Chapter 123 - 123 121 The Steed

123: Chapter 121: The Steed 123: Chapter 121: The Steed The victim appeared to be in her early thirties, with a sweet face and dressed appropriately. The half-exposed arm was pale, as if whitened like a peeled radish. Jiang Yuan noticed her anxious expression and guessed that her case might not be too serious. He had seen quite a few victims by now, and when it came down to a homicide, their expressions were always of sadness, numbness, and despair, seeking punishment for the offender as a way to regain their lost happiness. On the contrary, victims who appeared very anxious usually were involved in cases that the detectives were not too worried about. Of course, the two colleagues from the Image Investigation who were present seemed anxious. If it weren’t for his newly acquired skill, Jiang Yuan might have been more likely to put down the egg and leave. “Have a red egg, take a smoke,” Jiang Yuan said with a cheerful approach, extending the basket. “Oh, Doctor Jiang. Heard you were back, but we’ve been too busy to catch up.” The Image Investigation office had a total of three people, which was even one more than the Trace Evidence Team, but all were young and wore glasses for nearsightedness. The speaker was Zhuang Wei, who had earned the nickname “Four Eyes” when he reported to the Ningtai County Bureau over a decade ago—back then, there were no detectives who wore glasses regularly, which led to his nickname. Now, after so many years, Zhuang Wei was still one of the youngsters in the detective team, but the nickname “Four Eyes” had been diluted and could no longer be exclusively his. “I’ve been involved in quite a few homicide cases this time, and the master told me to distribute red eggs to everyone on the first floor. The cigarettes have also been padded with yellow paper and burned.” As Jiang Yuan spoke, he handed out cigarettes. All three people in the Image Investigation office came over to accept them, and the two senior officers started to smoke but noticed the lady frowning and quickly refrained. The youngest officer, Gao Jiansheng, otherwise known as “Third-Generation Four Eyes,” leisurely lit his cigarette. Despite his age, he was a local, already married, worldly, and the least perturbed by the situation. Unlike the two old bachelors in the office who, upon seeing a beautiful woman of a similar age, didn’t even dare to smoke. “What does it mean to pad a cigarette with yellow paper?” Seeing the recording paused and knowing that being anxious was useless, the lady curiously asked. “It means rubbing the cigarette on the yellow paper.” Jiang Yuan took out a cigarette pack, placed it on the table, flipped it, and then continuously rolled it back and forth. The lady sort of understood but was still a bit confused. “Are you trying to get a clearer image of this person?” Jiang Yuan murmured, then asked. In the coming days, if he wanted to work on Image Enhancement conveniently, he needed to build a good relationship with his colleagues in the Image Investigation office. Zhuang Wei grunted in agreement, saying, “This person should be a habitual offender, his stealing technique is quite skilled, and he knows how to avoid the cameras. We’re thinking of getting a clearer photo, taking it to the nearby police stations to ask around—someone might recognize him.” “Not many thieves are still stealing on the streets these days,” Jiang Yuan commented. Zhuang Wei nodded in agreement, then lamented, “It’s almost like the left-behind elderly in rural areas. Younger, more capable ones either go into telecommunications fraud or they quit the game. Those that remain either refuse to learn new things, can’t learn, can’t make money, and won’t find a proper job—they don’t even want to go to the big cities anymore.” “It’s normal, older people don’t even like to travel, let alone go out of town to steal,” Gao Jiansheng chimed in with his life experience. “I can do Image Enhancement to strengthen the images for you?” Jiang Yuan offered a couple of polite statements before outright stating his intention. Zhuang Wei slightly furrowed his brow; he had been working in Image Investigation for over a decade and was rarely encroached upon in his field of expertise. So, he looked at Jiang Yuan and inquired, “A forensic doctor also learned about image processing?” “I picked it up while working on fingerprints,” Jiang Yuan expressed frankly without any reservations, revealing his secret, “Using Image Enhancement technology on fingerprint images before analysis improves both efficiency and accuracy.” “Really?” Zhuang Wei, admittedly curious, relinquished his place in front of the computer. He indeed wanted to see what the newly famous forensic expert Jiang Yuan intended to do. Jiang Yuan took the seat without hesitation, looked at the surveillance footage in front of him, and asked, “Is any image okay? As long as I can see the face clearly, right?” “As long as you can recognize the face, that’s enough. We’ve been following the clothes so far.” In fact, tracking through surveillance footage is far from simple. First of all, surveillance footage is never fully panoramic with no blind spots. Most art galleries and museums can’t achieve this, let alone on public streets. Of course, certain streets in some cities might achieve this, and in such places, thefts are usually unlikely to occur. Secondly, when walking on the streets, there will always be obstructions, sometimes branches, sometimes vehicles, sometimes too many people, and the person being followed may be too short. Additionally, entering buildings and riding in vehicles complicate the task of following someone through surveillance footage—it’s actually quite a painstaking venture. Of course, except for bootlickers! This also takes into account the conscious avoidance efforts by the person being tailed. For instance, a single disappearance in a blind spot can cost the surveillance officers an hour or two of their time to find the trail again. So, for Zhuang Wei and his colleagues, the decision to follow the surveillance video and seek out