National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 841 - 782: Tasty (Request for Monthly Pass)

Chapter 841: Chapter 782: Tasty (Request for Monthly Pass)

Another hard day of investigation had passed, Captain Tang had diligently followed Jiang Yuan and the others around all day.

In fact, once one got beyond trivial pleasures, the experience of solving cases consecutively was quite satisfying.

Although they were minor cases, in the end, cases were solved. Seeing these young guys, who would have to spend four or five, seven or eight, or even more than ten years in prison, as a police officer, my emotions gradually leveled.

Of course, there was a lot more work to be done in handling the cases, such as retrieving confessions from suspects, statements from victims, witness testimonies, scene investigation records, on-site identifications, appraisals, fingerprint or DNA analyses, video materials, etc. But working on cases with Jiang Yuan was relatively worry-free.

First, the evidence would always be solidly prepared, and secondly, the higher-ups clearly paid more attention to the cases that Jiang Yuan was involved in. Procedures like approvals, meetings, leaders’ signatures, and navigating the system were all somewhat streamlined.

Once he got over his reluctance, Captain Tang was quite cheerful in his work. By the time the shift ended, he even made a point of giving Huang Qiangmin a cigarette and laughed, "Actually, if there are no major cases, it’s quite interesting to catch small-time thieves day by day."

"It depends on how you look at it. For example, in our Ningtai County, all eight major cases from the past 30 years have been solved, and there are very few new cases within our jurisdiction. There are even fewer petty thieves," Huang Qiangmin happily filled Captain Tang in on the situation in Ningtai County.

Taken aback by this, Captain Tang asked subconsciously, "Then the police have nothing to do?"

"How could there be nothing to do? Those who need to call 110 will still call 110. There’s always a fight or brawl at a beer stall, and cases of wives killed or husbands poisoned—these never end," said Huang Qiangmin, gesturing first toward himself and then toward the Ningtai criminal police around them.

Upon seeing this, Captain Tang laughed, "Sounds like you’re outsourcing labor. It must be quite comfortable for you guys. Alright, let’s drive back now. If there’s another task tomorrow, I’ll continue to follow along."

While they were speaking, Huang Qiangmin’s phone rang.

Captain Tang hesitated for a moment but did not leave right away.

"It’s Captain Cui’s call," said Huang Qiangmin, who hurried to answer after a glance at the caller ID, "What’s up?"

"There’s been a murder. Is Jiang Yuan there? We need him to come and take a look," said Cui Qishan, who generally wasn’t a very serious person, but often had his serious moments.

Huang Qiangmin consequently became serious, relayed their location, and said, "Jiang Yuan is organizing evidence right now. We can set off immediately. Is the case complicated?"

"Not simple. The body of the victim has been mutilated. You’ll understand better once you’re on the scene," explained Cui Qishan without going into detail over the phone.

Huang Qiangmin immediately located Jiang Yuan, gathered the team, and then they all headed for the scene together.

The call from Cui Qishan to Huang Qiangmin also implied a request for personnel support. Zhengguang Bureau, having handled several major cases, had a large number of officers tied up in specific case work, and with some cases not easily releasing manpower, they were in need of reinforcement.

Two minibuses, protected by a fleet of police cars, quickly arrived at Xinjia Hutong.

All the way there, Jiang Yuan observed the environment.

Xinjia Hutong was a somewhat remote location, with several factories and residential compounds for their staff nearby. The factories had long since shut down, but the staff compounds, having gone through several generations, remained standing, with the occupants not being very familiar with each other, still forming a distinctive living environment.

In Jiang Yuan’s observation, there seemed to be many illegal constructions in the area. Of course, they were all legal buildings now, as most of the unauthorized construction happened forty or fifty years ago. Due to historical reasons, they were later legalized and would require relocation efforts to make any changes.

With the hutong’s side packed with parked cars preventing the minibuses from entering, Jiang Yuan switched to a police car, while most of the team got out and walked. Some of them were immediately assigned to support the busy local police officers at the entrance.

Jiang Yuan’s police car drove all the way to the police cordon before letting him, Huang Qiangmin, Liu Wenkai, and Mu Zhiyang out.

Upon disembarking, a faint scent of flesh hung in the air.

