Chapter 314 - 314 282 Grading Papers

Words : 1527 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

314: Chapter 282: Grading Papers 314: Chapter 282: Grading Papers “I need to review the evidence again, everyone start reviewing the files.” Jiang Yuan didn’t start lecturing immediately due to everyone’s attention. An eleven-year-old case was truly an old cold case, and just the task of reviewing documents was quite burdensome. Now that there was an official Cold Case Squad with a team of twenty or thirty people, rather than just a few individuals toiling away in silence, Jiang Yuan wanted things to be more formal. The first step in reopening a cold case was to organize and sort out the clues. The clues from that time needed to be revisited; evidence that could be examined without destruction had to be reexamined to see if the latest technological advancements could bring about new results. It was also important to check whether there had been any errors or imperfections in the evidence collected at the time. Officers had to review the information gathered during previous inquiries. Someone had to read through hundreds or even thousands of pages of interrogation records. It would be even better if someone could find new leads or corroboration for some pieces of evidence within these records. “Cases of homicide remain open until solved” is to a large extent, just rhetoric. However, keeping one or two officers from the task force who are aware of the entire process is indeed a necessary and smart move. On the Cold Case Squad’s side, the two contacted task force officers included one who had retired due to age and the other, despite being younger... was still an ordinary officer in the Criminal Police Brigade. He could be pulled onsite to keep up with the progress. As everyone got busy, Liu Jinghui sat next to Jiang Yuan and said in a low voice, “You’ve sensed it too, right?” “Sensed... what?” Jiang Yuan looked utterly bewildered. “This case is not like the others,” Liu Jinghui said gravely. Jiang Yuan’s expression instantly became serious, “You mean, it’s possible...” Jiang Yuan gestured upward with his hand, his eyes brimming with interrogatives. Liu Jinghui looked startled, then corrected Jiang Yuan’s gesture by adding another finger and explained, “What I mean is, this could be a team of male and female thieves. Well, calling them thieves is not accurate, the suspects are likely a man and a woman.” “Huh, why?” “Because there was no sexual violence,” Liu Jinghui spoke softly. Seeing that Jiang Yuan still didn’t understand, Liu Jinghui cleared his throat and explained, “This is... I’ve worked on several cases of taxi homicides involving robbery, and I’ve also studied some cases from around the province. Let’s put it this way, if the cab driver is female and it happens in a desolate area, and the outcome is robbery and murder, it often involves sexual violence.” “Often, but not always.” “The cases without sexual violence either involve an older female driver, or there’s a female among the criminal group. The rest often escalate to robbery, sexual violence, and murder,” Liu Jinghui sighed, “So, there was clearly a significant oversight during the investigation of this case.” This was the reason Liu Jinghui rated the case highly. Jiang Yuan listened quietly to the explanation. “I saw a photo in the case file, there was a long hair on the back seat of the car, but I couldn’t find a sample in the evidence bag. I guess the criminal investigator at the scene thought the hair belonged to the victim, it certainly looked the part, but I believe it’s more likely the murderer’s hair,” While speaking, Liu Jinghui pulled out the photo from the case file. Among the crevices of the brown seat, there was a bloodstain; the photograph was taken to capture the bloodstain, but one could vaguely see a long hair beside it. Jiang Yuan immediately compared it to the victim’s photo and after pondering for a while, he slowly nodded, “It’s possible, the hair looks somewhat like the victim’s—similar in length and color, but the curliness is slightly different. The photo quality is too poor to determine. But even if the hair isn’t the victim’s, it could have been left by a previous passenger.” That’s the frustration with taxi cases—the vehicle seems like a treasure trove of evidence, but ownership of every piece is in question. In the process of extracting evidence, exactly how to collect evidence and which evidence to collect is itself a test of the crime scene investigation abilities. First, it should be clear that it is impossible to collect evidence in an unlimited quantity. Evidence bags cost just a few dollars each, which isn’t much, but DNA reagents are not cheap. The current price for domestic ones is around a hundred or so, and there are always some imported products that work better than domestic ones. If you want higher precision and better sensitivity, there’s always a cost. At a murder scene, it is normal to collect DNA traces from a dozen or so spots, and it’s also normal to collect from hundreds of spots, but for such a large scene, collecting from several hundred spots is actually not feasible. And it’s not just a matter of the consumables being expensive, the capacity of the laboratory is also limited. A municipal bureau’s DNA laboratory processes DNA samples all day, and the turnaround time for feedback on ordinary cases is now pushed to “the weekend” or “next week.” While murder cases are indeed given priority, they can’t occupy resources indefinitely. The crime scene officers or other technicians, or even other detectives, always have to make some judgments and choices based on their own experiences. Clearly, based on the circumstances of the case, the police officers participating in the investigation at the time might not have considered the possibility that such a brutal beheading robbery murder could involve a female. Therefore, when collecting samples, they didn’t specifically extract this strand of hair. Liu Jinghui didn’t commit to an opinion, saying, “I guess it was a man and a woman for another reason – there was only one bloody footprint at the scene, and furthermore, the DNA extracted from the victim’s fingernails has never matched anyone over the years, indicating an unusual level of stability. I’m betting on a pair of deadly lovers.” “Do you think the killer was going to commit another crime?” “Robbery homicide offenders are often repeat offenders,” Liu Jinghui said. “Where are there robbers who only commit one robbery? Once a hero joins Liangshan, plundering becomes part of the daily routine.” Jiang Yuan nodded in agreement, saying, “This indicates that the original motive for the crime was probably not robbery.” “Right, the objective was probably not robbery, and certainly not murder,” Liu Jinghui paused before continuing, “Based on the method of murder, beheading may seem very cruel, but it’s actually very unprofessional and further proves the amateurishness of the killer. However, the killer’s technique has some merit. I think they must have had experience with similar work, maybe as a butcher or something like a doctor.” “If it were a doctor, wouldn’t they have dismembered the body after killing?” Jiang Yuan countered a bit. “That’s possible,” Liu Jinghui nodded and asked, “What can you deduce from your side? Why the high score?” “There was only one person’s bloody footprint at the scene, male, around 38 years old, 175 centimeters tall, with a slight limp on the left leg,” Jiang Yuan emphasized. “The limp wasn’t too severe; probably the left leg was just slightly shorter than the right, but it would be hard to notice if he wore height-increasing shoes.” Liu Jinghui’s eyes lit up, “No wonder you gave a high score. This case should be a priority; with a limp, it’s much easier to identify the person.” The distinctiveness of a limp is very high. If it’s not disguised, people in the vicinity will generally take notice when someone with a limp walks by. It’s much easier to distinguish than the uneven length of arms or the different sizes of eggs. It doesn’t even require special attention. “DNA too, but they never found a match back then,” Jiang Yuan said. “The two of them are probably no longer in the area.” “Hmm... quite possible. The investigation back then must have been thorough,” Liu Jinghui became somewhat somber. If the people had left, or were from out of town, the investigation would have been futile. Without an investigation, detectives’ effectiveness would drop by thirty percent. “Also, I agree the killer had butcher experience or similar,” Jiang Yuan said, “I think starting from this point, we may be able to find the person.” “A butcher with a limp? And with DNA, it certainly is a breakthrough point,” Liu Jinghui nodded. After all, it’s a murder cold case, and having so many clues is actually quite extraordinary. Just that, compared to the first case, there isn’t a way to break through directly with this one.

Chapter 314 - 314 282 Grading Papers

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