National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 792 - 735 Skin Shedding

Chapter 792: Chapter 735 Skin Shedding

The large sedan cars came to a halt in sequence.

Police officers dressed in training uniforms, one by one, with equipment on their backs, alighted from the cars and quickly assembled into formation, then followed their superiors towards the predetermined search area.

Xu Taining, holding a pair of binoculars, watched the uncommanded command from above and smacked his lips, muttering to himself, "The police officers in Beijing are really quite useful, disciplined, sensible, able to understand orders and read maps, and they don’t drag their feet when it’s time to work..."

"Can’t our Shan Nan officers do that?" Liu Jinghui asked with a sidelong glance.

"They can do it, but there’s always a few bad apples," Xu Taining sighed and said, "Now it’s okay. A few years ago, when I went out for a search, I spent the first day dealing with troublemakers. There was no helping it."

Liu Jinghui smiled and then said, "Now they’re all police academy graduates, trained for three, four years in The Great Learning, ready to be useful as soon as they come out, not like in our time."

"The main thing is they’re systematic, making things handy to use, as if directing an arm," Xu Taining said, shaking his head. In his position, everything else was fine, but the constant running around meant he had no subordinates of his own, and every time it was like working with strangers in a new environment—there was a sense of freshness, but naturally, the feeling of tacit understanding was lacking.

Liu Jinghui, hearing the tone of Xu Taining’s voice, gave a couple of coughs and said in a low voice, "Director Xu, is Jiang Yuan still inside inspecting the scene?"

"Yes, it’s a gun case scene. He probably has taken a large perimeter, searched whatever was there..." Xu Taining said while still shaking his head, "I was hoping to get him to look at the video over here. Jiang Yuan does video enhancements, way better than any expert I’ve used before. I don’t know where he learned it from; he’s just a genius and great at everything..."

"This is a rare opportunity!" Liu Jinghui interrupted Xu Taining.

"What opportunity?" Xu Taining, being a bit older, was startled by Liu Jinghui and took a moment to catch on.

"Jiang Yuan has taken on a large scope for the inspection this time. Next, he will have to transport the body back for an autopsy, right? This whole process, even if done quickly, will take until tomorrow morning, or even tomorrow afternoon. No doubt about it, he’ll be half-dead tired," Liu Jinghui said with a smile, "If we take this time to crack this gun case, then Jiang Yuan will have been busy for nothing."

Before Liu Jinghui could finish, Xu Taining’s eyes lit up like neon lights.

Having done searches for so many years, Xu Taining had many classic cases to share, but there were some cases that were freshly etched in his memory. Like those that had just been set up, not yet rolled out, those he had been ready to break into with great zeal but were effortlessly resolved by Jiang Yuan...

If he could return a similar case in the same way...

Xu Taining felt his heart, which hadn’t raced in many years, begin to pound fiercely.

This was even more thrilling than an affair, more exciting than a first love, more passionate than infidelity...

"Now that you mention it..." Xu Taining’s voice was hoarse, as if he had shouted himself hoarse.

Liu Jinghui confidently smiled and said, "Based on our previous analysis, as long as we work overtime and stick to it, with a bit of luck, we could close this case."

Xu Taining nodded slightly and concluded, "It’s either illegal or legal yet accidental."

"Right, the specifics are uncertain; it depends on how quickly we can conduct the search," Liu Jinghui’s reasoning was quite straightforward. First, they excluded the possibility of fringe religious members in the vicinity, a small probability event, but since everyone had searched this far, it indicated that this low probability couldn’t be overlooked. This was the illegal scenario.

If that was ruled out, then this death incident was likely caused accidentally by someone with a licensed hunting rifle. The so-called legal yet accidental case.

However, Xu Taining had been doing searches for years and played the odds, so when it came down to it, he took it seriously, "But there’s also a possibility that it’s an illegal accident unrelated to the Zhang Lizhen case and to any religious group. It’s just some unknown person with a gun from who knows where..."

"In Beijing?" Liu Jinghui’s tone lacked any hint of mockery as he said, followed by a self-answered question, "We’ve all assumed it’s an accidental stray bullet that caused the victim’s death. Here in Beijing, the likelihood of an accidental gun showing up, firing accidentally—it hardly gets any lower..."

"Exactly. Low-probability events really do happen sometimes." Xu Taining truly revered the concept of low-probability events.

Liu Jinghui solemnly nodded his head, then took a long breath and said, "Low-probability events have always been the nemesis of reasoning. If we can’t get anywhere with these two paths, let’s turn back and consider something illegal and accidental."

Illegal implied concealment, and accidental meant fewer clues as well as unconventional patterns, all indicating a more difficult task for investigation and confirmation.

Oftentimes, such cases simply cannot be solved.

Xu Taining also made up his mind. Liu Jinghui’s reasoning was logical and indeed an excellent method to crack this case.

As for the possibility of a low-probability event, it was only pushed back, though it could lower the chances of successfully solving the case, but this option wasn’t completely discarded. This was already a very good investigative direction, and there was no reason not to choose it.

"The key is to act quickly!" Liu Jinghui stressed again, "Whichever possibility, the murderer might run and can easily take away the evidence."

"I understand." Xu Taining frowned in thought, confirmed several details, and then pulled out his phone to call Tao and Chu.

He was going to use the reserve team.

More training uniforms, more police officers, more manpower and material resources, all converging on the vicinity of the crime scene.

Engrossed in the crime scene, Jiang Yuan was oblivious to all this.

The body had been taken away, and Jiang Yuan had planned to leave after completing the survey, which usually took an extra two or three hours, but the scene survey exceeded Jiang Yuan’s expectations.

First was the elusive bullet.

