Subtitles by DramaFever
Those handprints with fake blood.
Where will they lead us?
There's another shoe print here.
Judging from the size and pattern, it should be a woman's shoe.
According to the registration, the driver is Jiang Tian.
Tao Zi's high school classmate.
Qin! There are a few strands of hair.
I frightened her last night.
Officer, you can investigate me.
But you should come with solid evidence in hand.
Jiang Tian had a girlfriend in high school.
She died because of Tao Zi.
This girl looks so much like Tian Yun.
If someone whose death she was responsible for showed up in front of her
that could trigger a heart attack.
This will prove that Jiang Tian substituted the pills.
What is that?
[Medical Examiner Dr. Qin] [Episode 8]
Yours.
The crime scene is over there.
It's cordoned off all the way up to here.
Isn't that too far?
The bigger the scene, the more difficult it is.
There must be a reason for this.
Let's go.
This is Dr. Tao from our neighboring city.
- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
Where is the corpse?
The corpse isn't here.
It's not here?
Well...
This case took place on the border of both cities.
It was first reported to our neighboring city.
However, this area is actually under our jurisdiction.
Dr. Tao is here to do a handover of the case.
This is the first time I've come across such a case.
What is a forensic investigator to do without a corpse?
Who reported the case last night?
It was a couple.
They were camping here by the pond.
They heard rustling sounds in the reeds and saw a huge ghostly shadow.
The police got here right after receiving the report.
They found a male body floating face up in the pond.
How big was the ghostly shadow?
According to their statements it was a lot taller than an average man.
About two meters tall.
That's really tall.
What was the crime scene like?
His head was on the shore.
His face was stained with blood.
From his chest down, the rest of the body was submerged in cold water.
Our technical staff was about to move the body from the water
when they discovered that he was still warm.
He had a very weak pulse.
So our officers carried him to the road.
We sent him off in an ambulance.
We performed CPR on the way but to no avail.
When we got to the hospital
we conducted a CT scan
as the victim suffered blunt force trauma to the head.
His skull was smashed.
Depressed fracture corresponding to brain tissue contusion
that caused intracranial hemorrhaging.
That usually happens in a fight.
It could also be caused from a fall.
A craniotomy was scheduled yesterday but he died before the surgery.
What are the technical difficulties in this case?
First of all, we have yet to determine where the victim came from.
Secondly, we did a preliminary exam of the body at the hospital.
The victim had an asterisk-shaped wound on his head.
It was difficult to figure out what caused the wound.
At the moment, we see it as either an accident or suicide.
From a forensic investigator's point of view
it's difficult to explain that asterisk-shaped wound.
Why is it hard to explain from a forensic point of view?
There's bruising beneath the asterisk-shaped contusion.
That could have been caused by the impact of the victim's head hitting the ground
and the angle of impact resulted in displacement.
This displacement caused the skin and bones to shift.
It then tore apart the skin tissue and resulted in bruising.
Bruising does form quite easily from falls.
Displacement caused by falls
would normally leave dirt residue in the wound.
But we didn't find any in the victim's wound.
We'll take a look.
There are a lot of shoe prints.
There must be over a hundred.
We've already taken photos of them.
Some shoe prints were sabotaged
when the police came to rescue the victim.
Some are still quite clear.
We extended the crime scene so as to search for more useful shoe prints.
Are the prints verified?
The neighboring city only had trace evidence.
They could only note some details and take photos.
We'll run through the prints when we get back.
How tall was the victim?
Around 1.68 meters tall.
That doesn't match what the couple reported at all.
The shortest reed is at least 1.7 meters and the tallest is over two meters.
Was the body lying here?
You're right.
When they found the body he had blood all over his face.
When I saw him, his face had already been cleaned up by the doctor.
If the victim fell to his death here
it would have been impossible not to be stained by mud.
Not necessarily.
There are many cobblestones.
If the victim fell and hit his head on a cobblestone
it could have also caused displacement and a wound to the head.
If so, he wouldn't have gotten muddy.
What's more, the doctor cleaned up.
It's still possible that we won't find mud in his wound.
But according to your theory
there should be blood on the cobblestones.
We've searched all the cobblestones in the area
and none were stained with blood.
