Chapter 458 Helping to Solve the Case
"Mrs. Wilson, you're here too!"
He didn't dare to call Abella Abbott Wilson "Doctor" for fear of exposing Abella's identity.
Winston was a bit surprised. How come Sam was more excited to see his sister than to see him?
"Mrs. Wilson, are you here to play today?" he said, then noticed the prominent figure standing next to Abbott Wilson, and almost choked. "Mr. Bourbon, you're here too."
"Yes." Phillipe Bourbon simply nodded, without much expression.
"Abella, how did you know that the time of death of the deceased was around six months?" Winston asked curiously.
"If a body is submerged in water for more than three months, a white waxy substance, known as adipocere, will form on the surface of the body," Abella explained calmly. "For an adult body, it takes approximately six months for adipocere to form. Taking the weather into account, we can make an approximate estimation of the time of death."
However, determining the time of death was not enough for the police, as they also needed to know the person's height and age in order to compare with the missing persons database and find leads.
"Abella, how tall do you think he was?" Winston asked as he approached his sister.
"About five feet six inches," Abella replied, looking at the body in front of her. "After reaching adulthood, a person's height decreases by 0.6 millimeters each year. Every 20 years, it decreases by 1.2 inches. And for adult males between the ages of 40 and 60, their height decreases by 2.3 inches. From 60 to 69 years old, their height is 4.9 inches shorter than their peak height."
Abella made an estimate of the deceased's height based on the long bones she observed.
The people around seemed to be witnessing a myth, looking at this girl who spoke so confidently and knowledgeably.
As for the age of the deceased...
Abella stepped forward and took a pair of gloves from Sam, putting them on. Then, in front of everyone, she picked up a skull.
The onlookers were all stunned. Who was this girl, and how could she dare to hold a skull?
What was even more astonishing was how seriously she examined it, as if she knew exactly what she was looking for.
Winston also put on gloves and joined Abella, taking the skull for observation. "Are you trying to find clues from the sagittal and coronal sutures of the skull?"
"Yes," Abella replied, examining the skull. "I believe the age of the deceased should be around 35 to 40 years old."
This surprised everyone, even Sam couldn't help but ask, "How can you tell?"
"You see, this is the coronal suture on the top of the skull. It starts to close at the age of 22 and finishes at 35. And here is the lambdoid suture, which looks like a 'Y', it starts to close at 26 and finishes at 47. Based on the condition of the third molar, we can estimate that the deceased was between 35 and 40 years old."
Sam and his men didn't expect to find out the age, height, and other clues of the deceased so quickly.
At this point, Winston suggested, "We can extract DNA from the deceased's rib bones and compare it with the DNA of missing persons' relatives. I believe we can find the answer soon."
"Thank you, Mr. Medici and Mrs. Wilson!" Sam didn't expect that the case would progress so smoothly today. His luck was truly extraordinary to encounter two influential figures.
Winston nodded and added, "Furthermore, there are no signs of struggle on the body and limbs, indicating that the perpetrator was someone familiar. As for who it is, the waterlogged phone will provide you with the answer."
"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Medici."
This clue was particularly important for the police investigation. Sam repeatedly expressed his gratitude to both of them. Abella and Winston then took off their gloves, disinfected their hands, and left the scene.
The crowd murmured and speculated about them, more curious about Abella's identity.
"Could they be students in the forensic field?"
"They look young and even have a bit of a couple resemblance."
"Could they be a couple?"
When the word "couple" was mentioned, Phillipe turned around and glanced at the crowd. His intimidating gaze silenced everyone.
The man with the stern face and the young lady seemed to be the real couple.
His warning gaze couldn't have been more obvious. Due to this murder case, there were fewer tourists around. After the three of them took the cable car up the mountain, they walked on the glass walkway with few people around.
"Winston, I never expected you to be afraid of ghosts but not corpses." Abella found it amusing. The contrast was simply adorable.
"What are you talking about? I'm not afraid of anything! Last night was just an accident," Winston said, trying to save face. "But you, at such a young age, not afraid of anything supernatural."
"Your courage is truly unmatched."
"Because she has seen a lot and gotten used to it," Phillipe couldn't help but add.
He remembered Abella mentioning that she had experienced many terrifying things in Triangle City, each one enough to toughen her and make her stronger.
Winston didn't know about her past and thought that Phillipe was referring to Abella being young but knowledgeable.
He nodded, indeed, he had never seen anyone as exceptional as Abella. Holding the skull with a calm demeanor, her psychological resilience and medical expertise were truly rare in the world.
"Perhaps the living may lie, but the dead won't. Every part of the deceased's body is honest," Abella said calmly. "Speaking the truth for the deceased is the common goal of all forensic experts. So, Winston, your profession is sacred and remarkable."
Upon hearing his sister's praise, Winston was somewhat surprised. His profession had often been looked down upon by others, especially by his mother, because he dealt with burnt, decomposed, dismembered bodies, and the stench of death...
His mother found it too dreadful, too dangerous, and too much of a mental burden. But giving the deceased peace, comforting their families, and upholding justice in society was exactly what forensic experts had to do.
In their work, forensic experts needed to eliminate all distractions and find the sole truth for the deceased. Every deduction would influence the direction of the investigation, and a slight error could lead to a huge difference.
Sometimes, even when he fell asleep at night, he would have nightmares, dreaming of gruesome scenes.
"Do you think this profession is good?" Winston asked.
Abella nodded. "All medical professionals are here to save lives. I save the living, and you help the dead. We are both seeking justice in our own ways for this society."
They both silently contributed their efforts to this society.
Winston smiled at Abella and suddenly felt that she was far more outstanding than girls of the same age. If it were Lola in this situation today, she would probably be scared and hide behind him, just wanting to leave the scene as soon as possible.
But Abella, with her calmness and professional knowledge, sought justice for the deceased.
"Phillipe, do you see how exceptional Abella is? If you ever treat her badly in this lifetime, I will definitely deal with you."
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