National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 717 - 660 Blossoming

Chapter 717: Chapter 660 Blossoming

"If it’s true that there is a problem with the evidence collected by the technicians, then our case has nothing left," Tao Lu pondered for a while, looking somewhat frustrated.

For them, this case had also involved a great deal of time and effort. If they had to start all over again... Tao Lu wasn’t afraid of his subordinates getting tired, but this case was no longer current, and much of the evidence was no longer usable, yet finding new evidence was not possible.

"That is indeed a problem," Jiang Yuan stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "Which evidence can be used and which cannot will be something we need to determine later. I think we can start by verifying the palm prints. Because from the initial investigation direction, the crime was thought to be committed by someone familiar, hence the palm print comparisons were made with the relatives and friends of the victim from Fang Xia Village."

Tao Lu’s face turned ashen, as if someone had smeared pot ash on it, giving off a faintly faded gray look.

"If there’s a problem with the palm prints, does that mean the murderer might have slipped away right under our noses?" Tao Lu said in a heavy voice.

"We can’t be certain yet," Jiang Yuan used a bit of emotional intelligence, after all, it was the result of the efforts of hundreds of people over a long time. If it was because a few criminal investigation officers weren’t careful...

It could only be said that the criminal police in Beijing had it a bit too good; they seldom encountered unreliable technicians. In Shan Nan, there was no need for the likes of Longli County to take the stage with their bottom-ranking skills. Just the LV0.5 crime scene investigation abilities of Comrade Wang Zhong from Ningtai County could easily lead to problems if not careful enough.

Nothing strange about that, the world is full of people who just muddle through. Some people can’t find jobs, some become civil servants, some become police officers, others become doctors, and some become authors—everyone has a side that slacks off.

Even with dogs, there are meritorious canines like Dahei, as well as useless mutts.

"What’s your plan?" Tao Lu adjusted his attitude.

Jiang Yuan said, "My suggestion is to do a palm print comparison for all the police officers involved in the investigation."

"This... Alright. The sooner we check, the sooner we can be at ease," Tao Lu sighed, knowing the decision would certainly face some resistance, although not too much. To be honest, it was nothing new for crime scene investigators to leave their own fingerprints or DNA at the scene, even in the brightest beacon of a country, it’s the same.

"What next?" Tao Lu asked.

"If there is indeed a problem with the palm prints, we’ll go back and investigate along the lines of personal relationships again, looking for obvious suspects as if it were an inside job. Meanwhile, I will study the evidence in the case further."

Seeing Jiang Yuan’s calm demeanor, Tao Lu suddenly felt envious.

In fact, if the palm prints are set aside, it’s as if the case has to be reinvestigated from scratch, and there are plenty of mature approaches to follow for reinvestigating a case. Unless Jiang Yuan opts for some unconventional approach, the basic model is more or less the same, and Tao Lu could arrange it with his eyes closed.

But such youthfulness and confidence as Jiang Yuan’s were what Tao Lu lacked.

Even now, Tao Lu couldn’t help but harbor doubts and fears. He shook his head and said to Jiang Yuan, "You don’t seem worried about the case hitting a dead end."

"We’ll deal with a dead end when we get to it," Jiang Yuan was indeed not too worried. Not to mention that cold cases didn’t have the same pressure to be solved, but considering the resolution of the case itself, why should a sloppy criminal get the better of a fully equipped Jiang Yuan.

Back at the police station, Tao Lu hurriedly set things in motion.

The local police stations and the criminal police were unrelated, and he also had to coordinate with the chief. On the other hand, the technicians dispatched by the criminal police that day needed to be checked as well, and those involved in cases outside had to be called back.

Before the verification even began, the team was already abuzz with activity.

Cui Qishan, the captain of the fourth brigade, seized the opportunity to recruit, forming a small group and said, "The forensic doctor from outside looks at us with such cold indifference. Not to say we are the clients here, the ones who have paid, and even if we were freeloading, based on how it used to be, he couldn’t act this way, right? That’s why, to strike the iron, one must be strong. We should form our own elite task force, crack the case beautifully, and establish ourselves."

Xiao Si said, "But these cold cases are the leftovers of our own doing. Didn’t we solve them before because we didn’t like them?"

