National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 633 - 577: Finding Someone by Footprints

Chapter 633: Chapter 577: Finding Someone by Footprints

After lunch.

Jiang Yuan rested a bit more in the dormitory, and when it was almost time to go back to work, he heard a commotion in the courtyard.

"What’s going on?" Jiang Yuan asked Wang Chuanxing, who had already come over to watch the excitement.

Wang Chuanxing, looking enthusiastic about the commotion, said, "The first case we worked on this morning, the theft of agricultural supplies, the video office found a Wuling Hongguang. They tracked down the car’s owner using the license plate and now the car owner’s family and relatives have all come over, except for the car owner himself."

"The steel pipes in the vegetable patch, right? Were the pipes found?" Jiang Yuan asked.

"Not found."

"There are pictures of the driver at the checkpoint, right? Is the driver the car owner? Didn’t he come?"

"The driver is the car owner, who didn’t show up."

"Some smarts there," Jiang Yuan commented. If the involved party isn’t present, you can’t arrest anyone, much less have an absent trial, which creates room for troublemaking.

Wang Chuanxing said, "Isn’t that why they’re so arrogant, because we’re a bit short of evidence? The family includes five cousins alone, and the father’s generation consists of three brothers, plus two uncles, just in terms of men, that’s 10 people. I heard even an uncle or someone is rushing over."

While they were talking, the instructor also spotted Jiang Yuan and came over, helplessly saying, "It looks like we’ll be fussing over this for the entire afternoon. This family is just obstinate, and the uneducated kind at that; they’re just here to cause trouble."

As the instructor spoke, he looked at Jiang Yuan, somewhat hoping he would spit out some guidance.

The case value of a dozen steel pipes wasn’t high, nowhere near the solid threshold of 3000 yuan. Theoretically, cases with a value of 5000 yuan must be filed, but that’s not to say there’s no room for discussion. Like now, if the commotion is too fierce, it might be better to pacify their mood first to avoid greater losses.

Jiang Yuan chuckled and said, "This family doesn’t seem like the type who doesn’t understand the law. Moreover, not stealing should be a common social consensus, shouldn’t it? Even those who don’t understand the law should know that."

"You’re right," the instructor said, and, noticing that Jiang Yuan wasn’t very pleased, explained, "From the look of the victim, they probably don’t want to make it a big deal either. They live in the village and don’t want to offend the Jin family..."

"Criminal cases have nothing to do with whether the victim wants to pursue the matter or not." Jiang Yuan, who came from the rural area himself, understood what the instructor was worried about. A family with several brothers and numerous relatives, even if not village tyrants, could be quite a dominant force in the countryside. Sending one of their family members to jail would surely result in displeased relatives making trouble for the victim’s family afterward.

If it were a major case, it might be different, but for this kind of case where the culprit would only be jailed for a few months, the convicts would seek retribution from the victim upon release. Then, the police station would be continuously called out to mediate, exhausting its resources.

If the Jin family acted recklessly, it would be easier to deal with; one could just imprison someone again for provocations or disturbances, which could quiet things down for a while. However, if they started by throwing manure when passing by one day, or tossing a couple of rabbits into the victim’s vegetable patch the next, life would only get harder for the victim.

However, Jiang Yuan, observing the aggressive demeanor of the family, wasn’t keen on letting them off easily.

The family was a bit too audacious, daring to cause trouble at the police station even though they clearly knew they were in the wrong...

Jiang Yuan then said, "Most people in Ningtai Rural Area go out to work if they don’t have demolition compensation, right? How come all the young people in this family have stayed in the village? What do they live off of?"

"They run a shop," the instructor said, bumping into a soft spot. Deciding to stop bothering, he cleared himself of responsibility and said, "I asked the resident police officer in that area; the Jin family runs shops in the township. Some relatives have opened shops in Qinghe and Ningtai County or in the next township. They do all sorts of things. This time they just gathered together."

"Dressed quite well, and they can even afford a car," Jiang Yuan remarked.

"Is their business doing well?"

"Possibly," Jiang Yuan replied, unconvinced.

Residents in townships generally don’t have much cash on hand; even if they run a shop, the profits are quite limited. Judging by the situation of this family, they were noticeably better off than average. And from the language and manner they demonstrated, it was clear they were not simply relying on intellectual or physical effort for their income.

"Go call Mu Zhiyang over," Jiang Yuan instructed Wang Chuanxing.

Wang Chuanxing nodded and left without a word, bringing Mu Zhiyang back with him.

"You two do something for me. First, go find some loose soil to spread in the courtyard, then call the Jin family members over one by one and have them walk through the loose soil. Take photos of their footprints," Jiang Yuan paused, then added, "It might be tricky to take the photos, so I’ll stand by to keep an eye."

