DEATH NOTE:NOTE OF DEATH

The strange thing about the deceased was not just that his body was full of dead grass, but that the subsequent autopsy revealed the dead grass might be the culprit behind the disappearance of his internal organs. I found powder from the deceased's internal organs on the dead grass. The powder was very crisp and dry. If I hadn't looked carefully many times, I wouldn't have been able to see it.

But this is hard to explain. It's difficult to justify scientifically. Even for someone like me, who dissects corpses, it's challenging to comprehend.

It was all so bizarre—the internal organs were crushed into powder, leaving nothing behind.

I frowned and thought: When my father was still alive, he was a doctor who helped many patients. He could even solve difficult and complicated diseases that others could not.

Seeing how great my father was, I fantasized about becoming someone like him when I was a child.

But every time I said this, my father would tell me that if I truly wanted to be like him, then I should be someone who can help both the dead and the living. That is what true greatness means.

So, I chose to become a forensic doctor, walking between the dead and the living.

He often said things that sounded like famous sayings to me, one of which still resonates in my memory:

"The more you want to see the truth, the more the truth will play hide-and-seek with you. The reason for knowing the truth is not what you see, but that what you see is the truth."

As I looked at the body, which was indeed just a shell, I couldn't help but recall what my father once said: the truth is often hidden on the surface. Sometimes we may see something deeper, but it is very likely to be false...

When Alex Johnson saw me again, I was sitting exhausted in the dissection room.

"What's wrong? What happened? I heard Director Chen coaxing that little girl in the laboratory from a distance."

At this point, Alex had not yet noticed the corpse on the dissection table or the dead grass inside the body.

When he did see it, his reaction was even stronger than the girl's. He covered his mouth and ran to the door, pointing at me and the body: "What is this?"

"What if I say that these dead grasses grew out of this person... oh no, this corpse?"

"How is that possible?" Alex decisively denied my statement.

I calmly took a cigarette out of my pocket, thought for a moment, and put the cigarette in my mouth without lighting it: "That's the truth. Now it seems that his dry arms must have shriveled because they lost nutrients."

Alex asked me what I meant. I took a deep breath and continued, "The metabolism of the human body depends on the internal organs. But it seems he couldn't supply nutrients, so the dead grass or plants in his body consumed what was there, and his internal organs were broken into pieces because the nutrients and water were drained."

As I said that, I found the small bottle containing the offal powder and shook it in front of Alex.

"I will apply to my supervisor to keep the body for observation. I estimate that the body will continue to dry up."

"According to the normal death process, shouldn't the body decay? There are obvious signs of decay on the face of the deceased. Why did this person turn into a mummy, with even his internal organs disappearing and dead grass appearing in his body?" Alex asked me.

I changed the subject because I didn't know how to explain it.

"Have you found out the identity of the deceased?"

Alex slapped his forehead. I had successfully diverted his attention. He said, "I was just about to tell you this. There is no record of this deceased person in society. His face was so decomposed that it is impossible to identify him. It is very difficult to investigate. There are no recent missing persons who match his image."

I recorded the information I got and gave it to Alex.

Seeing my record, Alex probably wanted to curse me, "You bastard! Do you think the director will believe it?"

"It's not my concern whether you believe it or not. This is the fact. There are no fingerprints, no blood, no internal organs, only a pile of dry grass. What do you think I should write?"

Seeing Alex also fell silent, I continued, "The murderer is very perverse, but you can see that each blade of grass grows on the surface of the skin. I guess this is some kind of plant that absorbs nutrients from the human body. It may be a flower, but because there is no nutrition, it falls off and only dead grass is left."

Alex's eyes suddenly widened. "You mean someone is using corpses as food?"

I frowned and shook my head. "It can't be a corpse. If the body's metabolism stops, there will be no nutrients. Therefore, plants will grow when the person is still alive, which makes them more valuable."

But how can a seed be placed in a dead person's body while the person is still alive?

After hearing my guess, Alex called and asked all the people in charge of the case to gather at the bureau.

When everyone was sitting in the office analyzing the case, the director also came, but he was accompanied by a young woman.

"Ryan, this is the newly transferred forensic doctor, Lucy Smith. She will work with you from now on."

