gun, we can be sure that the gun that injured the victim is this one.

A bullet wound like that of the victim most likely came from a close-range shot.

Our initial assessment is that the victim left his home during midnight carrying his gun, but carelessly

mishandled the gun, harmed himself, and died from massive hemorrhage.

This is not mishandling of a gun. This is a homicide.

How will you prove it?