Chapter 365: Leaving Traces

Returning to the bar street, the shops around "Utopia Craft Beer Hall" had resumed operations.

Afternoon was not the usual business hour for bars, but today, the bars beside "Utopia Craft Beer Hall," blocked by police tape, were crowded with people.

Fresh events were rare in this small county; a bar murder case had sparked intense interest among trendy young men and women.

After all, this was a viral event worthy of comparison with big cities. No matter how many fresh incidents your big city has, show me two bodies killed in public! You don't? Then we're even today.

Mu Zhiyang waved his hand irritably, shooing away several people taking selfies against the police tape: "This isn't something to celebrate—stand back."

"Officer, we're recording," said a young man, already shoving his phone camera forward.

Mu Zhiyang frowned slightly, but before he could speak, Tang Jia stepped forward and snapped: "You may take photos, but you are not allowed inside the police tape or to touch it. You may upload videos, but they must be complete—no cutting off the beginning or end. If you distort the context, the Cybersecurity Unit will contact you."

Tang Jia had worked in Changyang City and specialized in crowd control; her speech was slow but commanding, and with her striking appearance, she quickly divided the group of youths before her.

"Come on, let's take a group photo," one young man pleaded, pressing himself closer.

"No approaching the tape, and I won't take a photo with you," Tang Jia shoved the approaching boy away without hesitation.

Police crowd control does not mean abandoning the use of force. On the contrary, the traditional function of police is inherently violent; "using force to counter force" is not the only option, but it is always one of them.

Jiang Yuan glanced back and saw most people were merely filming with their phones; seeing Tang Jia had things under control, he bent down and entered inside the police tape, then into "Utopia Craft Beer Hall."

For the second crime scene inspection, no walkways were needed; Jiang Yuan directly led his team to examine all entrances and exits.

The killer could not vanish into thin air; his absence from surveillance footage only meant he avoided conventional routes. But from a crime scene analysis perspective, once you considered this behavior—or noticed it—the case returned to the right track.

Moreover, as Jiang Yuan had said in the meeting room, such actions by the killer would leave more traces and provide more information.

From a trace perspective, normal entry and exit through the main door leaves the least evidence.

This is because not only the killer used the main door—every subsequent person entering or exiting further contaminated the scene, which is the most troublesome aspect of crime scene investigation.

Conversely, unconventional entry/exit traces are cleaner and thus more useful.

The only question is: where did they leave them?

Jiang Yuan was not in a hurry; he carefully examined every possible door and window. Where the naked eye couldn't discern, where uncertainty remained, he used a magnifying lens.

The killer could not afford to spend much time concealing traces; even if he had, Jiang Yuan's method would still expose them.

In this age where leaving a trace is like filming a mini-documentary, few killers can avoid leaving any. Especially indoors, the difficulty is so high that it requires not only professional knowledge but also long-term practice.

The killer before them was already skilled—but before an LV4 crime scene investigator, under Jiang Yuan's two-hour meticulous search, his hiding place was easily exposed.

"This window was closed from the outside, using a small trick," Jiang Yuan discovered multiple traces when inspecting the second-floor restroom window.

This level of concealment might fool a Level 1 trace examiner, but any half-step Level 2 examiner, if paying even slight attention, could make the same judgment.

It's simply too hard to leave no trace—especially when trying to counter prolonged forensic searches with an extremely brief crime window.

follow

The police officer from the local station glanced at the location and said, "This is the second floor; below is the bar's back alley, but there are cameras in the alley too."

"Bring a chair."

Jiang Yuan got a chair, climbed onto it, opened the window, and leaned forward without touching anything, examining closely.

"Footprints on the air conditioner, and footprints on the wall's ten-centimeter-wide protrusion—likely left in the past few days. Hmm, send a vehicle over," Jiang Yuan didn't step out, just took a few photos with his phone, then continued checking other doors and windows.

By the time all doors and windows were inspected, a lift truck—borrowed from somewhere—drove into the bar's back alley.

Jiang Yuan climbed onto the lift truck, took new photos, and collected samples.

Along the exterior of the bar building, dust was thick; the footprints extracted were crystal clear. Jiang Yuan studied them with footprint analysis and felt he could sketch the man's silhouette directly.