No cobblestones were found with blood
and there's no mud in his wound...
All of these contradict our theory.
Unless this isn't the crime scene.
It seems like a coincidence but we can't rule out another possibility.
The blood-stained cobblestone could have been kicked into the water
by the police during the rescue.
We'll leave the investigation to you
while we head off to do a preliminary examination of the corpse.
The victim isn't tall.
Why would they say that they saw a huge silhouette?
It's possible to be mislead by shadows in dark places at night.
I haven't figured that out either.
When we examined the corpse
we noticed a few puncture wounds on his right arm.
These could either have been caused by injections during resuscitation
or the murderer injected the victim with poison.
These wounds were made prior to his death so we can't determine the cause.
We need to verify with the hospital
about injections during the resuscitation
and if he had a cardiac pacemaker.
I've already asked them.
He had five injections and cardiac pacing.
I checked and there were five punctures.
The blunt force trauma caused an asterisk-shaped wound.
He could have been hit by a flat, blunt weapon
or a protruding asterisk-shaped weapon.
Within the wound, interstitial bonding between the tissues is visible.
The skin on the forehead is thinner
so you can see the cartilage.
The periosteum over his skull is intact.
There's no breakage so it could not have been a protruding weapon.
This had to be caused by a blunt weapon.
Like a cobblestone.
It wouldn't have been easy for the unsub
to remove such a big cobblestone from the scene.
However, if the police happened to kick
the blood-stained cobblestone into the water
isn't that too much of a coincidence?
We'll have to see what Captain Lin discovers.
Captain Lin.
Keep searching.
Captain Lin.
We've already search the area.
We didn't find anything.
Get our men to search again.
Pay attention to blood on cobblestones.
Yes.
The victim's periosteum is intact.
It's just a simple fracture.
This proves that the fracture was caused by a blunt, flat weapon.
The victim was hit on the head while he was on the move.
It caused a skull fracture.
There's possibly also contrecoup injury to brain tissue.
The cause of death does seem to be an accidental fall.
But contrecoup injuries usually don't result in asterisk-shaped wounds.
Asterisk-shaped wounds are usually
the result of a traumatic injury to the brain.
What's more, brain contusions
when treated in time, shouldn't result in death.
The victim passed out by the pond.
Intracranial hemorrhage caused a progressive bleed out
as shown on this CT scan.
It was impossible to revive him.
There are some nail marks on his arm.
It would have been difficult to do that to himself from this angle.
Yes, and he was held on both sides.
The thumb is on the outer edge when someone else grabs you.
If you grab yourself the thumb is on the inner arm.
It's very difficult to do it on the same arm
so it's unlikely that the victim did it.
It's hard to relate to his death.
He could have had an argument with his family
before he left home and fell to his death.
We can't tell if his death was an accident yet.
He has a very obvious mark on his waist.
I've seen people with tattoos of centipedes, but never crabs.
Maybe his last name has to do with it?
Unique tattoos can help us identify the victim.
But not the cause of death.
Da Bao, let's perform the autopsy.
Sure.
We can't perform an autopsy yet.
Why not?
We have yet to determine the victim's identity.
Once he's identified we have to inform his family.
We need their consent.
Therefore, we'll have to wait for a while.
In the Code of Criminal Procedures
the public security bureau has the authority to perform an autopsy
on corpses with uncertain cause of death.
That is our right.
If we can't perform an autopsy without the family's consent
what are we to do if the murderer is one of his family members?
It's also stated in the Code of Criminal Procedures
that we have to notify the victim's family.
It's also stated in the government outlines for handling criminal cases
that should the victim's family refuse to show up or if they can't be found
that we just need to note that in our statements.
Chief Qin, the victim's family is here.
Good. Inform them that we're going to do an autopsy now.
We can't do that yet.
Why not?
The victim's family disapproved.
Chief Qin.
What you just said is based on a criminal case.
That means we have to prove that his death was not an accident.
Only then can we exercise such a right.
Are we not trying to prove it by examining his cause of death?
Can you be sure that it's a criminal case now?
In terms of forensic science
the clues we have at hand aren't sufficient to make such a judgment.
You're right.
