National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 589 - 535 This Is the Place

Chapter 589: Chapter 535 This Is the Place

In the office, the women sobbed with pear blossoms bathed in rain, and the men also showed faces of profound sorrow. The police’s expressions were a mix of sympathy and anger, with an air of shared enmity against a common enemy, as if ready to battle the heavens and fight the earth.

The beaming smile on Huang Qiangmin’s face was completely out of sync with the overall atmosphere.

Truth be told, Huang Qiangmin was usually a very serious person. When he served as the captain of the criminal police, just looking at him a few times could make one skip a meal, sending them straight into working overtime without rest.

This is why, after arriving in the completely unfamiliar Baijiang Province, Huang Qiangmin started to employ whatever little emotional intelligence he had accumulated.

Unexpectedly, it clashed completely with the moment.

Jiang Yuan followed Huang Qiangmin into the room, behind them a handful of technicians.

Upon entering, they stood behind Jiang Yuan in an arc, whispering with smiles on their faces. Then they noticed the group on the opposite side, where the atmosphere was somber with grieving family members of victims and the grim expressions of the deputy director and his subordinates.

Facing Huang Qiangmin, Deputy Director Xu Tian couldn’t really say much, so he asked with suppressed anger, "What’s the matter?"

The head of the Trace Evidence Laboratory quickly said, "Director Xu, Director Huang and his team have some results; they came to find you."

"Oh?" Xu Tian was startled, his gaze shifting from his own subordinates to Huang Qiangmin, and then to Jiang Yuan. His mind flashed with the legends of "Ningtai Jiangyuan, with raging flames," and thinking of Huang Qiangmin’s recent smile, a glimmer of hope arose, "What results?"

"That... about the case." The head of the Trace Evidence Laboratory glanced at the family members next to Xu Tian, not daring to speak out right there.

Xu Tian realized his own mistake and slapped his forehead, "Let’s go outside to talk."

"Director Xu!" the family members all called out, clearly also wanting to know the latest information immediately.

Xu Tian waved his hand, "What we’re going to discuss may not be about your case, and besides, many details of an investigation are classified. Just wait here, and I’ll come to inform you if there’s any news."

As he spoke, Xu Tian pulled Huang Qiangmin and Jiang Yuan out the door.

Left in the office, the policemen looked at each other, some quickly followed suit to leave, while others took out their cellphones and started to make calls.

In the hallway.

Walking along, Xu Tian said, "Sorry about that, the victims’ family members are very worried, we were explaining to them, and everyone’s emotions are quite tense."

"It’s okay, we’re the visiting team, after all. Providing emotional value is part of the service," Huang Qiangmin smiled unabashedly.

Xu Tian was slightly stunned, feeling that Huang Qiangmin’s tone was a bit too brusque.

Xu Tian’s smile receded a bit.

Just then, Huang Qiangmin said, "Our Jiang Yuan just analyzed the pollen on the suspect’s abandoned car and produced a pollen map, which could relatively accurately pinpoint the area where the suspect had stayed for a long time."

"Pollen map?" Xu Tian felt like he had heard someone report this to him before, yet he didn’t quite remember.

Huang Qiangmin knew he was lost, so he didn’t bother having Jiang Yuan come up to do the analysis. He simply said, "We’ve analyzed that we might be able to find where the suspect is hiding or something like a safe house."

Xu Tian’s smile blossomed again, "That’s great... Where is it?"

"You need to get us a satellite map for Jiang Yuan, one of those with high precision. He can point it out for you just by looking," Huang Qiangmin stated his requirement.

"No problem at all, that’s easy," Xu Tian responded immediately.

"That’s great, let’s head to the meeting room. I’ll message Cui Ke and the others to come over," Huang Qiangmin sent a text, calling Cui Xiaohu and others.

Xu Tian also contacted the IT department to meet in the conference room and began pulling up the satellite images that Jiang Yuan needed.

The technician from the Trace Evidence Laboratory had already hung a paper map next to him and drawn several circles on it in red, marking all the places he knew where hawthorn trees were located.

Rather than searching inch by inch on the map, this method was obviously much faster. Jiang Yuan thought to himself that when he returned, he should also go through Ningtai County, Qinghe City, and Changyang City to get a better sense of the local plants.

As much as Jiang Yuan thought, his attention quickly reverted to the computer screen.

The IT talent who had been sent to the local office by a large company was now using a mouse unique to the department, opening the first marked location and zooming in to the bottom layer.

"Let’s have a look at the surroundings within 100 meters," Jiang Yuan said.

The IT guy operated the mouse and keyboard, beginning to showcase the surroundings within 100 meters for Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan, with his arms crossed, waited for him to finish the display, then shook his head, "Not this one. Next."

The IT guy immediately switched to another location.

Xu Tian, Huang Qiangmin, and the others stood eagerly by, watching. Although there were no immediate results, seeing how confident Jiang Yuan was, they all held great expectations.

Truth be told, Jiang Yuan was feeling a bit of trepidation himself. Because of this, he also activated his temporary +1 skill.

