Chapter 1108: Song Xiang Park

That night, Jiang Yuan arrived in Luojin City by corporate jet.

After resting for a few hours, at five o'clock the next morning, Jiang Yuan's cold case task force was loaded into several cars and rushed quickly toward Song Xiang Park.

This community park was not large, and access control was far from strict; four gates were opened in the east, west, south, and north, and the walls were merely symbolic brick and stone fences about a person's height. The dedicated surface parking area was not small, and everything prioritized serving the surrounding residents. The security guards in the parking lot were the only park management personnel that visitors could come into contact with; the rest were holed up in a small building shaded by a grove of trees, and no one knew if they were actually working or not.

Seeing this small office building and the quiet, almost deserted environment, Liu Wenkai couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Working in landscaping is truly refreshing; how is this any different from getting paid for nothing?"

"Everyone is selling their time and labor, so naturally, there is no difference!" The young girl leading the way, Qiu Li, was sharp-tongued and retorted without any hesitation, shutting Liu Wenkai down.

Liu Wenkai smiled upon hearing this, but he didn't feel the awkwardness of being shut down in front of colleagues; instead, he apologized: "It's my fault. The children of leaders are indeed good at speaking."

He wouldn't say the same thing in Shannan, because people there might actually be able to reach you. But in Luojin City, there wasn't much of a problem; for a "second-generation" who still had to do things in such a leisurely department, their parents were highly likely to be middle-level—Liu Wenkai also understood some officialdom reasoning.

The young girl Qiu Li's nose wrinkled, and she said angrily: "Who is a leader's child?"

"Then are you or are you not?" Liu Wenkai smiled as soon as he heard this, feeling steady.

Qiu Li was wearing jeans, her long hair draped over her shoulders, her eyebrows curved; she glared at him beautifully, said nothing, and after a long while, added: "I passed the civil service exam to get in."

Liu Wenkai only smiled this time and didn't even respond.

Pushing open the office door, the director of the park management office and several deputy directors were waiting inside.

Liu Wenkai skillfully made requests, recorded phone numbers, confirmed contact persons, retrieved surveillance footage, and so on, finishing a flurry of work. Then he took Qiu Li to the park scene.

Qiu Li didn't speak the whole way; when they were almost there, her pace suddenly slowed, and she asked: "Did someone really die in our park?"

"It's not clear yet." How could Liu Wenkai leak information to her?

Qiu Li didn't believe it and said: "Dozens of you have come; if it's not clear, why would so many people come, and you're from another province. Did someone from Shannan Province die?"

She had only seen Liu Wenkai's ID and didn't know where the others were from.

Liu Wenkai remained smiling and said: "This park is so remote, there shouldn't be few people dying here. When you get off work early or late, have you ever seen ghosts?"

The young girl's eyes were clear and straightforward; she asked without any ulterior motives: "Why do you ask that?"

Liu Wenkai: "Have you ever heard of the Dragon Squad?"

Jiang Yuan, wearing shoe covers, a mask, a hairnet, and gloves, walked around the lawn covered in dog shit, feeling as if he were being glared at by the surrounding dogs.

The police cordon was drawn very large, directly enclosing the entire clover lawn. In the scene of an ordinary homicide, there wouldn't be such a configuration, but for a case Jiang Yuan was participating in, the Luojin City Criminal Police Detachment didn't dare to be the slightest bit negligent.

In contrast, the dogs waiting outside the lawn were puzzled and angry; some of the more particular ones even started shaking their legs at this moment.

A perfectly good place to take a shit, and not being allowed in—what kind of business was this?

"The scene is probably right in this area." Jiang Yuan came to a lush patch of grass, drew a small circle in front of him, and said: "A large patch of clover, a small amount of wind-pollinated plants, and dense shrubs on the right side, which can largely isolate the pollen from nearby roses and such. If you go further forward, the amount of rose pollen will actually increase..."

Qiao Shengli was also dressed neatly and watching from the side. Listening to Jiang Yuan's words, she looked at the park map while looking at the scene, and said admiringly: "I didn't even consider this patch of shrubs..."

"Because the spore-pollen atlas is fixed; you just need to find the match." Jiang Yuan said, explaining a few specific plans to Qiao Shengli.

Qiao Shengli's doctoral thesis was almost finished, and she had already published two Tier 1 articles. Listening to the case details was useless, but listening to the professional content of forensic botany, she only felt passionate.

At this moment, the young girl from the park management office also walked over and saw the man and woman on the lawn from afar.

The black-haired, long-straight, busty, intellectual beauty instantly attracted the young girl Qiu Li's attention. She first looked down at her own feet, then couldn't help but look at the lawn again, and couldn't help but say: "Who are these two? This woman's eyes are about to drip water."

"The woman is a female Ph. D., and the man is Forensic Expert Jiang." Liu Wenkai said, pouting: "You put on shoe covers and such first; let's go over and say hello to Team Leader Jiang and see if there's anything about the park he needs to ask you."

"Okay." Qiu Li nodded without hesitation. After dressing neatly, she bravely walked toward the two on the lawn.

Liu Wenkai felt something was wrong, looked at Qiu Li strangely, and said: "At a time like this, shouldn't you be trying to decline?"

The newly minted civil servant Qiu Li only swept a glance at Liu Wenkai with her peripheral vision and said: "I like tall ones."

