civil forensic

Chapter 1345 A Time for Secrecy
When Jiang Yuan first arrived in Ningtai County, he worked with Wei Zhenguo on many cases.

As the deputy captain of the sixth squadron of the Ningtai County Criminal Police Brigade, Wei Zhenguo's wife's disappearance case not only caused a sensation at the time, but Jiang Yuan also kept it in mind.

Jiang Yuan had memorized the fingerprint characteristics of Wei Zhenguo's wife, Li Huimin, long ago. As his fingerprint skills improved, he also memorized the third-level characteristics of Li Huimin's fingerprints.

Therefore, even though the fingerprint Jiang Yuan collected at this time was less than one-third of a normal fingerprint, he immediately recognized it upon seeing the third-level fingerprint characteristics.

Jiang Yuan raised his head, looked at both sides, but did not rush to explain.

This matter was extremely serious for the criminal police officers of Ningtai County Public Security Bureau. Even though he was extremely confident in his memory, he still had to treat it with utmost care.

Jiang Yuan first checked the evidence bag and its labels, then asked Wang Chuanxing to fetch his laptop so he could check the information inside again.

The intranet naturally contains Li Huimin's fingerprints and other related information, but the intranet has its own rules for storing data, and it is far less comprehensive than what Jiang Yuan had previously collected on his own.

Just like the three-level features of fingerprints, they are not stored in general fingerprint databases. Like voiceprints, iris scans, and other biometric information, they are only used for one-to-one comparison.

Jiang Yuan only obtained a small amount of residual fingerprints, so he needed high-resolution fingerprints for comparison.

On the other hand, it's also because Jiang Yuan's screen has always been open for everyone to see, but it's not appropriate for people to see him checking Li Huimin's fingerprints now; it can only be announced after it's confirmed.

Wang Chuanxing quickly retrieved Jiang Yuan's laptop and obediently placed it in the corner, allowing Jiang Yuan to examine it discreetly.

The police officers at the scene were all sensitive and suspicious in this kind of matter. Their multifaceted and clever minds, apart from being unable to handle their wives and children, could almost smell the clues about the case.

Many people began to lower their heads and do their own thing, occasionally glancing at Jiang Yuan out of the corner of their eyes.

Jiang Yuan checked Li Huimin's fingerprints again and again, but still did not speak immediately. Instead, he returned to the evidence box and called Wang Chuanxing over, saying, "You take the camera."

"Yes." Without saying a word, Wang Chuanxing picked up the camera, adjusted the parameters, and then raised it again, gesturing to Jiang Yuan with his eyes.

Jiang Yuan put his gloves back on, and under the camera's view, took the female victim's leather shoes, then took a knife and carefully removed the upper of the shoe, leaving only the sole.

Footprint analysis, in essence, identifies the pressure surface, which exists not only on footprints but also on the sole of the shoe. In fact, observing the pressure surface of the sole is a more authoritative way to determine the condition of a shoe than the footprint itself.

All wear and tear on the soles of shoes is caused by the pressure exerted by the user.

With this information, Jiang Yuan could easily determine the user's height, weight, age, gender, and walking habits.

Jiang Yuan didn't even need to match this information with Li Huimin's; matching it with the old shoes Li Huimin left at home was enough. And Jiang Yuan already knew the pressure details of Li Huimin's old shoes by heart.

After confirming several times, Jiang Yuan had no more doubts. He got up and went to Huang Qiangmin's side, whispering, "The female victim should be Li Huimin, Wei Zhenguo's wife."

He didn't use titles like "Captain Wei" at this time, just to be accurate.

Huang Qiangmin's pupils dilated dramatically, and after several seconds, he asked, "Are you sure?"

It wasn't that he didn't trust Jiang Yuan; just like Jiang Yuan treated fingerprints, when faced with such important information, he subconsciously wanted to confirm it clearly.

Jiang Yuan nodded emphatically and said, "Confirmed. Should we ask Captain Wei to confirm the style of the shoes?"

“The shoe style should be in the file,” Huang Qiangmin said first, then slowly shook his head and said, “Don’t rush, let’s confirm again. The other victim was male, right? Can you confirm his identity?”

"I haven't started watching yet," Jiang Yuan said.

"Take a look at what information you have," Huang Qiangmin said, turning to close the conference room door. He then addressed the others, "Jiang Yuan has made a new discovery. The details will be kept confidential for now. I'll reiterate the confidentiality rules..."

In front of leaders such as Wu Jingwei, the director of the Anwan Municipal Public Security Bureau, Huang Qiangmin solemnly said something that everyone understood.

At the scene, whether it was Zhang Limin from the Pingzhou Provincial Department, Wu Jingwei, the director of the Municipal Bureau, or the experts who had been invited, they all listened silently to Huang Qiangmin, the political commissar of the county bureau from another region, without rebuttal or questioning.

Jiang Yuan beckoned Wang Chuanxing over and continued to dismantle the male victim's shoe upper, then inspected the pressure surface and took photos.

Soon, Jiang Yuan returned to Huang Qiangmin's side and whispered, "He's 1.75 meters tall, 38 years old, and weighs around 70 kilograms. He must often wear these shoes while driving."

"The driver?" Huang Qiangmin shook his head. "Not enough. Don't notify Wei Zhenguo for now. We know the information he has."

As a veteran criminal investigator, Huang Qiangmin has an instinctive tendency to suspect everyone.

