National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1187 - 1117 Thorough Investigation

Luo Jin City Criminal Police Detachment.

Captain Hao paced back and forth in the office, smoking one cigarette down to the butt, then lighting another.

"Have some tea, calm down, don’t be so anxious," Pang Jidong said as he handed over a cup of chrysanthemum tea.

"Old Pang, thank you," Captain Hao took the tea, feeling a bit inexplicably moved. For the past two days, Pang Jidong had been by his side. Not just Pang Jidong, but more than a dozen people, including the head of the brigade and the director, both deputies, had been visiting Captain Hao daily.

To be honest, Captain Hao felt that these past two days had been the time he was treated the best in his life. In the past, not at work, not even at home, would anyone care for him so thoroughly? What kind of experience was it to have Pang Jidong treat him better than his wife?

"I can’t help but be anxious," Captain Hao turned his head, sighed with a troubled conscience, and said, "I’m here to investigate the identity of the victim and the primary scene. The investigation yielded nothing, and Jiang’s team started producing sketches of half the victim’s face. Fortunately, it’s the lower half of the face; if it was the upper half, they might have added a mask, and maybe would have found the person. My trip was in vain."

"Impossible. The master’s new ideas also require everyone’s united effort to realize," Pang Jidong consoled Captain Hao, then continued, "If we can verify the victim’s identity, it will be easier for us to locate the primary scene."

"That’s easier said than done..." Captain Hao shook his head.

At that moment, a detective stood up.

"Report. Captain Hao, Captain Pang, I’ve found a missing person whose identity matches the victim!" The detective loudly reported.

Pang Jidong and Captain Hao immediately walked over to see.

"Missing person Zhang Lei, currently 45 years old, height 1.75 meters..." The detective read words from the report loudly.

Captain Hao and Pang Jidong’s eyes grew brighter and they involuntarily approached.

The detective continued, "Zhang Lei has a history of multiple imprisonments, is a member of a vibrant gang, known for his brutal methods, nicknamed ’Bucktooth Zhang’..."

Captain Hao and Pang Jidong’s eyes turned flickering.

It’s not unusual for members of vibrant gangs to get killed, but investigating isn’t easy. In Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies, why don’t the police like to investigate these people’s homicides? Different conditions are one reason, saying it’s just a dog-eat-dog play, one dog dead, capture another and execute, isn’t that double the happiness?

It’s still somewhat difficult to investigate.

Crimes committed by vibrant gangs, though not strictly professional hitmen, can be semi-professional and involve paid assassinations, separating interests from the perpetrator’s identity.

This way, investigating purely through interests or interpersonal connections often makes it difficult to reach a conclusion backed by evidence.

If the perpetrator is cleverer, or the person behind the scenes has greater power, they might directly dispose of the person or even silence the perpetrator, effectively building a firewall that makes investigation harder, often without direct evidence for conviction.

"That’s odd, if it’s a murder by a vibrant gang, why not handle it locally? Taking it thousands of kilometers away poses high risks," Captain Hao, often handling cases independently, quickly grabbed the main point.

Pang Jidong nodded slightly and said, "I don’t know how you handle such cases. Our usual approach is to first inquire with special agents, then mainly through interviews."

"Interview members of the gang?" Captain Hao blinked.

"There’ll always be whispers circulating. No one is killed without reason," Pang Jidong continued, "First go to Zhang Lei’s house, collect DNA, and confirm the victim’s identity accuracy before proceeding."

This is typical practice, although usually, it’s done by criminal science technicians.

At this point, the two captains didn’t care about anything else; while making calls for help, they drove directly to Zhang Lei’s house.

Zhang Lei lived alone, rented in the city center, in an apartment over a hundred square meters, excellently located, with easy access in all directions, though there’s frequent and complex traffic. Despite personnel control within, the property management was extremely lax.

Confirming his address wasn’t difficult. Although Zhang Lei never shared his home’s specific door number, he frequently brought women back, and finding women who knew him posed no challenge for local police.

The group of officers entering the building naturally attracted curious glances, and some people took their phones out to record.

Pang Jidong and Captain Hao didn’t bother about it, took the elevator to the 12th floor, after breaking open the door, wore shoe covers, took a quick sweep of the place, and let the technicians begin their analysis.

Meanwhile, Pang Jidong made a video call to Jiang Yuan, allowing him to view the scene.

Soon, Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui’s faces simultaneously appeared on the screen.

"Captain Jiang, I’ll show you around the room, the phone is on speaker," Captain Hao actively carried the phone, starting to wander around the room.

Jiang Yuan watched through the camera for a while and quickly said, "This room has been cleaned, tidied up, can we find any bloodstains?"

The on-site forensic technicians immediately sprayed Luminal, and bloodstains appeared on the wall by the living room.

"Found it," Captain Hao suddenly became excited.

Then he carried the phone over to see, Jiang Yuan’s voice quickly calmed everyone down, "This blood has dripped down, likely from a previous injury to the victim... the blood flow isn’t large, just a normal wound..."

The forensic technicians present could tell, though they initially hoped Jiang Yuan might have new ideas.

"So, there aren’t traces of a homicide?" Pang Jidong felt slightly disappointed and quickly added, "Was it cleaned intentionally? We can check the surveillance."

"You might want to ask if there’s been any cleaning services used," Jiang Yuan’s voice came through the phone, sounding a bit fatigued, "If it’s professional cleaning, they wouldn’t miss such obvious bloodstains."

Pang Jidong quickly responded, "Victim Zhang Lei is a big hustler, if he has money, he probably wouldn’t want to do household chores. I’ll ask the property management later."

It’s apparent that Zhang Lei’s residence wasn’t the primary crime scene, which isn’t surprising, just a bit disappointing.

Other forensic technicians resumed dull analysis; Jiang Yuan ended the call and thought for a while, then ordered the victim’s clothing to be retrieved.

If needed, they would resort to legal botany. novelbuddy.cσ๓

Jiang Yuan had handled organized crime cases several times before, knowing that conventional police strategies for questioning, key persons, or interest parties aren’t guaranteed to work for such cases.

Compared to ordinary people, those in this circle are more prone to exaggeration, making it difficult to discern truth, and their relationships are complex even for insiders to fully understand. While many cases do arise from interests, the perpetrator doesn’t necessarily act out of interest. On the other hand, mainstream societal values differ from street values.

Reasons for killing on the street can include face, disputes, sex, past grievances, or impulsive passion.

Even motives comprehensible to common folk, like ambition or monetary struggles, are often distorted.

Thus, in Jiang Yuan’s understanding, the most practical solution to this case remains relying on evidence, preferably physical evidence.

Although Jiang Yuan could initiate a large-scale street crackdown, who’s going to face the death penalty then?

They can’t just gather a pile of statements and let Liu Jinghui find flaws.

Jiang Yuan glanced over at Liu Jinghui, who was sniffing agarwood nearby.

Even Liu Jinghui would prefer an Eastern Train murder case over extracting clean water from an Eastern septic tank.

With that thought, Jiang Yuan approached the microscope to start pre-usage adjustments.

The microscope at the Lanyue City Bureau, though not purchased with forensic botany needs in mind, was of a sufficiently good model due to funds, though not the type Jiang Yuan was familiar with.

Jiang Yuan leisurely read the manual, learning as forensic botany work is quite slow, not requiring immediate haste.

As Jiang Yuan was thinking, a blue light curtain unfolded before him:

Task: Thoroughly investigate Zhang Lei’s murder case

Task content: Use your skills to thoroughly investigate Zhang Lei’s murder case and bring these lawless criminals to justice.