Chapter 31.2: New Case: Unknown Victim
“Hmm…”
After hearing this, Forensic Examiner Sun thought through everything from the beginning again, then considered his apprentice’s reaction and realized that her reasoning really did make sense.
Who would’ve thought? Aside from drawing portraits and working with trace evidence, Jiang Xia was actually this good at solving cases too?
There was just something strangely unsettling about the way she talked about it.
Maybe it was because he hadn’t solved a case himself in so many years that he couldn’t keep up with her train of thought anymore.
Shaking his head, Forensic Examiner Sun looked at her youthful face, then at his own wrinkled hands, and couldn’t help feeling rather emotional.
Comparing yourself to others really could drive you crazy.
While judging the amount of force needed to bend the corpse’s joints, Forensic Examiner Sun asked again, “Then what makes you think it was someone the victim knew?”
“Generally speaking, when people talk to strangers, they maintain a certain degree of caution. They wouldn’t normally stand this close, face-to-face. Of course, that’s not absolute. There are exceptions.”
Jiang Xia pointed at the watch on the victim’s wrist.
“But when a stranger premeditates a murder, it’s usually for robbery. Yet the victim was wearing something as valuable as this watch, and the killer didn’t take it. That doesn’t fit the pattern of murder for profit. It looks much more like revenge. Considering how they were positioned, it was probably a grudge that the victim didn’t think was a big deal, but that the suspect hated him for to the point of obsession. That kind of situation generally only happens between people who know each other.”
“Tsk—”
Forensic Examiner Sun drew a quiet breath.
That line of reasoning was really fast.
A young mind really was something else.
“So if that’s the case, once we identify this man, we should basically be able to narrow down the suspect, right?”
After assessing the difficulty, Forensic Examiner Sun was considerably more optimistic. Seeing that most of the crowd had dispersed, he said to Yang Lihua, “Xiao Yang, go get the thermometer for taking rectal temperature.”
Well, Jiang Xia didn’t need Forensic Examiner Sun to say anything else. She immediately got up and left.
She had no desire to subject her eyes and nose to any more torture.
By this time, Photographer Zhao had finished readjusting his camera. He walked over to the corpse, preparing to take close-up photographs of the wound.
Now that the crowd was gone, Trace Examiner Li also perked up. He began searching the chaotic ground bit by bit, trying to find some useful traces.
Meanwhile, Captain Tan had finally managed to get rid of the reporters. Frowning, he walked over and asked, “Old Sun, have you confirmed the victim’s condition?”
“Male. He has no identification documents on him, so we can’t determine his identity for now. Judging by his appearance, he’s probably a little over twenty-five years old and about one meter seventy-eight tall. He suffered multiple blows to the head from a metal blunt weapon, resulting in a depressed fracture of the parietal bone that penetrated the cranial cavity. He died from a brainstem hemorrhage.”
As he spoke, Forensic Examiner Sun glanced at the thermometer again. “The time of death should be between twenty-four and forty hours ago, so roughly one to two days.”
“Really?”
Tan Bingyi glanced over the corpse and its surroundings, immediately confirming that this was not the primary crime scene. He asked somewhat skeptically, “Don’t get the time of death wrong again.”
Damn you. Believe it or don’t!
Forensic Examiner Sun really wanted to curse at him, but remembering his previous misjudgments, he swallowed his irritation and said, “I’ve checked rigor mortis, livor mortis, and body temperature. All three point to the same conclusion. I can’t be wrong!”
“All right, then.”
Tan Bingyi reluctantly relaxed.
“Anything else?”
“There is.”
That was about all the basic examination that could be done here. Once he was finished, Forensic Examiner Sun instructed Yang Lihua to help him pull the victim’s pants back up. When they were done, Sun stood up and took two steps back before saying, “Jiang Xia thinks it looks like a premeditated murder committed by someone the victim knew.”
“Premeditated murder by someone the victim knew?”
