National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 738 - 681: Rotten Corpse in the Rain

Chapter 738: Chapter 681: Rotten Corpse in the Rain

The clouds on the horizon were brilliantly red.

Mounding dark clouds desperately squeezed for their position, but they could only circle at the edge.

Some ashen clouds continuously flung themselves at the red clouds, only to be stripped of parts and then fall back in defeat.

Sometimes, the gray clouds expelled by the red ones would flop listlessly at the edge of the mass, unable to blend in, unable to break away, and yet so frail on their own.

Tao Lu exhaled a large puff of smoke, seemingly trying to assist the dark clouds in their struggle, his entire being exuding a sense of malaise.

Huang Qiangmin, tired of keeping company, sighed and said, "Tao, why don’t you head back to the office to rest? I’ll call you when there’s a result?"

"I won’t be able to rest well if I go back. I’d rather stay here." Tao Lu was unwilling to leave; he was waiting for the outcome of Jiang Yuan’s case selection. What if he left now and Jiang Yuan also clocked out?

Huang Qiangmin brewed Tao Lu another cup of tea and took a few sips of water himself before saying, "Jiang Yuan is taking it seriously. Do you know how he used to select cases back in Ningtai?"

"How did he pick?" Tao Lu was indeed intrigued.

"In order," Huang Qiangmin laughed.

"In order?" Tao Lu was a bit puzzled.

"That is, he’d take a stack of case files and solve them in order," Huang Qiangmin curled his lips and continued, "You don’t know, back then, everyone in our entire county bureau was running around everywhere. We were arresting people left and right; the judicial and court branches of the bureau were overwhelmed. Cases that could be re-assigned were sent to places like Qinghe City—the whole city was busy!"

Tao Lu’s eyes almost gleamed at the story; this was a police officer of mythical proportions, as if he had stepped right out of a CCTV broadcast.

Huang Qiangmin went on, "Now Jiang Yuan is earnestly choosing a case, probably worried about tackling a big one he can’t crack, or picking one that’s not significant enough. He seems a bit conflicted."

With this explanation, not only did Tao Lu feel more contented, he even felt grateful—Jiang Yuan was genuinely considering his position.

Apart from his consideration, who else would specifically pick out such significant and serious cases?

Solving a case was not like a TV drama; if a case was accepted and couldn’t be solved, the aftermath was a hassle. In fact, now there was a lifelong responsibility system for cases. Even after retirement, someone could show up at your door with a notebook, asking about an old case. And when you think of some crucial piece of evidence, that’s when the assassins are about to arrive.

For ordinary detectives, a murder case was just that—a murder case. Being able to boast about solving significant cases was well and good, but to actively seek them out truly required a stout heart.

In truth, those who could solve ordinary murder cold cases were already the elite of the elite.

Tao Lu lit another cigarette and handed one to Huang Qiangmin, smiling, "No rush, let’s take it slow; I can wait."

Huang Qiangmin smiled, nodded, and resumed their conversation about more lighthearted matters. Soon, Cui Qishan, Xiao Si, and Li Jiang, who had come for the special case team’s procedure, joined the chat, and the mood in the smoking area sank into gloom again.

The sky gradually darkened.

The lights in the office were glaringly bright.

Just as Tao Lu felt nauseous from smoking, he saw an extremely tall silhouette emerge from the office.

Tao Lu immediately stubbed out his cigarette butt deep into the flowerpot.

"Tao," Jiang Yuan called out politely, then said, "I’ve selected a case; take a look."

Tao Lu naturally accepted the case file, steadied himself, and couldn’t help but smile. In such a short time, he’d already become a bit anxious—a Criminal Investigation Detachment head who only messed up when taking action, and whose heart nearly stopped at the ring of a phone call at night. Honestly, that role was for anyone who wanted it.

After mentally preparing himself, Tao Lu looked at the file again.

Although he expected a significant case, Tao Lu was still shaken by the content of the file: "Rainy Corpse Decay Case?"

As is well known, crimes committed on rainy days are difficult to investigate. There are several key points, such as evidence being easily washed away by rainwater, the reduced efficiency of cameras and other equipment, and fewer pedestrians and poorer visibility during rain, making eyewitnesses unlikely.

These points are generally understood by anyone with a basic knowledge of criminology. Cases like the "Rainy Night Butcher" in Hong Kong took advantage of the cover provided by rain.

Naturally, some criminals thought they were clever by choosing similar methods to commit their crimes. But of these, not many evolved into cold cases.

The "Rainy Corpse Decay Case" was one of them.

The victim was discovered beside a rarely trodden path. The path led to an abandoned quarry that no longer saw much vehicle or foot traffic. It was only when a passing villager smelled something foul and investigated further that they found the severely decomposed body.

When the detective squad arrived, the first thing they noticed was that the area around the body had been meticulously cleaned. And, according to the forensic doctor’s estimation of the time of death, it had been raining during the days the body was discarded.

However, the case wouldn’t have been dubbed "rainy" if it ended there. In the following two months, two more similar cases were discovered.

Bodies were abandoned in the wilderness, and it had been raining before and after the estimated time of death—Beijing’s forensic physicians were capable, and pinpointing the day of death was no problem. After the identities of the victims were established one by one, a pattern emerged: all three were traveling singers-for-hire.

The standardization of the three cases, along with the careful cleaning of each body and its surroundings, and the fact that the victims were all sex workers—a favorite target of serial killers—made the timing of the "rain" particularly prominent.

