National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1175 - 1105: Teaching People Without Success

The next day.

Early morning.

Liu Jinghui followed Jiang Yuan to Liu Chengming’s residence, a container house at a construction site.

Compared to ordinary houses, these container-modified homes are cold in winter and hot in summer, with limited space. They serve mainly the function of sleeping, without much room for enjoyment.

Nevertheless, Liu Chengming’s living quarters at the construction site were considered decent, since he worked in a technical position, allowing him to reside in a single room.

However, even this container house, when Jiang Yuan inspected it, yielded nothing of interest. Despite a thorough search, no useful clues could be found.

The accompanying technician packed up the tools, saying, "Captain Jiang, should we move the contents back for further inspection?"

This was purely a gesture for Jiang Yuan’s sake; even if replaced by a less notable expert, such a thorough investigation wouldn’t even be considered. There’s always more work for the Criminal Science team, and every unit is pressing for results. When resources and time are wasted here, alternatives must be sought elsewhere.

Jiang Yuan didn’t have such strong desires, shaking his head, "This is just the suspect’s temporary residence. If we can’t find evidence here, let’s consider other locations."

"The suspect claimed he threw the knife into East Creek Lake. Dai Zhi has already organized a team to search for it, but East Creek Lake is quite deep and has underwater currents. It won’t be easy to find," said the technician, viewing the search for the murder weapon as currently the most critical task. Once the knife is found, together with the murder’s vehicle and corresponding photographs, the case’s evidence chain would be relatively complete.

At this moment, after a night’s reflection, Liu Jinghui felt even more convinced, saying, "Liu Chengming’s confession is questionable, and many statements cannot be disproven at present. At the very least, we must find some objective evidence. Let them find the knife."

Unlike ordinary homicide cases, Liu Chengming burned two victims into ashes, preventing the police from extracting any evidence directly from the victims—what weapon was used, how they were killed, all could only be inferred from Liu Chengming’s confession. Liu Jinghui wasn’t fond of this approach; he naturally wanted to avoid trusting the confession and paying a significant price for that trust.

Listening to Liu Jinghui’s tone, Jiang Yuan asked, "So what do you want to investigate?"

"Can I investigate anything I want?" Liu Jinghui suddenly asked.

"Of course." Jiang Yuan affirmed.

"All I have is what’s in my mind; I don’t have any evidence," Liu Jinghui said.

"You haven’t always been like this," Jiang Yuan said, curiously glancing at Liu Jinghui.

Liu Jinghui suddenly felt touched. This is the significance of being a Dragon Knight; the Dragon Knight requires no explanation. Wherever the dragon lance points, the dragon breathes fire and dives down—a true romantic notion.

The Dragon Knight maneuvers the dragon as easily as an extension of his own body, just like Watson under Sherlock Holmes.

"I feel something’s off with Liu Chengming. I have one key question: was the male victim’s skull burned completely, or was the head cut off beforehand?" Liu Jinghui asked.

Jiang Yuan had clearly considered this issue, responding, "I believe it’s highly likely that the head was cut off beforehand. Although one cannot completely rule out burning it to ashes, it’s very challenging—requiring a large amount of accelerant and someone standing on-site to oversee the burning. Just burning it openly in the wild, it’s unlikely to achieve complete incineration. Judging by the final state of other bones, there must be remnants of the male victim’s skull."

Liu Jinghui nodded, "If the murderer stayed until they could take away the burned fragments of the male victim’s skull, logically, they’d also take away other fragments of burned bones. In that case, there might not have been a case at all."

"That would require a significant amount of accelerant and several hours on-site. Handling burned bone fragments would be another issue. Was it buried?"

"It’s quite possible that the cut-off head was buried," Liu Jinghui elaborated on his thoughts, "I think finding the head should be a priority. If we find the victim’s head, it would prove Liu Chengming lied, leading to an immediate death sentence. The specifics of the case would likely become clear."

At the crematorium, bodies are burned with diesel sprayed from all sides to aid combustion, and the body’s fats help ensure thorough burning. Even then, a significant amount of large bone fragments remains.

These bone fragments are often crushed by crematorium staff before some are placed into the client’s urns. Putting all fragments into the urn is unlikely—there’s too much left over, and typical urns don’t have that much space.

Burning bones in the wild, even with diesel as an accelerant, likely won’t achieve such results. Most notably, the skull should be the most resistant to burning.

To completely burn it to ash in such an environment would require someone standing nearby, repeatedly pouring diesel and using a hammer, only then might it be possible.

Clearly, if the murderer was willing to go to such lengths, they could have taken away or processed all the fragments of burned bones.

From this perspective, Liu Chengming’s testimony contains falsehoods.

This is one reason for Liu Jinghui’s suspicion. As an already arrested murder suspect, having chosen to confess, providing a complete and accurate statement is actually beneficial—it serves as a basis for reduced punishment and a possible escape from immediate execution.

