National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 228 - 228 219 Two Lines

228: Chapter 219 Two Lines 228: Chapter 219 Two Lines Sitting in the office of the Qianjin District Criminal Police Team, Jiang Yuan meticulously compared the footprint impressions of Bai Yuequn with the bloody footprints found at the crime scene, examining them over and over.

The trouble with footprints is that they cannot be used to identify a suspect on a one-to-one basis.

They can come incredibly close, but they cannot offer certainty.

Otherwise, if they were like fingerprints, they could be used as definitive evidence for prosecution.

Barefoot prints could be considered as unique as fingerprints, but unfortunately, they are usually not available.

After all, murderers seldom kill barefoot.

Even though it’s not possible to be 100% certain, from Jiang Yuan’s perspective, the degree of overlap was basically enough to confirm Bai Yuequn’s status as a suspect.

If the resemblance was this close and he wasn’t the killer, then it would just add another layer of coincidence.

Considering that the third brother, Yuan Yutang, was only in his twenties and Vajra Pestle could not have had too many lovers or rivals, and given his loudmouth tendencies that surely didn’t offend too many people, what were the odds that someone with a motive to kill would also have a similar footprint?

It must be incredibly low.

Therefore, when Team Leader Lei Xin of the Qianjin District said there was an alibi witness, Jiang Yuan’s first reaction was to question the credibility of the witness.

Physical evidence is hard to falsify, but it’s much too easy for witnesses to lie.

However, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation, and even he had his doubts.

What if?

As Jiang Yuan furrowed his brow and studied the footprints, Huang Qiangmin came over with a smile.

“Can’t figure it out?” Huang Qiangmin looked at Jiang Yuan.

“It’s not that I can’t figure it out, but …” Jiang Yuan didn’t know how to explain it to Huang Qiangmin.

“I don’t know much about the technicalities, nor about footprints.

But it seems to me, Bai Yuequn’s footprint matches that at the scene, right?” Huang Qiangmin asked.

“Yes,” Jiang Yuan replied, full of unsaid words, and went on, “The height matches, including the use of height-increasing shoes; the shoe size matches, including wearing shoes that are too big; same goes for weight, age; I’ve also looked at his pace and gait in surveillance videos, they’re all consistent; if it were a stranger…”

Huang Qiangmin laughed and gently stopped Jiang Yuan’s gesticulating arm, whispering, “No ‘ifs’, it’s him.”

“Huh?” Jiang Yuan was a bit surprised; to be honest, he hadn’t dared to be so certain.

“Remember when you told me about the CSI effect?” Huang Qiangmin chuckled, “You’ve got a bit of it now.

So, we need DNA or fingerprints to identify the killer for certain?

Do we need to be 100% sure before we can prosecute?

If that was the case, how would we have solved cases 20 years ago?”

Jiang Yuan replied, “So, was it more about confession back then?”

“Confessions aren’t 100% either, and leading suspects to confess isn’t a tactic exclusive to Americans,” Huang Qiangmin waved his hand dismissively, “We already have plenty of clues.”

“But about Captain Lei…”

“He’s new to the case and isn’t that familiar with the details yet.

Plus, the crime happened in his jurisdiction, so he’s bound to be more cautious.

We don’t need to worry about him right now.”

“So…”

“Stop focusing on the footprint right now,” Huang Qiangmin interjected.

“Then what should I look at?”

“Anything is fine,” said Huang Qiangmin.

“In criminal investigation, there’s a saying: a single piece of evidence is not enough.

To put it in my words, when a case comes together, it’s never just one piece of evidence.

The hardest part is actually over—we’ve identified the killer; now we need to prove it.”

Counting on his fingers, Huang Qiangmin continued, “Let’s assume the killer is Bai Yuequn, and let’s assume his alibi is false.

The key question is, can we prove it?

Can we lock him down with physical evidence?”

Jiang Yuan instantly snapped out of his fixation.

Indeed, the murderer in this case had left behind a wealth of evidence; if they could connect all that evidence to Bai Yuequn, then the case could be considered solved.

Assuming someone is the killer and then proving it is also a common method in criminal investigations.

In fact, most cases work out this way.

As the old saying goes, an experienced detective can spot a first-time murderer with just one look.

That’s why a burglary can often be harder to crack than a murder—if burglaries are easily solved, it’s usually because the suspect didn’t take it seriously or wasn’t well-prepared.

And some professional thieves, after not being caught for a long time, tend to get complacent, making mistakes due to overwork or carelessness.

The wife-murder case in Hangzhou, and countless other cases of spouses killing each other, generally follow a similar pattern.

