The crackdown on organized crime began with the arrest of the mother-in-law.

Chapter 1428 Report to Li Ming, Summary of Clues

Li Ming frowned and pondered for a moment: "Since the cause of death and the identity of the deceased are still undetermined, the subsequent investigation must proceed in two directions. On the one hand, we will cooperate with your forensic department to complete the subsequent tests as soon as possible to determine the cause of death; on the other hand, we will intensify the search for missing persons, expanding the scope of the search based on the deceased's age, height, gender, and other characteristics, while continuing to analyze the fingerprints, footprints, fibers, and other traces collected at the scene to try to identify clues to the suspect."

"We will complete the follow-up tests as soon as possible and report the results to you immediately," Zhang Lin said. Li Ming nodded: "Thank you for your hard work. This case is heinous and has a huge social impact. The autopsy is key to solving the case, so we must be meticulous and thorough, leaving no room for error." "Understood, Captain Li!" Zhang Lin replied, then turned and left the office, returning to the forensic identification center to continue the follow-up testing work.

Upon returning to the forensic identification center, Zhang Lin immediately instructed Xiao Lin to liaise with the provincial forensic identification center to follow up on the sample testing progress. "Xiao Lin, the provincial department's testing must be expedited. The cause of death is the core of the case investigation; the sooner it's determined, the more direction it will provide for the investigation," Zhang Lin instructed. "At the same time, we need to re-examine all the photos and videos of the remains, carefully checking for any overlooked details." The two sat in front of the computer, reviewing the autopsy video and high-resolution photos of the remains frame by frame, leaving no trace unchecked.

At noon, the Provincial Forensic Identification Center reported: "No rare toxins or biological toxins were detected in the samples, and all tissue samples showed no signs of hidden damage." This result plunged the two men into another predicament. "We've ruled out all possible causes of death; this is impossible," Zhang Lin muttered to himself. "We must have missed something." He picked up the photograph of the head fragments again and carefully examined the facial features: "The deceased's facial skin showed no obvious damage, but there were a few petechiae on the conjunctiva of the eyelids."

“Petechiae conjunctival hemorrhage—this is one of the typical characteristics of death by asphyxiation!” Xiao Lin suddenly said. “We ruled out mechanical asphyxiation before; did we overlook something?” Zhang Lin’s eyes lit up: “Yes, pettechiae conjunctival hemorrhage is an important sign of death by asphyxiation. We previously examined the neck and trachea and found no strangulation marks or foreign objects, but we cannot rule out asphyxiation caused by a soft object covering the mouth and nose. This type of asphyxiation would not leave obvious traces on the body surface.” He immediately took out tissue samples from the head fragments: “Make new pathological sections of the neck tissue, focusing on whether there is slight bleeding in the neck muscles, and also check whether there are fractures in the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage.”

At 2 PM, the results of the re-prepared pathology slides came back: "A few scattered hemorrhages in the neck muscle tissue, no fracture of the hyoid bone, and slight contusion of the thyroid cartilage." Zhang Lin excitedly said, "That's it! No fracture of the hyoid bone, slight contusion of the thyroid cartilage, scattered hemorrhages in the neck muscles, combined with hemorrhages in the eyelids and conjunctiva, are consistent with the characteristics of death by mechanical asphyxiation caused by a soft object pressing on the mouth and nose. This type of asphyxiation does not leave obvious strangulation marks on the body surface and is easily overlooked before."

Xiao Lin suddenly realized, "So that's how it is! When a soft object is pressed against the mouth and nose, the contact surface is soft and won't cause the skin to peel off or bruise, so there are no visible marks on the body surface. However, it can cause minor bleeding in the neck muscles and contusion of the thyroid cartilage." Zhang Lin nodded, "Yes, this is relatively subtle in asphyxiation cases and can only be discovered by combining pathological sections. Now we can confirm that the cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation caused by a soft object pressing against the mouth and nose, and the dismemberment occurred after death."

After determining the cause of death, Zhang Lin immediately updated the autopsy report, adding new test results and the basis for the judgment of the cause of death. At 3 p.m., Zhang Lin went to Li Ming's office again to report the latest autopsy results: "Team Leader Li, the cause of death has been determined! The deceased died from mechanical asphyxiation caused by a soft object pressing on his mouth and nose. We found scattered hemorrhages in the neck muscle tissue, slight contusions to the thyroid cartilage, and hemorrhages in the conjunctiva of the eyelids. These are all typical characteristics of asphyxiation caused by a soft object pressing on the mouth and nose."

Upon hearing this news, Li Ming's spirits lifted: "Great! The cause of death has been determined, and the direction of the investigation is clear. The suspect suffocated the victim by covering his mouth and nose with a soft object, then dismembered the body with a kitchen knife, put the remains into a suitcase, and dumped the body in Nanhu Square. This modus operandi suggests that the suspect and the victim may have been somewhat familiar with each other, or that the crime was committed in a relatively enclosed environment to avoid being discovered."

“Yes, Captain Li,” Zhang Lin added. “The injury on the victim’s left upper limb indicates that the victim resisted when his mouth and nose were covered. The suspect may also have been injured. We can focus our investigation on individuals with recent hand or arm injuries. In addition, dismemberment requires a certain amount of space and time. The suspect may have a fixed residence or a temporary crime scene, and there may be traces of blood, tissue fragments, etc. left in the residence.”

Li Ming immediately made the following arrangements: "First, based on the deceased's characteristics—male, 35-45 years old, 175-178 cm tall—expand the scope of the missing persons search, not only within this city but also in surrounding cities; second, focus on searching possible crime scenes such as rental houses and abandoned factories within a 3-kilometer radius of Nanhu Square, looking for signs of dismemberment; third, analyze the fingerprints, footprints, fibers, and other traces collected at the scene, and intensify the search efforts in conjunction with clues that the suspect may have been injured; fourth, continue to follow up on the deceased's DNA comparison work to determine the deceased's identity as soon as possible."

"We will continue to refine the autopsy report, adding the latest determination of the cause of death and relevant clues to provide more precise support for the investigation," Zhang Lin said. Li Ming nodded: "Thank you for your hard work, Zhang Lin. Report any new findings related to the autopsy to me promptly." After responding, Zhang Lin returned to the forensic identification center to continue refining the autopsy report and to organize relevant clues for transfer to the investigation department.

At 4 PM, the complete autopsy report was officially completed. The report detailed the process of piecing together the body parts, the results of the systematic autopsy, the basis for estimating the time of death, the basis for determining the cause of death, the dismemberment tools, and the estimated time of dismemberment. It included 128 high-resolution autopsy photographs, 36 pathological slide photographs, and one video clip featuring multi-band fluorescence detection. The report clearly stated that the deceased was male, aged 35-45, 175-178 cm tall, and weighed 70-75 kg. He died from mechanical asphyxiation caused by a soft object pressing on his mouth and nose, and the time of death was between 10 PM and midnight the night before the incident.