Chapter 264 - 264 248 Defining the Scope

Words : 1936 Updated : Sep 29th, 2025

264: Chapter 248 Defining the Scope 264: Chapter 248 Defining the Scope Medical Examiner Zhai first contacted the Trace Evidence Laboratory to confirm they could expedite his case, and then discussed the issue of wear and tear identification with the director of their own Criminal Science and Technology Center. The Criminal Science and Technology Center at the provincial bureau carries a higher rank and receives a sizeable annual budget, and they know a good number of scientific research institutions. In reality, the actual use of science in criminal science isn’t as frequent as one might imagine. Generally, crimes like theft are resolved by internal departments, and everyone prefers not to make things too complicated. Coordinating with external agencies not only follows certain regulations but also lacks a fixed protocol, which truly is a hassle. Only in homicide cases and major crimes does everyone pay extra attention, and then it’s easier to proceed. Only then it’s reasonable to get reports and expenses signed off by the leadership. But having said that, when external resources are genuinely needed, the domestic scientific research resources are actually quite abundant. Many scientific research institutes have reached the level where “there’s nothing they can’t do, only what you can’t imagine.” Things like trace evidence, for instance, wouldn’t have been considered new even in cutting-edge research facilities in the seventies and eighties. As for the wear and tear experiments on a snake skin bag, it’s a bit tricky for the Criminal Science and Technology Center, but in a laboratory capable of conducting wear and tear experiments, it’s child’s play. And laboratories capable of conducting wear and tear experiments could be chemical laboratories, inorganic material laboratories, organic material laboratories, metal material laboratories, mechanical laboratories, or even specialized friction laboratories, bearing laboratories, powder metallurgy laboratories... So, when it’s said that homicide cases must be solved domestically, it implies a “no-holds-barred” approach. When famous foreign criminal investigation agencies boast about solving cases with just a handful of great detectives, their support systems are nothing more than a few kitties. Domestic theft and robbery cases follow much the same pattern, but when it comes to homicide, if and when the need arises, many green criminals face a robust domestic scientific research and investigative system, and it could just be an inexperienced youngster against a group of seasoned veterans. However, this case is most likely the work of a seasoned veteran, as it’s not easy to find young folks around Zifeng Mountain. Having arranged everything, Medical Examiner Zhai checked the time, saw it was the start of working hours, and called Xu Taining. Xu Taining had heard half of it before interrupting Medical Examiner Zhai and asking, “Where are you? I’ll come to see.” Medical Examiner Zhai was slightly startled and hurriedly said, “We are at Qinghe City’s Funeral Home, you don’t need to make a special trip.” “I’ll be there as quickly as possible.” Xu Taining didn’t engage in further discussion and hung up the phone, only to then scold Medical Examiner Zhai for his confusion. He hadn’t come to Zi Feng Town for leisure; he had been busy mobilizing thousands of people with the sole purpose of cracking the case. Although the experiments conducted by Jiang Yuan and his colleagues were simple, they indeed had the potential to solve the case. Under such circumstances, Medical Examiner Zhai was still considerate of him... Xu Taining refrained from outright scolding Medical Examiner Zhai in consideration of his age. In less than two hours, Xu Taining and his team drove two cars into the Qinghe City Funeral Home. The director, Meng Deyuan, hurriedly came out to receive them. Xu Taining didn’t have much time to spare for him, shook his hand for five seconds, then said, “Let’s go inside first.” Meng Deyuan felt a bit disappointed inside as he watched Xu Taining’s car leave, and said to his subordinate, “His warmth is colder than a soul.” “Soul egg?” the subordinate quickly coined the phrase and subtly shared it in the group chat. Xu Taining couldn’t care less about possibly offending the people of Qinghe City and directly went to find Jiang Yuan and his colleagues to listen to their explanations and to mark lines on the map. At this point, Medical Examiner Zhai awkwardly explained, “Our autopsy isn’t finished yet, and it might take some more time to determine the origin of the corpse...” “The determination of the corpse’s origin is indeed important,” Xu Taining agreed and added, “You must still prioritize working on determining the origin of the corpse. Right now, let’s first focus on the discovery of the body bag.” Medical Examiner Zhai had become too accustomed to his technical work, which led to a fixed mindset, always believing the key was to understand the body. Xu Taining did not have this habit. In his experience, the window for solving a case could be momentary, and capturing the criminal was the goal, regardless of the means used. He did not care how it was done. For many cold cases, most methods are ineffective, and whatever could be found, he would use. Jiang Yuan shared a similar perspective. Indeed, he was a forensic doctor, but his expertise in criminal procedures had grown significantly. He no longer accepted having to solve cases strictly by the book. Jiang Yuan had moved beyond that. Jiang Yuan recounted the motorbike experiment to Xu Taining in detail, followed by another experiment carried out by a young officer brought by Xu Taining, carrying Chief Medical Examiner Niu. Throughout the experiment, Xu Taining did not pay much attention. Repeating the experiment was just