Chapter 518

Xingyue Road.

Jiang Yuan patted Captain Pang Jidong awake and said, "Brigade Leader Pang, we've arrived."

Captain Pang Jidong let out an "Ah," wiped the corner of his mouth, and with a dazed look and obedient limbs, habitually slid out of the car and asked, "Which side?"

"We've arrived at this one." Jiang Yuan pointed to a detached villa in front.

Captain Pang Jidong let out an "Oh," like a tourist whose direction had been indicated by a tour guide, and followed the main force toward the place.

Upon arriving, the main force took photos and recorded videos, while some people stepped forward to knock on the door, reveal themselves, and state their identities.

Captain Pang Jidong glanced backward, waiting for the tour guide Jiang Yuan to start the lecture.

Regarding the lecture time alone, Captain Pang Jidong had learned his lesson.

Jiang Yuan certainly didn't give up on the time Captain Pang Jidong had just woken up; he seized the moment, looked around, and said: "The types and quantities of pollen and spores we extract from samples depend on many variables. We call these 'taphonomic factors.' This is a technical term referring to all the factors that determine whether spores and pollen can be discovered at a specific time and specific place..."

"For example, why must we come to the crime scene to compare? Because the terrain of the crime scene is different, and the dispersal of pollen will be different. Don't look at anemophilous pollen as being able to travel very far; any building or plant barrier can block their dispersal..."

"Like this high wall here, it can block the dispersal of most pollen."

"As a result, like the pear tree here, when it blooms, the flowers will fall to the ground, and it spreads in circles with the tree as the center. The pollen is the same; the further the distance, the less pollen there is."

"There is a question of dispersal efficiency here..."

Jiang Yuan spoke as he walked, and it didn't take long before Captain Pang Jidong was dizzy and unable to walk properly.

Jiang Yuan sighed and ended the teaching session for this period.

It had to be said that Captain Pang Jidong's speed of absorbing knowledge had clearly decreased, like a grinder that used to grind 500 grams each time, but after using it for a while, it could only grind 400-plus grams, and there was a continuous downward trend. He didn't use a battery as an example because Captain Pang Jidong's intelligence hadn't declined that quickly.

Jiang Yuan handed Captain Pang Jidong a thermos cup and said with concern, "Drink some water, rest a bit."

Hearing that he could rest, Captain Pang Jidong grabbed the thermos, took a few gulps, then wiped his mouth, frowned, and said, "Sugar water?"

"Sugar can increase memory and improve concentration. Drinking a little appropriately helps in learning new things." Jiang Yuan was putting all his biological knowledge to use.

Of course, sugar also makes people fat and can lead to problems like diabetes, but as far as learning is concerned, eating sugar is beneficial.

Captain Pang Jidong also felt he should replenish himself.

After drinking the sugar water provided by Jiang Yuan, Captain Pang Jidong blinked and felt he was slightly more energetic.

Just a little, but at least he wasn't in a state of pure fainting anymore.

At this moment, the police officers in front had already filed into the detached villa.

The villa had three floors, plus a basement, and came with a yard surrounded by villas on three sides, with bamboo planted all around, providing quite good privacy. Theoretically, if one wanted to bury a body, such a yard would be quite convenient.

Many serial killers abroad bury bodies in their yards, probably because this method is the most friendly to beginners, allowing them to train a murderer from scratch. Domestic conditions in this regard are somewhat lacking.

Of course, many of the villas near Xingyue Road that they visited today had potential.

Jiang Yuan pulled Captain Pang Jidong along, with Mu Zhiyang following behind, and went to the backyard to look, familiar with the path.

The backyard, totaling four or five hundred square meters, made the distance between houses quite wide. It was planted with a large number of Rosaceae plants such as roses and Chinese roses, several types of shrubs, and there were plantains and clovers on the lawn...

Jiang Yuan's gaze swept over, and his attention gradually increased.

Although most were common plants, the varieties were already quite similar.

Using the "taphonomic factors" Jiang Yuan had explained to Captain Pang Jidong, as spores and pollen transferred a second time, this place could already be considered suspicious.

Jiang Yuan calculated in his mind while casting his gaze into the distance.

