“My name is James Thompson, not ‘hey’!” James Thompson replied without even turning his head. After speaking, he grabbed a handful of mud from the riverbank and rubbed it on his hands. The soil and water here weren’t very good—the riverbank was all saline-alkali land—but because of its natural alkalinity, it could actually help clean his hands a bit. After all, there was no soap these days, so James Thompson had to make do.

“Alright, James Thompson, can you tell me why you were looking at the tree branch just now? What exactly was on it?” Benjamin Cooper seemed to have gotten used to James Thompson’s way of speaking. He lifted his clothes and squatted down next to him, asking again. Earlier, after James Thompson finished examining the body, he had Edward Harris hold him up to look at the tree, but James Thompson hadn’t explained why, which made Benjamin Cooper very curious.

While carefully washing his hands, James Thompson answered, “It’s actually nothing special. If someone hangs themselves, they’ll definitely struggle before dying, and the rope looped over the branch will leave friction marks on the branch from the struggle. But if the person is already dead when they’re hung on the tree, there will only be a single rope mark!”

As soon as James Thompson finished speaking, Benjamin Cooper jumped up and ran out. A moment later, he came running back, face full of excitement, and said, “It’s just like you said! There are no friction marks on the branch, only a single rope mark. That means he was already dead when he was hung up.”

Seeing how excited Benjamin Cooper was, James Thompson just smiled faintly. No matter how high and mighty Benjamin Cooper might become in the future, right now he was just a boy about the same age as himself. He only seemed steady on the surface because he’d read a lot of books, but deep down, he was still a lively youth.

“James Thompson, who did you learn all this from? It’s pretty interesting—none of this is in the books.” After his excitement faded, Benjamin Cooper sat down in front of James Thompson again. Right now, his older brother and Edward Harris were busy with the case, and the two of them, being about the same age and left to themselves, naturally made Benjamin Cooper feel a sense of closeness to James Thompson.

“These things aren’t in books because most scholars look down on recording this kind of knowledge. But someone will write it down one day. As for where I learned it?” James Thompson suddenly felt playful. He turned to Benjamin Cooper and grinned, “That’s because I was injured and fell into a coma before. My soul wandered around the King of Hell’s palace a few times, and when I woke up, I suddenly knew a lot about dealing with the dead!”

“Nonsense! There’s no such thing as the King of Hell in this world—only foolish people believe that stuff!” James Thompson hadn’t expected Benjamin Cooper to be so bold. Not only was he not scared at all, he even called out James Thompson for lying.

“Believe it or not, it’s up to you!” James Thompson just glanced at him indifferently. As an excellent salesman, he had a thick skin—he could be exposed as a liar to his face and still not bat an eye.

Although Benjamin Cooper didn’t believe the story about the King of Hell, he was very interested in James Thompson’s methods of examining corpses. He couldn’t help but ask again, “James Thompson, can you tell me more about autopsies?”

“What do you want to hear?” James Thompson looked at Benjamin Cooper helplessly. He figured this kid was usually cooped up at home reading, and it was rare for him to come out and meet someone his own age who knew about autopsies, so his interest was piqued. But to James Thompson, this interest was probably just a passing curiosity—he’d likely forget it in a few days.

Seeing how easygoing James Thompson was, Benjamin Cooper looked delighted and was just about to ask something when, by chance, his gaze swept over the river. Suddenly, he jumped up, his face showing fear.

Chapter 11: Benjamin Cooper’s Study Companion?

“Well, that hand-washing was for nothing!” James Thompson followed Benjamin Cooper’s fearful gaze and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. He saw a floating corpse drifting down from upstream. Although the body hadn’t started to rot yet, the thought that he’d just washed his hands in the river still made James Thompson feel a bit disgusted.

“Didn’t you want to hear about autopsies? Now I can tell you for sure—this corpse is definitely a man!” James Thompson stood up, patted Benjamin Cooper on the shoulder, wiped the river water off his hands, and then shouted into the woods behind them. After calling for the constables, he immediately had them notify Sheriff Cooper and Edward Harris.

“A man? How do you know it’s a man?” Benjamin Cooper snapped out of his fright and asked James Thompson in confusion. The floating corpse was face down, only its back showing, and the clothes didn’t reveal anything—there was no way to tell if it was male or female.

James Thompson just smiled mysteriously and didn’t answer. At that moment, Sheriff Cooper and Edward Harris hurried over, and a constable jumped into the river to drag the body ashore. When they turned the corpse over, Benjamin Cooper saw that it really was a man, and he looked quite young. The body showed no signs of decay, so he must have died recently.

“It really is a man. How did you know?” Benjamin Cooper couldn’t help but ask James Thompson in a low voice. By now, his curiosity about James Thompson’s skills had turned into genuine admiration.

“For most floating corpses, it’s common knowledge: men float face down, women face up!” James Thompson smiled at Benjamin Cooper and then stepped forward to examine the body. Sheriff Cooper and Edward Harris stepped aside on their own—by now, they had no more doubts about James Thompson’s abilities.