The hotpot restaurant's patrons had been cleared out, but outside, near the police line, a crowd of onlookers had gathered.
People who enjoy a spectacle are never in short supply.
Just like men in ancient times liked to visit brothels to listen to music and watch performances at entertainment offices.
Times have changed, and now everyone enjoys listening to cross-talk.
But considering the potential impact of this case, Qin Yong called Ren Qiang over: "Clear out all the onlookers outside."
"No one is allowed to take photos or videos."
Qin Yong was actually doing this for their own good, knowing that some of these people had just been dining in the hotpot restaurant.
Unlike Lu Chuan and Shen Yan, who hadn't yet started eating, these people were almost full.
"Seal off the scene," Qin Yong had already started directing the onsite work: "Old Liu, Old Wang, you and the forensic doctor go in first."
At this moment, Lu Chuan and Shen Yan had already put on gloves and masks, beginning to examine all the soup pots in the hotpot restaurant.
Although this wasn't the murder scene, it involved identifying human bones, where crime scene investigators and forensic doctors clearly had more experience.
On the forensic side, there were Wang Changjiang and Shen Yan, and on the crime scene investigation side, Yang Sen hadn't come, so Liu Guodong brought Lu Chuan and Old Bai.
The following scene made all the detectives present furrow their brows involuntarily.
The sound of retching could be heard one after another.
"Half a shinbone."
"A piece of rib, and also a piece of vertebra."
"This... should be the sacrum, right?"
Everyone was silent, only the voices of Lu Chuan and the others reporting their findings of suspected human bone fragments could be heard.
Each report was like a heavy hammer striking the hearts of everyone.
Two detectives had already gone outside to vomit.
These two weren't rookies; they were key members of the second action team, one of whom Lu Chuan was familiar with, Zhang Hui.
These two had just come to this hotpot restaurant to eat two days ago.
And now...
The hall had a total of thirty-six tables, twenty-five of which were in use.
Lu Chuan and the others checked all the soup pots and found bones suspected to be human in twelve pots.
And as the investigation deepened, Lu Chuan and the others' expressions became increasingly grim.
Especially the inspection of the kitchen.
"Captain Qin," Liu Guodong reported to Qin Yong after completing the entire investigation: "We found eighteen pieces of human bones in the soup pots in the hall."
"In the storage room of the kitchen, we also found a bag of bones, containing pig bones, cow bones, and human bones."
"The specific count is sixty-two pieces, but whether they all belonged to one person... it's hard to determine now."
The bones had all been cut into small pieces that could fit into the soup pots for boiling, making it difficult to determine their specific positions.
Qin Yong's face turned steel blue: "Immediately seal off the hotpot restaurant, and bring everyone back!"
Human bones were found boiling in the hotpot restaurant.
This is destined to be another sleepless night.
Thirty-one people, including the restaurant's boss, are now undergoing questioning.
And this time, the forensic doctors and crime scene investigators are busy.
In collaborative efforts too.
In the dissection room, Lu Chuan and Shen Yan were organizing all the bone fragments.
"This should be a scapula fragment... This is a radius bone..."
"And this... is a clavicle..."
Lu Chuan was specially requested by Wang Changjiang from Liu Guodong's side to help.
At the hotpot restaurant, Wang Changjiang noticed that Lu Chuan had impressive knowledge of human skeletal anatomy.
Since the bones had been cut into small pieces, often even as an experienced forensic doctor, he couldn't be sure which bone was from where.
Yet Lu Chuan could see it at a glance.
"I researched this in college; although the bones have been cut, by extending the curvature and texture of the bones, it's still possible to determine their specific positions."
That was how Lu Chuan explained it when Wang Changjiang asked for the reason.
"Lu Chuan, thankfully you are here; otherwise, who knows how long it would take to piece these bones together."
"By the way, how come you understand human bones so well, even better than me, a graduate forensic doctor?"
Shen Yan stretched, catching Lu Chuan's eye with a certain appeal.
No one dislikes a man who can get things done.
Lu Chuan had quite a bit of exchange with Shen Yan.
Lu Chuan also felt quite comfortable working with a beauty like Shen Yan, making the human bones seem less terrifying.
"I read a lot, as you know, sometimes we have to analyze skeletons in crime scene investigations, so I learned then..."
"Ahem!"
Wang Changjiang cleared his throat twice, interrupting the two.
We still have a case to handle.
"Uh, Lu, how is things going on Old Liu's side?"
Lu Chuan glanced at the quartz clock on the wall: "They should have just completed the pre-processing of the specimens; the DNA results will be out in about two hours."
For these skeletons, there actually isn't much information that can be discovered for now.
Firstly, extract DNA information from all the skeletons to determine whether these bones belong to the same person.
Meanwhile, attempt matching DNA information to establish the identity of the skeletons.
Actually, Lu Chuan already had some judgment on this aspect.
The skeletons found in the kitchen hadn't been boiled at high temperatures, from their color, shape, and size, Lu Chuan could basically determine they were formed at the same time, under the same external conditions, and most likely belonged to one person.
Secondly, test the skeletons to determine how long they had been there, assess the bone age, and determine the age of the deceased.
This is very important; bone age assessment is a crucial factor in determining the nature of the case.
For instance, if the final bone age assessment is two hundred years, then it would have nothing to do with a murder case.
If the person died a long time ago, hotpot diners could only consider themselves unlucky.
The likelihood of it being a food safety issue or a grave robbery would be higher.
In any case, the pressure on the criminal investigation team would be much less.
Wang Changjiang nodded and looked at Lu Chuan: "Since the sorting of bones is complete, I'll go to Captain Qin and request to take some samples to the provincial headquarters for testing."
Provincial headquarters for testing?
Lu Chuan was slightly startled: "Forensic Doctor Wang, we seem to have bone quality testing equipment here; why can't we do own testing?"
"Sending to the provincial headquarters... the information won't come back anytime soon."
"Ding!"
"Basic Mission: Complete a qualified Skeleton Identification Analysis and issue an identification report."
Mentioning this, Wang Changjiang appeared a bit helpless, "Indeed, we do have the equipment. A few years ago, the provincial headquarters equipped the lower city-level criminal investigation teams with a full set of bone quality testing equipment."
"We know how to use it, but our analysis falls short."
Shen Yan nodded from the side: "These instruments aren't difficult to operate; I encountered them in school."
"But skeleton identification analysis is difficult. The provincial headquarters requires all identification information reports to be reviewed by their experts before being used as judicial evidence."
"Their standards are strict; we've attempted several times without passing, and got checked a few times more."
"Not only us, but several surrounding teams that also have equipment face the same issue."
"Eventually, we didn't bother; we just sent it directly to the provincial headquarters for testing, saying our equipment broke..."
Lu Chuan: "..."
Having acquired intermediate Skeleton Identification Analysis skills, Lu Chuan certainly understood, identification is easy, analysis is difficult.
But he didn't expect it to be this challenging.
However, given the circumstances, Lu Chuan naturally wouldn't say, I can do it.
There's no need for you to seek the provincial headquarters.
Such matters should have dual measures in place.