Middle-aged cadre Liu Wenkai looked at Qiu Li unexpectedly: "No... you didn't even ask if Team Leader Jiang has a partner?"

"I've already seen one competitor; what does it matter if there's one more." While speaking, Qiu Li had already quickly dressed neatly and stepped onto the lawn.

The approaching figure immediately caught Qiao Shengli's attention.

Qiao Shengli and Qiu Li met eyes, and their gazes both became solemn.

At this time, Jiang Yuan's voice came: "Everyone leave the lawn; this area needs to be carefully surveyed to see if we can still find clues about the victim."

"Are there no bloodstains or anything?" Liu Wenkai, who had walked over, couldn't care about Qiu Li anymore, and his expression also began to become solemn. Having participated in many cases, he was now slightly familiar with forensic botany; he knew that the spore-pollen atlas could prove the victim had once lain on this lawn, but it didn't mean he was necessarily killed here.

Of course, combined with factors such as the victim's time of death, the probability of being killed in the park was very high, but it was also possible that he fell here, or simply had a "field tryst," and was then killed elsewhere in a very short time.

Thinking of a "field tryst," Liu Wenkai couldn't help but observe the surroundings, and his brow furrowed in thought.

Jiang Yuan was also in a state of contemplation and said: "The victim's body is quite severely decomposed, but based on current analysis, the victim wouldn't necessarily have bled much when killed. Combined with the time factor, even if a small amount of bloodstains were left, they might have been decomposed."

The near-invincible Luminol and other reagents in movies and TV shows are best used inside man-made structures. Because man-made structures lack decomposers from the natural world, bloodstains and such can exist for a long time, on a scale of ten years, even if many high-concentration cleaning agents are used, it doesn't mean all of it can be washed clean.

In the true natural world, where would you need any cleaning agents?

For thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, millions of years, countless bodies have died in nature, and there are countless examples of bodies with higher bone density than the human body; where is there any piece of flesh left behind?

Actually, you don't even need the true natural world; just in farmland, corpses and bones will be gradually decomposed. Those grave mounds in the fields, if no one maintains them, after three generations, they basically leave no trace.

Although the park is far from being this strong, the lawn rich in dog shit has nurtured and trained a large number of decomposers. If the victim's blood loss wasn't large, a few days would be enough.

In addition, the DNA on a lawn rich in organic matter is also very chaotic; even if a little bit remained, it would be too much of a "hard ask" to find it over such a large area without any evidence.

"In that case... wouldn't this be a wasted trip?" Liu Wenkai thought of the corporate jet they had taken over together and felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Jiang Yuan, operating with LV5 Crime Scene Investigation, said calmly: "Sample first, and we'll see about the surroundings later."

A crime scene is not just a simple murder scene; the routes the criminal suspect entered and exited, and even any changes in the surrounding environment, are all part of the crime scene. The police's daily investigation inevitably involves these.

Liu Wenkai was a little "concerned and confused"; of course, it was mainly because this aspect was not his specialty.

Jiang Yuan didn't speak either; he took his junior brother and another criminal technology technician from Luojin City and started walking around the park.

Near the lawn, there were not only Pang Jidong and Director Xu from Luojin City, but also Huang Qiangmin from Ningtai and Jian Louyuan from Lanyue.

Everyone's expression appeared exceptionally solemn.

This case had effectively become a case handled jointly by three provinces, and for a disciplined force like the police, honor is always the top priority.

A force fed by money can never compare to a force fed by honor—because human needs are infinite, while material things are limited; only spiritual honor can perfectly match human spiritual needs.

No matter how much money is given, there is always a time when it's not enough; no matter how much money, when it comes to trading your life, anyone will hesitate. Only honor can make people risk their lives.

Therefore, disciplined forces put honor first in normal times.

This case made the teams from the three provinces pull their strings to the limit.

Qiu Li felt the atmosphere around her, and the body she had nurtured in a leisurely department suddenly became excited, following behind Jiang Yuan at the first opportunity.

"There aren't many cameras in the park, and their placement is quite average. Even so, the murderer being able to completely avoid the cameras shows a certain level of professionalism." Jiang Yuan—Technical Defense Surveillance Technology (LV3) & Image Reconnaissance Trajectory Analysis (LV6)

"The park entrances are all unmanned, and the camera at the Dongmen is crooked, but they probably didn't leave through the Dongmen. The surrounding walls are all low, and the fence is built on a brick and stone structure; the brick and stone structure can be stepped on, and the fence also has damage... Considering the murderer has the ability to carry a body for over 300 meters, climbing over such a fence shouldn't be difficult." Jiang Yuan—Bricklaying (LV4) & Forensic Evidence Science (LV4) & Crime Scene Investigation (LV5)

"The routes inside the park are all inclined to be hidden, and there aren't many people. If they wanted to dispose of the body, there should be many places in the park to consider. Carrying it out isn't difficult, but it also shows the murderer's purpose is very strong." Jiang Yuan—Pathfinding in the Woods (LV2)

As Jiang Yuan spoke, Wang Chuanxing recorded it on the side.

Qiao Shengli and Qiu Li were on the left and right, listening to Jiang Yuan's determined tone, following him with glowing eyes, while each suspiciously watching the other. ===== CHAPTER 1109 =====