National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1062 - 995: Bizarre

Chapter 1062: Chapter 995: Bizarre

Late at night.

The deep silence of the night.

In the quiet corridor, only the faint sounds of men whispering could be heard, discussing matters of sending someone to their death.

"The deeper we look into this case, the more bizarre it becomes," said Liu Jinghui as he rested a hand on a box of case files, while in front of him, there still lay an entire room full of them, enough to fill two or three medium-sized vans.

Wang Chuanxing was also buried among the stacks of boxes, his voice muffled as it emerged: "So the previous special case team, they didn’t even restart the case, they just did a cursory search and then dropped it?"

"Perhaps they never stumbled upon the bizarre parts," Huang Qiangmin replied calmly from a corner, "With a case like this, who would dare to easily restart it without full preparation? But when the opportunity ends up in your hands, there’s no way you can ignore it."

Police officers actually understand very well the power of opportunity. They have truly witnessed it.

For cases like Jianmen Court, it is only natural to pursue an investigation following the discovery of clues. There actually isn’t any problem with this; police will investigate immediately upon finding new leads in a cold case.

But this case, indeed, it’s very difficult to investigate.

The moment you probe a little deeper, the trail goes cold.

Even the two new leads discovered by Jiang Yuan, one drawn from Bloodstain Analysis and the other through Wang Futing—just a few steps further, and they naturally come to an abrupt halt.

"Definitely not normal. The hook claw is quite a rare item, especially after the founding of the People’s Republic, it’s practically a lost art. Those who could use it no longer need it. So, the marks on the wall captured in the photos of that day, after being smudged a couple of times, were no longer recognized as hook claw marks," said Jiang Yuan, seated at a long table and shaking his head as he viewed images on several computer screens.

Liu Jinghui had also seen the photos Jiang Yuan mentioned and could not help saying, "Without Wang Futing’s confession, no one would have recognized those marks as left by a hook claw."

In the crime scene photos of Jianmen Court, there were indeed several deeper scratch-like marks on the wall, but someone had scuffed them with their feet. Under normal circumstances, it was difficult to say what caused them. Importantly, without anyone mentioning a hook claw, a regular forensic officer wouldn’t think of it.

Even Jiang Yuan only sought out marks corresponding to a hook claw after hearing the term.

A level 6 Tool Trace Identification is like a deity in its own right, but it still can’t make the traces in the photos speak for themselves.

This aspect may also have affected Jiang Yuan’s search for similar cases. If onsite detectives hadn’t taken close-up photos, Jiang Yuan wouldn’t be able to link them together.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yuan simply gave a brief introduction to the issue of hook claw traces, sharing as part of their case briefing, then continued, "Those rogues proficient with the hook claw, after the founding of the new China, were mostly dealt with. Those who were lucky enough to be released from prison were strictly monitored. It’s rare for anyone to have survived into the 90s, and even rarer for them to have taught disciples. Such individuals, even during the Republic period, were well-known. Why would they hire Wang Futing to pick locks?"

"Someone skilled with hook claws also knows how to pick locks?"

"Not necessarily, but picking locks is way too simple compared to using hook claws. The locks at Jianmen Court were not high-end, and anyone could learn to pick them with little effort."

"Hence, it’s illogical for a suspect adept with hook claws to hire a lock picker like Wang Futing."

Jiang Yuan confirmed, "Illogical."

Liu Jinghui nodded in agreement, "I also had Meng Chengbiao ask this afternoon. According to Wang Futing’s latest testimony, after he saw the hook claw, he went back and the more he thought about it, the more it didn’t feel right. So, he took the safety package he had prepared in advance and immediately took a train south. More than a year later when he returned, he found signs his home had been searched, so he moved to another place to live."

Huang Qiangmin gave a click of his tongue, "This guy is quite shrewd, huh?"

"Otherwise he might have already been silenced," concluded Cui Qishan, drawing on his own judgment, "This guy, he just might have been the scapegoat for the real murderer."

"What you’re saying could indeed be a possibility," Liu Jinghui looked over approvingly, but upon realizing it was Cui Qishan, the shit-stirrer, speaking, he retracted his smile, then continued, "Wang Futing could really just be a firewall the actual murderer hung up for themselves. It’s just that they didn’t expect Wang Futing to have a bit of cunning to him."

"Otherwise, he wouldn’t have survived into the Duanda era," Huang Qiangmin chimed in. As seasoned detectives, they could fully imagine the immense risks embedded within these few lines of text.

"It’s a pity Wang Futing didn’t die," sighed Cui Qishan, "If Wang Futing had died, it really would have proven that there was a conspiracy behind all this."

