Chapter 5: Suspect Identified
The sun had climbed to its highest point.
Lu Fusheng stood beneath the blazing sun, the heat spreading from his head through his entire body, making him increasingly irritable.
How could she actually have found something?
She was just a brat who had only recently graduated. How much could she possibly know? She should have been like Hu Wei—following experienced veterans like him, respectfully learning the ropes first!
“I mean…”
His wounded pride as a senior officer outweighed any desire to solve the case. Forget going back early for tea—Lu Fusheng strode over to Chief Wu and spoke again in a sarcastic tone.
“There are footprints all over this courtyard. What makes you so sure this one belongs to the thief? Chief Wu, aren’t you worried she might have gotten it wrong?”
This was exactly the moment Jiang Xia had been waiting for.
She had searched the scene from beginning to end precisely to make sure her conclusion was flawless.
Seeing Old Lu challenge her, Jiang Xia couldn’t help but smile.
She rose effortlessly to her feet, brushed the bits of straw off her hands, and spoke with complete confidence.
“This is definitely the thief’s footprint.”
“Chief Wu, there may be many footprints in the courtyard, but only this one appears in all three places: the courtyard, in front of the main house, and inside the house itself.”
Jiang Xia pointed to the trail of footprints she had marked.
“Aunt Dong said that after the crime was discovered, she was the only person who entered the main house. The neighbors and everyone else only came into the courtyard. That means the owner of this footprint entered the house before the crime was discovered.”
“Also, the footprints left inside the house are exceptionally clear and haven’t been trampled over, which means they were made very close to the time of the burglary. Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be intact.”
“Furthermore, after the incident, everyone who came and went used the front gate, and their footprints all lead back toward the gate.”
Jiang Xia walked over to the wall, her voice firm.
“Only this set of footprints ends here by the wall, with the toes pointing toward it. That means the person was standing facing the wall—a clear posture for someone preparing to climb over it.”
“Other than the thief, who else would have happened to enter the main house and bedroom before the burglary, then leave by climbing over the wall?”
“Th-That’s…!”
Jiang Xia’s reasoning was logical, well-organized, and perfectly sound. Even Lu Fusheng couldn’t help but feel a flicker of agreement.
But the more convincing it was, the worse he felt. His face flushed with embarrassment.
Unwilling to admit defeat, he forced out another argument.
“Who says standing by a wall means someone’s about to climb over it? Maybe they were just… standing there looking at the wall!”
What kind of professional contrarian is this?
There was an old saying: you couldn’t reason with either an idiot or a contrarian. Old Lu was obviously both.
Jiang Xia glanced at him, completely uninterested in continuing the conversation, and turned her attention directly to Chief Wu.
“What do you think, Chief?”
After listening to Jiang Xia’s analysis, Chief Wu walked over to the wall himself.
Bending down, he examined the chaotic ground.
More than a hundred overlapping footprints covered the area, so jumbled together that they made his head spin just looking at them.
Only by following the trail Jiang Xia had already marked could he barely make out a W-shaped tread pattern in that section.
“Good grief. With footprints this messy, you still managed to pick this one out? Xiao Jiang, your eyesight is incredible!”
Clicking his tongue in amazement, Chief Wu straightened up and continued,
“I think your conclusion is absolutely correct. This has to be the thief’s footprint. It’s just… how did you figure out the person’s height, weight, and age?”
Neither of them paid Lu Fusheng any attention, silently treating him as if he weren’t there.
Realizing this, Lu Fusheng’s face reddened. Just as he was about to speak again, Chief Wu shot him a glare sharp enough to cut.
“Lu Fusheng! We’re trying to solve a case here. Stop making trouble!”
“I…”
Seeing Chief Wu’s face darken, Lu Fusheng swallowed the rest of his words.
Forget it. This rookie’s already got the chief backing her. I can’t win against that.
Trying to console himself, Lu Fusheng retreated dejectedly a few steps and stood in the shade.
Without a contrarian hovering nearby, Jiang Xia felt as though the very air had become fresher.
In a good mood, she answered Chief Wu,
“It’s a bit complicated.”
Explaining footprint analysis wasn’t easy. Jiang Xia paused briefly, organizing her thoughts before giving a simplified explanation.