After the body has been refrigerated
some unseen injuries will appear on the surface.
Let's give it some time.
I won't consent to it.
I disagree!
Why do you get to decide to do an autopsy?
Have you asked me for my opinion?
Your father's cause of death is still unknown.
The police need to investigate the case thoroughly.
My dad has mental health issues.
After he had a relapse yesterday
he ran off to Reed Pond.
I told him many times.
He didn't heed my advice.
Now, he has fallen and killed himself.
That's the truth!
We'll know if that's the truth once we've investigated the case.
He is to be cremated if I say so.
He is already dead!
You still won't keep my dad's body intact?
No one is allowed to touch his body!
This is the typical mentality of a murderer trying to obliterate a corpse.
I'll sue you if you dare!
The deceased is already at a great disadvantage.
We're the only ones who can help him.
If your father was murdered
we have to investigate every possible suspect.
Answer me. What evidence have you found?
You're going to open up his corpse without any evidence?
How can he rest in peace?
Whatever opinions you have
you can write them down.
We will handle them for you as soon as possible.
[Public Security Bureau of Longfan City]
The commissioner is here.
Everyone's present?
Let's begin.
Commissioner Tan and fellow experts.
Allow me to brief you on a few points.
We found out the victim's identity yesterday afternoon.
We found samples in his home and ran DNA tests.
The DNA Department just confirmed
that the victim was indeed a resident of our city, Xie Qin Gong.
Xie Qin Gong, male, 53 years old.
He ran a small brick kiln.
He made about 100,000 yuan a year.
His neighbors said that he seemed to suffer from mania.
Is there any evidence to prove it?
We can be certain of it.
We found records of his purchases in mania medication.
According to a surveillance video
the victim was seen buying medication in a pharmacy yesterday afternoon.
Then he went to his son's for dinner.
His son was adopted.
His name is Xie Hao.
He's known to others as his godson.
He raised Xie Hao on his own.
The biological parents never cared for him.
This son is now the owner of the brick kiln.
Commissioner Tan!
Commissioner Tan.
Xie Hao is such a troublemaker.
He said that Xie Qin Gong had dinner with him last night.
Then he had a relapse of mania and insisted on going home.
He didn't take it to heart.
It wasn't until this afternoon that he was informed of his father's death.
Here.
Commissioner Tan, look.
This is Xie Hao's home.
That's the crime scene.
Xie Hao's home isn't far from the crime scene.
Xie Qin Gong's home is about two kilometers north of Xie Hao's.
As these are all remote areas
there aren't any surveillance cameras.
We have no way of knowing how Xie Qin Gong went west into the reeds.
If delirious, one could lose his direction.
You're right.
We can't rule out that Xie Qin Gong was lost and ended up at Reed Pond.
However, I think that Xie Hao is highly suspicious.
He reacted way too agitatedly.
Is there evidence to prove it?
Nothing yet.
However, before his father's true cause of death could be determined
he has already demanded that the body be cremated.
Could it be due to his mania attack
that he went to the pond and used the stones to smash his head?
That could have caused his injury.
Or perhaps it was rainy and slippery.
He fell and injured himself?
Commissioner Tan, what is your opinion?
How about this?
The Trace Evidence Division has confirmed the victim's radius of activity
and locked down the crime scene.
Go and have a look.
Yes!
Yes.
Off to investigate the crime scene to save me from getting hemorrhoids.
[Xie Qin Gong/Xie Hao: Father and son]
The Trace Evidence Team spent all afternoon searching Reed Pond.
Not many people would come here so there isn't much to fish out.
We're not worried that there isn't much to look through
because every item could play a significant role.
Have you found any fresh shoe prints?
You're right. They did find many shoe prints here.
It rained that day so the soil was soft.
All the shoe prints are useful evidence.
What are the matches?
All the shoe prints came from the same pair of shoes.
It means that only one person came to Reed Pond.
He didn't just walk around it once.
He went around it many times.
You mean all these circles of shoe prints came from the same pair of shoes?
Exactly.
Judging from the direction the shoe prints pointed
this person walked around
the inner and outer rings of Reed Pond four times.
The shoe prints then disappeared near where the victim was found.
