Chapter 202 - 202 194 Drawing

202: Chapter 194 Drawing 202: Chapter 194 Drawing Day Six. Jiang Yuan followed Wang Lan, casually bringing Wang Zhong along as the driver while they methodically visited Qinghe City First People’s Hospital and then the Second People’s Hospital in that order. The case had progressed to a point where it truly became a task of grinding patience. Jiang Yuan, out of boredom, began to yawn. Wang Lan was somewhat influenced by Jiang Yuan, but she was too embarrassed to yawn blatantly and expose her teeth, so she covered her mouth with her pale, washed hands and soon was yawning profusely as well. The driver, Wang Zhong, felt he was also being influenced as he yawned twice and quickly said, “Doctor Jiang, this seems to be your first time participating in a sweep like this, right?” “Uh... it seems so. I haven’t worked on many cases,” Jiang Yuan had some trouble recalling. He actually had handled quite a few cases, certainly more than all the cases Wang Zhong had worked on over the years combined. Wang Zhong laughed and said, “Actually, when we used to work cases, we often had to run around everywhere. The seasoned detectives always said cases were solved on the move, making us run until our legs broke.” “I’ve really never encountered this kind of grinding from one hospital to another,” Jiang Yuan shook his head. At each hospital, they had to search for departments like Radiology to request their X-ray films. Some hospitals were better, allowing access to the completed films directly, while others required departments like Medical Administration to fill out various paperwork, and even then the X-ray films obtained were incomplete. Fortunately, as Victims No. 2 and No. 4 had confirmed ages and genders, they only needed to slightly enlarge the criteria for the former and sift back 10 years, then cross-check the list of missing persons to get a manageable number of X-ray films. Of course, in order to see the dental images for Victim No. 4, they might need to make a separate trip to the dental department, and after half a day, they only managed to check two hospitals. Luckily, there weren’t many hospitals in Qinghe City, so they felt that they could complete their search quickly. The trouble was, if they still couldn’t find matching X-ray films after looking through all the hospitals, the three of them might have to make a trip to Changyang City, where there were many more hospitals, and the workload would spike tremendously. In such an anxious and somewhat dreaded mindset... At the Qinghe City Qianjin District Hospital that followed, Jiang Yuan unexpectedly found an X-ray film that matched Victim No. 2. “This is the one.” Having found the person, Jiang Yuan’s mood was surprisingly calm, without the expected outburst of euphoria or any intense emotions. Perhaps it was precisely because of the certainty of finding the match, the alarm caused by uncertainty before immediately lost its taste. “Zhu Jin. Male. From Zhu Jiazhuang... disappeared 6 years ago,” Wang Zhong read the hospital report, then flipped through the internal network search. Because he was temporarily transferred to the special case squad, Wang Zhong’s phone also received special access privileges from the provincial office, and soon he had found the relevant case files. “This man is a farmer from Zhu Jiazhuang, who would be just over 40 if he were alive today. It’s surprising to see middle-aged people still willing to farm in the countryside,” Wang Zhong, a definite young man, spoke with a youthful tone. Wang Lan, who was also in her early forties, took Wang Zhong’s phone to look before shaking her head and saying, “Working in the village doesn’t necessarily mean farming; it could be livestock breeding or something. Once confirmed, I’ll call the Shen Division.” Jiang Yuan agreed and, during the break as Wang Lan made the call, signaled Wang Zhong to take a statement from the doctor. The doctor couldn’t remember the X-ray from 6 years ago, and small surgeries like repairing a humerus fracture weren’t memorable either. Still, Wang Zhong was in good spirits. With this, the identities of Victims No. 1, No. 2, and No. 5, totaling three bodies, were clarified, and with an average of two days to confirm each victim, the pace wasn’t slow. The details on Victim No. 3 would likely be clarified soon, and the prospects for Victims No. 4 and No. 6 would depend on the progress to come. While musing on this, he saw Wang Lan return in high spirits. “We don’t have to search for Victim No. 4 anymore,” Wang Lan said cheerfully. “The source of the body has been confirmed, also a midday update.” “How was it discovered?” Jiang Yuan was surprised. “Mitochondrial DNA,” Wang Lan stated, thanking the doctor before ushering the two men out the door, then whispered, “Our bureau chief went straight to the provincial capital, pressing the provincial DNA lab to get it done. Otherwise, we’d probably have to wait a week or two in line.” “That exaggerated?” Wang Zhong was astonished. “Mitochondrial DNA testing can only be done at the provincial office, and they have plenty of work. Moreover, our bureau chief widened the scope of comparison to include the entire province. Luckily we expanded to the entire province; otherwise, we wouldn’t have found a match...” The decomposition of the bodies was too severe, and normal DNA extraction was quite difficult. In cases like these, where a body had been abandoned for years, DNA usually had to be extracted from bone marrow, but the success rate wasn’t high, and it often required many attempts to succeed. Running a single DNA analysis could take a full day, unless the lab technicians worked overtime without sleep, managing only two runs a day. Hence, doing this kind of DNA testing was a significant time drain. Currently, DNA analysis is actually divided into three types. One is the most common autosomal DNA analysis, another is Y chromosome DNA analysis, and the third is mitochondrial DNA analysis. Among these, the Y chromosome is inherited from the paternal side of the family, with father, son, and grandfather sharing the same Y chromosome set. