National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1073 - 1005 Both Spontaneous and Premeditated_2

Chapter 1073: Chapter 1005 Both Spontaneous and Premeditated_2

"This doesn’t seem right." Liu Jinghui frowned: "If Li Dianzhong was such an important source of intelligence, even if he was in danger, they wouldn’t have disposed of him so easily. Was the mimeograph factory still operational at that time?"

Qi Changye’s eyebrows knitted as well: "Yes, it was. The mimeograph factory struggled to survive for over two years after Li Dianzhong’s death, with its scale shrinking more and more. Eventually, it was shut down along with the third-party company."

"Exactly. With this in mind, it doesn’t make sense. If the intent was to order Li Dianzhong to kill Zhang Xiaoming to preserve the mimeograph factory, that would be to protect the intelligence source. But what’s the point of keeping the mimeograph factory after Li Dianzhong’s death? Isn’t that putting the cart before the horse? Unless..."

"The factory has another source of intelligence?" Qi Changye immediately caught up with Liu Jinghui’s logic, hitting the point sharply. His brows furrowed instinctively, and after a long pause, he said: "Courier agents are exposed individuals, and normally, they operate in conjunction with the core intelligence source."

Courier agents actually take on greater risks, and their existence serves to mitigate the risks to the core intelligence source. Otherwise, adding a courier agent merely increases the core source’s risk, which would be pointless.

In fact, the entire spy network exists to minimize the risks to the core intelligence source. By ensuring the core source engages in the least amount of espionage activity and transferring the risk of intelligence delivery and message transmission to the couriers and field operatives, the spy network fulfills its purpose.

From this perspective, Li Dianzhong’s fatal fall was essentially an act of risk elimination—a textbook display of the spy network’s operational logic.

The opposition could simply replace the courier with another trained individual and keep the network functioning.

"If the intelligence source is within the mimeograph factory..." Qi Changye frowned, "It’s been twenty years. If the intelligence source from back then was older, they might’ve already retired. Plenty of these individuals have even emigrated..."

"There’s one problem that has never been solved." Jiang Yuan abruptly interrupted Qi Changye’s train of thought.

Qi Changye naturally turned his gaze toward him.

Jiang Yuan said: "Li Dianzhong was looking for something. From the on-site investigation, it doesn’t appear to be staged; he was genuinely searching for something. Moreover, this aligns with their behavioral patterns."

"This isn’t just a debate about targeting people versus objects..."

"Both targeting objects and targeting people." Having worked on the case for quite some time, Jiang Yuan’s reasoning had reached maturity. His voice was firm: "I believe the perpetrator absolutely intended to kill Zhang Xiaoming. So, the search for the object was real, and so was the murder. That explains Zhang Xiaoming’s abrupt return and the perpetrator’s extraordinarily decisive methods!"

"Makes sense." Liu Jinghui didn’t participate in the site investigation, but seeing Jiang Yuan’s confidence, he quickly updated his logic and incorporated this premise into his deductions. He nodded in agreement: "If you kill first, the item could end up in the hands of the police. So, you need to find the item first and then deal with Zhang Xiaoming."

Qi Changye followed their line of reasoning: "So, the murderer encountered Zhang Xiaoming unexpectedly upon his return home, leading to a decision for a spontaneous yet premeditated murder."

"Exactly. This also better explains their confrontation." Jiang Yuan assumed a posture and said: "Zhang Xiaoming clearly thought this was a typical burglary. He tried to intimidate or drive the intruder out, possibly threatening them to drop the stolen items, or else he’d call for help..."

Jiang Yuan continued: "If Zhang Xiaoming knew the intruder, his positioning should’ve changed; he’d be more careful. As I recall, Zhang Xiaoming had received military training."

Workers at factories and mines in the 1990s often underwent extended quasi-military training. It wasn’t uncommon for young men to be enrolled in militia units or battalions, participate in both factory-level security and joint defense, and even have their sports events modeled after military competitions with prior training.

As Jiang Yuan spoke, he reflected further and said: "This suggests that although Li Dianzhong was something akin to an external worker at the factory, Zhang Xiaoming didn’t recognize him. Yet, Li Dianzhong decisively killed Zhang Xiaoming. I mentioned before, the stab wounds primarily targeted the chest. Zhang Xiaoming’s height wasn’t an issue; he was half a head taller than Li Dianzhong. This wasn’t a rushed or accidental strike."

At this point, Jiang Yuan glanced at Qi Changye again and brought the discussion back: "So what was Li Dianzhong searching for? This item might even be more critical than Li Dianzhong’s identity itself."

Qi Changye’s eyes lit up: "Why?"

Jiang Yuan replied: "Because Li Dianzhong was taking an enormous risk by committing murder. Based on bloodstain analysis, Zhang Xiaoming’s fatal stabbing caused blood to spray onto the perpetrator’s body. Additionally, the murderer’s right arm—which held the knife—should also have been splattered with blood, leading to drips. This indicates there was a substantial amount of blood."

Organizing his thoughts, Jiang Yuan continued: "Even if Li Dianzhong used rope claws, tried wiping off the blood, or wore multiple layers of clothing to conceal the stains, could he clean up completely? There’s always a lingering smell. Essentially, by acting this way, he undoubtedly exposed himself to considerable risk and couldn’t have left the scene entirely safely."

Jiang Yuan paused briefly and resumed: "What I mean is, while Li Dianzhong might’ve managed to leave the scene safely, the risk of doing so was disproportionately high."

Liu Jinghui instantly grasped Jiang Yuan’s reasoning: "If the bloodstain analysis leads to this conclusion, then Li Dianzhong must’ve made a critical decision in that moment: he had no choice but to kill Zhang Xiaoming."