The body had been severed at the midsection of the abdomen, and after drifting in the river for an extended period of time, its integrity had been severely compromised. The absence of many of the organs from the chest cavity was not surprising.

At the sound of her voice, Shi Ting and E’Yuan both walked over. “Found something?”

Yan Qing used two pairs of forceps to flatten the remaining skin at the edge of the abdominal section, pointing to one particular area. “Look — what does this look like to you?”

E’Yuan examined it carefully. “This section of skin is raised, and the color is slightly different from the surrounding tissue. It looks somewhat familiar.”

“A scar?” Shi Ting’s eye for detail was razor-sharp.

A faint smile crossed Yan Qing’s face. “A scar, exactly.”

“Nothing remarkable about that.” E’Yuan’s expression dropped with disappointment. “So she has a scar — what of it? We men carry a few marks of various sizes on our bodies, and even women sustain cuts and scrapes that leave scars. The idea of identifying the source of a body from a tiny patch of scar tissue is simply not realistic.”

Shi Ting answered E’Yuan’s skepticism with a single warning look. “Let Sixth Miss finish.”

Yan Qing asked Shi Ting to hold the magnifying glass for her while she used forceps to carefully smooth out the curling skin. As it flattened, the shape of the scar became clearer — no larger than a soybean, not something that could have been noticed without close and deliberate examination.

“There — look at that.” Yan Qing pointed with her forceps to a spot approximately two centimeters from the scar, where on either side sat two small circular protrusions that were virtually invisible to the naked eye.

In order to see what Yan Qing was indicating, Shi Ting had to lower himself to her level, bringing his refined face close alongside hers. But both of them were so absorbed that neither noticed the rather intimate distance between them.

“I initially agreed with Dr. E that this was simply an ordinary scar,” Yan Qing said. “But the moment I saw these two protrusions, I knew it wasn’t.” The light of excitement shone in her beautiful eyes. “These are the scar and the suture marks left after a surgical procedure.”

Both of them were simultaneously startled.

“To verify my suspicion, I checked the remaining internal organs once more, and sure enough, something was missing.”

Shi Ting turned his head curiously — and only then realized how close he had come to brushing against her face.

Yet Yan Qing was entirely oblivious, her eyes fixed on nothing but the foul-smelling body before her.

Quite unlike that body, however, a faint and delicate fragrance drifted from her hair.

“What is missing?” Shi Ting forced himself out of a moment of distraction, quickly using words to cover his own embarrassment.

“The appendix.” Yan Qing was entirely certain. “I checked the posteromedial wall of the deceased’s cecum, and as expected, suture marks were also present there — though the river water had destroyed most of them. But taken together with the location of the scar on the skin, I can confirm it: the deceased had undergone an appendectomy.”

“Earlier, because the abdominal skin was curled, I hadn’t noticed this small scar. And because some of the internal organs were absent, I hadn’t paid attention to the missing appendix. But now the scar and the missing organ corroborate each other.”

Her uncle had always taught her that a forensic examiner must be attentive to details that others would never see — and the years of practice had trained her to maintain that vigilance at all times, down to every flap of skin, down to every pore.

This level of thoroughness inevitably multiplied the workload several times over. But it was precisely because of that thoroughness that she was able to find the minute clues hidden within a body.

Listening to Yan Qing’s analysis, Shi Ting couldn’t conceal the excitement that had risen in his own eyes.

This era was nothing like the modern age, where appendectomies were performed everywhere. In Shun Cheng, only established, reputable hospitals and qualified physicians dared to take on such a procedure, and even then the risks were considerable. On top of that, the surgery was extraordinarily expensive — beyond the means of most ordinary people.

“Based on the degree of scar healing, the deceased underwent the surgery approximately two months ago — that is, sometime in February.”

Yan Qing’s confidence was evident. “Beyond that, I can offer Director Shi two more pieces of information.”

—