Chapter 100: The Top Ten Unsolved Mysteries

I pried open the corpse's mouth. According to the Chronicles of the Corpse Whisperer, if someone dies from burning, their mouth, nose, and trachea would contain a large amount of inhaled ash and soot. But both victims' oral cavities were surprisingly clean.

What could this mean?

Another suspicious detail: whether death was caused by burning or if the body was burned postmortem, the heat causes the proteins in the body to coagulate, often resulting in the so-called "pugilistic pose" — arms raised, fists clenched tightly, like a boxer's defensive stance.

Yet neither of these bodies showed this characteristic.

It made me question—were they really burned to death?

I asked Xiao Zhou for a scalpel and cut a small patch of skin to examine. The skin was brittle, and the blood inside the vessels was completely dried up—features typical of both burning and postmortem burning.

All I can say is, these bodies are full of contradictions from head to toe.

Determining whether a death was caused by burning or postmortem burning has always been a huge challenge for coroner and forensic experts. Back in the Song dynasty, the legendary official Song Ci conducted experiments burning live and dead pigs to observe the differences.

But these two bodies don't fully match either category. The mystery puzzled me, but at the same time, I felt a subtle thrill.

It's like a math enthusiast facing a tough problem—I admit, I'm a little twisted that way.

...

I sniffed the bodies carefully. There was a faintly pungent smell, but nothing like gasoline, kerosene, or alcohol—common accelerants. Unsure of the exact substance, I handed the skin sample to Xiao Zhou and asked him to run two tests: one to identify any accelerants, the other to measure the carbon monoxide hemoglobin level in the blood.

Carboxyhemoglobin forms when hemoglobin binds with carbon monoxide in severely oxygen-deprived environments, and exceeding a certain level is lethal. This is a crucial indicator when confirming death by burning or postmortem burning.

Usually, this can even be seen with the naked eye. Bodies with high carboxyhemoglobin content develop bright red or cherry-red livor mortis. But these two bodies didn't show that.

Still, I asked Xiao Zhou to test for it just to be safe—these corpses were strange, after all.

I also cut a small piece of clothing to check if the same accelerant residue was present on the fabric and the skin.

Xiao Zhou packed the samples into plastic tubes and grinned: "Detective Song, did you forget something?"

"What?" I asked, puzzled.

"DNA. You can't skip testing something that important."

I smiled. Such a thing didn't need reminding. I said, "We haven't confirmed their identities yet. DNA tests are meaningless for now. Save your energy—tomorrow, go to the dental hospital in Nanjiang city."

I pried open the older victim's mouth and told Xiao Zhou to check the two molars. He shone his flashlight inside and said, "This guy's loaded—gold teeth!"

"Wrong," I corrected him. "Those are palladium porcelain crowns."

He looked closer and realized his mistake. "Oh, right. Definitely not gold."

Palladium porcelain crowns are a high-end type of dental restoration, even more valuable than gold. I figured there were no more than five hospitals in Nanjiang city that performed this procedure. Xiao Zhou could make a dental mold to help identify the victim.

As for the other victim, the homicide detectives could conduct interviews and trace leads. Once one identity is known, the other will be easier to find, and DNA can then confirm both.

Xiao Zhou stared at me for a moment. I asked if he was smitten.

He said, "Song Yang, you're both a coroner and a forensic pathologist. If you took the certification exam, you'd beat all the senior forensic doctors hands down."

I laughed. "Why bother with certificates? I'm already solving cases. Now go."

"Anything else?" he asked.

"No. I'll handle fingerprints and hair samples. Leave a UV lamp here for me. The tech team can go back now," I said, waving them off.

After the tech team left, Huang Xiaotao smiled at me. "You give orders like a pro. Why don't I hand you the lead of this task force?"

"No way. I prefer to 'command the generals through the emperor'—more comfortable that way."

"Oh, so I'm the emperor in your eyes? That makes me a fierce Empress Wu?"

"Empress Wu was a total beauty!" I quickly added.

She laughed and accepted the compliment.

I pressed my ear against the corpse's chest, listening carefully with a paper barrier for hygiene. Usually, burned victims show internal organ changes—lung congestion, blisters, kidney swelling—but these two didn't.

Judging by the internal state, time of death was about ten days ago.

I asked Huang Xiaotao for scissors. When I cut open one victim's clothing, I discovered something shocking: the victim's underwear was completely stuck to the burnt skin, almost impossible to separate.

I concluded: "The victim was burned alive while still wearing clothes."

Huang Xiaotao gasped, covering her mouth. "But their clothes aren't damaged at all. Could this be spontaneous human combustion?"

Spontaneous human combustion is one of the world's top ten unsolved mysteries. There was a story of an elderly man sleeping when his children smelled burning flesh. They lifted the blanket to find half his body had turned to ash—but the blanket was untouched.

There have been foreign cases where people suddenly caught fire in public—burning fiercely until extinguished, then found dead with their insides completely incinerated.

Another woman praying in a church suddenly knelt motionless. At first, no one noticed, but smoke emerged from her mouth and nose. She was dead, her organs charred, yet her skin intact.

Thinking of these bizarre details and this case's strangeness, I sighed deeply.

"Hard to say," I muttered.

Huang Xiaotao chuckled. "First time I've seen you stumped. Surprising."

"You're gloating? If we can't solve it, I'm not the one getting scolded."

"By the way, where's your little sidekick?"

"I sent him back to school to get something," I replied.

Just then, Wang Dali appeared, carrying a bag. He flattered Huang Xiaotao, then handed me the contents.

I took out a listening bone and carefully checked the corpses again, but found nothing unusual.

Recently, I'd repaired my forensic umbrella. I opened it to check for external injuries, and asked Wang Dali to hold the lamp.

The ultraviolet light shone through the red umbrella, casting a faint crimson glow on the corpse. I slowly rotated it but found no wounds. There were some fingerprints on the clothes, but they seemed to be left by the victims themselves. I asked Huang Xiaotao to bring a camera and photographed everything.

I folded up the forensic umbrella and muttered, "When will I ever meet a murderer who leaves straightforward fingerprints?"

Huang Xiaotao teased, "You say that now, but when you get a normal case, you'll probably get bored."

I laughed. "How do you know me so well?"

"Hmph, don't I know your little quirks by now?"

Wang Dali looked shocked at our banter. "Wow, you two are really comfortable around each other—starting with that much PDA."

Huang Xiaotao widened her eyes. "Say another word and I'll handcuff you!"

"Mercy, Xiaotao!" Wang Dali ran away holding his head.

We then checked the other room. Near the two sleeping bags, we found some fingerprints and hairs and collected evidence.

I scanned the floor with the red umbrella. The footprints were chaotic, but Huang Xiaotao photographed all identifiable prints for later comparison. Two pairs seemed to be from the victims' shoes.

I concluded: the victims encountered something terrifying and fled from one room to the other—only to be trapped and burned alive.

Suddenly, a scream echoed from downstairs!