Although these footprints might belong to some wandering couple, with no corresponding traces at other doors or windows, their suspicion level was extremely high.

"The suspect is about 176 cm tall, 70 to 75 kg, around 35 years old, likely with exercise traces, low body fat, probably similar to the victim's body fat—athletic build. His balance is excellent, wears size 43 athletic shoes, low arches, so not a professional athlete."

Jiang Yuan read the footprints in seconds.

Mu Zhiyang frantically pulled out his notebook to record.

"Follow this direction," Jiang Yuan pointed along the footprints' path and walked forward.

The footprints extended across six buildings—meaning the killer had used the second-floor level as a platform, walking over a hundred meters at that height.

Jiang Yuan's mind immediately recalled a parkour expert he'd once encountered.

But this person hadn't learned parkour; there were almost no handprints along the route—he relied purely on extraordinary balance to move forward.

Thus, Jiang Yuan gained even more gait information.

The more you conceal, the more you expose. These clear footprints alone made Jiang Yuan feel he could recognize the man just by seeing his walking silhouette.

The footprints ended at an alley entrance. Jiang Yuan looked around and quickly fixed his gaze on the sign of a 24-hour hot pot restaurant.

"Ask the staff if any customers came in between 3 and 4 a. . last night," Jiang Yuan said, circling the hot pot restaurant, then pointing to several distant cameras and ordering someone to check morning surveillance footage.

After completing this round, Tang Jia, who had gone to question the hot pot restaurant, called back: "Captain Jiang, we've found something!"

A group of police officers crowded into the elevator, filling the cabin to capacity.

Hot pot restaurant.

Tang Jia was helping the staff remove the hard drive.

Seeing Jiang Yuan and the others enter, Tang Jia showed him photos taken from her phone and reported: "At 3: 0 a. . last night, this man entered alone, ate hot pot until over 6 a. ., then left."

The man in the photo wore black clothing; his height and build matched Jiang Yuan's earlier assessment perfectly.

"Pretty smart," Jiang Yuan smirked. Though only two hours apart, if they hadn't found this restaurant and scoured the footage, they might never have found him.

But this guy was exceptional. For an ordinary person, walking along building exteriors like that—something only a movie hero would attempt—would be incredibly difficult and dangerous. Figuring out where cameras were and weren't, then planning a route, would be mentally exhausting.

"Have Zhuang Wei update the timeline and see if we can find his vehicle. Take statements from all staff; include those off-duty, on leave, or who quit in the past few days," Jiang Yuan arranged.

This case clearly involved prior reconnaissance, but since the killer wasn't local, how he made his decision remained unclear.

For minor cases, catching the suspect might be enough to close the case—but for murder, it's not.

Every staff member at the hot pot restaurant must be investigated.

Jiang Yuan pulled out his phone and called Huang Qiangmin, asking him to dispatch technical investigators to check mobile phones. Tech investigators, as senior experts, operated like black boxes—detectives made requests, and tech investigators delivered results.

Huang Qiangmin readily agreed, then added: "If this is a professional hitman, could this be a hired killing?"

"Possibly," Jiang Yuan replied slowly, having already imagined the killer's modus operandi. "Someone who can calmly eat hot pot at a crime scene likely has more than one case under his belt. Too bad the staff already cleaned the tables and utensils—we can't confirm his identity yet."

"That's already a breakthrough. Be careful, avoid the killer returning to the scene—always have at least two people with you," Huang Qiangmin warned. "You've made major progress—don't stress too much."

Huang Qiangmin was now genuinely concerned about Jiang Yuan's health.

During peak farming season, you exhaust your livestock; during off-season, you care for your beasts.

Jiang Yuan's mind filled with more thoughts. Honestly, after handling so many cases across multiple provinces, this was his first encounter with a professional killer or a hired murder.

This made him equally curious about both the killer and the victim.

"Oh, go through all the restaurant's trash—and the building's trash too—see if you can find the weapon," Jiang Yuan added before leaving.

Tang Jia, exhausted from a full day's work, thought of the massive amount of trash—kitchen waste and the entire building's refuse—and felt utterly drained. She pulled out her phone, took a selfie of her face, and silently questioned: Did I not wear enough makeup today, so now I have to dig through garbage? If I'd known…