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down the maternal lineage, with grandmother, mother, and sisters sharing the same mitochondrial DNA set. Y chromosome DNA analysis is often used for criminal investigations within a family group, like in the case of the Baiyin serial murders, where the killer was identified by first finding his uncle through Y chromosome analysis, then subsequently pinpointing the culprit himself. The advantage of mitochondrial DNA analysis lies in the resilience of mitochondria, which often retain viability in highly degraded environments, thereby allowing for identification. In the Hangzhou wife murder case, the husband reported the disappearance of his wife, and in the end, skin tissue and residual organs were flushed from the septic tank of the community, followed by mitochondrial DNA analysis, which proved they belonged to his wife, and established the criminal fact. The DNA analyzer and mass spectrometer operate similarly, drawing a curve on a paper strip to obtain results. The peaks and troughs of the curve match exactly, that’s a match in identification; otherwise, it’s a mismatch. In the process, it’s also necessary to deal with the contamination of extraneous peaks. Based on the capability of the DNA laboratory and the skills of the technicians, it would take quite a few days to complete the DNA identification process for these bodies. The following day. The task force held a large meeting. Liu Jinghui appeared vigorous and energetic. After several days of contention, Comrade Liu Jinghui had already gained the upper hand in the discourse. Today was no exception. Brigade Commander Shen Feihong from Qinghe City Bureau only said a few words before yielding his place to Liu Jinghui. As an official from the provincial department, Liu Jinghui didn’t need to engage in as much preliminary work. He bluntly opened the discussion and said, “After analysis, we are now going to distribute a booklet of the victims’ information to everyone...” Liu Jinghui also opened his own white booklet, saying, “Here, I’d like to emphasize victims number 2 and 3 in particular.” “Number 2, Zhu Jin, male, from Zhu Jiazhuang, was 35 when he disappeared 6 years ago, and is 1.7 meters tall. What’s special about number 2 is that he worked on his home farm. Zhu Jin rented land from relatives to plant corn, totaling forty to fifty mu, and in addition, Zhu Jin and his wife raised four sows, making money by breeding piglets.” “From what I’ve learned, due to pig farming, Zhu Jin gave up working away from home. His daily activities were limited, mainly around Zhu Jiazhuang and nearby village markets; he rarely went to the county town.” “However, on the day Zhu Jin disappeared, he rode out on a motorcycle, which we should consider as it expands the range of distances he could cover. Additionally, the whereabouts of the motorcycle can also be considered a clue.” Liu Jinghui meticulously broke down the case details, persuading everyone present like an experienced nightlife pro. After introducing a few specific details, Liu Jinghui continued with victim number 3. “According to Forensic Doctor Jiang Yuan’s analysis, we believe that victim number 3’s occupation required prolonged squatting and bearing heavy loads. After screening the missing persons and conducting DNA comparisons, we have now identified that victim number 3, named Yu Jun, male, 38 years old, from Qinghe City, disappeared 10 years ago. Before disappearing, he was a worker at the Zifeng Mountain Coal Mine in Qinghe City...” A buzzing of discussion suddenly filled the meeting room. The disappearance 10 years ago meant that the period of the murderer’s activities had been pushed back another 2 years. The expressions of several leaders from Qinghe City Bureau grew even more grim. With a murderer lurking and committing crimes for as long as 10 years without a trace, it didn’t seem right to call it an oversight, but it was also becoming difficult to maintain that the social security was excellent. However, with the murderer moving around several neighboring cities, multiple city bureaus were embarrassed, which somehow didn’t seem quite as bad. “Next, based on the current intelligence, we have the following plans...” Liu Jinghui thus started organizing. Jiang Yuan listened attentively. Although to Jiang Yuan, deduction seemed unreliable. Yet with sufficient information, simply performing logical deductions could still yield some useful conclusions. Liu Jinghui kept assigning personnel for tasks similar to verification work, in detail down to teams of two. Jiang Yuan quickly understood Liu Jinghui’s tactics. In the absence of direct identification of the suspect through the bodies, Liu Jinghui appeared to be analyzing the area where the murderer might be located. It was a somewhat clumsy, but very effective approach. Bearing in mind the current judgment, the murderer would have needed equipment like chainsaws or saws for dismembering, and moreover, had possessed such tools since 10 years ago. The proportion of households or units with such equipment was definitely not high. If they could define the area where the murderer resided, even if the defined range was large, encompassing thousands of households, it did not matter. With hundreds of officers deployed, there was a high probability of finding the person. In fact, this was also the traditional investigative craft passed down among police officers. Why don’t police like handling minor cases? Because to crack some minor cases, in theory, they also have to be handled in this way. Jiang Yuan listened to Liu Jinghui’s arrangements, looked at the victim information in the booklet, then looked up to see Liu Jinghui’s arms waving in front of a map, and suddenly felt a strong urge to draw. The sketching skill he had once acquired, although “only” at LV2, gave Jiang Yuan a strong sensation of intuitive drawing. In the center of the conference table were stacks of local maps and other materials. Jiang Yuan leaned over, grabbed a copy, and began to draw right there with the pen he always carried. He was sketching the living areas of several victims. His lines were precise, as if drawing a still life. And in his mind, it was as if there were several little men running around on a large map. Marking the places they had traversed with dual shadows and the places they might have traversed with single-lined shadows, just like sketching a still life. Soon, most of the map was covered in black and shaded areas, but amidst the enclosure of black and shadows, a long, blank, clean region appeared on the map. This result also surprised Jiang Yuan. Upon closer inspection, the blank region was more than ten kilometers long and four to five kilometers wide, lying on the map like a plump, white silkworm. The head and tail of the white silkworm were two towns. The head was Zhangshan Town, which was more than twenty kilometers from the reservoir, and the tail was Lichang Town, which was more than thirty kilometers from the reservoir. Zhangshan Town belonged to Qinghe City, while Lichang Town was under Jianjiang City. “Moved house?” thought Jiang Yuan, as the idea suddenly sprang to mind.