National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 213 - 213 205 Divide People

213: Chapter 205: Divide People 213: Chapter 205: Divide People Crimes committed by strangers are harder to solve than those committed by acquaintances.

For crimes committed by acquaintances, investigation can proceed by checking each person in the contact list one by one, and by comparing interpersonal relationships, but the element of surprise in crimes committed by strangers is just too great.

Becoming a police officer for a while, you soon realize that guessing a person’s behavior is a very tiresome and thankless task.

And for normal people, predicting criminal behavior is also very difficult.

Take the current case for example, by all logic, it should have been the victim’s husband who did it.

He had the most reason to commit murder, the most reason to take away the child.

But during the time frame of the victim’s death, the husband had just finished his barbecue, patting his belly in deep sleep.

He could die without any responsibility, without losing a penny to the unfaithful wife—the only problem was the missing child.

Thus, the man’s network of connections was also thoroughly investigated.

This included the man’s parents and siblings, who were all key targets of the police screening.

Unfortunately, not a single clue was found.

However, to assert that the man’s family was innocent and free of guilt wasn’t entirely certain either.

When the Japanese came to the village to search for food, and even when hiding large injured soldiers, they sometimes missed.

This suggests that the skill of the villagers in hiding things can be very adept.

And if it were a stranger committing the crime, that would be even harder.

Moreover, there were some parts of a stranger’s crime that simply didn’t make sense.

Hou Lejia asked, “If a stranger committed the crime, why would they take the child with them?”

“I don’t know,” Jiang Yuan replied without even bothering to guess.

There could be many reasons for taking the child, but the only evidence he had now was bloodstains; he could only rely on bloodstain analysis.

As for why a stranger would take a child?

Maybe it was to sell them.

Maybe it was pure perversion.

Maybe they were infertile and needed a child.

If Liu Jinghui were called over perhaps he could provide a more accurate analysis…

Hou Lejia’s brows were furrowed as tightly as the skin of a Shar Pei.

Shifting the direction of the investigation, not only had the previous two days’ work been in vain, but the biggest worry was the fear of not being able to solve the case.

As an experienced criminal detective, Hou Lejia, when faced with such cases, immediately thought of a crime committed by someone familiar.

If not the husband, then the lover, or perhaps the husband’s relatives, or the lover’s wife, mistresses…

This is still the countryside after all.

Go back 10 years and you couldn’t find a single person in the village who wasn’t an acquaintance.

Now though, even with a factory, there are several gates between the factory and the village, and each has surveillance watching.

While it’s not very secure, the primary reason is the same; there’s no motive, and no reason for the victims to open their door.

Jiang Yuan looked at Hou Lejia’s frustration, shook his head quietly, and once again approached the door, saying, “Actually, one can see from here that the victim retreated step by step.”

“What?” Hou Lejia was still weighing the pros and cons, his thoughts pulled back by Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan, simulating the motion, said,

“Looking at the direction of the bloodstains, the murderer might have had the knife against the victim’s neck, or maybe they poked like this, so the victim retreated step by step.

See here, footprints were even made…”

“If it was an acquaintance who committed the crime, it implies the victim recognized the murderer.

Then she would either open the door or not open the door; why open it and then step back?”

“So I believe, it’s very possible the victim heard some noise in the middle of the night, then went to check voluntarily, only to be overpowered, and ultimately killed.”

Hou Lejia was listening.

He then turned to his own team’s crime scene technicians and asked, “What do you think?

This direction of the bloodstains and such?”

The crime scene technicians present had all worked with Jiang Yuan on the scavenger elder case a while back.

For regular detectives, such cases were remembered for a lifetime once they were worked on.

It’s not that they would only encounter such challenging cases once in their lives.

Rather, the correct and unique aspects of solving such difficult cases, the approach and perspective, could be special; they were the kind to be boasted about for a lifetime.

Just like Bloodstain Analysis, 30 years ago, there were many application scenarios.

But in today’s environment, the situation is different.

Jiang Yuan’s Bloodstain Analysis was so powerful that even cases like those of the scavenger, which were almost impossible to crack directly, were broken in a short time.

The crime scene investigators present, including the ordinary Level 2 ones and Hou Xiaoyong at Level 0.6, could only play dumb at this moment.

Bloodstain Analysis is something crime scene investigators should know about, but if you say it’s a required course, then it’s like the required level in “The Great Learning”—I roughly know such a thing exists, I even know where to find more information about it, but if the exam questions are beyond the syllabus, don’t blame me for scoring zero.

