Chapter 185 - 185 177 Case Foundation

Words : 1789 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

185: Chapter 177 Case Foundation 185: Chapter 177 Case Foundation “Jiang Yuan, are you busy?” Wang Zhong knew that Jiang Yuan had returned and figured that Wu Jun’s superstitious rituals should have ended, so he strolled over, looking the picture of a civil servant with nothing to do. Jiang Yuan responded with a grunt and said, “Found a set of pictures to look at.” “Oh ho, a set of pictures?” Wang Zhong’s spirits lifted, his face breaking into a smile, “I just knew...” He moved behind Jiang Yuan’s desk with the air of a fellow enthusiast, only to see a large screen showing a door ajar, with blood smears all through the shadows and light. “Holy crap!” Wang Zhong nearly jumped. He wasn’t scared. After having been to several crime scenes, he had experienced his fair share. It’s just that the images didn’t match his expectations... Wu Jun looked up, casting a dissatisfied glance at Wang Zhong. Young as he was, Wang Zhong was even a few years older, but his work ethic was lacking. When it came to business, they were both at the end of the line. He didn’t grasp the traditional virtues of respecting the elderly and caring for the young, and his behavior and speech were erratic... “An unsolved case from thirteen years ago,” Jiang Yuan offered by way of explanation. Wu Jun, from the other end of the desk, heard and asked, “Which one?” Jiang Yuan immediately realized that this unsolved murder case from thirteen years ago was surely one that Wu Jun had handled. Jiang Yuan quickly adopted an obedient demeanor and said, “The 611 He Jingqin case, a crime scene with a lot of blood...” “I remember, some of the photos were even taken by me,” said Wu Jun as he got up and walked over. Standing behind Jiang Yuan, Wu Jun lit another Chung Hwa and exhaled gently, saying, “Don’t feel guilty about diving into these cold cases now. It’s a good thing. While I’m still here, I might remember something. If you wait until I’m retired, and I’m off traveling around China, who will you ask then?” “When that time comes, I’ll just give you a call,” said Jiang Yuan, who grew up being fed by the entire village and knew the right things to say. Wu Jun, imagining his retirement life, nodded in satisfaction and said, “That works. Then, if the old lady won’t let me smoke, I’ll say that thinking about cases requires smoking. Ah, that will definitely snag me two or three cigarettes.” Listening, Jiang Yuan felt an inexplicable sadness, thinking to himself: By that count, Lord Guan smokes more than you. The conversation over, Jiang Yuan continued to flick through the pictures one by one. Wu Jun watched in silence, smoking, his gaze drifting through the smoke rings as if lost in remembrance. Wang Zhong just stared dumbly. Being a forensic examiner, he could claim a certain familiarity with blood evidence, but speaking frankly, his knowledge of bloodstain pattern analysis was at a mere level 1, like determining the spray patterns and such. Away from an actual crime scene, his skills were pretty much useless. Not to mention, Wang Zhong’s expertise in bloodstain pattern analysis was probably at level 0.3—barely able to discern the obviously aberrant killer’s bloodstains. Since graduating from the police academy and joining the force through a joint exam, violent crimes had become rare, and cases involving blood even rarer, nowhere to even practice the skills he’d learned. In fact, there’s now an oversupply of talent in this area. With supply not meeting the demand for violent cases, old bloodstain specialists hadn’t passed on, and the rare blood-soaked crime would bring blood evidence experts from the municipal and provincial departments swarming like flies to honey, leaving no space for Wang Zhong to develop. “There’s a bloody footprint here,” said Wang Zhong after a good while, finally spotting something familiar. Jiang Yuan again grunted an acknowledgment and continued to scroll through the images. “No use then?” Wang Zhong asked. “Don’t know,” Jiang Yuan exhaled, passing another cigarette to his boss, to Wang Zhong, and then one for himself, staunchly using exhaled smoke to fend off secondhand smoke. Taking a light drag, Wang Zhong said, “If even you don’t know, then this footprint probably won’t uncover much.” “It’s been too long, this kind of nondescript footprint only allows for some basic judgments,” Jiang Yuan said, seeing Wang Zhong’s interest. He pulled over a notebook, flipped it open to a blank page, and as he wrote, he explained: “The suspect is estimated to be between 25 and 30 years old, male, with a height of 170 to 175, and weighing 120 to 140.” Those were very ordinary numbers. Jiang Yuan felt it pointless to write them down. Those numbers could be said to be the most common for Chinese males. Of course, the average height of the younger generation has increased significantly, but they haven’t entered the crime scene in large numbers yet. Wang Zhong began to understand what Jiang Yuan meant and nodded, “So you mean, the footprint doesn’t offer much