The other officers seemed to have a favorable impression of this tall beauty. She had fair skin, long legs, and an exotic face, and looked like a mixed-race girl. Without makeup, she appeared pure and clean.

I had no objection to the director's order, so I nodded and didn't express any opinion.

Seeing that the case began to stagnate and there was no progress, the director frowned.

After listening to Alex's summary of the current ideas, the director began to recruit support personnel from other groups to conduct a large-scale search for missing persons with similar characteristics to the deceased.

Lucy greeted me politely and cheerfully. After introducing ourselves to each other, she started to work on the case.

At the meeting, she expressed her thoughts after seeing the photos.

"In ancient times, people would kill others and bury them in their own courtyards. To avoid being discovered, the murderer would think that the most dangerous place is the safest. Therefore, most people buried bodies under trees or in gardens, because no one would disturb the soil there. Not only that, the trees, flowers, and plants would grow more luxuriantly."

I was the first to refute Lucy's citation of classics. I sneered and said, "Why did the murderer dump the body on the side of the road near the national highway? Wouldn't it be better to bury it in his own yard like you said?"

"Chief Carter has a bad temper. It's just a story, similar to the case. Do you have an issue with me or the director?" Lucy's words left me speechless. The director's mouth twitched, and he smiled smugly as if someone finally could talk back to me. This seemingly innocent girl is not easy to deal with.

I no longer paid attention to this "returned overseas" forensic doctor Lucy.

"From observing the body, I think we can start with vulnerable groups such as beggars and homeless people. There are many scars on his feet that haven't healed. There are traces of frostbite on his ankles, the entire soles of his feet, and the palms. Although it is summer, winter frostbite can also be seen. He did not live in a very warm environment before his death or for a long time before his death, which led to frostbite. Of course, the possibility of abuse by his family cannot be ruled out."

Everyone watched me take out the partial photos of the deceased as the focus of analysis. No one interrupted, so I continued, "Since the deceased has no internal organs, but the brain and other structures in the head are intact, the average weight of a normal brain is 1400 grams, while the deceased's brain weighs about 1300 grams. This shows that the deceased's IQ is not sound, and the intelligence is probably around that of a seven-year-old, which would match this weight."

The director asked Alex, and apart from the autopsy of the body, the only answer he could get was that nothing was found.

"Don't make this public. I'll ask the experts from the Botanical Research Institute to come and help Ryan investigate the species of the dead grass in the body."

"Let's adjourn the meeting."

With that, a group of people left the meeting room with heavy faces.

Newcomer Lucy joined the case on the same day. As the one with the most quirks, I naturally became the target of Alex's teasing. He knew very well that I hated having women as partners the most. Now, he had one more topic to tease me about after work.

Although Lucy looks like a vase, she does things in a capable and cheerful manner, without losing her professional temperament.

"Chief Carter, this is the atlas of all the plant species you asked me to collect within two hours. The data was sent to me by the laboratory ten minutes ago. If you have anything else, you can let me handle it."

Lucy's decisiveness and lack of procrastination won her some favor in my heart.

With a cold face, I flipped through the atlas and said, "Go with Alex to re-investigate the scene and bring back soil samples from the place where the bodies were dumped to the laboratory for testing. Pay attention to collecting samples from different periods of time."

Lucy nodded, and just as she was about to walk out, she stopped, with a little smugness on her face.

"Chief Carter, I have classified the plant species in the atlas for your convenience. I think this kind of plant will never appear in ordinary people's homes. Although there are no clues after it dried up, we can check the nearby flower shops. There are many kinds of plants there, so I think the nearby flower shops can be checked first. Collecting samples and comparing them one by one may save time rather than blindly searching like this."

I nodded, looking a little unhappy, but still said, "Call Alex and tell him to go with you. When checking, pay special attention to whether the plants have any strange characteristics such as unusual fragrances."

When Lucy left and I looked at the dead body, I couldn't help but feel a headache because I had no clue. Suddenly, I saw a part of the body's mouth that seemed to be overlooked by me. I opened his mouth and made a more important discovery because there was a flower leaf in his mouth that had not completely withered...