The Roadside Mystery

After finishing up the area where the corpse—or what remained of it—was found, Larry asked the forensics team to begin transferring the body and have it sealed. He then turned and walked toward Ángel, who seemed to be doing better.

"Did you see it? There's dried blood everywhere… Unfortunately, the leaves on the ground are so thick that there are no tracks we can follow."

After pushing through a bush, a pool of dried blood appeared at Ángel's feet as he was taking photos.

There were traces of blood in the form of splatters, drips, and stains on the nearby lilacs, shrubs, and blades of grass, but even a thorough search didn't help them locate the murder weapon.

Busy with evidence collection procedures and taking photographs, several people worked under the sun, their bodies drenched in sweat as they carried all the evidence bags to the edge of the greenbelt.

Sergeant Doakes and Max approached Larry and asked the investigators for help lifting the box. Several climbed onto the railing by the roadside to receive the body.

"Careful, don't drop it."

Sergeant Doakes walked over to Larry and asked, "Did you find anything?"

Larry removed his gloves and the forensic suit. "It can be determined that this was a homicide. This is the primary crime scene. To fill in the gaps, we'll need to call Dexter so he can supplement the report with his findings."

"Homicide? I thought this was just a dumped body," Sergeant Doakes said in surprise. He had initially called Larry thinking it was a simple case—he never expected something like this.

Larry didn't respond. He furrowed his brows and looked at a forensic examiner he didn't recognize, who suddenly began making assumptions. The man clearly wanted to share his opinion.

"I have a suspicion… As has been said before, the reason we found this body in such an advanced state of decomposition is due to the dense bushes and trees. Wouldn't the odds increase if we consider they came from that direction?"

Larry didn't want to interrupt him, nor did he wish to argue with a coworker. But he knew it was pointless to debate things this way, so he simply said nothing.

He wasn't in the habit of making corrections during fieldwork and had zero tolerance for that kind of speculation—especially when detectives relied on his words.

"Sergeant Doakes, let's head back to the center to run the tests and forensic analysis," Larry said seriously as he took off his gloves.

"You're done?"

"The body is completely reduced to skeletal remains. We can't make any useful comparisons here—we need the autopsy room."

"Handle it personally," Doakes replied firmly, then added, "You're the best in the department at getting to the bottom of things."

The tension grew. Larry's words hinted that something important had been discovered, and Doakes fully trusted his ability to uncover the truth.

"Of course. We'll send you the results as soon as we have them."

A forensic specialist who had been in charge before Larry arrived stepped forward. "Dr. Luk, do you have any preliminary insight into the case?"

Larry nodded, his expression focused. He took the DSLR camera Ángel had handed him and looked for a wide shot of the skeleton. He then zoomed in on a specific section.

"The pelvis is short and wide: the victim is female…" Larry paused and pointed. "I estimate her height to be between 160 and 164 centimeters. As for her age, somewhere between 20 and 30. I'll need a more detailed study, but that estimate is based on the wear on her teeth."

After saying that, Larry paused, studying the enlarged images. "Considering the local climate and the level of decomposition, she's been dead between 15 and 30 days."

"Cause of death?" asked the forensic examiner.

"There are two key areas of interest: a puncture wound on the right side of the skull, in the temporal region, and another at the top. I also found puncture marks and scratches on the cervical vertebrae C1 through C3, and along the right side of the neck."

"Fatal?"

"Both of them. The skull was pierced with force, and the neck marks indicate a direct, violent attack. These aren't superficial wounds—whoever did this knew exactly where to strike to kill."

The group fell silent. Then Larry continued, "I still need to confirm many details in the lab, but I can give you a preliminary profile of the attacker."

When someone like Larry started speaking, everyone listened to every word.

"The killer is likely a man. Left-handed. The weapon used wasn't a knife or anything sharp, but a blunt-tipped tool—possibly a flat-head screwdriver. The type of damage points to brute force."

"How strong?" asked Sergeant Doakes, intrigued.

"To pierce a human skull with a blunt screwdriver, it takes over 50 kilograms of pressure. That rules out your average person. We're talking about someone with considerable physical strength, likely someone used to manual labor."