The prints disappeared because they were covered by other shoe prints.
We've compared all the shoes of the police officers and the informants
to find that theirs were the other prints.
If anyone followed the victim here to Reed Pond
he would have left shoe prints behind
even if he didn't follow the victim around the pond.
But we didn't find such shoe prints.
But if he left by walking through the pond
he wouldn't have left any shoe prints.
No.
Even if he walked in the water
he would have had to get ashore.
Once he got ashore, he would have left shoe prints.
But we didn't find any shoe prints.
Could the murderer and the victim have had the same pair of shoes?
The same pair of shoes would leave behind the same pattern
but the soles wouldn't have worn out in the same places.
Therefore, the shoe prints would still differ.
He's right.
When you found the corpse did the victim have his shoes on?
That is the problem.
When we found the victim, he was barefoot.
However, we didn't find any footprints.
That's why we find it strange.
I told them to search near the pond for traces.
Were his feet clean?
That doesn't prove anything.
When the victim was discovered
the lower half of his body was in the water.
Even if his feet were clean
they would be dirty after soaking in this pond.
Even if his feet were dirty
they wouldn't be as dirty after soaking in the water.
Captain Lin!
Captain Lin, look.
The pattern and wear on this pair of shoes match the shoe prints we found.
I get it.
The victim could have fallen down over there.
Then he accidentally sunk his own shoes into the pond.
We only found them now as they were under the water.
Xiao Hei, send them to the lab.
Yes!
We only found a pair of shoes.
There isn't a second set of footprints.
Judging from that alone only the victim came to Reed Pond.
If so, this case is either an accident or a suicide.
It sounds flawless.
What's more, the investigation team did not find anything contradictory either.
But I still find it very suspicious.
I am just as doubtful about it.
Let's discuss this when we find the evidence.
Please take a look.
Xie Qin Gong was last captured on this video before his death.
He just bought his medication and left the pharmacy.
It indicates that he had taken his medication that night.
He took medication but had a relapse?
That's illogical.
He bought the medication but he might not have taken it.
He could have forgotten that the doctor told him to take it before bed.
Could this really have been an accident?
Is it not as complicated as we think?
According to the statements taken by the police
the victim rarely had relapses of mania.
The medication curbed it.
Even when he did have a relapse
he usually came to his senses in half an hour.
Let's assume that he was able to walk
to Reed Pond from his home in half an hour.
Even so, he walked around Reed Pond again and again.
It would have taken him at least an hour.
That was enough for him to come to his senses.
Since he came around, why didn't he head home?
These are just speculations.
They don't count as evidence.
It's like being trapped by a ghost.
It's when someone walks alone in the wilderness
especially in places close to graveyards
it feels as if you're going around in circles.
You just can't get out.
There's no such thing.
It's just that when one walks alone in the fields at night
you lose your sense of direction so you keep going around in circles.
That happens when a person is confused.
Xiao Hei.
That idea of yours is so unreliable.
If we conclude all unknown cases were ghost traps
our final reports would surely be very interesting to read.
Let's take a look at the photos of the corpse.
There are some nail marks on the victim's forearm.
Those are fresh wounds prior to his death.
I did an experiment.
It's very hard to make such nail marks on myself.
Commissioner Tan.
I need to perform an autopsy on the corpse tomorrow.
I'm afraid that the nail marks won't be good enough.
The victim's family strongly opposes an autopsy
we can't carry it out by force.
Sure, let's take another look at what the police body cameras filmed.
That was the victim when he was first discovered.
When the police found him
there was no dirt on his front of his shirt.
If he had fallen face down and smashed his forehead on the ground
there would have been mud on the front of his shirt.
Apart from this, we have also noticed one other matter.
We made a new discovery about the blood flow pattern.
As shown on the screen
there was blood on his forehead.
The blood flowed from the wound to the top of his head.
Allow me to demonstrate it.
The victim's wound was on his forehead.
It means that he fell face down.
However, when we found the victim
he was lying on his back.
If the victim shifted his position
there are two possibilities.
First, he fell face down.
He then sat up and lay down on his back.
During this procedure
blood would have flowed from his head to his nose and mouth.
Second, he fell face down.
He turned on his side before lying down on his back.
