226: Chapter 217: The Cave of Blood Curtains 226: Chapter 217: The Cave of Blood Curtains The third brother died in his own house.
This was an apartnt located in the city center.
It wasn’t very big, around a hundred square ters, but half of it had high ceilings, extravagantly decorated like the luxurious Arican-style apartnts seen on television.
The body of the third brother lay in the open space, next to that of his current boyfriend.
Blood flowed down from the open level, not only following the stairs but also seeping through the gaps in the railing at the front of the open level.
One could imagine that in the brief ti when there was plenty of blood, this luxurious apartnt in the city center resembled a grotto ford of dripping blood, with a waterfall composed of blood quietly plunging from the open level, dividing the room in two.
Even now, thick blood continued to drip from the open level, either dropping steadily or trailing downward in long strands.
“I really want to show this ghastly scene to those who buy haunted houses,” the fat man said as he stood at the door, looking up at the falling drops of blood, tasting yesterday’s noodle flavor in his throat.
“Has your family suggested you buy a haunted house?” The skinny scene investigator was the fat man’s master and knew about his family affairs.
The fat man gave an “Mhm,” and said, “They think since I’m always dealing with dead bodies, living in a haunted house wouldn’t matter.
Plus I’m young and full of yang energy, so if I live there for a while, the haunted house might even get better.
When it’s ti to sell, it might fetch the price of a normal house…
I firmly disagreed, so we dropped the idea.”
“Not all haunted houses are like this,” the skinny scene investigator said as he looked at the bloody grotto and asked, “Why didn’t you agree?”
“Because I can’t afford a haunted house either,” the fat man replied, then asked, “Where do we start?”
The skinny scene investigator looked toward Jiang Yuan, saying, “Follow Dr.
Jiang and assist him.”
This was the jurisdiction of Qianjin District in Qinghe City, and the homicide fell under the responsibility of the Qianjin District Criminal Police Brigade.
The brigade chief was Lei Xin, whom Jiang Yuan had t before.
Having previously worked with Jiang Yuan on a case involving the burning of a corpse, Lei Xin made the call to him imdiately upon confirming the identity of the victims and learning that Jiang Yuan was working on related cases.
Now, Qianjin District’s technicians were sweeping the periter, while the second-floor open level, especially the bodies, remained untouched, waiting for Jiang Yuan to process them.
Jiang Yuan dressed neatly and climbed the stairs with Wu Jun.
Transparent acrylic stools had been laid out in front of them, to avoid disturbing the scene as much as possible, especially avoiding the creation of additional bloody footprints.
The four lined up and slowly ascended the stairs.
Two male bodies, half-naked from the waist up, covered in blood, lay within a pool of blood.
Thinking that he had just seen one of the n yesterday, the fat scene investigator felt his throat grow itchier.
“Take careful photographs of all the bloody footprints,” Jiang Yuan first instructed after a brief overview of the scene.
Although Wu Jun was the master, he now wisely stepped aside, picked up the cara, and started taking pictures.
In a murder scene, the bodies are naturally of paramount importance, but solving the case does not always depend solely on them.
Other information surrounding the bodies can sotis make it easier to crack the case.
For Jiang Yuan, the bloodstains saring the scene provided an abundance of information.
Reconstructing the cri scene was sothing he had done countless tis.
With such expertise as a foundation, the efficiency of collecting and organizing information at the scene was remarkably high.
Take fingerprint lifting, for example.
No cri scene investigator ticulously scrutinizes every inch.
Lifting fingerprints over a large area usually involves using a forensic light; a simple shine could reveal many fingerprints.
But this is mainly used outdoors.
Indoors, fingerprints are everywhere, so one must discern which are the victims’ and which are useful.
Otherwise, a scene investigator would never bring ho hundreds of fingerprints without getting scolded by the trace evidence team.
A more common approach is for cri scene officers to analyze the onset of the incident, guess the trajectory of the case based on the scene, and then check for fingerprints where the criminal is likely to have left them.
Just as Jiang Yuan did yesterday.
The places where thieves are most likely to leave fingerprints are around the door locks because they take off their gloves to work, then wipe the fingerprints, which is very prone to oversights.
As for inside the house, thieves often put on gloves again, so searching for fingerprints becos aningless.
Therefore, if one can determine the criminal’s modus operandi by reconstructing the cri scene, evidence collection becos simpler and more comprehensive.
However, Jiang Yuan felt he wouldn’t need this approach for today’s cri scene.
He observed each bloody footprint carefully and quickly ford an idea in his mind.
“The killer is 25 years old, could go up to around 28.
Actual height… should be around 170cm, weight 140 pounds…” Jiang Yuan found two particularly clear bloody footprints and closely examined them for a while before coming to a conclusion.
The most famous cri scene investigator in Qinghe City was Chen Wenming, who was not present this ti.
As a subordinate of Chen Wenming, the fat scene investigator had witnessed Chen analyzing footprints, but compared to Jiang Yuan’s thod, he felt as if Jiang Yuan were possessed by a deity.
