Chapter 190: Number 1

Afternoon.

Jiang Yuan had slept for a few hours when he was woken up by a phone call. Dazed and groggy, he got into a car and headed to the Qinghe Municipal Bureau for a meeting.

The first floor of the Municipal Bureau was the lecture hall where he had previously given a speech. Walking further in led to the conference room for today's meeting.

The conference room was much smaller than the lecture hall, capable of holding only twenty or thirty people. However, the Bureau Chief, Deputy Chiefs, and the Captain of the Criminal Investigation Detachment were all present, creating an extremely solemn atmosphere.

Feeling somewhat lightheaded, Jiang Yuan followed Wang Chuan to a corner of the room. Looking at the crowd, he couldn't help but think: If this were a primitive tribe, this would be equivalent to a bonfire party attended by everyone from the chieftain to the shaman after a tribesman had died under mysterious circumstances.

"Why are you sitting so far away?" Liu Jinghui moved directly from the conference table to Jiang Yuan's side.

Although a few people turned their heads to look, they quickly looked away. A Fourth-Level Senior Police Officer from the Provincial Department and a young forensic doctor from Ningtai County couldn't exert much influence on the Municipal Bureau.

The police department was a relatively independent entity. Once at the level of the Municipal Bureau or Provincial Department, if one wasn't working on a case, life was relatively comfortable and free. Usually, there was no need to care about the Provincial Department or similar bodies.

Jiang Yuan didn't really need to care about the opinions of the Municipal Bureau staff either. He leaned back in his chair and said, lacking energy, "The front row isn't my place to sit. We stayed up too late yesterday."

The word "stayed up" was a double entendre, and it made Wang Chuan, sitting next to him, burst into laughter.

Liu Jinghui also recognized this forensic doctor from Qinghe City and looked over, somewhat confused.

"We were deboning corpses all day yesterday," Wang Chuan added, completing the hellish joke.

Liu Jinghui was most skilled at deduction; as his mind turned, he was instantly disgusted.

"You forensic doctors..." Liu Jinghui, who was quite experienced, shook his head and asked Jiang Yuan, "What's your feeling about the case?"

Although the case analysis meeting was about to begin, Liu Jinghui was more interested in Jiang Yuan's thoughts.

He was a veteran criminal investigator who had spent 10 years running around the province. He had seen local geniuses and professional experts sent to support from ministries and other provinces, but from any angle, Jiang Yuan's technique and judgment were at the T1 level.

There were others at the same level, but the Qinghe Municipal Bureau clearly didn't have any.

Jiang Yuan patted his own head, thought for a moment, and said, "I think these six corpses have been cleaned up quite thoroughly, especially the last two. The upgrade is very complete. I don't know how he handled the remaining heads."

Liu Jinghui hadn't expected Jiang Yuan to consider it from this angle, so he couldn't help but ask, "Is it important how the heads were handled?"

"Compared to other parts of the body, the head is relatively difficult to handle, right?" Jiang Yuan said. "The skull is the hardest part; it's not easy to cut. Maybe using a hammer to smash it is better. In any case, if there's a way to handle the head, it stands to reason that other parts of the body could also be handled."

"What do you mean?" Liu Jinghui wasn't sure if he had understood correctly.

Jiang Yuan said, "I looked at the place where the bodies were dumped in the reservoir. There are roads nearby. I suspect the perpetrator drove to the vicinity of the road, then transported the bodies over, and then abandoned them. Normally, he shouldn't be digging separate pits to bury the bodies, right?"

"Right, the perpetrator should be very strong. It's possible he used a non-motorized vehicle or even carried the bodies directly," Liu Jinghui said, sharing his own judgment with Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan was a bit surprised. "Those body bags are very heavy. When we lift them onto the autopsy table, it's easy for four people, but strenuous for three."

"In the countryside, it takes four people to carry a pig during the New Year," Liu Jinghui said dismissively, then added, "Carrying them is still possible. We've done relevant statistics before; for short-to-medium distance body dumping, human carrying and non-motorized vehicles are the main methods."

"Do you think the perpetrator lives near the reservoir?"

"At least he's very familiar with the reservoir," Liu Jinghui said. "I went to the scene and asked the locals who helped retrieve the bodies. The place the perpetrator chose was excellent. If it weren't for this drought, under normal circumstances, they wouldn't have been discovered."

"If he's very familiar with the reservoir, shouldn't he have chosen the deep-water area?"

"This needs to be viewed from two aspects. One is that the deep-water areas are all near the center of the reservoir, making land-based body dumping more difficult. The other is that the perpetrator might be familiar with the reservoir, which is exactly why he wouldn't consider the possibility of it drying up. Because in his memory, the reservoir probably never dried up to this extent."