The victim’s wound was severe; regardless of whether he realized it or not, without any corresponding hemostatic measures, the number of steps he could have taken was limited.

The police officers conducting the scene survey circled around again and again but couldn’t find the bullet.

Fortunately, the Metal Detector that arrived later solved the problem. About a dozen meters from the body, they found the bullet deeply embedded in a tree.

"Finally found it." Tired from a day’s survey, they all felt happy hearing the beeping sound of the Metal Detector.

"Photograph it, then dig it out." Jiang Yuan didn’t do it himself; the bullet seemed deeply entrenched.

And the answer was far beyond the expectations of Jiang Yuan and the others.

"The bullet is 11 centimeters deep." The surveyor in charge of the measurement made a record, measured it again, and got the same result.

The crime scene lights gleamed brightly, casting a series of dark shadows in the dim forest.

"The bullet isn’t shattered, over 26 millimeters long. Looks like the 7.62 millimeter type. The kind used in AKs."

"Actually, no need to measure; just one look and you know. It’s a 7.62 medium-power bullet, uncolored tip, probably a standard round. There are armor-piercing versions of this, with even stronger penetration."

"Many in the AK rifle family use this kind of round, and it’s also ours... cough cough, it’s much more powerful than a shotgun."

Jiang Yuan exhaled a breath.

Even among rifles with grooved barrels, there are actually many types. In China, shotguns are the easiest to encounter.

As for military standard rifles, especially the powerful AK family, Jiang Yuan hadn’t expected them either.

"Mu, give a shout," Jiang Yuan said, looking down at the bullet head.

Mu Zhiyang nodded, took a deep breath, then turned and yelled, "Tao..."

An hour earlier, Tao Lu had been watching Jiang Yuan conduct the investigation, but unable to contain his impatience, he had gone to rest.

Mu Zhiyang’s shout easily teased him back.

Jiang Yuan didn’t wait for Tao Lu and continued to frown at the bullet head.

Speaking of evidence, the current scene was full of unexpected elements.

The bullet head had penetrated too deeply!

While the 7.62mm ammunition is notoriously penetrating, the hardness of pine wood is also quite substantial. For this bullet to penetrate 11 centimeters in one go was truly remarkable. Especially considering it was a stray bullet, its penetrating ability was somewhat surprising.

Next, Jiang Yuan also analyzed the bullet’s trajectory, the angle of entry, and the position, which wasn’t very smooth either.

Jiang Yuan looked at the dense woods behind him, his brows involuntarily furrowed.

Although bullet trajectories aren’t straight, and heavy machine guns often fire in a parabolic path, given the thick woods behind, the bullet’s journey here was truly difficult.

"Found the bullet head?" Tao Lu came running and hopping back into the woods as quickly as he could.

Jiang Yuan showed it to Tao Lu.

"Great!" Tao Lu clapped his hands in delight.

"It’s too early for that," Jiang Yuan had to interrupt Tao Lu’s joy, continuing to gesture and say, "Even if it was shot from a great distance and came down in a high arc, the angle of entry wouldn’t be like this."

Tao Lu, having just had a chat with someone, said, "Perhaps it’s an extremely unlikely event."

"That’s possible..." Jiang Yuan pondered, then shook his head, "But it doesn’t seem like it."

In his current LV5 crime scene investigation, he could not confirm that a low-probability event was true, but when faced with an outrageous scene, he knew how it had been created.

"Rather than saying it fell from a distant shot, it’s more like a high-angle shot from a closer distance..." Jiang Yuan gestured and looked ahead. The trees were dense, but within dozens of meters, the terrain was far from steep and complex.

Jiang Yuan followed the expected direction of the bullet’s path, jumping over impassable areas, and after walking twenty to thirty meters and looking back, swinging his gaze from left to right, he could still see the pine tree that was hit through gaps in the foliage.

"Bring the metal detector over here, let’s search this area," Jiang Yuan beckoned as he continued to back away.

The other forensic investigators began to grasp Jiang Yuan’s idea; he was searching for the farthest possible point of a level shot.

Though not necessarily reliable, it indeed was a line of thought.

The forensic team, without much fuss, tried their various methods, some reaching as far as forty to fifty meters away.

The metal detector followed, scanning left and right as it went.

Everyone hoped to find shell casings or other human-discarded items. Especially shell casings, not only are they strong evidence, but they’re also more likely to be overlooked by the perpetrator.

When firing a gun, the shell casing can fall far from the shooter due to the recoil force coupled with the movement of the gun body. If it hits something like a tree trunk, it might even bounce several meters away. The search was tough, but everyone was hopeful.

The harder the location to find, the less likely the perpetrator was to retrieve it. Of course, this was under the assumption that the scene was as Jiang Yuan anticipated.

One hour...

Two hours...

When someone grew tired, they’d leave to rest, and others would take their place.

The woods were slightly eerie, not a comfortable place to stay for long.

Tao Lu was utterly worn out, went out of the woods under the guise of needing to relieve himself.

"Phew."

Mu Zhiyang lifted his head, scanned the surroundings, and prepared to take a break too.

Instead of returning the same way, where his colleagues were still at work, Mu Zhiyang decided to walk straight ahead, taking a detour to plan for a mid-way bathroom break of his own.

At that moment, he spotted a tree branch.

The branch wasn’t high off the ground, just over a meter.

Mu Zhiyang, as if possessed, pointed his flashlight at the branch.

"That... Captain Jiang," Mu Zhiyang called out.

"What?" Jiang Yuan walked over a few steps and looked.

"If someone stood on this branch to shoot, could they hit over there?" Mu Zhiyang paused, then added, "This branch has peeled bark!"