“For example, height. A person’s height and foot length have a fairly consistent ratio—roughly 6.8 to 1. Judging from the footprint, the thief’s foot is about 25.5 to 26 centimeters long, which puts their height at approximately 173 to 177 centimeters. The stride length and stride width calculations point to the same result, so I’m confident that’s the correct range.”
“As for weight, that’s determined by the depth of the footprint. Age is a little different. The edges of this person’s footprints are sharp and well-defined, the pressure is distributed evenly, the stride is steady, and their coordination is excellent—all characteristics of a young adult’s gait. So I’d estimate they’re between twenty-four and twenty-eight years old. If they were older, there would typically be more wear on the soles of the feet, and the pressure in the footprint would shift more toward the heel.”
Chief Wu listened intently, but the longer he listened, the quieter he became.
He could follow the explanation about height, but everything after that sounded like complete black magic.
Judging weight from the depth of a footprint at least sounded vaguely similar to weighing someone on a scale—but you’d still need a scale. She was claiming she could determine it just by looking?
You’ve got to be kidding.
No matter how he thought about it, the explanation sounded unbelievable. Half convinced and half skeptical, Chief Wu was about to ask more questions when a voice of admiration came from the gate.
“Is this your station’s new community officer? Their gait-tracking skills are even better than Old Qin’s!”
Criminal investigator Chen Dong stood at the entrance.
He had arrived several minutes earlier but hadn’t come inside. Only after listening to Jiang Xia’s entire analysis did he step in from behind Hu Wei.
Looking at Jiang Xia with curiosity, he asked,
“You graduated from a police academy? What’s your name?”
Hearing the question, Jiang Xia turned around.
The newcomer was in his forties, dressed in a police uniform, with a leather briefcase tucked under his right arm. One glance was enough to tell he was a detective from the Municipal Public Security Bureau.
He got here pretty fast.
“My name is Jiang Xia.”
After a moment’s thought, she added,
“I graduated from the Shannan Police School’s vocational program. I majored in public security.”
“A top student, huh?”
Chen Dong raised an eyebrow.
“With gait-tracking skills like yours, you should be working at the Municipal Bureau.”
“Hold it, hold it!”
Hearing Chen Dong’s words, Chief Wu immediately sensed trouble.
He took a quick step forward, placing himself directly in front of Jiang Xia and shielding her from view.
“My station just got this rookie. Chen Dong, what exactly are you trying to do?”
The case was already more than halfway solved, so Chen Dong wasn’t in a hurry. Smiling, he replied,
“Come on, Chief Wu, why are you so nervous? It’s not like I get the final say.”
Yeah, right.
Anyone who believed that would be a fool.
They were all in the same system. Chief Wu knew Chen Dong well enough. If he was praising Jiang Xia so highly, then her so-called gait-tracking skills had to be the real deal.
She might even be better than Old Qin, the veteran detective.
I’ve only just gotten this treasure. There’s no way I’m letting him sweet-talk her away.
With that thought, Chief Wu took another step forward and urged him,
“Enough, enough. Quit chatting. Catching the thief comes first. The suspect’s a local, around twenty-four years old, and we’ve got his height and weight. Just send your people to start checking.”
“Um… Chief.”
Seeing the two men about to begin organizing the search, Jiang Xia quickly spoke up.
“I have another lead.”
“Another one?”
Chief Wu turned around in surprise.
“You’ve got another lead?”
“Yes. I think the thief is probably someone Aunt Dong knows.”
Meeting her superior’s astonished gaze, Jiang Xia explained,
“The way the house was searched is rather unusual. The bedroom—both the bed and the wardrobe—was completely ransacked. But in the main room, none of the cabinets were disturbed. The only thing the thief opened was a biscuit tin, which was then thrown onto the floor.”
“The biscuit tin?”
Chief Wu felt a vague idea forming in his mind, but it remained too indistinct for him to reach a conclusion.
So he asked directly,
“What’s your reasoning?”
“The thief had a very specific objective—finding money in the bedroom. That suggests they were somewhat familiar with Aunt Dong’s home. And in the main room, they ignored everything except the biscuit tin. It’s very likely they knew there was money inside it. If they weren’t someone she knew, then they had probably seen it with their own eyes before.”
