National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 622 - 566: Resorting to Every Conceivable Method

Chapter 622: Chapter 566: Resorting to Every Conceivable Method

"So we’re changing plans?"

After making a full circuit and returning, Cui Xiaohu and Li Haochen arrived in Qingbai City, only to receive some complaint-like feedback, and had no choice but to come and inquire from Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan then relayed Liu Jinghui’s series of deductions to the two of them.

Li Haochen nodded frequently while listening, and after asking a couple more questions, he couldn’t help but express his surprise, "I’ve heard of Shan Nan’s Liu Jinghui’s reputation, but I didn’t expect him to have the real goods. Captain Jiang, introduce me to him later."

Li Haochen looked like he had just graduated from the police academy, and he wasn’t much of a talker before. It was only after hearing Jiang Yuan’s relay of Liu Jinghui’s deductions that he became interested.

There was nothing to say about that. Jiang Yuan turned around and called Liu Jinghui over, then made the introductions.

"I’ve heard of Director Li Haochen’s reputation." Liu Jinghui clearly knew about Li Haochen as well, being an official sent from the ministry; even if he was young, he was still a leader whose slightest actions could stir the entire province with their unusual scent.

Li Haochen humbly declined the praise, then comfortably started discussing with Liu Jinghui.

He also used to travel for work frequently and knew how to communicate with famous detectives from different places.

Within just a few sentences, Li Haochen revealed his own aphorism, "If it were me killing these three people, I’d definitely need a means of transportation. Otherwise, even if I left at dawn, encountering someone on the road would be hard to explain. If I weren’t careful, I might even be caught."

"That’s true. So, considering the conditions 20 years ago, we’re looking at trains, cars, tricycles, that sort of thing."

"Getting on a train is pretty tough, though. How do you get such a big person to the train station? Even if it’s a freight station, there are still plenty of people coming and going. Maybe use one of those maintenance flatcars on the railway tracks?"

"A railcar? That’s possible." Liu Jinghui was still maintaining an open mindset and, looking at Li Haochen, smiled and asked, "If you did it, which would you choose?"

Li Haochen actually took a moment to think seriously and said, "A flatcar is also fixed onto the rails. The problems encountered moving a body onto a flatcar would be similar to moving it onto the tracks, unless the murder took place right beside the railway. But then, why not just abandon the body there?"

"All said and done, we still need a vehicle." Liu Jinghui nodded.

"And proper camouflage is needed," Li Haochen added, "I couldn’t possibly plan so meticulously only to have it all fall apart due to an unexpected event."

"Exactly." Liu Jinghui nodded in agreement, admiring the youthful face of Li Haochen, "Director Li is also quite adept at deduction. And your perspective is quite unique."

"There’s no helping it." When the conversation turned to this topic, Li Haochen couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

Liu Jinghui asked, "What do you mean?"

Li Haochen shook his head, "Given the current environment, just deducing things in the Criminal Investigation Department isn’t cutting it anymore. I have to do fieldwork from time to time, going undercover and such..."

Liu Jinghui listened, almost moved to tears.

That really sounded tough!

...

Jiang Yuan spent three days in the lab before he managed to extract some of the pollen from the clothing of the second victim.

Even being able to do this was a reflection of his rising status. The extraction of pollen was a destructive process, so Jiang Yuan’s method was to cut out six pieces of fabric from the clothing. If an expert wanted to work on this case in the future and needed the complete clothing of the victim, they would be hindered.

However, considering it was a case from 20 years ago, thinking about the future wasn’t really significant.

If the murderer was young back then, they might still be alive now. If they were middle-aged or older, the killer might already be dead. Even solving the case and uncovering the so-called truth, what significance would it hold?

Of course, the main thing was that Jiang Yuan’s demonstrated competence was enough; for leaders at all levels, Jiang Yuan now had the standing to decide the direction of a case.

And Jiang Yuan had indeed produced some results.

At the subsequent small-scale case analysis meeting, Jiang Yuan prepared a PowerPoint presentation and simply stated:

"Victim number two was a 27-year-old female who owned a frozen food store. There was a florist within the same market, which is why her clothing had a large amount of pollen from commercial flowers, making the botanical analysis a bit challenging."