Passing through the low wall and the not-so-dense bamboo screen, it was the neighbor's house. The neighbor's house seemed to have different plants planted, but looking closely, it was nothing more than slightly fewer varieties, with more space cleared for tables, chairs, benches, and things like game consoles for leisure.

Jiang Yuan walked forward a few steps, getting closer to the neighbor's, and saw a small pile of fallen leaves and grass clippings in a corner of the yard.

"Where is the homeowner?" Jiang Yuan called the homeowner of this villa over and asked, "There is a pile of fallen leaves and such in your neighbor's yard. I see some have already rotted; don't you feel it's smelly here?"

The homeowner was a man in his 40s. Seeing Jiang Yuan ask this, he immediately frowned and said, "I've said it several times. Every time I say it, he cleans it up, but after a while, it piles up again. The property management has also looked into it once, but it was useless. Good neighbors don't even talk to each other anymore."

"So he has fallen leaves piled up here all year round."

"Pretty much. It's better when the weather is cold, but it stinks in the summer, so I have to urge him to clean it up often." The homeowner shook his head: "I thought people who buy villas would have better character, but no, people nowadays don't care about any face at all."

"Alright, I understand." Jiang Yuan dismissed the homeowner and said to Mu Zhiyang, who was waiting nearby, "Go over and check the neighbor's. Don't go alone; take a few more people."

Captain Pang Jidong, who was still recuperating, widened his eyes in a startle when he heard Jiang Yuan say this.

"A discovery?" The sugar Captain Pang Jidong had just drunk had already reached his brain.

Jiang Yuan let out an "En" and said, "Remember the cylindrical spores in the laboratory I showed you? The light brown ones."

The eyebrows Captain Pang Jidong had just raised drooped down. Are you tricking a dog into coming over for a lesson?

Jiang Yuan coughed twice and said, "In short, these spores generally appear on rotting fallen leaves and wood fragments. Ye Zi like birch, holly, and oak like to grow this kind of fungus."

Jiang Yuan pursed his lips and continued, "There are plenty of birch and holly leaves; these are the trees planted around his house. Of course, the point isn't the trees; the dispersal range of fungal spores is relatively close. Although there are rotting leaves or dead wood everywhere, the indicative nature of fungal spores is still very strong because they usually require direct contact to transfer. That is, as I said before, the dispersal efficiency is very low, making them more meaningful forensic markers."

"Got it, I'll go over and catch the person." Captain Pang Jidong turned and left, his speed not at all inferior to Mu Zhiyang and the others.

At the same time, several other criminal police officers went out through the back door here, circled around to the back door of the neighboring villa, and without going in, just squatted there.

What they hoped to see most was for the person in the neighboring villa to bolt and run at this moment.

If that were the case, even if they didn't catch the person, everyone would be happy. Because this would prove that the criminal suspect had been identified.

However, such a beautiful thing didn't actually happen.

When Jiang Yuan went over, he saw a man in his thirties, looking like a workplace elite, holding a cigar and smoking slowly in the hollowed-out living room.

"A single man without a wife can smoke at home; that's really great." Captain Pang Jidong waited for Jiang Yuan to come over and couldn't help but exclaim.

"Living in such a big villa alone?" Jiang Yuan looked up; the two-story hollow space was over 7 meters high. Staying there at night would only feel darker the more you looked. He had deep personal experience with this kind of house; otherwise, he wouldn't have bought such a small one when buying a house for himself in Changyang City.

Captain Pang Jidong naturally agreed deeply: "It's a bit eerie."

At this time, the single man without a wife, who was sitting on the sofa, looked up and said with disdain, "I know you mainland police don't follow the rules, but I have Malayan nationality; you should be careful."

The criminal police officers present couldn't help but look at Captain Pang Jidong and Jiang Yuan.

"Take him back." Jiang Yuan had already looked at the backyard just now, and having seen the interior and the owner himself, he didn't hesitate at all.

Captain Pang Jidong didn't say much more; he chopped his hand and repeated the order: "Take him back. Be polite."

The single man without a wife frowned and looked at Jiang Yuan: "Are you an idiot? Do you have evidence?"

Jiang Yuan waved his hand in disgust, refusing to reveal even a shred of information to him.