Considering the reason they were there, including Jiang Yuan, everyone’s expressions were not very good.

The expressions of the Image Investigation team leader and team members, who came out in the next car, were even worse. Although they also worked on the scene, such an explicit scene was not something they encountered often.

Ugh.

Beside the trash bin, a police officer was vomiting, indirectly confirming the group’s speculation.

They looked at each other and continued to walk forward in silence.

Cui Qishan waited at the entrance of a large cluttered courtyard. When Jiang Yuan arrived, Cui handed him a pair of gloves and sighed, "The report came in this morning. The ground is a mess with footprints and fingerprints. I thought it was a simple case at first, but none of the prints matched, and there’s no surveillance camera out front. The escape routes are numerous and sprawling. We’re already collecting surveillance footage, but I don’t know if Image Investigation will be able to find anything."

Jiang Yuan nodded, as Cui Qishan was essentially explaining why they had called him now.

Actually, with regard to newly emerging murder cases, those easy to solve usually yield results within a few hours, often with multiple breakthroughs—it might be a breakthrough in image investigation, forensic evidence, or technical investigation.

It can be understood that current investigative methods are comprehensive and advanced, like a thorough exam paper criminals not only fail to score high on but also struggle to answer each question properly.

However, if there are no results after several hours, that indicates the presence of a high-scoring criminal.

This is a very dangerous situation, and whether it’s due to sheer luck or the perpetrator’s strong counter-investigative abilities, such cases risk sliding into unsolved cases.

Calling Jiang Yuan, Cui Qishan was effectively cutting losses.

Inside the messy courtyard, various items were haphazardly piled up, with broken furniture being the most common. Some had been smashed right there, and judging by the cuts, it seemed to have been done in the past few days.

"This courtyard was sold to the current landlord just over a year ago. The landlord left it vacant after the purchase. Then yesterday, neighbors heard noises, thinking the landlord had returned. But when they knocked and no one answered, they eventually called the police," Cui Qishan paused, then led Jiang Yuan through the courtyard to the kitchen, saying, "When the police arrived, they discovered it was a murder scene, where someone had killed, dismembered, and then boiled the body parts."

As they talked, they saw the large stove in the center of the kitchen.

On the stove were two large iron pots—one filled with water, boiling body parts. Atop the other, there were three large steaming baskets, still slightly steaming at the moment.

That smell of cooking meat that had drifted to the entrance came from here.

Even Jiang Yuan found this scene hard to accept.

Cui Qishan, having seen it several times, still struggled to accept it and turned his gaze aside, saying, "This stove was built by masons hired by the current landlord. It’s an old-fashioned rural stove that burns coal and firewood below. The landlord brought friends over a couple of times for fun. The neighborhood committee confronted them, forbidding the use of this kind of stove, and since then they haven’t come back. Neighbors called the police because of it."

Cui Qishan continued, "The fire in the stove had died out, with some coal left by the landlord, and wood obtained from chopping up furniture. The steaming pot on the right held a large amount of water, and it was so well insulated that the steam baskets were still warm."

Cui Qishan added, "The body wasn’t fully cooked; some parts were left, but the source of the corpse couldn’t be identified."

"It implies this was their first time committing such a crime. There’s thought behind it, but no experience," Jiang Yuan offered a simple conclusion.

Cooking a body to destroy the DNA within, thereby making it difficult for the police to identify the corpse’s origin, should count as an effective tactic that can hinder the investigation.

But there are two points here. First, the body must be dumped so the police can’t find the primary crime scene. Otherwise, the DNA left at the primary scene could not only help the police identify the corpse’s origin but also potentially reveal the killer’s DNA and lead to an arrest.

Second, a steaming little-known fact is that cooking a human body requires a lot of time and multiple pots to complete.

The fact that the perpetrator knew to use steaming baskets signifies an advance in detail.

However, even using steaming baskets, it’s impossible to cook a body weighing upwards of 100 pounds in one go.

An inappropriate comparison is, during Chinese New Year, to fully cook the meat from a freshly slaughtered pig, it also takes considerable effort and strength.

"I’ll take a look first," Jiang Yuan didn’t speak rashly but began his inspection.