National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 437 - 437 403

437: 403 437: 403 After ending the call, Zheng Tianxin quickly opened his phone to check the information Jiang Yuan had sent him and read aloud to the prosecutor beside him, “Tian Xiang, male, 47 years old, from Luyang City, convicted of indecency and sentenced to 1 year and 8 months…

The address where this guy installed the broadband network is in a village near the property company, Tianshang Village…

His family was also relocated…”

Zheng Tianxin read through the information quickly and then said, “We’re heading to Tianshang Village now, Li Jian?”

“I’ll go with you,” Prosecutor Li Jian replied, not optimistic about the interrogation of Chen Youdi and unwilling to wait any longer, he simply headed out the door with them.

Zheng Tianxin nodded, got his team together, and they headed straight for Tianshang Village.

A team of seven or eight cars, all with their sirens blaring, raced frantically.

The distance wasn’t far, just about a dozen kilometers from the city bureau, in a village located by the national highway.

The village had many self-built houses that were four or five stories high, with each floor only having an area of about a hundred square meters, and none had yards.

Most of the houses’ exterior walls were not tiled, just the color and pattern of concrete, exposed to the air.

Occasionally, some houses were tiled, but only on the side facing the road, with even the side walls left untiled.

There were even some houses without windows installed, or with only the first and second floors done, leaving all the upper stories open.

“Isn’t this a relocated village?” Li Jian asked as he got out of the car and glanced around.

“It’s all like this.

Nowadays, relocations only cover the necessary parts.

For the areas not yet demolished, they build to wait for the next relocation.

They’re compensated by square meter anyway.

There’s no use in building too well, and few people live in them,” Zheng Tianxin explained, familiar with the area since he occasionally went out on field duty.

As they spoke, more sirens sounded from behind, hollering “fifth, fifth.”

It was the police car from Jiang Yuan’s Cold Case Squad arriving.

Both teams had similar thoughts; in such a situation, covert arrests were not a priority.

Instead, it was about deterring the criminals and ensuring they didn’t dare commit any violent acts.

Four hours had gone by since the arrest of Chen Youdi, and the likelihood of the news leaking was high.

If Tian Xiang, an accomplice, was holding the victim captive, the victim was in great danger.

However, looking on the bright side, Tian Xiang might also be asleep, or drunk under the table.

Furthermore, even if Tian Xiang did get wind of what was happening, whether he would choose to silence the victim was not a given.

Commonly, people on the run might leave such critical decisions until the last moment.

Meaning, normally, Tian Xiang would choose to pack his bags first, take his valuables, grab his ID, cell phone, keys, wallet, and so on, get everything ready before killing the victim and eliminating evidence…

As for whether Tian Xiang himself was behaving normally, those who hadn’t met him could only speculate.

The village secretary they had contacted on the road hurried out to meet them.

The criminal police leading the team didn’t give him time to ramble on.

They had him get in a car and led the convoy to Tian Xiang’s house.

Wasting a few minutes, the detectives from the criminal police brigade drove and surrounded Tian’s house and the vicinity.

The police officers who were armed drew their guns, while others took shields, bulletproof vests, and stab-resistant gear from the trunks of their cars to put on.

Several members known for their prowess in forceful raids were rubbing their hands eagerly as they rushed to positions at the front and back doors, as well as the windows, of Tian’s house.

The vehicles from Jiang Yuan’s Cold Case Squad parked behind, and the team members followed suit with similar actions, only with better and more complete equipment.

“Captain Jiang has arrived,” Zheng Tianxin greeted Jiang Yuan courteously, then introduced him to Prosecutor Li Jian.

Compared to Zheng Tianxin’s complex feelings toward Jiang Yuan, Prosecutor Li Jian, more of an outsider, curiously asked Jiang Yuan, “I heard it was quite difficult to secure Tian Xiang’s fingerprints?”

Those in the judicial system tend to speak with purpose, like Prosecutor Li Jian’s first question, which sounded like idle chat but was actually gathering information for the upcoming prosecution of the case.

Jiang Yuan, having dealt with various prosecutors, didn’t speak carelessly.

He took the time to observe Tian’s house and after a moment of thought, he said, “There are definitely difficulties, because, from the distribution of fingerprints, it is clear that Tian Xiang was consciously trying to eliminate his own traces.”

“How can you tell?” Prosecutor Li Jian asked, both because he didn’t understand and knowing that similar questions would be posed by judges and lawyers in court.

Jiang Yuan pondered for a moment before answering, “That was gradually discovered through the fingerprinting process.

Basically, inside the barn at that time, I only saw fingerprints from four individuals.

This is clearly abnormal because there were at least five bodies in the barn.

I wasn’t certain at first, but there were at least seven victims, plus Zhang Hai and Chen Youdi, the two perpetrators.

That made nine people who had been in the barn, yet only the fingerprints of the two perpetrators and the two surviving victims were present, indicating that someone had previously cleaned the fingerprints and other traces in the barn.”