Wang Chuanxing and Mu Zhiyang nodded and immediately went to do it.

The instructor watched on, not understanding the purpose.

"Instructor, if it’s convenient for you, find a couple of people to offer some water to the Jin family members. Later, collect the cups and other things, and take some fingerprints?" Jiang Yuan made another request.

Only then did the instructor begin to understand what was going on and couldn’t help saying, "Do you suspect there are other cases involved?"

"People love a big spectacle," Jiang Yuan said with a smile that needed no explanation, "Beating a child on a rainy day, idle hands are the devil’s workshop. I’ll go first."

After saying hello, he stood beside the courtyard, looking on like a bystander.

Soon, Mu Zhiyang and Wang Chuanxing brought over two boxes of soil and carefully sprinkled it over the center of the courtyard.

Then, Mu Zhiyang positioned himself in a shady corner and took out a notebook to start recording, waiting for Wang Chuanxing to call people over.

The first time Wang Chuanxing called someone, four people came together. As they passed through the courtyard, their footprints were clearly visible, and their gait distinct.

Wang Chuanxing looked toward Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan nodded almost imperceptibly.

Once the four people reached the corner, they were spread a few meters apart. They were not disciplined and pricked up their ears, intent on hearing the questions Mu Zhiyang asked.

Mu Zhiyang simply asked each of them a few basic questions like their names, ages, and phone numbers.

Confused, the four people were then led back by Wang Chuanxing, while Mu Zhiyang took the opportunity to take photos, matching the footprints with the names.

After a while, Wang Chuanxing brought out two more people.

The procedure was exactly the same.

As a result, the Jin Family started to feel smug, and those who came later would walk with a swagger.

After seeing more than a dozen people from the Jin Family, Jiang Yuan watched until the end and then headed back to the office.

Mu Zhiyang and Wang Chuanxing gathered their notebooks and took several more photos in the courtyard before cleaning up and returning to the office themselves.

As for taking fingerprints, which the instructor had arranged, Jiang Yuan didn’t pay much attention to it. Taking fingerprints was simple, but obtaining a complete set from all ten fingers was slightly more challenging. However, if necessary, there would be ways to do it later.

"What now?" Wang Chuanxing and Mu Zhiyang came back to the office, still slightly excited, guessing what Jiang Yuan was thinking.

"Pull up the cases from the nearby village where the Jin Family lives, focusing on the recent years, especially those with footprints. Let’s start with those," Jiang Yuan instructed.

Jiang Yuan was focused on footprints. Modern people are generally aware that fingerprints can reveal their identity, so even a foolish criminal would know how to cover up their fingerprints.

Moreover, in rural areas compared to cities, it’s even harder to preserve fingerprints and use them to solve crimes.

Footprints are different. It’s nearly impossible for most people to conceal their own footprints—sweeping them away while walking is easier said than done. Criminal activity is arduous, such as stealing in the dead of night, usually during the still of darkness, groping around, easily walking thousands of steps in one night.

Walking around aimlessly in the pitch dark is tiring enough, let alone stopping to sweep up. And what if you’re carrying something large? Like the recent case of the missing steel pipes: you can’t sweep while transporting steel pipes, can you? After all that effort, would you really go back and sweep? How can you tell where you’ve walked in complete darkness? Should you use a flashlight to check?

If it was a murder, it might be worth meticulously cleaning the scene, but for stealing a dozen steel pipes—worth maybe a couple of thousand yuan, if that much? It would be less hassle to work at a factory. Or set up a night market stall.

Besides, such efforts might not even be effective and could instead reveal more information.

Compared to that, the chances of encountering high-end trace identification that can use footprints are slim; a bit of luck, and you’ll likely avoid it.

But for those who encounter Jiang Yuan, it’s just plain bad luck.

Jiang Yuan quickly pulled up cases from Litang Township with footprint photos through the software’s backend.

Searching for a person through footprints is troublesome, but if you start with someone’s footprints and then compare them to photos, isn’t the database problem practically solved?

If the Jin Family members were law-abiding, not engaging in petty theft or violent crimes, then Jiang Yuan would just be wasting his time.

Or if it weren’t for someone like Jiang Yuan, say Qinghe City’s top trace analyst and footprint expert Chen Wenming, who might have to repeatedly compare photos to identify a print, it would be time-consuming to follow this procedure.

But for Jiang Yuan, flipping through a footprint photo took mere seconds—it was that simple.

"Hey, got one," Jiang Yuan grinned after just half an hour.

The instructor who came in with the collected fingerprints saw Jiang Yuan’s smile and felt his heart skip a beat for no apparent reason.