Jiang Yuan nodded slowly. Liu Jinghui's deduction also had some merit, and Jiang Yuan wasn't prepared to debate Liu Jinghui on this aspect.

"Another point. The perpetrator's subsequent small body bags were discovered in deeper waters. This can also be seen as part of the criminal's escalation," Liu Jinghui paused and said, "I suspect that when he dumped the small body bags, he considered the water flow. If that's the case, the original dumping site needs to be reconsidered."

Jiang Yuan looked at Liu Jinghui's troubled expression and couldn't help but smile.

One difficult aspect of criminal science and technology is that you have to solve real-world problems, but the techniques used actually come from paper.

It's equivalent to saying that one must explain real-world situations through paper-based and laboratory operations.

This is actually extremely difficult.

Why are DNA and fingerprints used so widely and effectively? It's because they are simple and straightforward, with relatively little interference from reality.

Why are crime scene reconstruction and bloodstain analysis used by so few? It's because their judgment processes are overly complex, and idealized situations rarely occur.

When economists write economic works, they have to assume the concept of a "rational economic man," requiring people to be not only rational but also self-interested.

If those in criminal science assume a "rational criminal," that would be purely insane—if people could be rational and self-interested, more than half of the cases wouldn't happen.

The most troublesome part for Liu Jinghui in conducting his deduction lies right here.

Without sufficient information, you can't even figure out if the perpetrator is mentally ill. And that's in the literal sense of mental illness.

If we speak in terms of American-style profiling, serial killers all have some mental issues to a greater or lesser extent.

And the six corpses before them are actually enough to crown the other party with this title.

Looking at Liu Jinghui's troubled state, Jiang Yuan's spirit, tired from the day, found a slight relaxation.

Thus, Jiang Yuan decided to add a little more pressure to him, saying, "Director Liu, if the heads of No. 5 and No. 6 can't be found, we'll have to consider expanding the search area."

"Is it that important?"

"Not necessarily. I'm just trying to deduce it. If the perpetrator can handle the heads so that there are no traces left, he should also have the ability to handle the bodies so that there are no traces left."

Liu Jinghui was stunned for a moment before he understood what Jiang Yuan meant. He focused and frowned, saying, "You don't mean to say there are more corpses, and they were handled separately?"

Jiang Yuan spread his hands. "Maybe. I have no evidence, just pure deduction."

"What a load of nonsense deduction." Liu Jinghui felt completely uncomfortable. Usually, he was the one using deduction to disgust others; he hadn't expected to be checked by Jiang Yuan this time.

This "kill but don't bury" approach made Liu Jinghui's brain spin wildly.

In the end, he had to admit that if the perpetrator was constantly escalating and learning, this was truly possible.

"Ahem. Everyone, quiet down." Shen Feihong, the Captain of the Qinghe City Criminal Investigation Detachment, stood up and began the meeting process.

After announcing the establishment of the 724 Qinghe Major Homicide Case Task Force, Shen Feihong reported on the situation of the case.

After some intelligence regarding the autopsy, Shen Feihong said, "Just two hours ago, our frontline officers confirmed the source of Corpse No. 1. Now, Captain Shi of the Major Crimes Detachment will explain it to everyone."

Jiang Yuan and Wang Chuan were both somewhat surprised and became serious together.

Captain Shi was tall and thin, with prominent cheekbones, dark circles under his eyes, and yellow teeth. At first glance, he looked like the kind of driver who drove a taxi during the day, a ride-hailing car at night, and ran errands for Meituan while waiting for shift changes.

He held a piece of paper with a few sentences written on it. After glancing at it, he said, "According to the information provided by the forensic doctor, the deceased of No. 1 is female, about 40 years old, 170 cm tall, and had porcelain teeth installed... After searching for missing persons in this city without success, we expanded the search scope to the entire province..."

"Finally, we requested assistance from the Provincial Department and confirmed the identity of the deceased of No. 1 through mitochondrial DNA technology. The deceased's name is Ma Hongyan, from Wanxiang City. She was a purchaser for the Maolin Native Products Company in Wanxiang City. Eight years ago, she went on a business trip with a company colleague, separated in Changyang City, and each headed to their respective destinations. Qinghe City was the second stop on Ma Hongyan's itinerary..."

Jiang Yuan listened quietly in the corner, knowing that the task force was already in a state of full mobilization.

Whether it was mitochondrial DNA technology or a province-wide search, both were extremely resource-intensive.

Choosing No. 1 as the breakthrough point was also because the characteristics of Corpse No. 1 were relatively obvious. Facts proved that the task force's choice was extremely correct.

But judging from the results, the identity information of No. 1 was not enough to push the case forward. Instead, it showed the complexity of the case from another angle. A missing person case from 8 years ago meant that the perpetrator had started committing crimes 8 years ago. ===== CHAPTER 191 =====