Wei Zhenguo was his former subordinate and colleague. When his wife went missing, Huang Qiangmin immediately organized a capable team to form a special task force to investigate.

But now that his wife's body has been found, along with a male corpse of similar age, Huang Qiangmin has no choice but to think further.

When a wife dies, the first person to suspect is the husband. This doesn't mean Wei Zhenguo is the prime suspect, but Huang Qiangmin's primary task certainly wasn't to pass on information to Wei Zhenguo.

"Let's have a short meeting." Huang Qiangmin thought for a moment, then added, "Let's call Liu Jinghui over."

Liu Jinghui is from the Shannan Provincial Department and is also a veteran detective skilled in deduction, making him a perfect fit for this situation.

While his subordinates did as instructed, Huang Qiangmin approached Wu Jingwei, the director of the Anwan City Public Security Bureau, and said, "We've come across a lead on a backlog case. Let's discuss it amongst ourselves first, and then we'll focus on this case as the main focus of our work. It's not part of your case."

"No problem. No need to calculate so meticulously. 55 points will do." Wu Jingwei didn't stand on ceremony. Old Huang had asked for such a high price, but now that it was their own case, they naturally had to haggle over it.

“Okay. Please keep it a secret for now.” Huang Qiangmin readily agreed.

"Okay," Wu Jingwei replied.

The two quickly finished their conversation. Huang Qiangmin then called a few more people, and they went out together, found a random house, closed the door, and began to discuss their plans.

Liu Jinghui rushed over. He had been staying in Anwan City for the past few days. Although there weren't any cases that required his participation, he didn't want to go home and stay with his wife. What's the point of a real man spending all his time with his wife, kids, and a warm bed?

When he was led into the small room, Liu Jinghui still had a smile on his face, but after noticing that Huang Qiangmin and Jiang Yuan's expressions were unusually serious, Liu Jinghui quickly suppressed his smile.

After a moment's thought, Liu Jinghui asked, "Is there a case that was handled poorly?"

"Jiang Yuan, tell Lao Liu about this." Huang Qiangmin held his phone, ready to communicate with his superiors at any time.

Jiang Yuan briefly explained his discovery, without mentioning Huang Qiangmin's concerns.

Liu Jinghui guessed it immediately.

Having come from the provincial department and spent years traveling to criminal investigation teams across the country, he knew all too well what a veteran criminal investigation captain like Huang Qiangmin was like. He first tried to appease him, saying with a smile, "Old Huang, are you worried that Wei Zhenguo is involved in the case? Does he have a motive?"

Huang Qiangmin was in a bad mood and retorted, "Haven't you ever thought about killing your wife?"

Liu Jinghui was stumped by the question. After thinking for a moment, he said in a low voice, "It hasn't come to that... No... you're just worried. This is a simple question. Even if you want to consider Wei Zhenguo's situation, I'll give you a solution. First, did Wei Zhenguo have the time to commit the crime? If this car came from Ningtai, it's over 1000 kilometers, half of which must have been national highways. Even if Wei Zhenguo drove non-stop, it would still take him more than ten hours. Add to that his return trip time. If he committed the crime, he definitely wouldn't dare to take a plane. No matter how you look at it, there would be a gap of a day."

Liu Jinghui: "After Wei Zhenguo's wife went missing, did Wei Zhenguo leave alone for such a long time? Is there any information about his wife before she went missing? The time of her disappearance is basically confirmed."

Huang Qiangmin's expression immediately relaxed, as if something inside his body had been expelled.

Huang Qiangmin quickly replied, "Indeed, after the incident, Lao Wei was always with the task force. Even when he had time to act alone, it was only for a few hours at most."

Liu Jinghui nodded: "Secondly, did the car come from Ningtai? Can you find the car's information?"

“It’s difficult to investigate from the vehicle,” Wang Chuanxing said. “This is a case from the Anwan City Public Security Bureau. After the incident, the task force considered investigating from the direction of the vehicle. The license plate was removed, and the vehicle identification number was also gone. The murderer is an experienced criminal and had something specially prepared.”

“They can’t find the car because they’re checking cars registered in Pingzhou. Do we have any car theft records in Ningtai County or Qinghe City? 15 years ago… this car is a Xiali, right? A Xiali was worth quite a bit of money 15 years ago. If a car is stolen, someone must have reported it to the police. Check if there are any matching police reports, and that could very likely help identify the male victim.” Liu Jinghui’s reasoning was brilliant, peeling back the layers of the case to clarify it.

"I'll make a phone call." Huang Qiangmin breathed a sigh of relief, as the pressure of solving the case replaced his anxiety.

Jiang Yuan gave him a look, and the police officers in the long-standing case task force, who had already been trained, immediately began investigating the information provided by Liu Jinghui.

As feedback came in from all sides, Huang Qiangmin's expression gradually returned to normal, only becoming even more frighteningly serious. He quickly took out his phone and began reporting to his superiors.

Jiang Yuan continued to rummage through the evidence box.

Besides physical evidence, there are also numerous on-site photographs. While digital cameras from 15 years ago were still usable, they weren't very popular. Storage devices like USB drives and SD cards had limited lifespans, generally around 5 to 10 years. Therefore, to cope with today's situation, photos taken with digital cameras back then had to be burned onto CDs, which was both expensive and troublesome.

Jiang Yuan focused on examining the scene of the body and the autopsy report, attempting to think about the issues from the perspective of a forensic doctor.