However, since he didn’t have an intuitive understanding of LV3, nor did he experience how strong LV4 Legal Botany was, he basically looked at a location and could quickly and clearly judge whether it matched the pollen map or not.

As to how difficult such a judgment was, Jiang Yuan didn’t have a complete concept himself.

Naturally, the muggles around him were even more clueless. They watched Jiang Yuan make one judgment after another, though they thought it somewhat slow.

The hawthorn trees in Luo Jin City are indeed sparse. This fellow from the Trace Evidence Laboratory is truly a plant enthusiast, well-versed in the distribution of many plants throughout the city.

In addition to that, he’s also fairly knowledgeable about the locations within the city where rice is grown.

Of course, that’s limited to the main urban area.

If nothing turns up within the main urban area, scouring the suburbs and outer areas would be a huge task, and would have to be undertaken slowly.

Amidst various concerns, Jiang Yuan’s "next one" continued unabated.

Just as everyone started to feel a bit weary, Jiang Yuan suddenly exclaimed, "Stop!"

Huang Qiangmin perked up like a rabbit targeted by a hawk, his ears instantly on alert.

Xu Tian and the others, a little slower on the uptake, turned to look with sleepiness still clouding the corners of their eyes.

"Zoom in and take a look," Jiang Yuan said, pointing at the screen.

The location Jiang Yuan had chosen was a city park.

The park was situated on the southern side of the city, wrapping around a small hill. It was originally a private school from olden times, but after being requisitioned following the founding of the nation, it was rebuilt on the original site and extended to become a park.

The spot Jiang Yuan pointed to was on the southern side of the park, far from the private school, and was a remote location within the park itself.

The expressions of Xu Tian, Huang Qiangmin, and others turned somber.

From a detective’s point of view, the area Jiang Yuan indicated was more suited for burying a body than hiding a person.

Several technicians from the Trace Evidence Laboratory leaned in to get a better look at the area Jiang Yuan had selected and the plants displayed on the screen, silently taking it all in.

Where Jiang Yuan pointed, there was a wasteland with trails, but no tall trees.

Yet, to its north, south, east, and west, there was an abundance of plant life.

A pollen footprint is a collection of various plant species, where the core is not the species but the proportion.

In fact, if we speak solely of the species, legal botany has its issues because the pollen from many anemophilous plants can drift very far. According to records, the pollen of certain anemophilous plants can even be found in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Therefore, if a person has a certain type of pollen on them and it comes from an anemophilous plant in very small quantities, it’s impossible to conclude that they’ve made contact or been in the vicinity.

But proportions are different. In a small area, particularly within a few square meters, anemophilous plants confront similar environments, so the proportion of pollen that gets transferred to objects would be generally similar.

This type of pollen footprint is of much greater evidentiary value than pollen from individual genera or species.

Jiang Yuan was now focused on the proportions.

Looking at the enlarged satellite images, the distribution of hawthorn, birch, and elm trees in this area seemed correct, with a slightly lower proportion of pine trees, which actually made more sense considering the quantity of pine trees nearby.

"Zoom in a bit more, so we can see smaller plants," Jiang Yuan requested.

The IT guy did as instructed, enlarging the satellite image further to reveal more plant life.

Oval-leaved wild roses with yellow flowers lined the roadways, ovate climbing plants were striving to reach the top of nearby buildings, and broad ovate nettles were attracting bees and butterflies on the slopes next to the path...

In the city, a lone patch of rice stood out, seeming as if it had been sown wildly; although no Chenopodiaceae were present, a closer look at the weedy rice fields suggested that they could still be mixed in.

After making some quick calculations, Jiang Yuan no longer hesitated, confirming with certainty by pointing at the screen, "It’s right here."

Xu Tian and others who had been waiting for the results couldn’t quite believe it, saying, "Found it already?"

"Yes, the three kidnappers must have spent a considerable amount of time in this area," Jiang Yuan stated with even more certainty.

The pollen footprint had been collected from the floor mats and pedals, indicating that both front and rear passengers left similar profiles.

The identities of the three kidnappers were now confirmed. Although all three were unemployed drifters, their backgrounds differed and they wouldn’t have reason to be in this park without cause.

Simply put, they wouldn’t be here for "daily life," only for a "matter."

"Director Xu," Huang Qiangmin looked at Xu Tian, then at Cui Xiaohu who had arrived later.

"I understand. Ah, it took me a moment to catch on," Xu Tian, after being prompted by Huang Qiangmin, quickly pulled out his phone.

In no time, various sounds could be heard echoing down the corridor.

For this case team, activation meant scaling up to at least 30 members.

"I’ll go take a look too," Jiang Yuan said.

Legal botany calls for a clearer look on-site.

Huang Qiangmin tried to dissuade him, but without success, and decided to accompany him.

Cui Xiaohu and the rest didn’t hesitate and followed as well.

With bureau department heads heading to the front line, Xu Tian had no choice but to join them along with his assigned companions, and the size of the departing team instantly doubled.