Chapter 266 - 266 250 Saw Blade

Words : 1713 Updated : Sep 29th, 2025

266: Chapter 250 Saw Blade 266: Chapter 250 Saw Blade Although only one victim was identified, or rather, the identification of one victim, had already elevated everyone’s spirits. In several chat groups, the number of people speaking had noticeably increased. In the “Grey Seal Group” that Jiang Yuan was added to, people started chatting cheerfully: Li Rui: “Feels like we’re seeing hope. Now that we’ve identified the source of the corpse, we can search for the activity track on the day of disappearance.” Crime Scene Investigator Zhang Mingyuan: “Don’t be so optimistic. It’s been three years and four months since the disappearance. Only the family might remember a bit. If you ask the people around, they can’t recall anything.” Portrait Investigator Fu Quanxian: “Didn’t they actively search for the person when she went missing? Normally, if someone disappears and you get questioned about it, you would have a fresh memory, right?” Crime Scene Investigator Zhang Mingyuan: “When she disappeared, her parents weren’t around; they had gone to the countryside. The victim had no job, a homebody, well, nowadays we call it ‘flexible employment.’ No colleagues, so when she went missing and her parents couldn’t get through to her after trying for four days, they reported it to the police.” Forensic Doctor Niu Lihuang: “(・ω・) The victim had cervical spondylosis, lumbar disc herniation, all occupational diseases from desk jobs, yet she didn’t work?” Crime Scene Investigator Zhang Mingyuan: “Probably from playing video games.” Forensic Doctor Niu Lihuang: “Damn, how can a forensic doctor work with this, how to reconstruct the lifestyle and occupation scenario?” Crime Scene Investigator Zhang Mingyuan: “Good thing Jiang Yuan found the victim’s accessory, he’s quite skilled. Otherwise, we might not have even found the victim this time.” Portrait Investigator Fu Quanxian: “So now, is there any lead on the motorcycle, or has the trail gone cold?” Crime Scene Investigator Zhang Mingyuan: “Still looking. And we can’t limit our search to the victim’s living area alone—it’s quite narrow.” As the group chatted, the mood shifted from optimism to pessimism, and soon the conversation died down. Jiang Yuan was frowning as he read. He had contemplated the identity of the victim, but he didn’t have any firm ideas. However, his initial assumption was that the victim would be a white-collar worker or public servant, at least someone with an office job. He never imagined that a woman in her twenties, seriously gaming, could develop so many ailments. After scrolling through his phone and returning to reality, Jiang Yuan sighed inwardly and turned his attention back to the body. With his initial thoughts, if he could find the location of the body’s origin, or the crime scene, the likelihood of finding the killer would be very high. Given it’s a cold case homicide, the evidence they had was not insignificant. But not finding is still not finding. Especially during the time spent searching the victim’s home, if new clues emerged, they might directly pinpoint the killer. But without them, the value of this lead would significantly diminish. The detectives were still working hard locally, checking motorcycles, the people present at the time of disappearance, and the victim’s social connections, possibly uncovering some clues. But from Jiang Yuan’s perspective, the best evidence remained the body itself. “The king of evidence” signifies just how rich the information provided by the body can be. It’s just that obtaining it can be quite challenging. However, compared to the first three bodies, the fourth seemed to have more to tell—at least, that was Jiang Yuan’s feeling. If he had to describe it, the fourth body seemed more disheveled, more carelessly handled. And from the timeline, the fourth body’s time of death was also long ago, in Jiang Yuan’s estimate, over four years. Meaning, this victim was killed even earlier by the perpetrator. Handled imperfectly? Or did something unexpected happen during the process? With expectation in his heart, Jiang Yuan meticulously searched for clues. In fact, it’s normal for a killer to encounter unexpected situations while dismembering a body. Even in the countryside during the New Year’s pig slaughter, a butcher who has killed pigs all his life wouldn’t dare claim that nothing unexpected could happen. The killer, under great psychological stress and often in a not-so-comfortable operation spot with restricted visibility and other constraints, would normally face accidental situations. Some killers even try using latex gloves, only to accidentally cut them into the body. For the first three bodies, Jiang Yuan didn’t find any particularly useful evidence, but looking at the fourth, he was hopeful for a harvest. He didn’t follow a set sequence to examine the bodies, instead, he went with his gut and started with the larger bones. That alone took over an hour. During this time, other forensic doctors also came to examine the bones, but they all fixated on different aspects and their observations, and judgments differed. Jiang Yuan silently observed, pausing when he came upon the sectioned radius and