Tan Bingyi frowned slightly and turned to Jiang Xia. “Tell me your reasoning.”
Jiang Xia had no choice but to come over and explain her reasoning again.
After listening, Tan Bingyi pondered for a moment before saying, “The reasoning is sound. The three most common motives for murder are indeed financial gain, romantic entanglements, and revenge. The fact that the body was moved means the killer had sufficient time. If robbery was the motive, there’d be no reason to leave the victim’s watch behind, so we can rule out murder for money.”
“The case for revenge is quite strong, but we can’t rule out a crime of passion either. After all, it’s fairly common for men to commit murder because of romantic disputes.”
Jiang Xia had thought of that too, but she had simply categorized it under revenge—resentment born from romantic conflict, after all.
Now that Captain Tan had pointed it out, she didn’t argue and simply said, “You’re right, Captain Tan. I didn’t consider everything.”
“It’s fine.”
She was young, after all, and hadn’t had much experience with romantic relationships. It was understandable that she hadn’t thought of it. Besides, the category of “someone the victim knew who held a grudge against him” also encompassed crimes of passion, so it wouldn’t be overlooked during the investigation.
Still, Tan Bingyi couldn’t help regretting that he hadn’t listened to Chen Dong’s suggestion back then and had turned away such a promising young talent. Now, even if he wanted to transfer her over, he couldn’t.
He sighed inwardly and asked again, “Any other leads?”
“Old Li says this isn’t the primary crime scene. He suspects the killer was preparing to dump the body here last night, but may have been startled by some kind of disturbance and fled, leaving the body behind.”
Forensic Examiner Sun glanced at Trace Examiner Li in the distance. “He suspects the killer may still be somewhere nearby.”
That was quite possible, too.
Jiang Xia stroked her chin.
After all, anyone who regularly commits murder knows that killing someone is easy; getting rid of the body is the hard part.
A body that large isn’t something you can just hide anywhere. Not only is it difficult to find a place to conceal it, but it will also start to stink after a while, so it has to be dealt with quickly.
And in terms of typical behavior, most people would either dump the body somewhere far away or bury it nearby, and each method has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Take dumping it far away, for example. If the body is taken somewhere remote and isn’t discovered, then naturally the killer is less likely to be traced.
But dumping a body isn’t easy either. A corpse is simply too conspicuous. If someone is spotted carrying one around, it’s all over. The killer would inevitably be extremely tense, and the slightest disturbance might scare them into abandoning the body and fleeing.
But this case…
“I don’t think it quite adds up.”
Jiang Xia frowned slightly as she thought it over. “Judging from the method of killing, the murderer clearly thought things through carefully before committing the crime. So they must have considered how to dispose of the body afterward.”
“If the murderer ultimately chose to dump the body somewhere far away, they must have considered the possibility of encountering someone. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have gone out to dump it at night. Since they’d already gone this far, why didn’t they prepare a cart or use a tricycle to conceal the body? If they couldn’t do that, they could at least have disfigured the victim’s face. Otherwise, as long as an outsider found the body before the face had completely decomposed, it would still be easy to identify him and trace the killer.”
“And yet this corpse’s face is almost completely intact, and it was left right here… This is a residential area in the middle of the city. People were bound to discover it first thing in the morning. Isn’t that practically asking to be caught?”
As she spoke, Jiang Xia suddenly realized that she was arguing against herself.
Wait. According to her own analysis, the murderer should have been extremely calm and meticulous. So why would they leave the body here? Something didn’t add up.
“Huh?”
Tan Bingyi fell into thought.
Just moments ago, he’d thought this case was fairly straightforward. But after hearing Jiang Xia’s analysis, he suddenly realized that something really was off.
After thinking for two seconds, Tan Bingyi immediately understood.
No, wait. Jiang Xia had gotten him thinking along the wrong lines. When had an ordinary murderer ever been this meticulous and decisive?
