Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 553 A Detective Over Forty

It's six o'clock in the morning.

Nie Chaofan dozed off for two hours before waking up. He had a dream, in which the girl who had been raped and killed by a woman was sitting on the ground, hugging his right foot and crying for help.

"Help me, please help me!"

"Officer, please help me! I don't want to die!"

With a choked voice, she slowly raised her little head.

A pair of empty eyes, devoid of pupils, stared straight at them!

"call"

Nie Chaofan sat on the bed, his sheets and underwear soaked with sweat. He touched his chest, feeling his heartbeat hadn't completely calmed down, and his breathing was a little rapid.

After a moment, Nie Chaofan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, took several deep breaths, and got up.

Once calmed down, Nie Chaofan's expression became composed, and his movements as he slowly dressed were deliberate and forceful. He had returned to being the most senior officer in the Criminal Investigation Brigade.

Even though Nie Chaofan knew in his heart that although he had worked in criminal investigation for twenty years and had received medals that could serve as bulletproof vests, most of the cases he had led over the years involved kidnapping, extortion, firearms and explosives, and organized crime.

There are murder cases, but the few I've encountered are the kind of crimes of passion where the evidence is overwhelming. This case, with absolutely no leads, is one I haven't even touched.

Having spent so many years in the Criminal Investigation Brigade, those who knew his background either left or were promoted. The young people who remained, or the leaders transferred from other units, only knew that he was the most senior officer in the entire brigade.

This time, he again took the initiative to request a transfer to the Major Crimes Unit.

The case naturally fell to him.

This was the perfect thing he had always dreamed of.

But last night, after a long autopsy, a bunch of forensic doctors gathered together and still couldn't find a single trace of semen in the girl's vagina.

So, after all this time, is the murderer impotent and only capable of being lewd?
Nie Chaofan walked up to the general office on the second floor with a sullen face and saw that it was so lively inside that it seemed like no one was sleeping.

I definitely didn't sleep.

This situation is indeed normal.

The first 72 hours after a murder is discovered are the most valuable time, according to experts. This is true, but not entirely. For example, in the past, when communication was not as advanced, one of the tasks after a crime was to interview local residents. Human short-term memory lasts a maximum of 72 hours, so if you visit them three days later, even eyewitnesses may have missed crucial clues, let alone other minor details.

However, the most crucial factor lies with the police officers investigating the case. After a murder, the police are essentially working continuously, and the limit of human endurance is only 72 hours. By then, everyone is exhausted and can't take it anymore. But as soon as they relax, they become lazy and uncontrollable. So, a case that can't be solved in the first three days will likely require several times, or even ten times, more time, and might still not be solved.

"Have you found the person?" Nie Chaofan asked as soon as he entered the room.

"Detective Nie, this is the autopsy report from Lao Cao. No semen was found in the girl's vagina, but the DNA from her fingernails has been extracted and sent to the city's testing lab. It will probably take another half day to get the DNA profile. We've found the deceased's identity information, though." The police officer who was being questioned had just finished answering when a group of people rushed over from the next office.

"Detective Nie!" Xiao Ma, standing in the crowd, rushed over to report upon seeing Nie Chaofan, "We found the truck that brought Wang Xia in the surveillance footage! We also found the owner—Zhao Zhiguo! A man!" If the DNA from the girl's fingernails matches that of Zhao Zhiguo, the case will be solved. This technology is truly impressive. Nie Chaofan finally felt a sense of relief.

The earliest use of DNA technology in solving cases in China was in the late 80s, but it wasn't widespread. The technology was truly implemented at the grassroots level for case handling around 2002. The construction of grassroots DNA laboratories also began to unfold around this time. As for DNA databases, they weren't officially opened to law enforcement agencies until around 2011. Currently, the Y-cell database is the most effective; notable examples include the Baiyin serial case and the Nanjing Medical University case, both solved using the Y-cell database.

Nie Chaofan thought for a moment and instructed, "To be on the safe side, even though we've located Zhao Zhiguo, we still need to conduct thorough investigations and interviews at the crime scene, and we can't delay it. Hmm, we'll go to the scene again after breakfast. By the way, you should prepare an application form as soon as possible to get the whereabouts of this Zhao Zhiguo from the technical investigation department."

"The application form is ready, and we'll send it over as soon as we start work this morning!" Xiao Ma patted his chest confidently. "Don't worry, Detective Nie, I've done all the work that needs to be done."

"Okay, that's good. By the way, are Wang Xia and Zhao Zhiguo from the same village? Are they relatives or friends?" Nie Chaofan also wanted to confirm his judgment.

“I checked, they’re all from the same township. Since they were able to get on the bus and travel such a long distance across provinces, they must know each other!” Xiao Ma explained in detail, his tone excited.

Nie Chaofan nodded in agreement: "The next priority is to catch him! Catch this guy named Zhao Zhiguo!"

In all cases of rape, typical rapes in which the perpetrator and the victim were complete strangers accounted for only 8% of the total. After removing the 2% who were unwilling to disclose their identities, the remaining 90% were all rapes committed by acquaintances with some degree of relationship between the perpetrator and the victim.

Nie Chaofan took the thick stack of files from Xiao Ma's hands, weighed them in his hand, and said, "Xiao Ma, you guys go have breakfast. I'll scan through the files first. Oh, and after breakfast, go to the technical investigation department to get the materials."

Xiao Ma readily agreed, saying as he walked, "Understood! Detective Nie, you have to take me with you this time when you're catching people!"

Young people only know how to arrest people, but they don't realize that the preliminary investigation is the most tedious part. Nie Chaofan shook his head helplessly, picked up the case file and walked to his office seat.

Although the case was easy to solve, the media's rampant coverage has created a massive social impact on the police station.

For Nie Chaofan, who is in charge of organizing this, this is a good thing.

The greater the social impact of a case, the greater the benefit it will bring to him after it is solved.

Why do police officers pick and choose which cases to handle? Firstly, police resources are indeed limited, making it impossible to resolve every case. Secondly, police officers prioritize their cases, carefully considering which cases to handle first and which to handle later.

Cases are assigned by superiors, have a negative social impact, and are difficult to solve. However, regardless of the circumstances, cases must be solved; no criminal investigator will slack off or ignore a case before them.

Thinking of this, the tough guy, who had worked in the industry for twenty years and dared to fight armed criminals with his bare hands, had tears in his eyes and showed a rare hint of weakness.

Recently, his wife's attitude towards him has worsened, and her occasional ignoring of him when she comes home is the least of her worries. When they do manage to talk on the phone, all she does is accuse him of being "never home" or hurl insults accusing him of "abandoning his wife," which Nie Chaofan can't refute.

Nie Chaofan, who is over forty, has tried to quit his job. As his parents get older and his children become more sensible, he has thought for a long time about whether he should retire from his current position. After all, at his current age, being transferred from the criminal police post would not be considered desertion.

However, he still harbored resentment.

"Snapped!"

Nie Chaofan slammed his fist on the table and gritted his teeth, saying, "Let's try one last time! If we solve this case, we'll leave regardless of whether we get promoted!"

The eyes, which had dimmed, gradually began to brighten.

(End of this chapter)