Having finished her analysis, Jiang Xia smiled shyly and added a disclaimer.
“Of course, that’s only an inference. I don’t have any direct evidence to prove it, so it should only be treated as a supporting lead.”
If Jiang Xia had offered that theory at the beginning, Chief Wu would have dismissed it as pure speculation.
But after witnessing her abilities firsthand, he now found the analysis convincing, even without hard evidence.
He made the decision on the spot.
“I think this inference makes sense. We can treat the young men among Dong Aihua’s acquaintances as our primary suspects.”
“I agree.”
After hearing the explanation, Chen Dong nodded in agreement as well.
He looked at Jiang Xia, his eyes filled with admiration.
Who would’ve thought?
She’s so young, yet not only is she skilled in gait analysis, she also has such sharp investigative instincts.
She’s a natural for criminal investigation.
Unfortunately, he was just an ordinary detective and had no authority to transfer personnel.
Making a mental note to mention her to his captain later, Chen Dong walked straight over to the waiting Dong Aihua and asked,
“Ma’am, think carefully. Among the people you know, is there a young man around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, about one meter seventy-five tall, who wears rubber shoes? Someone who’s been to your house before and may have seen you or your husband putting money into that biscuit tin?”
“A young man?”
Tear stains still marked Dong Aihua’s face. She froze for a moment before asking in return,
“You mean… the person who stole my money was someone I know?”
“That’s right,” Chen Dong replied. “Please think carefully.”
“Th-That can’t be! I don’t know any shady people!”
Dong Aihua instinctively denied it, but her mind was already searching through her memories. Before long, someone whose age and height matched almost perfectly popped into her head.
After hesitating for a moment, she said,
“Well… there is one person who fits. Wang Qiang, the younger son of the Wang family at the end of the street. He’s about that age and height. Just two days ago, he came with his mother to my house to deliver thirty yuan, and I put the money into the biscuit tin right in front of him.”
“But I watched that boy grow up. He’s always been such an honest kid. How could he possibly come to my house and steal?”
Chen Dong didn’t answer.
He simply asked, “Anyone else?”
Dong Aihua thought for another moment before quickly shaking her head.
“No. That’s all.”
Chen Dong nodded, then turned and walked to the front gate. Addressing the crowd gathered outside, he called out,
“Does anyone know Wang Qiang, the younger son of the Wang family at the end of the street? Does anyone know what he was doing today?”
At Chen Dong’s question, the onlookers immediately began talking over one another.
“Wang Qiang?”
“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him today.”
“Didn’t he go to work?”
“You forgot? He’s a temp worker. There wasn’t much work today, so he didn’t have a shift.”
“Oh, right, no shift. Then where did he go?”
“No idea. I just haven’t seen him all day.”
…
As everyone chimed in, it quickly became apparent that not a single person had seen Wang Qiang that day. An uneasy feeling spread through the crowd.
“Why are the police asking about him? Don’t tell me he’s the one who stole the money?”
Someone objected.
“No way. I remember Wang Qiang being a pretty honest guy…”
“Hah—honest, my ass!”
From a corner, a neighborhood loafer leaning against the wall with a cigarette hanging from his mouth let out a scornful laugh. Unable to keep quiet any longer, he revealed,
“That guy’s been playing Golden Flower Poker for ages. I heard he owes a whole lot of gambling debt. You people are the only ones who don’t know!”
The moment those words came out, the crowd fell silent for a second.
Then it exploded.
“What?!”
“He’s been gambling?!”
“No way! He’s always been so honest. How could he gamble?”
“Anzi wouldn’t make something like that up, would he?”
“A gambling addict has no conscience. If he really lost a bunch of money…” Someone drew a sharp breath. “Then the Dong family’s life-saving money really could’ve been stolen by him!”
An honest person might not steal.
But someone hooked on gambling and drowning in debt was another story.
Especially since Wang Qiang hadn’t been working that day, and no one had seen him anywhere.
That meant he had more than enough opportunity to commit the crime.
Chen Dong couldn’t help clicking his tongue.
It hasn’t even been an hour since we got here, and we’ve already narrowed it down to a prime suspect?
Since when did residential burglary become this easy to solve?