information.” “It’s not necessarily the case,” Jiang Yuan put down his pen and flipped through more than a dozen photos in succession, saying, “You can see his gait here.” He picked out a few photos, the same ones he had been looking at just before. While letting Wang Zhong flip through the photos himself, Jiang Yuan also wrote down the numbers of these photos and put down his pen to ask Wang Zhong, “Do you see anything?” Wang Zhong had a blank look on his face, just like when he was looking at the bloody footprints earlier. Jiang Yuan wanted to teach him a thing or two, so he said, “Memorize the most basic teachings of footprint analysis. First, from afar look at the outline, up close look at the wear and tear, combine measurement and observation...” Wang Zhong silently memorized it. He looked quite foolish. “Second. One, note the size of the footprints, two, observe the rise and fall of the steps, the shape of the feet is very important, search each of the four regions individually, make good use of the characteristics along the edges, and don’t forget to analyze everything in combination,” Jiang Yuan recited as he wrote these two statements down in his notebook, then asked Wang Zhong, “Have you got that memorized?” Wang Zhong looked bewildered. If he could memorize everything after just one glance, he would have taken off on his own long ago. Jiang Yuan, therefore, tore the page he had just used for note-taking from his notebook and handed it to Wang Zhong, saying, “Take this with you and review it.” “Um...” Wang Zhong read quietly to himself, then asked softly, “What are the four areas?” “They refer to the toes, the ball of the foot, the arch, and the heel,” Jiang Yuan explained. “Once you have them memorized, look at some photos and compare them to old cases. Apply your fingerprint analysis experience, and you’ll be able to engage in real cases in no time.” Wang Zhong nodded again and again. Wu Jun, seeing their conversation was over, stubbed out his cigarette and asked, “What did you see from the gait?” “You can tell that this person has a pretty strong mental state,” Jiang Yuan brought back the earlier photos and said, “Look at these steps, the stride hardly varies.” Wu Jun and Wang Zhong both nodded as they looked on. “There are also signs of dragging here,” Jiang Yuan sighed and pointed at another photo, “The murderer must have knocked the victim down and continued to drag her towards the rooftop while she was still struggling. Even so, he moved step by step with even strides.” “Extremely calm.” “Right, so it’s very likely a repeat offender,” Jiang Yuan wrote down these words in his notebook and added, “If we speculate a little more boldly, I think it’s possible that the perpetrator is an ex-convict.” Wu Jun suddenly perked up, “What you’re saying makes sense. Whether someone has done time can make a big difference in their mindset. If he could remain unruffled even as the victim struggled and screamed, it’s very likely he’s been in prison before and might even have experience with violent crimes.” “It’s not necessarily a violent crime,” Jiang Yuan made a slight correction to Wu Jun’s words, and continued, “Based on the bloodstains, I think it’s more likely a sexual offense.” “Why? I remember... this girl wasn’t sexually assaulted,” Wu Jun frowned. Now, looking at the crime scene photos, he was beginning to recall the details of the case. Although it had been 13 years, the impression that a murder case left was extremely deep. Jiang Yuan selected some photos and straightened out their order, saying, “The center of the crime scene is the rooftop, but the victim would not have gone there of her own volition, so, in the early stages, the murderer must have coerced or enticed her, at least by the time he got to the fire escape, he had already pulled out a knife.” Wu Jun made an acknowledging sound and listened. Jiang Yuan pointed at the bloodstains and said, “If the purpose was murder, since he had already drawn a knife, he could have just stabbed her directly, going to the rooftop was not really necessary. If he had similar experience, he should know that going to the rooftop would actually increase the risk. Moreover, he dragged the victim to the rooftop, what was his purpose?” “To rape her?” “Exactly,” Jiang Yuan confirmed. “Furthermore, it is highly likely that there was already inappropriate conduct in the elevator. Because the girl lived on a middle floor, the reason for going to the top floor was definitely the perpetrator’s doing.” “Makes sense.” “Also, I believe the perpetrator’s initial intent may have been just to molest. The crime scene being in the building where the victim lived could also explain why he eventually gave up on raping her, he must have sensed the risk and decided to abandon the act of rape.” Wu Jun didn’t insist on his own opinion; comparatively speaking, he trusted Jiang Yuan’s judgment more. Seeing that Jiang Yuan had cleared his thoughts, Wu Jun decisively said, “Your judgment is important; I think there’s a basis to reopen the case. Call Huang over.”

Chapter 185 - 185 177 Case Foundation

Comments (0)