21st Century Necromancer-Chapter 782 - 778: The Gender of the Corpse (Seeking Subscriptions, Seeking Monthly Tickets)

A corpse dissolution case, a corpse burning case—although people die every day in Tokyo, such severe cases still attract significant attention from the police, and the bodies are naturally sent for autopsy.

Thanks to the critical role played in numerous previous cases, UDI is now the most authoritative and efficient autopsy institution in the whole of Tokyo. Thus, these two bodies were brought here to be examined by Misumi Mikoto and the Nakado Department.

When the body from the corpse dissolution case arrived, it had been corroded beyond recognition. Bodies are usually transported in bags, but this time a barrel was used, which spoke volumes about the condition.

Even having autopsied over three thousand bodies, and being accustomed to sleeping on the autopsy table when not busy, Nakado’s team felt a rush of nausea upon seeing this body; it was simply too stomach-churning.

Through the examination and identification of the scene and the determination of the state of the body’s corrosion, Misumi Mikoto and the Nakado Department could confirm that the body had been soaked in a strong acid, presumably Piranha Solution, to reach its current state.

Piranha Solution is a caustic mixture composed of concentrated sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide in a 7:3 ratio, primarily used in laboratories to clean various residues off glass slides.

There had been experiments conducted where an apple was placed in Piranha Solution and in just a few minutes, the entire apple dissolved completely into a sticky black liquid. Similarly, a piece of pork dropped into a beaker full of Piranha Solution would dissolve cleanly in just over a minute.

Using this substance to dissolve a body proved to be an excellent tool. It could be said that as long as the dosage was sufficient, it would corrode all the organic matter on a person in a very short time, leaving only inorganic residues.

In fact, the body found at the scene was almost entirely dissolved. If it had not been for the use of a bathtub, and the victim not fully submerged, there would have been no body to perform an autopsy on. The liquids alone would have been sent for analysis.

Unlike now, where there was almost nothing left but the upper half of the body that had not been fully soaked by the liquid, and it resembled the dreadful appearance of a plastic model that had been melted by fire; hardly any bones or organs were intact, which created a significant challenge for the autopsy work.

"Based on the fingerprints collected by the police at the scene, the body is preliminarily identified as the has-been female singer A. However, due to the severe corruption of the body, it will be difficult to determine the identity and cause of death of the deceased," said Misumi Mikoto, discussing the almost unrecognizable remains. If it wasn’t for the psychological endurance built by being immersed in the Blood Pool by Chen Yu for over an hour, Misumi Mikoto felt she wouldn’t have been able to handle it, rather than calmly examining the body and briefing Officer Maori who stood by her side.

While Misumi Mikoto could handle it, Officer Maori seemed less able to cope, wanting to quickly confirm the identity and cause of death and swiftly close the case.

"So we still can’t confirm that the deceased is the has-been female singer A? Her cause of death isn’t due to that Piranha Solution?" Officer Maori inquired of Misumi Mikoto, turning his head away to avoid looking at the body, yet he had to note down what she was saying, which indeed put him, who wished only to be a salary thief, in a tough spot.

"It’s precisely because we cannot confirm that we must conduct an autopsy to ascertain the facts. As for the cause of death, we have to wait for the analysis results," said Misumi Mikoto as she used a scalpel to open up the remains, which hardly needed cutting, intending to examine the skeleton: "Rokuro, come over and take a photograph here."

Upon hearing Misumi Mikoto’s call, Kube Rokuro, though his stomach was churning, had built up quite a tolerance after being exposed to various types of corpses at UDI for so long. Thus, he was able to suppress the urge to vomit and carefully photographed the area as directed by Misumi Mikoto.

Because the lower half of the body had dissolved, leaving only a few fragments of leg bones, when Misumi Mikoto opened up the deceased’s abdominal cavity some of the partially dissolved organs slipped out, and even the pelvis became dislodged from the spine.

Witnessing such a scene, Officer Maori and his subordinates suddenly couldn’t help wanting to vomit again.

But Misumi Mikoto wasn’t frightened by this disgusting sight, instead she carefully examined the pelvic bone that had come loose.

The so-called pelvic bone is a closed bony ring at the bottom of the human abdominal cavity, composed of the sacrum, coccyx, and hip bones. It resembles a basin, carrying the internal organs, hence it is also known as the pelvic bone.

The human hip bone is divided into a left and right section, and the front lower part of the hip bone is known as the pubic bone. The two pubic bones have a gap between them, not tightly adjacent, and are connected by ligaments and fibrocartilaginous tissue. This area is called the pubic symphysis.

Generally speaking, the lower part of a male’s pubic symphysis forms a sharp angle, similar to a V-shape, usually around 70 to 75 degrees, while a female’s pubic symphysis will have an arc shape, similar to a U-shape, with a larger angle, usually between 90 to 110 degrees.

This is because females need to give birth and during childbirth, the baby passes through this area. If the angle of the pubic symphysis is too small, the baby cannot be born smoothly.

This is also one of the important forensic methods for determining the gender of a corpse. Generally, if the angle of the lower part of the pubic symphysis is less than 85 degrees, it is determined to be male, and if it is more than 85 degrees, it is considered to be female.

But the body in front of them...

"The shape of this pubic bone... it’s male, isn’t it?" Even Kube Rokuro, who was once a poor student, now with his girlfriend’s urging, had a firm grasp of such basic knowledge.

"What? The victim is male?" Officer Maori was shocked and turned pale. Dissolving body cases were already giving him enough headache, but now the body had been determined to be male? Officer Maori immediately felt the onslaught of overtime work.

If the victim was male, then who was this body in front of them? The woman who was supposed to be the victim, the washed-up female singer, was she dead or not? If she was dead, where was the body? If she wasn’t dead, where was she?

Officer Maori immediately felt a wave of headache, as countless questions tumbled through his mind.

And at that moment, over at the other autopsy table, someone from the Nakado Department who was dissecting a burnt body case spoke up, "This body is not male, it’s female."

"It’s female?" Officer Maori’s headache worsened. The body from the burning case was still on fire when the police arrived at the scene, and because the burning was so intense, the body was unrecognizable. They had only found a work identification at the scene and had judged the victim to be male based on that ID.

Now the identity of the victim was being overturned again, which made Officer Maori feel that today was definitely his unlucky day. To clarify both cases, he might have to work overtime for a month.