Blood would then have flowed from the wound to the side of his head.
Third, he fell face down.
He went into this position first and then lay down on his back.
The blood flow pattern would then be as shown.
From the wound to the top of his head.
But that's invalid.
Could he have fallen down and then stood on his head for some time?
What actions could have caused such a blood flow pattern?
If it wasn't caused by the victim it would have had to be done by someone.
Like being carried over the shoulder.
Xiao Hei, lend me a hand.
The victim had passed out.
Therefore, his head and limbs would naturally hang down.
The blood would then flow from the forehead to the top of his head.
Xiao Hei, please turn around.
The victim's head and the murderer's hip would have been at the same level.
Judging from this angle
it would seem like a tall headless silhouette in the dark.
That makes sense.
There's one more thing I can't figure out.
- Why is there only one kind of print? - Why is there only one kind of print?
Why would the blood flow toward the victim's hair?
What murderer would give up halfway through the murder?
We can't explain any of that.
But I think that as long as there are doubts
government sectors have the right to conduct an autopsy.
All right.
Perform an autopsy on Xie Qin Gong's body tomorrow.
Inform Xie Hao to be present.
If he refuses to show up, note that on the statement.
Yes!
[Autopsy Room]
After the body was frozen some wounds have resurfaced.
The nail marks on both sides have bruised.
We can tell that there was subcutaneous hemorrhaging.
The victim's arms could have been restrained.
Prepare for the autopsy.
The hospital gave us the time of death.
Should we still extract the stomach contents?
We should.
Although the stomach contents won't be used to estimate the time of death
we can still see what he ate or whom he ate with.
Okay.
His abdominal cavity is normal.
Should we open up his skull now?
- Get ready to open his skull. - Yes.
There's bleeding in his epicranial aponeurosis.
That is caused by the pulling of one's hair.
A direct trauma to the head wouldn't cause such an injury.
Why didn't we see that in the CT scan?
The victim bled mostly at the top of his head.
CT scans don't show the tops of heads well.
It's also because we were focused on
the skull fracture and intracranial hemorrhaging.
It's a radial skull fracture.
I'm more certain than ever that this was a homicide.
Really?
Look, the victim's skull fracture is complicated.
It was caused by several blows to the head.
Although such a radial fracture could also have been made by a single impact
if you look carefully
there's more than one center point in this radial fracture.
Small radial fractures from different center points cut off from each other.
If fracture lines are cut off from one another
it means that the victim's wound was caused by several impacts, not one.
This rules out an accident.
A person can't fall down several times on the same spot.
Could it have been caused by several blows to the head?
The injuries have to be looked at as a whole.
The victim had bleeding in his epicranial aponeurosis
and that could only be caused by the pulling of his hair
not by multiple blows.
If we combine both injuries as one
the victim was grabbed by his hair to smash his head on the ground.
Such an action could cause deceleration in his head
and inflict a deceleration injury.
I still have two questions.
Why didn't the murderer kill the victim?
It doesn't make any sense to dump him alive.
What's more, why is there only one kind of shoe print at the crime scene?
Don't worry. We thought about that as well.
After we made another trip to Reed Pond, we figured it out.
We'll explain it to the team.
It's been hard on you both.
The results are out.
- Notify the commissioner for a meeting. - Yes!
Let me tell you how the victim died.
His arms were restrained and then pushed toward the ground.
He was grabbed by his hair to smash his head repeatedly on the ground.
After he was severely injured, he was dumped in the wilderness
and died from lack of treatment.
You still haven't answered my questions.
After the unsub caused severe head injuries to the victim
the victim lost mobility as he suffered intracranial damage.
He would have appeared to be dead.
The murderer mistook the victim as dead.
That indicates that the unsub was very flustered.
The only evidence that indicates that this case was suicide
is that the shoe prints led to the pond but not away from it.
Let me show you a photo.
Does that belong to the unsub?
No, it's mine.
This is too strange.
Why do the shoe prints lead to the pond but not away from it?
Hold on.
What is this?
- My footprint? - Yes.
You just made that print.
It was only 15 seconds ago but why is it not as obvious now?
It's been covered by water.
I've been wondering if the unsub left home without his shoes.