Those in forensics knew that while so paraters could be set broadly with ease, narrowing them down required consideration of multiple factors and was quite difficult.
Jiang Yuan dared to offer such a string of conclusions, which made Pang Kan a bit worried for him.
However, Wu Jun, who was used to hearing Jiang Yuan’s usual way of drawing conclusions, asked, “What do you an by ‘actual height’?”
“That’s the distinctive feature of this case,” Jiang Yuan said, his hands outlining shapes in the air.
“You see the latter half of this shoeprint?
It seems to drag a little, doesn’t it?”
“What does that an?” Wu Jun asked.
Pang Kan, who had so experience with shoeprint experts, blurted out, “A calf trying to walk in an ox’s tracks?”
Jiang Yuan gave him a glance and replied, “We usually call it ‘small feet in large shoes,’ but it’s the sa idea.”
It’s relatively easy to spot soone with small feet wearing large shoes; there are many distinguishing features apart from the dragging that Jiang Yuan ntioned, such as potential double heel impressions, side slippages, as well as changes in the center of gravity at the big toe and little toe, among other things.
In short, it’s quite easy to expose soone with small feet wearing large shoes.
Anyone who has done so reading, learned a bit about trace evidence, or perhaps spent three to five years in prison should have this knowledge.
By comparison, there are much simpler ways to conceal shoeprints, like…
“So this person is a bit foolish, an amateur?” Pang Kan, who had learned about this, pinpointed the essence with one sentence.
At this point, Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, “This person is slightly different.”
“How so?”
“Look at the outer arc of the shoeprint…
This person must have been wearing height-increasing shoes, and indeed small feet in large shoes.
I believe they co as a set,” Jiang Yuan explained.
Wu Jun nodded, made a note of it, and then said, “Looking at the body, there were many stab wounds, and the force used was substantial, to an unnecessary degree.
It’s very likely a cri of passion…
”
“Yuan Yutang might have been bisexual.
There’s also the possibility of a love rival.”
“Homosexuals can also have male love rivals.”
“That’s true.”
“Yet, for one person to kill two n, even if they had the keys and snuck in while the victims were asleep, the difficulty would be quite high,” Jiang Yuan continued, studying the bloodstains on the ground for a while before adding, “By the ti he killed Yuan Yutang, he had awakened.
This bloodstain here has been washed several tis with water.
It’s possible there might be leftover blood from the murderer.
Collect more samples and take them back for analysis.”
Blood washed with water can only disguise traces, not eradicate the presence of DNA.
To completely clean away evidence, one would need so uniquely formulated cleaning agents.
Pang Kan responded with a “Yes,” and they both bent down to begin swabbing the area.
Jiang Yuan continued to scan the surroundings and then said, “The cleaning of this apartnt should have been done by hired help.
Later, have soone ask if any bathroom towels or the like are missing.”
“You suspect the murderer was injured and used a towel to bandage themselves?”
“Yes, also look for pillowcases and sheets.
It’s possible the killer bled sowhere and took one or two items from the scene,” Jiang Yuan surmised, starting to search himself.
He attempted to find incomplete blood traces, which would definitely be left by the killer.
At this point, Jiang Yuan was feeling sowhat at ease with his progress.
The case before him seed to indicate a substantial elent of passion in the killing.
In cris of passion, if it’s a single lethal blow, it’s easier to leave no evidence behind.
But in cases where the attacker stabs face-to-face, and the first stab doesn’t kill, and they forcefully continue stabbing against the victim’s resistance, not being satisfied until after an additional dozen thrusts, it’s hard not to leave evidence.
In such situations, if one wishes to evade detection and hide the cri, they must either extend the ti before the body is found, allowing on-site biological evidence to deteriorate naturally or dispose of the body and clean the scene intensively.
However, cleaning a cri scene is a skill in itself, and disposing of the body cos with the risk of discovery.
Even a secondary cri scene created can still be found.
From a criminal investigation perspective, cases of cri of passion generally aren’t very difficult.
Participants in cris of passion also tend to act without considering the consequences.
That’s why it’s called ‘passion.’ If one wasn’t blinded by emotion to the point of killing, a normal person with rational thinking wouldn’t resort to murder.
After searching without finding any incomplete blood traces, Jiang Yuan wasn’t discouraged.
He stood up and summarized, “For now, we can start by screening Yuan Yutang’s male lovers or rivals who wear height-increasing shoes and large-sized shoes.” Jiang Yuan estimated further, “After increasing height with shoes, this person should be around 180 centiters tall, with a shoe size of 44.”
Wu Jun called out across the barrier, “Captain Huang…”
Huang Qiangmin scampered over and asked, “Any leads?”
Jiang Yuan then recounted their recent deductions to Huang Qiangmin.
Murmuring to himself, Huang Qiangmin imdiately said, “I’ll have Wu Junhao co over and arrest soone right now.”
Only then did Jiang Yuan rember the thief from the day before and hurriedly asked, “Was the thief caught?”
“Caught, and currently under interrogation.
An old thief, a bit tricky,” Huang Qiangmin ntioned as he pulled out his phone and got busy with it.
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