This wasn’t some specially trained agent from decades ago!
“Hold on, hold on, Jiang Xia. You’re giving the killer too much credit.”
Tan Bingyi quickly thought back to the foolish criminals he’d dealt with over the past few years and adjusted his thinking.
“Premeditation and execution are two different things. If this is the killer’s first time committing a crime, how could they possibly be so psychologically prepared? Making all kinds of mistakes is actually what’s normal.”
As he spoke, Tan Bingyi glanced at Jiang Xia, but in the end, he swallowed the words that had risen to his lips.
‘You sure know an awful lot about killing people and disposing of bodies, huh?’
Still, Captain Tan had to admit that his explanation was quite plausible.
“That’s true.”
Jiang Xia temporarily stopped dwelling on her own theory and focused on the key point. “The most important thing right now is to identify the victim first, then see whether we can find any traces of whatever was used to transport the body.”
If there had been a vehicle or other means of transportation, the suspect might not be from the immediate vicinity.
“Exactly. We’ve already had Old Chen and the others look into the victim’s identity. They’re asking around nearby.”
Tan Bingyi glanced back at the victim’s clothing, unable to suppress a trace of worry.
This location, combined with how well-dressed the victim was… Please, don’t let him be some government official. Otherwise, the pressure to solve the case would be even greater.
In the midst of the silence, Trace Examiner Li, who was searching for traces, suddenly straightened up.
“Zhao Zhengwu, are you done taking those photos? Hurry over when you are. I found traces of whatever was used to transport the body!”
Jiang Xia immediately turned her head.
‘There were traces of a transport tool?’
Trace Examiner Li really was pretty capable. With the ground in such a mess, he’d actually managed to find something useful.
Of course, that also meant the area they needed to investigate had just become much larger.
Photographer Zhao was still taking pictures of the wound. Hearing someone call for him, he replied without even looking up, “Give me a second. I’ll be right there.”
Jiang Xia, meanwhile, headed toward Trace Examiner Li.
She had only made it halfway there when Huang Xueling came running over, panting heavily. Seeing that everyone was already there, her face filled with frustration.
‘I’m late!’
It couldn’t really be blamed on her, though. Her home was nearby, but as a trace-evidence apprentice, she wasn’t considered particularly useful, so the city bureau had notified her last, making her the last one to arrive as well.
She ran over to Trace Examiner Li and came to an abrupt stop. After bending over to take a couple of heavy breaths, she straightened up and said loudly, “Captain Tan, the local officers over there asked me to tell you that the onlookers said none of them recognized the victim.”
That result wasn’t surprising at all.
Jiang Xia volunteered, “Looks like we’re going to have to conduct a large-scale search. I’d better draw a portrait first. It might come in handy.”
Tan Bingyi nodded. “Go ahead.”
Jiang Xia borrowed a small folding stool.
She had already examined the victim’s face, so there was no need to draw a conventional sketch. She could directly engrave a wax plate instead.
There was no table here, but fortunately, when Jiang Xia had customized her equipment case, she’d taken the need to engrave plates in harsh environments into consideration. She had changed the handle on top to a folding design that could be laid flat. With an iron plate placed over it and the mimeograph at the bottom, it made a perfectly sized miniature table.
She began engraving rapidly.
A short distance away, Huang Xueling carefully examined the tire tracks on the ground several times before saying uncertainly, “A tread with a wavy pattern. The width is the standard twenty-eight-inch tire. It looks like one made by the Tongtai Rubber Factory. Is this a Forever-brand bicycle?”
Trace Examiner Li’s specialty was examining footprints, so identifying tire brands was outside his area of expertise. He looked at his apprentice in surprise and said, “That’s possible. Make a note of it, then compare it with Forever bicycle tires when we get back.”
Huang Xueling nodded excitedly. “Okay.”
Who would’ve thought that all the things she’d learned would actually come in handy!