Then he would have left very shallow footprints that could disappear easily.
For example...
Sock prints.
Sock prints?
Let me give it a try.
Let's wait for a while.
After three hours, the sock print had completely disappeared.
Therefore, according to my conjecture
the unsub carried the victim on his shoulder
when he thought that the victim was dead.
He intended to dump him in a remote area.
Hold on.
I have a question.
If the unsub carried the victim
wouldn't the blood from his head have dripped on the ground?
There's not much blood from the head injury.
Even if the blood did drip it dripped on muddy ground.
It would be hard to discover.
How do you explain the rounds the victim made between the reeds?
The unsub was looking for a safe place to dump the body.
The unsub was very indecisive.
It wasn't until that couple screamed and alarmed him
that he dumped the victim in the pond nearby.
He panicked and ran away.
He was in such a panic that he lost his shoes and couldn't put them on.
So the murderer left Reed Pond in his socks.
Exactly.
There's a small path between Reed Pond and the highway.
I think that's how the unsub left the crime scene.
Soon after he left the crime scene the police arrived.
The shoe prints covered up his sock prints
so you didn't find any traces.
This is a possible speculation.
The crime scene is huge but the sock prints are so shallow.
When we searched for traces we looked for shoe prints or toe prints.
If they were sock prints
they would have been hard to see.
It seems we have enough.
Qin Ming.
Can you come up with the profile of our unsub?
I think that it's the victim's godson, Xie Hao.
What did you base that on?
First of all, we've mentioned repeatedly
that the unsub committed the crime in panic.
It means that he's likely to be very close to the victim.
What's more, I think that the first crime scene was indoors.
Why would it be indoors?
According to my speculations
we only found one pair of shoes.
That pair of shoes belongs to the unsub.
The victim was barefoot.
When would an elderly man take his shoes off?
I think that he was indoors.
What's more, Xie Hao reacted out of the ordinary after his death.
Xie Hao was eager to cremate the body and objected to an autopsy.
Let me add to that.
Xie Qin Gong didn't have any other relatives.
He didn't have any complicated social relations.
It seems that we're not far from getting our murder suspect.
It means that the actual crime scene is in Xie Hao's home.
I thought so as well.
According the the above mentioned doubts
I'd apply to search Xie Hao's home immediately.
We should also show the shoes we found at the crime scene to Xie Hao's friends
and see if those were his usual shoes.
This place seems to have been thoroughly cleaned.
The more you try to clean a place up, the more traces can be found in cracks.
Hand me the solution.
It seems this is indeed the first crime scene.
Take a good look.
Have you seen these shoes before?
They look very familiar.
It seems that Xie Hao wore them.
Yes.
They had blue shoelaces.
Yes, these are Xie Hao's shoes.
Yes.
[Interrogation Room]
Tell us.
Why did you kill him?
No, Officer. I...
I didn't kill him.
I'm very grateful to him.
I know that he raised me since I was a child.
It was hard on him.
I'm usually very filial to him.
You're filial?
Have you forgotten that fuss you made at the funeral home?
Tell me the details.
The night before yesterday...
He came to my place for dinner.
Dad, finish your dinner quickly.
Take your medication after dinner.
I'm not having dinner.
Do you know that he was sick?
He would skip his medication in order to save on the expenses.
When he acted up he would scream and hit others.
No one could stand him.
If you don't take medication how can you control your illness?
The doctor said that if you want to cure yourself of mania
you need to spend a lot of money.
How about this?
Let's apply for a mortgage?
We could turn to factory production.
That can make us more money to get you medication.
I just wanted to do more for him.
I wanted to expand our business.
Our brick business couldn't expand because of him.
But he's the legal owner of the business.
I couldn't do anything without his consent!
Everything I did was out of filial piety.
Forget it!
Do you think that I don't know what you're up to?
That day, before I even said anything he seemed to have gone mad.
He hit me and scolded me.
How dare you fight back, bastard!
Dad! Dad!
Old man, you...
You won't have your meals and medication...
What are you doing?
Dad, let go of me!
It really was an accident.
Bullshit!
This is the autopsy report.
The cause of death is clearly written on it.
Are you still going to lie to me?
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