Knowing how to use the weather and choosing vulnerable victims, such an obviously professional killer would naturally receive extra attention.

And the killer’s actions also showed that the murders were planned, not impulsive.

Normal people actually find it very difficult to come up with three enemies they still need to kill after careful thought.

So, this kind of killer is essentially killing for the sake of killing, not for profit, and this theory naturally attracted a large police force from the Criminal Police Brigade, particularly after the third case, when Tao Lu not only deployed troops but also sought help from ministries and experts from other places.

But they still had not cracked the case.

Fortunately, after the three incidents, for the next half a year there were no similar cases, leading Tao Lu and others to believe the killer might have disappeared.

However, the fourth case reappeared three years ago. It was another prostitute who accompanied clients on trips, the body was again discarded in the wilderness, and the crime scene was meticulously cleaned in the rainy weather...

Then, the killer went into hiding again.

Tao Lu had not expected Jiang Yuan to choose this case and couldn’t help saying, "The case you’ve chosen is indeed a serious one, but isn’t it too difficult?"

His gaze swept toward Huang Qiangmin. Didn’t you say that Jiang Yuan was choosing a case that was not only valuable but also easy to solve? How did it become such a difficult case?

Huang Qiangmin understood Tao Lu’s look, coughed twice, and started to use rhetoric to defend himself: "We just said, among the unsolved major cases, are there any easy ones? They’re all unsolved major cases, and it’s not necessarily true that bigger cases are more difficult than smaller ones, right..."

"The resources invested in major special cases could be a hundred, even a thousand times that of small cases!" Tao Lu said, "The Rotting Corpse in Rain case also had heavyweight technical experts from the ministries look at it, and if really..."

"How long did the technical experts look at it?" Jiang Yuan didn’t ask who it was, nor did he wait for Tao Lu to finish speaking, and somewhat rudely interrupted him.

Tao Lu was a bit surprised, but after recalling for a moment, he said, "They looked at it for over an hour in total, and then provided us with a technical analysis for another hour."

"Over an hour is just enough to finish looking at the dossier and photos. If they spent more time looking at photos, then they could only skim through the dossier," Jiang Yuan was much too familiar with the work pattern of technical experts because that was how he worked too. For most cases that came knocking, being able to invest over an hour of time was already considered a great courtesy.

Technical experts provide appropriate technical guidance or coaching based on existing conditions, which is similar to a teacher discussing questions with students. It’s about giving inspiration and support, not directly solving the case for you—that kind of service is only available in Huang Qiangmin’s style.

Therefore, it’s better to have your own technical experts. Even if they’re at a lower level, the work they do over several hours or even days may not necessarily be worse than that of the technical experts. Of course, if you’re skilled and can get guidance from high-level experts, then the results will definitely be even better.

Jiang Yuan’s level was already high enough, even perhaps stronger than the technical experts Tao Lu had sought.

However, this is something that most people did not clearly understand yet.

Tao Lu hesitated slightly, then added, "We agreed the case was up to you to decide, so naturally, it’s still your call. Uh... did you find something?"

"I still suspect, but..." Jiang Yuan, holding the dossier, paused for a moment and said, "The third case is highly likely to be an imitation crime!"

"Imitation? How..." Tao Lu was greatly shocked; the amount of information was enormous.

Even those who have never been serial killers know that to imitate a crime, you first need to know the details and methods of the crime you are imitating. But unlike abroad, details of such serial killer cases are not necessarily made public before or even after they are solved in China. If they are released, it’s only the more general information, and very rarely the details.

So, if the third case was an imitation crime, how did the killer obtain the details?

Tao Lu was horrifically alarmed!

Thinking further, if the third case was an imitation, then what was the fourth case?

At this moment, Jiang Yuan directly opened the dossier and said, "Many details of the third case were well-executed; at first glance, I didn’t immediately notice the differences. But when I saw the autopsy photos, the differences between the two killers became clear. Although they both used daggers, the weights and shapes of the daggers, the condition and hardness of the blades, and the force exerted by the users were all different; thus, even if the stabbing locations were similar, the killers could still be distinguished as not being the same."

Jiang Yuan’s level in trace evidence identification had reached Level 6, and with it, he could discern at crime scenes what kinds of tools were used and how they were used, a skill primarily held by trace examiners.

Forensic pathologists also have to infer wound-inflicting tools in forensic pathology, but that one aspect alone is not quite on par with trace evidence identification.

In fact, Jiang Yuan’s level in forensic pathology was also at Level 4, which even in a place like Beijing would qualify him as a technical expert.

Tao Lu didn’t understand the technicalities, but he understood what Jiang Yuan was saying. After thinking briefly, he asked the final question: "Could it be an accomplice?"

"Not ruled out, but it doesn’t seem like it. Moreover, the fourth case used the same weapon and methods again, which is quite special," Jiang Yuan moved his slightly stiff neck and added, "I think this discovery is enough to reopen the case."

Tao was bewildered and nodded, shocked.

The corners of Huang Qiangmin’s mouth inadvertently revealed a 66.6-degree smile; he now most enjoyed watching the shocked and somewhat foolish look of other cities’ criminal police chiefs as they stared at his own Jiang Yuan.

"As expected of the big city, the cases are fancier than those of our small county town," Huang Qiangmin maintained his smile.