Prosecutor Li Jian nodded in understanding.

At that moment, several forensic officers and crime scene investigators from Luyang City who had come from the barn arrived.

Prosecutor Li Jian gestured to them to come over and asked Jiang Yuan, “I’m not a technician, but I’m curious, a person should have 10 fingerprints, right, plus the toes since they lived in the barn.

So, four people could leave 80 fingerprints?

And the 80 fingerprints aren’t all full prints, right?

With that, can you determine how many fingerprints are in the barn?”

“Of course.”

“Under normal circumstances, that’s impossible!”

“No wonder!”

Apart from Jiang Yuan’s matter-of-fact answer, the other few trace examiners were a mix of self-deprecating and laughter.

Zheng Tianxin stared at the few laughing trace examiners, feeling that the few guys on the phone were just like them.

Li Jian sensed something amiss and looked at Jiang Yuan again, saying, “It seems like you’re the only one who can distinguish so many fingerprints.

I’m not questioning you, but will this hold up in court?”

“First of all, there is a significant difference between the ridge patterns of feet and hands.

Regarding the issue of bare footprints, it’s also possible to identify the person, but that’s another matter.

So, what’s being judged here are 40 fingerprints, not 80,” Jiang Yuan paused, then continued, “Secondly, there are many ways to determine which fingerprints belong to the index finger, the thumb, or the little finger, so it’s not actually necessary to count how many fingerprints there are of each type.

Identifying only four types for the thumb and index finger is basically enough to determine that there were only four individuals.”

The thumb is of great importance to humans since all gripping actions involve the thumb; theoretically, without it, most functions of the hand would be lost.

This can be tried by taping the thumb with transparent tape instead of cutting it off.

In clinical forensic assessments, damage to the thumb is classified as a second-degree serious injury, with a maximum sentence of 10 years.

However, if only the index or middle finger is disabled, then it’s classified as a first-degree minor injury, which is considerably less severe.

Li Jian listened, somewhat understanding and asked, “But aren’t fingerprints sometimes incomplete?”

“There’s a central area to fingerprints, and you can start by looking at that part,” Jiang Yuan replied.

Li Jian turned to the other trace examiners: “I haven’t heard much about this, have you?”

“Li Jian, Ningtai Jiangyuan, is fierce and not to be trifled with.

Do you know how he determined there was a third perpetrator?” one of the trace examiners laughed a little too loudly, instantly pinpointed by Zheng Tianxin.

Li Jian: “How was that determined?”

“It came from bloodstain analysis.

The speed of the bloodstains exceeded that of the two existing suspects.

At the time, it was almost possible to deduce the age of the criminals,” the trace examiners explained, their shock actually far surpassing that of a prosecutor, and their current descriptions helped to alleviate their own stress.

Sometimes, knowing that someone can work like a pile driver for an hour is one thing, but experiencing it alongside them in bed for an hour is quite another.

The few trace examiners had swept fingerprints with Jiang Yuan in the barn for four hours—work that would normally perhaps be finished in one hour.

Even with double efficiency, it took three to four times as long, a kind of suffering inexplicable to laypeople.

Li Jian seemed to have straightened out the logic and repeated, “So you mean, Jiang Yuan, you confirmed the existence of a third murderer and then verified it through fingerprints?”

Jiang Yuan corrected him a bit, saying, “At first, it was confirmed that there was a third murderer in the room, and then only the fingerprints of two murderers and two victims were found in the room.

Later, after careful searching, the fingerprints of a fifth person were found, and he was determined to be a male ex-convict.”

The previously laughing trace examiner provided a simpler explanation: “Captain Jiang led us to sweep the entire barn for fingerprints.”

Recalling the scene at that time, the corners of the trace examiners’ mouths twitched.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out, exploding clearly in everyone’s ears.

Zheng Tianxin quickly pulled Li Jian behind the car, and the quick-reacting police officers also sprang into action.

A head popped out from the second floor of a privately-built house, followed by a waving handgun, and a voice came out: “Back off, back off 100 meters!

Knives and guns are blind, life is your own.

Don’t pit your life against mine for a few thousand in salary!”

Truth be told, under such circumstances, suspect Tian Xiang’s actions and voice indeed had a somewhat bandit-like air to them, comparing more closely to the fugitive Zhang Hai, and the wretched Chen Youdi.

Zheng Tianxin and the others had yet to react when Mu Zhiyang burst into laughter.

He swiftly ran back to the car, grabbed a shield from the trunk, and while checking his bulletproof vest, said, “Leaders, I’m fully equipped, requesting to storm in!”

“Storm in what?” Zheng Tianxin was a bit stunned, then quickly said, “This is a live gun!”

“Bullets from pistols don’t hurt that much,” Mu Zhiyang tightened his helmet and added seriously, “I’ve been hit before, really!”