National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 189 - 189 181 The Old Profession

189: Chapter 181: The Old Profession 189: Chapter 181: The Old Profession Solving cold cases through fingerprint analysis had always been Jiang Yuan’s forte.

The plaque commemorating his second-class meritorious service was still basking in the sun at his front door, polished to a shine by his proud father every single day.

Having worked on so many cold case fingerprints, Jiang Yuan felt there was a match as soon as he saw the bloody fingerprint on the leather jacket.

This was a kind of confidence based on personal ability.

Firstly, the clarity of a blood fingerprint was usually passable.

Of course, this fingerprint had been found on a leather jacket, so its clarity was slightly compromised, but it was still much better than the condition of most latent sweat fingerprints.

Secondly, although the fingerprint was only one-third the normal size and lacked a center, it had a fingertip.

This condition was very personalized.

In regular trace examination, if the fingerprint lacked a core or the core was obscured, the print would typically be discarded.

It’s very difficult to find a match under these conditions.

But for Jiang Yuan, as long as he could correctly determine the position of the core, and the ridge lines around the core were clear, he was confident he could work with such a fingerprint.

The success rate was only slightly lower than if the fingerprint had a core.

For current cases, naturally, the better the condition of the fingerprint, the easier it is to proceed.

But having worked on so many cold cases, a simple truth had become apparent: for cold cases, the better the condition of the fingerprint, the more meaningless it was.

A fingerprint that anyone could match was like a lickspittle dog that fawns over everyone it meets; it has no owner.

Of course, the difficulty of the fingerprint at hand was also obvious.

Jiang Yuan downloaded the fingerprint image to the computer, and instead of immediately getting to work, he looked at the picture.

At that moment, a system notification flashed before his eyes:

…

Mission: Crack the doubtful case

Mission content: Solve the 405 Xu Hai case

…

Jiang Yuan checked the information, and indeed, the 405 Xu Hai case was the very case he had just chosen.

This saved him some trouble as he didn’t have to ponder whether to switch to another case if he encountered difficulties with this one.

He just needed to focus solely on breaking this case.

Jiang Yuan rubbed his hands together, as per his usual practice, regardless of the condition of the fingerprint, he would start with photo editing.

An old saying goes: Three rolls in Photoshop, and even a beauty couldn’t stand firm.

Once a fingerprint had been through Photoshop, it was bound to reveal some of its true nature, like a leader having had a bit too much Maotai.

Jiang Yuan didn’t ask for much, typically requiring 15 characteristic points on a complete fingerprint.

On one that was only a third of the size, if he could identify 8 characteristic points, he would have a basis for comparison.

The old high-performance computer started up with a rumbling noise.

Hearing the sound, Wu Jun looked up and asked, “Have you picked a case?”

“The 405 Xu Hai case,” Jiang Yuan replied.

“Just tell me the condition of the body, and I’ll know which one it is,” Wu Jun said, standing up and lighting a cigarette.

Jiang Yuan went straight to the point, “The body was found next to a township road in Litang Township.

When discovered, the body was about 8 meters away from the road, with a barrier of trees and vines in between.

The body was highly decomposed, with stab wounds in the abdomen and chest…”

“Ah, I know, was the victim a private clothing vendor at the fair?” Wu Jun spoke as if recalling a piece of history.

Jiang Yuan gave an affirmative grunt and said, “I noticed a blood handprint on his leather jacket, so I’m going to see if it matches anything.”

“Using fingerprints, eh?

That should work,” Wu Jun said and then couldn’t help adding, “But this case is a tough one.”

“Where did the investigation get stuck at the time?” Jiang Yuan was also curious.

Instead of answering, Wu Jun asked, “What do you think the nature of this case is?”

Jiang Yuan had mainly focused on the fingerprints but had also skimmed the case details.

After pondering a moment, he replied, “A roadside robbery that escalated to murder?”

“Why would it be 8 meters away from the road?

Look at the scene’s photos.

They specifically took a picture of the roadside plants.

Don’t you think it’s very lush?

It’s inconvenient to walk through,” Jiang Yuan said.