his way of verifying the correct result. During this period, Xu Taining had been making several phone calls with his mobile phone. “The car that dumped the body came from the north,” after being urged by Xu Taining, the Trace Evidence Laboratory really made him a priority. The officers stopped watching Chief Medical Examiner Niu riding in circles on the motorbike on the empty ground and swarmed around the map instead. “Regarding the wear, it must be at least over an hour. It’s also related to the driving method and the contact spot,” said Xu Taining, “Without being certain about the vehicle type and positioning, it would still be difficult for them to pinpoint anything. Given more time, maybe they could provide a more accurate range.” “At least an hour’s time is already a very useful conclusion if confirmed,” said Senior Police Superintendent Li Liang, who had also come from the provincial office to help. He was looking at the map and said, “An hour’s time actually first rules out Zifeng Mountain and the surrounding towns and villages.” A lightbulb went off for Xu Taining, “That makes sense.” In the case of a body being dumped near Zifeng Mountain, the most and largest suspects would definitely be near Zi Feng Town and Zifeng Mountain Coal Mine. On the contrary, by increasing the distance, the number of suspects would sharply decrease. At this point, considering their intersections with Zifeng Mountain Coal Mine, identifying the suspects becomes easier. Jiang Yuan thought of Wangguoshan first and foremost. Wangguoshan choosing to dump the body in the reservoir was a similar scenario. He neither worked at the reservoir nor lived nearby, but he was familiar with the reservoir. Instead, he chose to drive for over an hour to specifically dump the body at the reservoir. Another Senior Police Superintendent from the provincial office, Li Liang, had also completed his logical construction by now and, drawing on the map, said, “I think we can start checking from the villages and towns about 30 kilometers away from Zi Feng Town, and prioritize looking for missing women...” It was then that Medical Examiner Zhai seemed to finally catch his breath and quickly said, “We are also analyzing the sources of the bodies...” “We can start by looking at the photos of the jewelry,” Jiang Yuan opened his mobile phone and showed the photos of the jewelry he had taken on the spot, “These pieces of jewelry were found in the same plot as the second and third sources of the bodies. They might have been worn or owned by the victims. I think we can ask the families of the missing persons to see if any of them recognize these items.” Given Jiang Yuan’s ability in sorting through trash, he was rather confident about the origins of the jewelry. People from different cities and income groups have different ways of disposing of trash. It might just be cheap jewelry, but people in Changyang City might throw away a whole set at once, whereas residents of Zi Feng Town or nearby smaller towns would not be so wasteful. Concepts like decluttering, why they started in Tokyo and became popular in some large cities in China, boil down to the fact that living spaces are too small. To live more comfortably with more space, you had to have fewer belongings. In those large villas with massive space, to make the rooms not feel too empty and depressing, they even deliberately move the furniture towards the center of the room. If they practiced decluttering like others, they would feel like their rooms were haunted at night. Xu Taining and the others did not need to be schooled in these simple concepts. They immediately said, “Good idea, let’s print out the photos of the jewelry and show them to the families and neighbors of the missing persons.” Then, he reminded everyone to keep up the good work in analyzing the sources of the bodies. Both Medical Examiner Zhai and Jiang Yuan agreed, although neither seemed very confident. Forensic Anthropology is like solving an equation, with simple solutions to certain problems, such as age, race, or height. As long as the skeleton is complete, these answers are definitely attainable, just with some difference in confidence levels. However, for some questions, Forensic Anthropology may not be able to provide a solution. For example, determining the region of life, type of occupation, or even living habits can easily be misjudged or undetermined. From Jiang Yuan’s current observations, he did not hold much hope for obtaining professions or lifestyle information from skeletons. There is nothing to be said about it; some individuals work extremely hard, or the labor damage from their job is very severe. If they die young, their occupation or work details can be discerned from their bones. But for others, their work might be very easy, they might like to slack off in their daily life, and occupational diseases are not obvious or might not even exist. Hence, inferring their occupation from their bones becomes more difficult. This was also why Jiang Yuan recommended using jewelry to identify people. For Xu Taining, no matter the circumstances, he had seen them all. As long as there were clues, he could be enthused and instill the same enthusiasm in his subordinates. Now, Xu Taining’s work zeal was surging. After shaking hands with Jiang Yuan and the others, he hurried off to arrange his tasks. The group swept in and out like a whirlwind. Meanwhile, the motorbike continuing to circle the empty ground at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, was still whirring away. Chief Medical Examiner Niu, sitting in the backseat with his head drooping, had given up struggling and even gotten used to the space on the back seat of the motorbike, occasionally shifting his position to get a bit more comfortable.

Chapter 264 - 264 248 Defining the Scope

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