National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 711 - 654: Zhengguang’s Second Case

Chapter 711: Chapter 654: Zhengguang’s Second Case

Jiang Yuan chose the corpse abandonment case in the sewer of Wanlong Gardens after sifting through dozens of cases.

The first thing that drew his attention to the case was the large number of photos and video materials, indicating that surveillance in the area was exceptionally dense.

For urban cases, if surveillance is available, it tends to make solving cold cases much easier. Even for murder cases that weren’t solved at the time, reviewing the surveillance footage now provides at least fresh evidence on that front.

As Jiang Yuan continued to browse through the photos, he found some clues, which ultimately led him to select this case as the Cold Case Squad’s second case at Zhengguang Bureau.

After all, working in Beijing means being surrounded by many talents and countless pairs of eyes watching, Jiang Yuan felt the need for a clean and decisive murder investigation.

The complexity of the blood-stained clothing case was relatively high, and there were unsatisfactory aspects in the investigation process. In the context of Cantonese morning tea, it would at most be considered an extra dish, not a highlight.

Solving cases often resembles warfare, winning means you don’t have to emphasize how strong the opponent was, after all, the opponent is a defeated army; losing means you don’t need to stress the opponent’s strength either, because you’ve lost anyway.

Whether a victory looks graceful often depends on the casualties ratio. No matter how elite your forces are, defeating an overwhelming mob still counts as victory against the odds; conversely, no matter the reason, losing is just foolish. Zhang Han at the End of Qin and Liu Xiu at the End of Han understood this.

When it comes to solving cases, the casualties ratio is also critical, considering the losses, both in terms of expenses and time spent.

Of course, regular folks in white shirts wouldn’t think this way, most detectives are happy just to solve a case; this is merely Jiang Yuan’s personal discipline.

The conference room.

Wang Chuanxing and Mu Zhiyang had sorted countless photos across the table, neatly arranged.

This was one of Jiang Yuan’s traditional skills; he could deduce so much from photos that he struggled to describe to his subordinates exactly what he needed, so he’d rather have everything laid out before him.

Liu ’Stinky’ Sheng lay in the corner with a resentful look, as he was the main investigator on the Wanlong Gardens sewer corpse case and knew the case best. However, at this moment, steeped in experience as he was, all he wanted was to be left in peace.

Because if someone was to go back into the sewer, it would likely be him, and while Liu Cheng’s every cell might be accustomed to foul odors, the stench of the sewer and the trash heap are not the same.

"Liu Da," Jiang Yuan called out, holding a photograph in his hand.

"Just call me Liu," Liu Cheng replied modestly. Not wanting to be seen was one thing, but his body still moved swiftly to Jiang Yuan’s side.

Jiang Yuan covered his nose and cleared his throat with slight embarrassment before speaking, "Let’s discuss the case first."

"Sure. You first," Liu Cheng replied, obediently stepping back.

Jiang Yuan handed over the photograph to Liu Cheng and continued, "Look here, the victim’s photo at the scene. I’ve noticed that your special case team thought there might be body movement or robbery-homicide involved? I have a different opinion here."

Liu Cheng’s heart skipped a beat but quickly settled.

The panic stemmed from making a mistake. While errors are common at work, making one in a murder investigation and having it pointed out was another matter... But since it was Jiang Yuan addressing the mistake, Liu Cheng felt it wasn’t a big deal.

Given Jiang Yuan’s reputation, some in the bureau might still murmur, but when it came to expertise, in formal settings, be it meetings or internal discussions, no one dared ignore or take Jiang Yuan’s judgments lightly anymore.

In other words, Jiang Yuan’s corrections were not alarming, and at the very least, he wouldn’t be criticized for them.

Liu Cheng steadied himself and looked at the photo again, frowning before asking in a calm and gentle voice, "You’re going to have to give me a bit more direction."

"Look, the victim’s left hand is grasping the algae on the side of the drain," Jiang Yuan explained, "His left hand appears quite relaxed, but that’s actually just muscle rigidity after death making it seem lax. Also, his neck is wrapped with a garbage bag from the scene, which is more likely the primary crime scene." Jiang Yuan had studied the photo for quite a while, and now he could describe it without even looking.

Liu Cheng became even more puzzled and said, "Wouldn’t post-mortem gripping typically get tighter rather than looser?"

"That’s not necessarily true; it depends on the environment he was in and his posture at the time of death." Jiang Yuan paused, then added, "When you all discovered the body, the rigor mortis had been over for quite some time, so it just appears to be lax. He most likely clasped the bundle of grass very tightly before he died."

Liu Cheng nodded, half understanding—he wasn’t a forensic doctor and didn’t have the capability to argue with Jiang Yuan on these points. Nor did he need to; his job was to listen.

At this moment, Jiang Yuan picked up another photo and handed it to Liu Cheng, saying, "This brings me to my second point, determining the time of death. You all estimated the time of death to be between two and five days ago, which is too conservative. It’s been at least seven days."

Even today, with all the methods available for estimating time of death, it remains an empirical science, an area in which Jiang Yuan could exercise significant discretion.

Liu Cheng couldn’t help exclaiming, "Ah," then hurriedly said, "The body was discovered on February 18th, but someone reported seeing him on February 12th."

Their forensic doctor gave an estimate of two to five days after death based on this information. As for using elements beyond the autopsy to judge the time of death... that method is certainly correct, relying on broken watches and the like to determine the time of death is a common practice in criminal investigations.

Jiang Yuan didn’t dwell on these details with Liu Cheng, instead looking at the photo again before suggesting, "You should bring in this last witness for another thorough questioning."

Liu Cheng was startled and upon seeing Jiang Yuan’s serious expression, his own face darkened, "Is this bastard deceiving us?"

"Who is he?" Jiang Yuan signaled to Wang Chuanxing and the others to flip through the reports.

Under normal circumstances, when ordinary people face criminal detectives, not being completely exposed is a sign of good psychological quality. If they’ve done something wrong or feel guilty, it’s quite easy for detectives to see through them.

In other words, those who can give false testimony are either in special circumstances or are not ordinary people.

Liu Cheng didn’t wait for Wang Chuanxing to find the report, saying himself, "He’s the owner of the corner mahjong parlor, and he lives in Wanlong Gardens. He said that on February 12th, he encountered the victim in the neighborhood and greeted him. I remember that the victim was a regular customer of his, and the two didn’t have much of a financial dispute, just some gambling debts at most."

"Well, let’s start by asking him. Meanwhile, we’ll check the surveillance videos especially before February 11th, going back to February 9th." Jiang Yuan chose Wanlong Gardens because there was an especially large amount of video material from there.

Since the time of death was previously established as after February 12th, the videos from before that date—what Jiang Yuan considered to be the actual time of death—were not thoroughly examined by anyone.

This is also a downside of having too many videos, similar to the problems faced with big data: when there’s an overload of information, sorting through it becomes a challenge.

Liu Cheng, looking increasingly grave, acknowledged the instruction and immediately left to lead his team straight to the mahjong parlor near Wanlong Gardens.

It’s one thing for a case to go unsolved, but quite another to be duped to his face by the killer, which Liu Cheng found particularly hard to accept.

Tang Jia watched Liu Cheng leave and then, clutching her phone, hurried over and said, "Captain Jiang, Commissioner Huang is already on the plane."

"He’s coming to Beijing?" Jiang Yuan was slightly surprised, "That quickly?"

"He didn’t expect you to solve your second case this quickly." Tang Jia found it a bit amusing and exciting. She turned to look at the Zhengguang Bureau’s meeting room and suddenly felt like a starving person who has just entered a buffet.