Liu Chengming admitted to the killing but failed to give a truthful and complete confession, which is somewhat unusual, indicating he’s definitely hiding something from the police. He doesn’t have much to his name and isn’t an official, which naturally piqued Liu Jinghui’s curiosity.

"Actually, there’s another issue." Liu Jinghui stood inside the container house, sweat slightly forming on his face, and said, "The suspect Liu Chengming is an excavator operator. He actually has the means to bury the corpse deeply without much effort. Choosing to burn the corpse wasn’t really necessary."

"Maybe it’s because the excavator is hard to move around," the technician standing next to him said, "from what I know, many excavators nowadays, especially those owned by companies, have detailed data monitoring systems. Some require a password to start, and the location and time where the excavator was used are recorded clearly. The movements of the bucket are also recorded. If he secretly digs a pit to bury the body, the excavator data could implicate him."

Liu Jinghui nodded slowly: "That’s indeed a possible factor. However, Liu Chengming has operated excavators for so long that it shouldn’t be difficult for him to find another one; borrowing or even renting one is possible..."

"But he still chose to burn the body."

"There are many benefits to burning a body. If done properly, it leaves fewer traces, can be less obvious than burying with an excavator, and if it’s not your case, it’s hard to confirm the victim’s identity. Additionally, an excavator is quite noticeable. Such a commotion can easily alert people around. It’s not easy to go to remote areas, and carrying a body at the same time is inconvenient."

The others listened to Liu Jinghui’s explanation and nodded in agreement.

Liu Jinghui then said, "Let’s investigate it anyway. Have someone ask people around Liu Chengming to see if he has borrowed or rented an excavator. Also, check his contact list and WeChat records. If he rented one, it would probably happen through these channels."

"Yes." Wang Chuanxing immediately made arrangements after Liu Jinghui confirmed it.

This type of inquiry is somewhat similar to screening, but much simpler and cheaper, more like a police station or the criminal investigation team procedure.

"With this case, we might be nitpicking a bit. However, I think Liu Chengming has other cases on him, and a deeper investigation might prove fruitful." Liu Jinghui said this mostly to Jiang Yuan; if Dai Mingsheng were present, he would have hesitated.

The technician beside him felt a bit helpless and silently took out his phone to start messaging the team leader.

Liu Jinghui watched him message and said to Wang Chuanxing, "Check the old body-burning cases too, see if there are any similar ones, and try connecting them. Liu Chengming might be relying on a familiar pattern."

Connecting and consolidating cases is a fundamental skill of criminal investigators. When one case doesn’t have enough clues, merging two cases together might suddenly provide enough leads. Criminals rarely commit just one crime without doing another. Even homicide suspects are not an exception.

It’s like gambling; if guessing right once can yield a year’s worth of income, who wouldn’t abandon patience in work? If killing someone can resolve issues that decades of income cannot, who would maintain relationships patiently?

A few calls were made, and the Lanyue City Criminal Police Team immediately started moving.

Jiang Yuan put on his mask again and collected evidence inside the container house thoroughly.

No matter how much is happening outside, the basic technical work must be done.

After finishing the investigation of Liu Chengming’s temporary residence, Jiang Yuan took a walk around the construction site and found no other discoveries before returning to the Criminal Police Team with Liu Jinghui to set up hot pot and wait for reports from various aspects.

In the evening, new reports were gradually delivered.

"No new clues. However, the car Liu Chengming used was found. He rented a vehicle through Xianyu..." Wang Chuanxing briefly explained to Jiang Yuan and the others.

Jian Louyuan also came over and said, "No leads were found for the excavator or body-burning yet."

Liu Jinghui nodded slowly.

Wei Shikan squeezed out from behind his team leader like toothpaste and said, "Could it be... that Liu Chengming actually doesn’t have any old cases?"

When leaders hesitate to speak, the least concerned person might voice it.

Liu Jinghui merely gave him a smile and asked, "Has Liu Chengming given a complete confession?"

"No." This time, it was Jian Louyuan who answered.

It’s incredibly difficult to coherently explain a case, especially when it comes to the details. Telling one lie and trying to make it all fit is a tough task.

And the suspect does not have the right to omit details. Not answering truthfully equates to not giving a true account,

"Then continue the interrogation." Liu Jinghui wasn’t rushed at this moment and said to Jian Louyuan, "If we can’t find evidence for the body-burning, establish another project to see if there are any unsolved murder cases involving disposing or burying bodies on construction sites. Directly check the sites Liu Chengming worked on and nearby murder cases to see if there are any matches."

Jian Louyuan was somewhat baffled: "Rabbits don’t eat the grass near their burrow. Moreover, Liu Chengming burned bodies far away. Would he really kill at the construction site?"

"Maybe he failed when trying to kill on-site. People can’t be taught, but a single incident teaches them." Liu Jinghui’s brain was rapidly processing as he stated, "A carpenter like Liu Chengming has worked half his life on construction sites, yet the entire process from coercion to murder and body disposal went too smoothly. Start checking."