Larry looked directly at Doakes and said, "The killer could carry this tool around naturally. That's why top suspects should include manual laborers like mechanics, maintenance technicians, assemblers, or people who frequent workshops."

Doakes nodded more seriously with each word. "Makes sense. Anyone who moved the body out here is likely a nearby resident or has a vehicle for transport."

"Exactly," Larry nodded. "What we should do now is review nearby surveillance footage, especially around workshops or factories. Any suspicious activity in the past few weeks could give us a key lead."

"We'll do that… For now, we'll gather all possible images. We'll be waiting for your report, Larry."

"The sooner we cross-reference the data, the better."

"Then we'll see you at the station," said Sergeant Doakes as he left with Debra.

The forensic doctor who had irritated Larry earlier said goodbye to his colleagues with enthusiasm. But Larry didn't say a word to him. He found it unworthy to acknowledge a professional who didn't respect the facts of the case. So, they got into the car and drove off without another word.

Forensic medicine is no simple job.

Each victim leaves behind a testimony that can only be interpreted through meticulous analysis. If one fails to act with professionalism and precision, the risk of making mistaken judgments is high.

That doesn't just mean a killer could walk free—it could also lead to innocent people being wrongfully accused.

There are many forensic experts like that man, who switched careers within the system. If trained with discipline, their prior experience as detectives can help them interpret traces and autopsies.

From the look in Sergeant Doakes's eyes, it was clear he understood all of this.

…

An hour and a half later, the three of them arrived at the forensic center.

Autopsy Room, 11:30 a.m.

The boxes containing the victim's skeletal remains were placed in the autopsy room.

Larry asked Max to carefully wash and dry the bones, while he and Masuka—who was feeling a bit dizzy—began assembling the skeleton on the dissection table.

Max took a piece of costal cartilage and sent it to the lab, hoping to extract DNA from the victim.

Masuka frowned and muttered, "There's very little useful information about the deceased. No clothing, no personal belongings… and relying solely on bones makes the analysis difficult."

"It's difficult, yes, but not impossible," Larry replied. "We can start by taking a closer look at the evidence the sergeant and I mentioned earlier. There will be more discoveries."

Both examined the pubic symphysis and noted that the facial crest was slightly blunt, with visible bone nodules on its surface. The pubic tubercle was beginning to disappear, and a dorsal ridge was forming on the ventral side.

Based on these characteristics, they made calculations separately. Larry accessed the system's database to compare results.

Masuka used a standard formula and estimated an age of 20.5 years. Larry obtained a result of 21 years. The figures were nearly identical.

However, that estimate slightly differed from the wear observed on the victim's teeth.

Larry held the deceased's skull in one hand and the jaw in the other, comparing them with the bite surface of the deceased.

Indeed, there was a large gap on the left side of the occlusal surface, while the right side matched perfectly. Additionally, the deceased had few teeth, and the right side of her jaw protruded slightly outward.

Upon noticing the sparse dentition, Larry paused and quickly counted the teeth.

The deceased had only 24 teeth. A normal adult has between 28 and 32, but she was missing four.

And all the missing teeth belonged to the upper jaw.

Larry immediately made a note of it, and Angel stepped in to take a photo.

After closely examining the dental root area, Larry found no obvious defects, indicating a congenital malformation.

"It's precisely because of those four missing teeth that her dentition looks so incomplete," Larry murmured, arriving at a conclusion.

After cleaning the skeleton, they noticed that the deceased was wearing a metallic ring of dental braces on her upper teeth.

Moreover, several steel wire loops were wound between the lower right second molar and the first molar—an extremely unusual trait.

With so few teeth and wires coiled in the center, it was clear she couldn't use conventional braces. The orthodontist must have made special adjustments during later checkups.

A patient with such particular characteristics would surely leave a very clear impression in the dentist's memory.

Larry loosened the brackets, placed them under a magnifying glass to observe them in more detail, and commented with some doubt:

"The material of these braces is rather crude… Doesn't look like it came from a reputable clinic. Could it be that the dentist used recycled materials?"

Larry nodded seriously. "That's exactly what I was thinking."

Angel stepped forward to observe the skull, then examined the braces in Masuka's hands and murmured, visibly intrigued, "A woman in her twenties with this much dental damage?"