Determining the cause of death with 解剖

Kanji Explanation: Separating and understanding with 解

Inspector Megure suggests the murder suspect committed suicide by drowning himself. The medical examiner disagrees.

監察医(かんさつい):: 「ですが死因(しいん)は溺死(できし)ではありません…」; “However, drowning wasn't the cause of death...”
目暮(めぐれ):: 「え？」; “What?”
監察医(かんさつい):: 「解剖(かいぼう)してみないと断定(だんてい)できませんが…　おそらく毒物(どくぶつ)を飲(の)んだあと池(いけ)に入(はい)ったものと…」; “I can't say for certain without an autopsy... but it's likely he took poison and then entered the pond...”; Literal: “I can't determine it unless we try an autopsy... but perhaps he entered the pond after drinking poison...”

Key Points

1解剖(かいぼう) here means an autopsy

In this scene, 解剖(かいぼう) is a medical examination of the body after death.
The examiner needs it to determine the true cause of death, not just the apparent one.

2してみないと = unless we actually try doing it

解剖(かいぼう)してみないと adds the sense of “unless we go ahead and perform one”.
The 〜てみる part is not “try for fun” here; it means carrying out the procedure to check.

死因 (Cause of death)

死因(しいん) is the illness, injury, or event that caused someone to die. It is common in medical reports, police investigations, and legal records.

溺死 (Drowning death)

溺死(できし) is death caused by drowning.

解剖 (Dissection)

解剖(かいぼう) means dissecting a body to study its internal structure. Figuratively, it means analyzing something in detail.

見る (To see)

見(み)る means to see or look at something. It can also mean to examine its condition or nature.

断定 (Definite conclusion)

断定(だんてい) means stating or judging something as definite.

毒物 (Poisonous substance)

毒物(どくぶつ) means a poisonous substance that can damage health or cause death.