Jiang Yuan casually reconstructed the scene based on Level 5 proficiency, making the Longli County crime scene investigators “feel” that everyone did not want to “feel.”

Jiang Yuan also couldn’t say that he had convinced the Longli County Criminal Police leader to spend 180,000 on investigative expenses in just a few sentences.

Therefore, while Jiang Yuan observed, he added more information, saying:

“The killer’s murder process was rather crude, but he started by swinging the weapon, and the slashing was still quite direct.

By the way, the killer used a rather small dagger, not one that seems prepared for murder.

Maybe he has never killed before, or he lacks experience in slashing.”

“Looking at the bloodstains on the bedroom side, the crime seems to have escalated, as the killer started to use a stabbing method.

But by this time, his actions were rather hesitant, and if you look at the blood here…

you can see that the killer actually relaxed his control over the victim at this moment, giving the victim a chance to move and escape.”

“This is more indicative of a crime committed by a stranger rather than an acquaintance.

From what I can tell, the initial stage of the killing was focused on intimidating the victim in a very direct and violent way, but when it came to the actual killing, the hesitation set in…

Was the victim’s character rather explosive, fierce even?”

Hou Lejia was still immersed in the scenario described by Jiang Yuan.

Being an experienced detective, he could conjure up many images in his mind.

Hou Xiaoyong naively said, “According to the villagers, the victim was supposed to be like a shrew…”

“Cough, cough.” Doctor Ye, though scatterbrained, was sensible and interrupted Hou Xiaoyong, saying, “The deceased, Wang Huizhi, a local, was 28 years old.

She was 165 cm tall, weighed 70 kg, had a robust physique, spoke and acted in a forthright manner, and had a bit of a temper.

She often had conflicts with people in the village, especially after having a child, exhibiting some rather excessive behavior.”

“Excessive behavior?”

“Uh, she had thrown her child’s diaper into her brother-in-law’s house and even tossed fecal packets into a neighbor’s yard, claiming they were the child’s, though the neighbor suspected they were hers.

The village’s electricity often tripped, causing numerous complaints among neighbors…

In most conflicts, Wang Huizhi tended to come out on top…”

Doctor Ye indirectly described Wang Huizhi’s shrewish nature, before adding, “Also, because of Wang Huizhi’s character and these past events, we reckon that the likelihood of an acquaintance from the village committing the crime is quite high.”

“If it’s not someone from her family, could Heizi not have sniffed something out?” Jiang Yuan suddenly remembered that he had been sold at the price of a dog.

If the perpetrator was an acquaintance from the village, with traces of blood at this level, it is very easy to leave a scent behind that ordinary bathing won’t wash away.

Hou Lejia spoke gravely, “Heizi has been here the past few days, has sniffed around the village, the factory too, without any result.”

“If it’s an inside job, the scents might be confusing,” said Doctor Ye, before adding, “Of course, the cannery also affects Heizi’s sense of smell.”

“I think we could allocate some manpower to check on those with prior theft convictions,” Jiang Yuan initially didn’t want to directly propose a solution, given that it was another county’s jurisdiction.

But Hou Lejia’s indecision made Jiang Yuan feel somewhat unhappy.

If they were only checking on previously convicted thieves, there would be no need to redirect everyone; a single squad’s manpower would suffice.

For ordinary theft or burglary, perhaps not even a third of a squad would be assigned.

For an ongoing homicide case, diverting the manpower of one squad is really not significant.

Hou Lejia was indeed a little pricked by the suggestion, but still hesitated, “Only check the previously convicted?”

“The killer didn’t leave behind a single piece of skin or hair; this is a sign of a very professional burglar who has probably been caught before,” Jiang Yuan had significant experience in catching thieves.

Most thieves have a low educational level.

In other words, they rarely learn the art of thievery through reading books, newspapers, or videos.

The majority of thieves are taught by the School of Hard Knocks and the University of Prison, self-improving through repeated criminal experiences.

It could be said that if a thief has not been caught, it is difficult for them to be thorough.

They are either uninformed or indifferent.

“What about the scope?” Hou Lejia asked, “Focus on the area surrounding San’an Village?”

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a local, it could also be a roaming criminal,” Jiang Yuan continued, recalling the cases he had worked on in the past few days, “We can check the recent burglary incidents in the surrounding area to see if there’s any surveillance footage, footprints, or other evidence to bring back, since thieves don’t just commit one crime.”