"If Wang Futing had died, this case wouldn’t even exist," retorted Tao Lu with a glare.

Cui Qishan chuckled, then said, "So, if Wang Futing had died, it would have been a case of ’All’s well that ends well’, huh?"

"He definitely died cleanly." Liu Jinghui concluded immediately, and then added: "If there really was a conspiracy, silencing Wang Futing would be basic. Only then would the case make complete sense."

"So, this is akin to reverse proof, isn’t it? It’s like using the method of proof by contradiction."

"That’s assuming the initial conditions haven’t changed." Liu Jinghui was not the type to be led by the nose; he often thought deeply about things. He said lightly, "There’s also a possibility that Wang Futing fled faster than expected, or in other words, he escaped beyond the reach of the conspirators. Later, when Wang Futing returned, the situation might have changed."

"Beyond their reach?" Cui Qishan chuckled foolishly: "You mean..."

"Let’s not get sidetracked!" Tao Lu curtly cut off the foolish Cui Qishan’s words, forcefully steering the discussion back to the case itself. "Director Liu, previously Jiang Yuan’s judgment was that the murderer in the Jianmen Court case was after money, not lives. But listening to you, it seems the suspect was deliberate in their actions, appearing more as if they were out for blood rather than money."

Liu Jinghui glanced at Jiang Yuan and smiled: "It’s not unusual to have new leads and conclusions as the investigation progresses."

In other words, Liu Jinghui disagreed with Jiang Yuan’s judgment.

Jiang Yuan smiled from across the long table, saying, "Let’s go with Director Liu’s judgment for now. When we were saying the murder was financially motivated, we didn’t have the information from Duanda’s Wang Futing. Now we know his accomplice used a grappling hook and even paid 500 yuan to have him unlock a door, this really doesn’t seem like a theft. But whether it was a murder is also hard to say. To kill someone, it wouldn’t be necessary to wait around Jianmen Court or to rummage through so many belongings."

"The rummaging could have been a ruse to confuse Wang Futing. Indeed, if the murderer simply wanted to kill Zhang Xiaoming, there would be no need to choose Jianmen Court. There are many more suitable places along the road from the factory to his home. It would be easier to disguise the act as a robbery homicide. Hmm... The timing also doesn’t add up; Zhang Xiaoming went back unexpectedly, and the time he returned home was not his usual time."

When Liu Jinghui started analyzing, it all followed in a sequence.

Everyone listened and pondered, feeling their minds bristle with questions.

Just as Liu Jinghui had put it, the case was permeated with strangeness at every turn.

"If it’s neither for money nor vengeance, it couldn’t possibly be a crime of passion. There hasn’t been any mention of emotional entanglement on Zhang Xiaoming’s end," Wang Chuanxing said, cooperating without actually seeking to solve the problem but merely contributing to the discussion.

Liu Jinghui hummed in agreement, saying, "A crime of passion is unlikely. No need to involve Wang Futing in that case, it’s more likely one would turn to friends for help."

The room fell silent once again.

They had just shifted the discussion from the method of the crime to the motive.

Traditional criminal investigative methods or analytical approaches actually follow a certain formula. In the end, it boils down to a few key points.

For instance, the method of the crime: the murderer having a grappling hook is a very distinctive tool, one that is especially suited for grand thieves of rivers and lakes. However, those grand thieves are characterized by their frequent and widespread criminal activities, treating their crimes as a career.

But the suspect in this case doesn’t fit this profile.

To say that a river and lake grand thief, having committed a homicide, would no longer dare to use a grappling hook underestimates them and doesn’t align with their greatest self-interest.

Those involved in the grand thief commerce live by the philosophy of seizing the day and accepting death as any moment’s possibility.

Those who fear death and are full of concerns do not act this way. Most of the grand thieves do not die by official execution but rather hail their end in black market conflicts.

Such people die in nightclubs far more often than in prisons.

And after ruling out the grappling hook scenario, the discussion turned to motive, which is a method frequently applied by the police.

To summarize, homicides are typically driven by motives of financial gain, personal vendetta, passion, abandonment, superstition, provocation, mental illness, or crimes of passion. However, after verifying each possibility, none seemed to fit.

Twenty-odd police officers sat in a room, each holed up in a corner flipping through files and computers, and for a long time, nobody spoke.

Liu Jinghui, in fact, was helping everyone to organize their thoughts.

His questioning and answers were essentially guiding people’s thinking.

At this moment, Liu Jinghui spoke again: "In that case, we must take into consideration the factors of the Zhang Family."