high-quality cameras to capture appropriate images was questionable—it wasn’t wrong, it was just a waste of manpower, time, and energy. Many people who have lost their phones go to the police station to report the incident and always hope that reviewing the surveillance video will help find the thief. Often, they tend to overestimate the capabilities of the police officers handling the case, as well as their patience and determination. For Jiang Yuan, however, this process was completely unnecessary. Zhuang Wei and the others simply chose a clumsy method due to their lack of technical skills and insufficient pick-up prowess. Jiang Yuan had it easy. He simply found a video clip that revealed the suspect’s full face, then enhanced the entire video. Next, he examined it frame by frame, selected a dozen or so images, and used image registration, followed by super-resolution fusion. In the end, all that was left to do was denoising and deblurring. In just a quarter of an hour, using a few software programs already on his computer and finally, on Photoshop, the suspect’s facial contours and expressions gradually materialized. The frenzied work of the computer didn’t even take more than 5 minutes. The female victim clapped her hands in glee, nodding vigorously, “It’s just like they show on TV. I knew it, they had just said there were none.” Meanwhile, Zhuang Wei and the others could barely keep their jaws from dropping in amazement. This type of story, common on TV but rare in reality, is like watching the Dakar Rally. You know how they drive, but what does that have to do with your daily commute? Is it because your car is good enough? Or your driving skill is excellent, or perhaps your co-driver is exceptionally cooperative? The same is true for those working in image processing. In recent years, Image Investigation has become an esteemed field. A slightly more skilled investigator can truly solve cases. Such incidents last occurred when the concept of DNA was not yet widespread. But even the Image Reconnaissance Brigade from the provincial headquarters, during the time when Jiang Yuan participated in the fingerprint competition and performed image enhancement, watched him in stunned silence. At that time, Jiang Yuan only possessed Level 3 image enhancement skills. In other words, Level 3 image enhancement was enough to outperform the provincial bureau’s investigators. Level 5 image enhancement... Jiang Yuan wasn’t even able to showcase his full potential this time. This was also because the skills required for image investigation were both highly specialized and popular. Being “hardcore” means that it demands a high level of foundational knowledge, thus requiring a higher degree of education for professionals in the field. Those with higher education have more job choices and are good at passing exams. In an era where advancement often requires examinations, even if someone favors official positions, they might not choose to become a police officer. On the other hand, if one wants to make money, mastering top-notch imaging techniques, equivalent to Level 3 skill, would result in a hundredfold higher rewards at various internet giants or professional firms than what they would earn as police officers. Even more so, if one is determined to pursue a career in criminal science and technology, just working for a company that sells surveillance equipment would be more relaxing and profitable. If one’s skills are even stronger, there is greater significance in working with big data. In a small county like Ningtai, where major streets were still not covered by surveillance, only two images were needed to conduct analyses. In bigger cities like Changyang City, even a brigade-sized team of image investigators wouldn’t suffice. In some cities, Image Reconnaissance Brigades were becoming common, established based on districts. But ultimately, as the number of surveillance cameras increase, it’s impossible to rely solely on human eyes to keep up with the footage—whether it’s data processing or identification, technology is necessary to address these challenges. In such an environment, it’s impossible for Ningtai County Bureau’s image lab to have ultra-advanced geniuses. It’s as if everyone else is a beast of burden, and in the profession of Image Investigation, that burden is akin to a horse. Other professions may have their donkeys, mules, and oxen, and some could still produce diligent, uncomplaining workers of outstanding quality in various aspects. But not those that require horses. The fast runners, the beautiful ones, those with long legs, big chests, long hair, hairless, or those with plump rears... any outstanding trait guarantees they’ll be poached elsewhere. Even the dwarfish ones could serve as pet horses. So, to put it more nicely, whether it was Zhuang Wei in his thirties or Gao Jiansheng in his twenties, they were all nags. As they aged, their breed was not going to change. “Print it out?” asked the long-legged racehorse Jiang Yuan, having completed the image, turning to the others. “Oh, yes, print it out,” Zhuang Wei was still somewhat dazed. With a series of mechanical noises, a photo of the suspect, complete with nose and eyes, was printed out. The clarity of the photo itself was mediocre, and the printer was substandard, but one could still discern the person’s face clearly. If it was just for passing around, it should suffice. Jiang Yuan picked up the leftover eggs and, saying “I need to go to another office,” went off to busily attend to his own affairs. The few people in the image office looked at each other, not yet having recovered from the reality of being common workhorses. The reporting woman stood up, revealing her pale yellow hip-hugging skirt and even whiter legs. She called out with a warm face, “Officer comrade, can I add you on WeChat?” “If you need anything, you can approach them, I’m a forensic expert.” Jiang Yuan handed the lady a red egg and walked away. Clutching the egg, the lady took several seconds to realize what “forensic expert” meant, and then, her grip relaxed, the egg shattered.