Added two clasped hands emoji at the end.

Meanwhile, at the Jiangcheng Criminal Investigation Team, Li Jian was reporting to Mr. Ma in his office.

Her phone chimed with a "ding," and she casually picked it up to take a look, then instantly burst into laughter.

"Mr. Ma, look at how impressive our Jiangcheng police are, what a strong influence we have!"

Li Jian handed the phone to Mr. Ma, "Even Jiang An in Chuan City has started 'digging away'; it's obvious they have taken our Jiangcheng case-solving methods over there."

Mr. Ma was somewhat surprised as he took the phone and looked at the photo carefully, then couldn't help but laugh loudly.

"Really! They've formed a circle with Jiang An at the center!"

As he spoke, Mr. Ma's expression suddenly turned serious.

He spoke with a heavy tone: "This case is not easy to crack!"

"It's been a long time, and I'm afraid the clues have been destroyed long ago."

He paused for a moment, then asked: "Are they looking for a skull?"

"Hmm, probably."

Li Jian nodded.

At this moment, Jiang An, Wang Yang, Chen Biao, Wan, Zhang Yean, and others were in the first team manually digging.

After 2 minutes, Jiang An raised his hand to touch something deep in the soil, his eyes glimmered.

"Found it!"

"It's round, and the texture is different from other stones; it's a human skull."

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked, and their breathing became rapid.

Wang Yang and Chen Biao were stunned, with expressions of disbelief, as if they couldn't trust their own ears.

The surrounding officers were so excited they nearly screamed out loud.

This case had puzzled them for a whole week; they had searched the nearby woods tirelessly, turning them upside down just to find the skull. Who would have thought they would find it right here in the soil without much trouble at all?

Wang Yang's voice trembled with excitement: "Are you sure, Mr. Jiang?"

Jiang An nodded, assuredly: "Almost certainly."

"Its curve is different from other stones, more regular, like a sphere."

"Try touching it yourself if you don't believe me."

Wang Yang immediately reached out, carefully feeling the circular structure deep in the soil, his fingertips encountering a hard and smooth sensation.

"Hmm, it really is a circular shape!"

He shouted in delight, "Quickly, let's add more force, everyone!"

Several people sped up, slowly clearing soil with their fingers, fearing they might accidentally damage the bones.

After 5 minutes, a complete skull was fully exposed in front of everyone.

It seemed the skull had been gnawed by something, making its surface eerily smooth.

The face was unrecognizable, with only eye sockets, upper jaw, lower jaw, and nasal bone remaining; the black eye sockets seemed to silently convey something.

Seeing the skull before them, Wang Yang was thrilled, hurriedly saying, "Mr. Chen, take pictures! Capture from several angles; this skull is hard-won!"

Jiang An then picked up the skull, examining it carefully, touching the cervical vertebrae below it, "Look, the first and second cervical vertebrae are still attached, matching perfectly with the cervical vertebrae on the torso previously found; this is definitely the victim's skull."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yang was even more excited, and other officers took off their gloves, unable to help but applaud.

Suddenly, a burst of applause echoed through the silent woods, startling the birds on the trees who flew away flapping.

Wang Yang looked at Jiang An, full of admiration and envy: "Mr. Jiang, you're truly incredible!"

"This case has baffled us for a week, yet you've found such a significant breakthrough within half a day."

"You know, discovering the skull is crucial to solving the case!"

Then, Jiang An closed his eyes slightly, recalling the state when he uncovered the skull earlier.

"I hit the back of the victim's skull with a shovel just now."

"There's a gap here, but it differs from other places at the occipital bone suture next to the lambdoid suture."

"This wasn't caused by my digging."

Jiang An muttered to himself, a question arising in his mind.

If it wasn't caused by digging, then it likely formed during life.

Could the victim have suffered head trauma before death, causing a fracture of the occipital bone?

Then what circumstances could lead to such an occipital bone fracture?

Was it a fall or a blow?

Seeing a change in Jiang An's expression, Wang Yang quickly asked: "Mr. Jiang, what is it?" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Jiang An nodded slightly, pointing to the subtle fracture line: "Look here, there's a fracture in the victim's occipital bone, and the fracture gap is very small."

"Fracture?"

Wang Yang and Chen Biao were once again intrigued, moving closer to observe carefully.

They knew that in criminal cases, a skull fracture often implies the victim may have suffered a violent assault during life, which could be critical to the case.

"Earlier we suspected it was suicide, why did a fracture suddenly appear?"

Chen Biao asked puzzled, "Could it be murder instead of suicide?"

Jiang An did not answer immediately, only saying, "It's possible, but we must first determine whether this fracture occurred before or after death."

"This requires looking for signs of life response at the fracture."

"Life response?"

"What is life response?"

For this professional term, many officers showed confused expressions, eager to understand.

Jiang An explained: "In forensic medicine, life response is a very crucial feature of injury."

"Simply put, if the injury was inflicted during life, the body will exhibit a series of responses, such as bleeding, inflammation, etc."