So, Jiang Yuan flipped through the photos in the internal network again, which were the images of the cold case, and they were transcribed clearly.

It was evident that just two or three meters away from the country road, the vegetation became dense.

To get 8 meters away, one couldn’t directly walk through; they’d have to squeeze in.

If someone were being coerced at knifepoint, it was easy for things to go awry.

Of course, things going awry might also be a reason for escalation?

Jiang Yuan didn’t quite understand, but he grasped Wu Jun’s point and said, “So, initially, you didn’t think it was a roadside robbery?”

Wu Jun, however, shook his head and said, “I thought it was, and so did many others.

But the leaders didn’t agree.”

“Why not?”

“Because if it was a roadside robbery that led to murder, the case would be unsolvable,” Wu Jun spread his hands and sighed, “It makes sense.

Back then, solving cases was simplistic—investigate, eliminate, and interrogate.

In the middle of nowhere, if it became a robbery-homicide case, it would be too difficult to handle.”

Investigate, eliminate, and interrogate referred to examining the crime scene, canvassing backgrounds, and conducting surprise interrogations.

This was a method of criminal investigation rooted in a solid network of social relationships.

The household registration system established after the founding of the country significantly reduced the mobility of people, and most cases involved acquaintances.

By canvassing, a satisfactory clearance rate for cases could be achieved.

As for the wanderers outside of this network, the police system often referred to them as “blind drifters,” and they would be easily detained for examination, interrogation, and repatriation.

For this reason, as social mobility increased, the effectiveness of the police system greatly declined, not to mention public security.

Wu Jun didn’t tell Jiang Yuan something—that there were quite a few cases of roadside robbery back then, so the leaders weren’t very keen on solving them.

Jiang Yuan, driven by curiosity, then asked, “What did Captain Huang say at the time?”

“At that time, he happened to be the head of a police station.” Wu Jun paused, reminiscing for a moment, then said, “It should have been because of this case that he was promoted to head of the Criminal Police Squad.”

Jiang Yuan couldn’t help being nosy, “Was the previous squad leader replaced because of this case?”

“More or less.

There were quite a few unsolved cases in those years.”

Seeing Wu Jun had no interest in continuing this topic, Jiang Yuan returned to discussing the case and said, “So, do you think the main issue with this case was the direction of the investigation?”

“The victim’s network has been almost thoroughly investigated, with no results,” Wu Jun shook his head and said, “You’d better focus on fingerprints now.

That’s about the only way to find something.”

Random crimes were difficult to investigate back then, and they are even more so now.

Over the years, most of the cold cases that were solved relied mainly on fingerprints and DNA, for similar reasons.

Many clues that couldn’t be tracked down back then are even less traceable years later.

Jiang Yuan had been hoping his master could provide more insight.

After all, a lot of information isn’t written in the case files.

The discarded investigative direction Wu Jun had just mentioned was precisely the kind of thing not found in the case files.

For now, however, it seemed to be of no use.

Jiang Yuan didn’t want to speculate anymore and turned back to processing the fingerprints.

Just like when he participated in the provincial fingerprint competition in Changyang.

Back then, there was hardly anyone to collaborate with; it was simply a matter of checking fingerprints.

If you found a match, great; if not, tough luck.

At that time, half of the province’s fingerprint experts, most of whom were Level 3 in trace evidence, went home with nothing but goose eggs to show for it.

Jiang Yuan had been processing a single fingerprint until it was time to leave work.

Wu Jun stood up on time and asked Jiang Yuan, “Leaving work?”

“I’m working overtime,” Jiang Yuan sighed and pulled out his phone to send a message to his dad.

Wu Jun chuckled and said, “You should balance work and rest, take a break when it’s time to.”

“It breaks the train of thought,” Jiang Yuan said helplessly, shaking his head.

During the provincial fingerprint competition, why were the fingerprint experts more successful?

Attention was one aspect, but it was also because they could focus on analyzing fingerprints without even going home.

Jiang Yuan didn’t dare take the blood fingerprint lightly; getting back into the mindset he had during the fingerprint competition was the most advantageous.