The police spend most of their time and energy on proving their case.

The case of Yuan Yutang’s murder also wasn’t particularly complex.

If Bai Yuequn was the murderer, then he had simply engaged in some misdirection.

He wore shoes he didn’t usually wear, he was uninjured at the scene, and he had an alibi, but the act of creating these diversions in itself involved a lot of work.

And the more one does, the more likely one is to slip up.

The more likely evidence will lock them in.

Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but recall the autopsy images from several hours ago.

Yuan Yutang and his ex-boyfriend were both stabbed to death with the same double-edged dagger.

The blade of the dagger was very long, at least 30 centimeters, and the edges were sharp.

Most impressively, after more than thirty stabs, the sharpness of the dagger hadn’t diminished.

Such quality would have been considered an absolutely divine weapon in ancient times, and even in the modern era, it would be a pricey military dagger.

In the domestic environment, such a dagger could be said to be both easy and difficult to acquire, and it was more likely to leave behind traces.

Murder weapon: military dagger.

Jiang Yuan wrote these two words in his notebook and underlined them.

Huang Qiangmin nodded and didn’t say anything.

He had also seen the autopsy report.

The military dagger also explained why the murderer was able to kill two people with dozens of stabs without injuring himself.

Many novice murderers, before committing their crimes, may not have even slaughtered a chicken, let alone butchered a medium or large mammal, so they don’t realize how much resistance human muscle tissue can provide.

Daggers or short knives are completely different from spears and large swords.

The recoil of using a dagger or short knife is greater, requiring significant pressure on the wrist and the base of the thumb if not handled correctly.

Give a novice some time to practice with a large sword or spear, and they can muster the strength to swing, thrust, and jab, but not with a dagger or short knife.

Plus, civilian versions become dull after several stabs, and using too much force can lead to self-injury.

Moreover, murder is a very tiring affair.

To be more precise, stabbing someone is exhausting.

It’s like in the village when slaughtering a pig—several strong men need to hold it down and bind it, and it still struggles.

…

One stab, two stabs, three stabs might be manageable, but over thirty stabs is not that easy.

The probability of deforming movements and either making a mistake or injuring oneself increases later in the process.

The sharpness of a military dagger can partially solve this problem.

Added to this are the callouses on Bai Yuequn’s hand, clearly indicative of practice…

Jiang Yuan even suspected that he was well-prepared.

Key!

Jiang Yuan wrote down these two words in his notebook and underlined them again.

The lock on Yuan Yutang’s door wasn’t broken, nor were there signs of technical lock-picking, so the murderer must have used a key to open the door, taking advantage of Yuan Yutang and his boyfriend’s unconscious state to first stab the boyfriend to death, and then repeatedly stab Yuan Yutang, causing his death.

This was also one of the reasons why the suspect list was primarily focused on lovers and romantic rivals.

No matter how many clients Yuan Yutang had, they wouldn’t have his house key.

Only lovers or romantic rivals would have easier access to keys.

Bloodstained clothing.

Jiang Yuan immediately thought of the murderer’s process.

The criminal’s handling of the crime scene was rather crude, probably due to being in a hurry, as he hardly bothered with the bloody footprints, simply throwing a basin of water over them to erase the traces.

But given the amount of blood at the scene, the murderer’s clothing must have been covered in it.

He could shower and change his clothes in the bathroom, but the clothes he took off would be hard to clean thoroughly within a day’s time.

Most people would either discard, burn, or bury them.

However, each of these methods requires time.

Bai Yuequn still lived in the city center, which was full of surveillance cameras.

Therefore, the places where he could have disposed of the bloodstained clothes were very limited, maybe at the bar or in the office.

Projection room surveillance!

Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but add this to his notebook.

The surveillance in the cinema projection room is quite important and can’t be broken for a long time.

The chances that it just happened to be down during the time Bai Yuequn watched the movie were very low and warranted investigation.

After writing all this down, Jiang Yuan felt his confidence returning and said, “I think we can start with the bloodstained clothes, and call in a police dog to search Bai Yuequn’s bar.”

Huang Qiangmin said, “The place has too many scents, and besides, Dazhuang lent it to Liu Jinghui.

Let’s use people instead.”

“That’s two leads, look for the murder weapon and the bloodstained clothes, and check the cinema projection room’s surveillance footage,” summarized Jiang Yuan and then asked, “Should we communicate with Captain Lei Xin about this?”

“I’ll have a chat with him.

By now, he should have also caught on,” said Huang Qiangmin with a smile before going off to arrange manpower.

Jiang Yuan looked at his notes in front of him and fell into deep thought.