Trace Examiner Li resumed following the tire tracks in search of footprints. Huang Xueling followed him, trying to learn from him, but she was quickly defeated by the sheer number of footprints covering the ground. She didn’t dare disturb her master, but she didn’t want to stand around doing nothing either, so she simply ran over to Jiang Xia and helped her instead.
Not long afterward, someone brought over a flatbed handcart. Yang Lihua and a local officer worked together to lift the body onto it, covered it with a piece of cloth, and transported it to the funeral home.
More than half an hour later, Jiang Xia placed a stack of completely dried portraits into Captain Tan’s hands.
“I’ll send someone to confirm the victim’s identity first.”
Tan Bingyi flipped through them, then said to Jiang Xia, “We’ve pretty much finished examining the scene. Once you’re done here, head back early. Oh, right—if you find any new leads, come back and report them immediately.”
Jiang Xia nodded. “Got it, Captain Tan.”
Now that she’d finished her own work, Jiang Xia finally had time to go over and see what Trace Examiner Li was doing.
However, after carefully examining the traces Trace Examiner Li had found, Jiang Xia realized that there probably wasn’t much she could contribute in this area.
Far too many onlookers had come by, leaving footprints everywhere. Even the tire tracks had been trampled over in several places. If the tire tracks hadn’t been noticeably deeper in some sections than others, it would have been difficult to determine that they had actually been made by whatever was used to transport the body.
Based on the tire tracks and the body’s location, pretty much all the suspicious footprints that could be found had already been identified.
Jiang Xia walked around the area once more, but in the end, she stopped beside the tire tracks again, stroking her chin as an idea suddenly occurred to her.
The photographs taken for documentation were still too small. For physical evidence like this, it would be better to preserve a more obvious physical impression.
Once she’d decided, Jiang Xia immediately got to work. After thinking for a moment, she ran out and borrowed some plaster and water. She mixed them in the proper proportions and poured plaster casts of several intact sections of the tire tracks.
After photographing the final half-print suspected to belong to the killer, Photographer Zhao called out to Jiang Xia, who was carefully removing the plaster cast.
“Jiang Xia, stop messing around with that plaster. We’re heading back!”
“Okay, I’m coming!”
Carrying the plaster casts, Jiang Xia returned to the bureau with the others.
The atmosphere at the bureau was extremely tense.
Even with the office door closed, Section Chief Duan’s furious voice could still be heard from inside.
“This was a body dump in the middle of the city! Tan Bingyi, do you think the city leaders won’t hear about something this big? My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since this morning!”
“And the reporters! Do you think that in another seven or eight hours, every resident in the city won’t know that someone was found dead in an alley less than a kilometer from the municipal government?”
“Everyone’s eyes are on us right now. You have to solve this case, and you have to solve it quickly!”
“I’ll give you half a month. If you can’t solve it by then, the two of us might as well take off these uniforms and go back to our hometowns to farm!”
Outside the office, Jiang Xia couldn’t help sighing.
Sure enough, being this close to the municipal government had attracted the attention of the higher-ups. Now the pressure to solve the case was even greater.
At this point, Jiang Xia could only hope that they would identify the victim as soon as possible. Without knowing who the victim was, there was practically no way to solve the case.
But the more desperately she hoped for an identification, the longer it seemed to take. Jiang Xia waited from morning until afternoon without receiving the slightest bit of confirmed information.
It wasn’t until around ten the next morning that she suddenly heard an exclamation from the First Squad’s office.
“We found him! The victim’s identity has been confirmed! He’s a technician at the Machinery Factory. His name is Zhou Jingyun, and he’s a section-level cadre!”
The Machinery Factory?
Wasn’t that on the western side of the city?
No wonder it had taken so long to confirm his identity with a place that far away.
Hearing the commotion, Jiang Xia poked her head out, a question forming in her mind.
Come to think of it, the Machinery Factory wasn’t exactly close to the city center. What had the victim been doing all the way over here?
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