Cui Qishan replied, "Don’t talk such disheartening words. When have we ever done a cold case cleanup without solving three to five of them?"

Xiao Si said, "But those were many times the size of a task force working together for several months to achieve the results. This year, we’ve had no shortage of current cases."

Cui Qishan answered, "The previous task forces were composed of members from one brigade after another, but this time it’s different. We’re going to form an elite group, all core criminal police officers. Can’t the combat effectiveness be the same?"

Wang Chao asked, "Are all of us in this group elites?"

Cui Qishan confirmed, "That’s right, you should be feeling a bit excited now."

Li Jiang: "So, who’s in charge of ordering takeout, keeping the ledger, and stuff like that?"

Holding his phone, Cui Qishan was stunned for a moment, furrowed his brows, and looked at the question, realizing that it indeed was a loophole.

After some thought, Cui Qishan, feeling helpless, continued to type: "Once our special case team is set up, I’ll call a couple of young people over."

Li Jiang: "It’s best to call them in advance, set up a working group responsible for all sorts of miscellaneous tasks when forming the team."

Cui Qishan was stunned again, but eventually, he caved in to reality.

So, Cui Qishan had no choice but to choose two young criminal police officers from his own unit to join the group, which greatly dispelled the elite group’s atmosphere.

Fortunately, the overall atmosphere of the special case team was still decent, and the cases selected by Cui Qishan were also approved by everyone. Thus, a 12-person special case team was operational.

After busying himself with this task, Cui Qishan stretched lazily, listening to the crackling of his bones for a while, then strolled over to report to Tao Lu, ready to earn some praise.

As a middle-aged man, apart from having his subordinates achieve some success that he could report to his superiors, opportunities to receive praise were already few.

Approaching Tao Lu’s door, before Cui Qishan could enter, he heard a thunderous roar from inside:

"Entering the scene without gloves? Have your brains been kicked by a donkey?"

"The donkeys in Liugouyan are tasty, it’s not their hooves you should be on the receiving end of!"

"Why didn’t you report after touching the scene? Forgot? What do you remember? You only remember the donkey burger, I bet!"

Tao Lu was usually just serious, but when he started scolding, it was as if he was car-sick from eating too much hot pot—his speech was fast and copious, leaving people dizzy and confused.

Cui Qishan turned his head to leave, but at that moment, Tao Lu, who had just finished scolding someone, happened to open the door.

"Cui? Is there something you need?" Tao Lu’s tone had returned to normal. If not for the poor soundproofing of the door, Cui Qishan wouldn’t have known that he had just chewed someone out.

"I wanted to report to you about the special case team," Cui Qishan said in a low voice.

Tao Lu loosened the collar of his white shirt, "Oh? Has the case been solved?"

Cui Qishan was startled, thinking how things had not reached that point yet.

Seeing his reaction, Tao Lu was also startled for a moment, then burst into laughter: "I was talking to Jiang Yuan and got carried away. No worries, no worries. What’s up with your special case team?"

Cui Qishan felt a bit wronged. Even if it were Jiang Yuan... Of course, Jiang Yuan did solve the last case in just a few days, which was quite impressive, but such outcomes shouldn’t be considered the norm.

Tao Lu cleared his throat and said warmly, "No worries. Go ahead, do you need funding?"

"No, I’m not here for money," Cui Qishan had intended to ask for funding, but he certainly couldn’t bring himself to do it now and simply said, "We’ve successfully formed the team now..."

He reported the work from the past few days, and at the end, somewhat unsatisfied yet curious, he asked, "Tao, about the family annihilation case in Fang Xia Village, the palm print didn’t match?"

"Yeah, a young officer from the police station, when he went in to examine the bodies, accidentally touched the nightstand."

"This... is within reason, yet unexpected," Cui Qishan was genuinely baffled. Similar situations usually occurred when a case had been solved and the evidence was contradictory. Like this time, it was rare for Jiang Yuan to directly point out a problem with the evidence.

Tao Lu nodded slightly and then unexpectedly, his face showed a hint of anticipation, "It’s now a bit harder to investigate the victim’s social network than during the actual case, but as long as we solve it, we’re not afraid of difficulties."

"You’re right," Cui Qishan, observing the rare expression on the chief’s face, silently made up his mind: Moving forward, I will see that smile bloom again!