"However, something peculiar, I found pollen from fir, dawn redwood, Chinese juniper, and ginkgo trees on her clothing—a series of tree pollen..."

"The body of victim number two was found in the southern outskirts of Huo City, where such trees are seldom planted, but the botanical garden on the western outskirts has a wide variety of species, so we can reasonably speculate that the western botanical garden is likely the primary crime scene for victim number two."

Jiang Yuan paused here before adding, "Captain Wu Junhao has already led a team there to search for witnesses."

Liu Jinghui’s expression was serious, "Finding the primary crime scene should have been a major breakthrough, but if it’s the botanical garden, the traces from 20 years ago are unlikely to have remained, right?"

"Unless there was something like a weapon left behind." Jiang Yuan also felt helpless. If the scene had been inside a residential building, in a tenant’s home, there was indeed a chance to find bloodstains or DNA. Although 20 years is a long time, things that weren’t cleaned up properly then might still not be clean now.

But the botanical garden is different. There are natural decomposers in botanical gardens, from insects to microorganisms to various fungi, with no ecological niche going unfilled. In such a place, let alone biological evidence, even normal clothing can be completely decomposed.

"At least it shows that the victim visited the botanical garden that day," Liu Jinghui said, reviving the somber atmosphere.

Jiang Yuan nodded and continued, "The victim had dinner with her parents the night before, and the commute from the southern outskirts to the western outskirts of Huo City the next day should take about 30 minutes to an hour. She probably took the bus."

"Are there any witnesses?" Liu Jinghui looked to the side.

Among those present were the Huo City police officers, who had been assigned to the task force. At this moment, one leaned forward and said, "There were people who saw the victim leave the market, but there were no more witnesses after that, and at that time, we didn’t know where she had gone..."

Suddenly, Liu Jinghui felt a surge of excitement, "It was a weekday, wasn’t it? A frozen food store owner wouldn’t just go to the botanical garden for no reason, even 20 years ago, there wouldn’t have been anyone going to the botanical garden for fun, right?"

Li Haochen also suggested, "The victim was 27, unmarried, no boyfriend... Could it be a romantic relationship? A crime of passion?"

"We can’t rule out that possibility."

"If it was a crime of passion, this victim would be the only one connected to the killer."

"How can we prove it?"

At this, Liu Jinghui and Li Haochen both turned to look at Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan spread his hands. Even if there had been surveillance 20 years ago, the tapes might have been ruined by now. Not many items could endure like pollen spores do, and many things that felt tough at the time would have decayed a few years later.

"We could try asking people close to her. Maybe there was a secret boyfriend or something," Li Haochen sought confirmation from Jiang Yuan again, "Was the victim a virgin? Any signs of pregnancy?"

"No, she wasn’t. There were no signs of pregnancy," replied Jiang Yuan, who had thoroughly reviewed the autopsy report.

"I think we need to do a comprehensive questioning of the victim’s relatives, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances," said Li Haochen. "There probably wasn’t online dating 20 years ago, right? If she was in a relationship, there must have been some way they met."

"There was online dating," said Liu Jinghui, looking at the younger Li Haochen, "we were making friends in chat rooms back in the ’90s."

"Alright," conceded Li Haochen, not arguing further, and then added: "We should also look into the transportation used. If the victim died in the botanical garden, the killer would have had to transport her out of there to reach the railway on schedule. A car would have been inconvenient. A tricycle? Seems better than a motorcycle, more concealment and not expensive."

"Tricycles were indeed quite common in the city back then," Liu Jinghui agreed without opposition, though following these two leads seemed easier said than done.

Jiang Yuan, at a loss for what to do next, then said, "Call Director Xu over."

Huang Qiangmin took a look at Jiang Yuan and said, "You’ve stood up Xu Taining twice. He might not be willing to come anymore."

"Just tell him I’m at my wit’s end, and this case is unlikely to be solved in the short term," Jiang Yuan said with a slight smile, speaking the truth.

The corners of Huang Qiangmin’s mouth also couldn’t help but rise into a smile of 66.6 degrees, "That might be quite tempting for Director Xu."