National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 483 - 483 444 Heaven and Earth Net

483: Chapter 444: Heaven and Earth Net 483: Chapter 444: Heaven and Earth Net Xu Taining took the public bus to the Criminal Police Detachment, a very simple impression overall, plus there was no need for parking; just a pair of polished police trousers and a dusty jacket, he sauntered into the Criminal Police Detachment.

The new guard at the entrance only checked his credentials before quickly saluting and letting him through.

These days, one really doesn’t dare to mess with a simply-dressed old man in a jacket.

Inside the meeting room of the detachment, Yu Wenshu had set up an operations command room for Xu Taining.

Maps and topographical charts of Changyang City hung on the walls, a white porcelain cup filled with green tea sat on the table, and his face was adorned with a smile, fully prepared and harboring a little ulterior motive: “If you save a little through the gaps in your fingers, we can all have a bountiful year.”

Xu Taining returned the smile to Yu Wenshu, picked up the green tea, looked at the map, and said, “If we’re placing maps, it would be best to switch to a bigger one.”

“Ah…

A map with a larger scale?

This one is already…”

“I mean the scope of the map…” Xu Taining drew a circle in the air with his hand and said, “This is a map of Changyang City.”

Yu Wenshu thought to himself, that’s because we are the Changyang City Criminal Police Detachment.

Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud.

Instead, he carefully attended to the matter, saying, “We considered that the murderer’s actions for the several crimes revolved around the sights within Changyang City…”

“Your consideration is sound; it is indeed possible that the crimes are centered around the sights within Changyang City.” Xu Taining nodded and then said, “But it’s also possible that the crimes are centered around the sights just outside of Changyang City, or perhaps…”

Xu Taining took out a laser pointer from his worn jacket, cast a red beam, and continued walking along the map’s edge, saying, “It’s also possible that they took place along the ring road around Changyang City, or the ring highway.”

Yu Wenshu felt completely numb.

Changyang was a provincial capital; the ring road was 50 kilometers long.

To expand the search perimeter even further…

If they were to conduct a search, even if the budget of the Criminal Police Detachment was sufficient, it wouldn’t withstand such expenditures…

The political commissar was even more frightened, afraid that Yu Wenshu would just agree to it; he quickly said, “The entire ring road is under surveillance, with checkpoints for getting on and off the elevated roads, equipped with high-definition cameras over the years.

If the murderer took this route, it would be like digging their own grave.”

“What if they took the bus or a taxi?” Xu Taining countered.

The political commissar was taken aback upon hearing this.

Indeed, the murderer was only after killing, with no need to transport or dispose of bodies, nor to dismember and bury them.

Carrying a nail gun, they could simply select or randomly find a place to get off the bus, climb a hill, commit the murder, and then go home.

There was no need to drive themselves, and public transportation would make it even easier to hide their tracks.

“If we were to cover such a large area, the expenses would be too high, and the bureau certainly wouldn’t allow us to do a citywide search,” said Yu Wenshu cautiously.

“It’s normal to be limited by conditions.

The most common problem I encounter in searches, which I almost always encounter, is limited conditions, budget constraints…” Xu Taining said naturally, “However, I suggest this range because I hope you can understand that it’s impossible to be thorough.

We must assume that the murderer is also under some constraints.

If we don’t make such an assumption, our budget will be an issue.

But if we assume too small a range, our search may not be effective…”

Yu Wenshu and the political commissar looked at each other and then understood that Xu Taining was giving them a warning shot.

At the same time, both felt a deeper sense of fear—Xu Taining was giving them a preemptive warning.

How much money was this guy planning to spend?

“Let’s change this map,” Xu Taining said, twirling the laser pointer in the air again.

“Okay.

How large of a map do you want?” Yu Wenshu’s expectations had already been raised very high.

This time, however, Xu Taining shook his head, saying, “After you called me yesterday, I studied the case.

I believe that searching the crime scenes, or rather, searching for the paths the murderer might have used to enter the crime scenes, is not very meaningful.

The investment would be enormous, but it might still miss the mark; it’s like spending money on a method that doesn’t yield good results.”

Yu Wenshu recalled the scope that Xu Taining had just outlined and fell silent.

Indeed, the three incidents occurred in three different directions in the outskirts of Changyang City, all in parks with nice scenery and small hills and visited by locals looking to relax, residents living nearby, and people coming from the downtown area.

Considering the proximity to the ring road and even nearby towns, searching the locations and paths of the crimes did seem like a thankless job.

Moreover, if the murderer’s actions were random, the locations might be random too.

Although human randomness is often pseudo-randomness, and a rather simple analytical approach, such as drawing circles with the three crime locations as centers and looking at the intersection of the circles, may point to the murderer’s residence or work area—it’s overly simplistic.

In real crime scene analysis, assumptions like these, which depend on conditions such as uniform road conditions, no change of transport by the murderer, identical departure points for each crime, or no unexpected occurrences en route, are far too presumptive.

If, like foreigners, one only aims for a fifty percent solve rate for homicides, then such delineation wouldn’t be too problematic.