The Ming River is the mother river of Qinzhou City, flowing through the city since ancient times, nurturing generations of Qinzhou residents.
However, fifteen years ago, there was not a single modern bridge over the Ming River.
The Minghe Bridge in Qinzhou was built in response to this need, greatly contributing to the economic development of Qinzhou City and facilitating the daily lives of its citizens since its construction.
However, due to the rapid economic development in recent years, the originally two-lane Minghe Bridge has become increasingly congested, turning from an economic booster into a bottleneck hindering Qinzhou City's economic growth.
Thus, the reconstruction and expansion project of the Minghe Bridge was conceived.
As a result, during the demolition of the old bridge piers, human remains were unexpectedly found within!
Of course, if they were just ordinary remains, it probably wouldn't alarm the provincial authorities to the extent that Li Donglin assembled over a dozen experts, even calling Lu Chuan, who was engaged in a fingerprint battle, over.
The reason is that these remains are not ordinary.
Because the bones in the bridge pier were not just one set.
Qin Hui's face was ashen, and his voice was heavy.
"Currently, from the exposed bone fragments... there are at least three sets of remains."
"Moreover, remains have also been found in other bridge piers..."
At least three sets of remains, that's why the provincial office was alarmed.
"What's the situation with the excavation on site?"
After hearing the general report, Li Donglin asked the question he was concerned about.
"The excavation work of heavy machinery stopped after the discovery of the remains."
Qin Hui, with his rich experience in solving cases, could become the leader of Qinzhou City's Criminal Investigation Team.
Upon receiving the report, he immediately organized the core strength of Qinzhou City's Criminal Investigation Team to take over the scene.
"Our crime scene investigation and forensic team are conducting a meticulous excavation, but the progress is very slow due to a lack of tools."
"Have we requested aid from the fire department?"
"We've already called them, and they are on their way."
The case happened suddenly, and everyone present was hearing the report for the first time.
Although Qin Hui's report was simple, the general situation was basically covered.
"What's everyone's view?"
Coming from a technical background, Li Donglin was decisive in handling cases and was good at listening to others' opinions.
Zhang Yuanchao was the first to speak: "From the video, the bones should have been inside the pier when it was poured."
"But whether it was bodies poured, which later turned to bones, or bones already there when poured, must be determined on-site."
Everyone agreed with Zhang Yuanchao's opinion.
If bodies were poured and later turned into bones, it might be a case of murder during the pouring of the bridge pier.
But if bones were poured in during the construction, it might be a case of hiding bodies.
Except for Lu Chuan, the other police officers present had more than twenty years of experience.
Moreover, working in the provincial office, they had been involved in various cases.
Finding bones in a bridge pier was not their first experience.
Bridge piers are rarely moved unless a long-standing bridge is either dismantled for safety reasons or, like the Minghe Bridge, expanded and rebuilt.
In any case, these bridges were built at least a decade ago.
And at that time, "live staking" was not uncommon.
Of course, "live staking" didn't necessarily imply a crime.
Most were done through monetary exchanges.
Life is priceless, but people have a price.
Qin Hui originally thought they encountered such a case, but finding at least three sets of remains in a bridge pier was not "live staking."
How could three people be staked into a pier?
Li Donglin looked around: "Does anyone have any other opinions?"
"If not, fine, let's leave immediately."
The special task force led by Li Donglin had already arrived at the demolition site of the old Minghe Bridge piers.
Although the entire crime scene had been cordoned off, the shore was still crowded with onlookers.
People are curious creatures; they shy away from seeing a corpse, but most don't fear looking at bones.
Lu Chuan, wearing three layers of gloves and a mask, boarded a speedboat with Zhang Yuanchao to inspect the first bridge pier.
People around were buzzing with discussion.
"Can something that happened over a decade ago be clarified?"
"Who knows? I was involved in the bridge construction back then and never heard of anything happening."
Live staking implies trouble; otherwise, who would pay to take someone's life?
"You're just a rebar bender; would they tell you if something happened?"
"Didn't you hear of anyone missing back then?"
Most of the onlookers were locals from Qinzhou City, and many of the older ones knew a bit about the bridge's construction.
However, nothing was ever heard about any incident back then.
Most of the bridge piers were submerged in water, with the upper part being dismantled by heavy machinery, exposing a section of about three meters above water.
The crime scene investigators and forensic doctors from Qinzhou City's Criminal Investigation Team were waiting for Zhang Yuanchao and others.
The forensic doctor from Qinzhou City's Criminal Investigation Team, Wu Qiming, was in his fifties and had known Zhang Yuanchao for a long time.
"Qiming, what's the current situation?"
Speaking of the case, Wu Qiming's face was solemn.
"So far, we've found four sets of remains in this pier."
More discoveries were made at the scene while Zhang Yuanchao and others were on their way.
While talking, they got into the basket of a crane.
The remaining part of the pier was over three meters high, and without climbing points around, they had to use the basket to lower themselves down.
Zhang Yuanchao and Lu Chuan harnessed onto safety devices and descended onto the sloping surface of the pier from the basket.
Exposed rebars were twisted and turned, broken concrete scattered, and it was among the gaps that the bones were found.
At just a glance, Zhang Yuanchao frowned.
Bodies poured into concrete, which later turned into bones, differ in color between the bone and the concrete compared to bones directly poured into concrete.
Wu Qiming nodded: "Moreover, we've just unearthed a skull with concrete residue at the top of the cranial cavity."
The top of the cranial cavity?
Zhang Yuanchao looked shocked: "Poured alive?"
"It seems so; otherwise, there wouldn't be concrete at the top of the cranial cavity."
In bodies poured into concrete, the color between the bones and concrete deepens slightly post-boneization, along with remnants of clothing.
But bones poured directly into concrete don't show such differences.
Wu Qiming's findings indicated that the person was struggling to breathe during pouring, causing concrete to be inhaled through the nasal cavity.
Additionally, the exposed parts showed three left hands and one shoulder.
From the positioning alone, unless the bodies were severely dismembered, it was indeed four people.
"Elder Zhang, what's the next step?"
With Zhang Yuanchao present, Wu Qiming naturally handed over the command, seeking his advice.
Zhang Yuanchao pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned to Lu Chuan: "Lu, what's your opinion?"
Lu Chuan hadn't expected Zhang Yuanchao to seek his opinion.
But while Zhang Yuanchao and Wu Qiming were discussing, he was also observing the pier's cross-section and had formed some ideas of his own.