humerus. What drew his attention this time was the cross-section of the bones. The bones had been sawn open, which wasn’t novel. Many dismemberment killers liked to use saws, including Wangguoshan, the murderer from the reservoir body-dumping case, who had also used a saw in his dismemberment. Compared with those who used axes or machetes, those who used saws expended less effort in dismemberment, produced a greater number of pieces, with each piece also averaging a slighter weight. Jiang Yuan had seen quite a number of bodies dismembered with saws, but there was a change in the cross-section of the No. 4 decedent. What kind of change? Jiang Yuan took out several pieces of sternum and ribs, compared them with the humerus and radius, and then it was clear: the former had a smoother and more even cross-section, while the latter not only had significant cutting marks, but also clear signs of saw blade jumping. Furthermore, the ladder-shaped marks on the humerus and radius were distinct, about 4 millimeters from the cross-section, and their lengths were also about 4 millimeters. In contrast, the sternum and ribs were much smoother and clearer. All of these indicated one issue: the killer had changed saws. Whether he began with the sternum or the arms, he had switched saws. Perhaps a saw was broken, or a saw blade was damaged, or maybe he felt that the saw he was using was not effective enough, whatever the reason, the killer had changed his saw, at the very least he had changed the saw blade, during the process of dismemberment. But whether changing the saw or the blade, it further illuminated an answer: the killer had dismembered the body at a fixed location. The reasoning behind this inference was that the killer had to have used a high-powered saw, most likely a chainsaw. The chainsaw was substantial in size and weight, hitting around 10 kilograms, with its blade—more accurately referred to as a saw chain—resembling a heavy bicycle chain, weighing several jins. Jiang Yuan thought that a normal dismemberment killer probably would not carry two chainsaws or one chainsaw with an extra chain. If such a killer had a phobia of chain breakages, then with his meticulous nature, wouldn’t it be more logical and appropriate to just swap out the chainsaw’s chain? This device was often used for sawing wood and trees, made from special steel; it could withstand several hundred cuts, could be sharpened, and used again, not so easily damaged or broken. Just buy a new one online, cut up two people, maybe you could even return it to the seller. Therefore, on the No. 4 decedent, the more rational explanation for switching saws or blades was that the killer dismembered the body on his own turf. This way, it would be easier and smoother to replace the saw or blade if an issue arose. By this line of reasoning, it overturned another hypothesis: that the killer intentionally carried tools like a saw to commit the crime far from his place of residence or work. In other words, the killer’s residence or place of work should be near the crime scene. That is, near the residence of the No. 3 victim, Feng Xiaoyan! Once Jiang Yuan realized this, he immediately called Huang Qiangmin. On the other end, Huang Qiangmin wasn’t resting either; he listened with anticipation to Jiang Yuan’s reasoning, then fell slightly silent. “Is there a problem?” Jiang Yuan felt something was amiss. “The motorcycles in Fangjin Township have already been checked thoroughly, but no suspects have been screened out.” Huang Qiangmin sighed. Jiang Yuan was somewhat surprised: “You’ve finished checking so quickly? Then... what about the rural areas around Fangjin Township, those closer to Feng Xiaoyan?” “It’s possible. But over here, motorcycles are not as common as in Zi Feng Town,” Huang Qiangmin paused before adding, “Or perhaps someone rode over from another township twenty or thirty kilometers away?” “That’s a bit too far. Moreover, carrying a chainsaw on a motorcycle is tough enough already, carrying two chainsaws or a chainsaw with two chains? That’s too exhausting.” “That’s true.” Huang Qiangmin paused for a while and then said, “It’s also possible that Feng Xiaoyan herself moved around, but it’s indeed unlikely that she would go off on her own for dozens of kilometers.” Huang Qiangmin spoke, negating his own thoughts. “So, it does seem highly probable that the killer is in Fangjin Township or the surrounding area. It’s a pity that we can’t locate the origin of the other bodies; otherwise...” Huang Qiangmin sounded frustrated, then continued, “We’ve also been paying attention to the dismemberment tools, with no findings. Hmm, your discovery is still very valuable, though. I’ll report to Director Xu, and we’ll have to intensify the search and sweep in this area.” Jiang Yuan gave an acknowledgement, hung up the phone, feeling somewhat exhausted himself. They say the search area has narrowed, but a range of ten or fifteen kilometers radius is still quite large. If there was enough time, they could conduct a detailed search, incrementally increasing the likelihood of finding something. But screening is the most time-consuming job.

Chapter 266 - 266 250 Saw Blade

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