Chapter 857: Suspect Dog

"Let me summarize, not a serial killer?"

White Liu Jian, Director White, patted his stomach with his hand, making a *

He was a bit unsure now whether he should be happy or annoyed. It was natural to be happy that the case had a major breakthrough, but it wasn't a serial killer—when a case has no leads, one should naturally worry about it being a serial murder case, but when the case has a breakthrough, should one be annoyed that it isn't a serial murder case?

As the deputy chief in charge of criminal investigation in the poorest county of Qinghe City, Chief Bai Liu Jian not only hoped the case could be solved, but also hoped that money could be spent where it mattered most, and ideally, that there would be a chance for a highlight and a doubling of results...

Jiang Yuan interrupted Bai Liu Jian's fantasy with one sentence: "It's not a serial killer. We should return to the original line of thinking now. The killer is most likely an acquaintance, very possibly a villager from the same village. The footprints left in the small shop don't match the people currently remaining in the village, and combined with the position where the door-propping stick was discarded, we should consider people who live and work outside the village."

"Someone who came and then returned?" Bai Liu Jian immediately had a line of investigation. This was originally the most normal line of investigation; everyone had just been left numb by the victim's scalp being peeled off.

Even for criminal police, one might not encounter a serial killer in a lifetime, especially a perverted one. It's just like an ordinary person dating and changing partners every week, only to never encounter the sweet love story from a movie. Others are acting, but if you're playing for real, you're just too perverted.

In the entire task force, there must be someone who stays focused and driven.

Jiang Yuan was noncommittal about Bai Liu Jian's investigative approach and said, "I don't think we need to be too limited. If we can confirm that the scalp was indeed peeled off by dogs, then the case has entered the second half. For this case, I think we can invest a bit more, add a few more investigative directions, and try to be as comprehensive as possible."

The biggest difference between real investigation and stories in detective novels is that investigative actions have costs, and at the same time, the results of the investigation must be presented in the form of evidence.

Why did the police in the "Hangzhou Wife-Killing Case" have to pump out 38 trucks of sewage and then use screens to filter out human tissue? Because there was no evidence. Even if they knew the husband killed the wife, the case was still like duckweed without roots and couldn't be solved.

Jiang Yuan's urging of Bai Liu Jian was also for this reason. Guessing a more probable investigative direction can certainly reduce costs and lighten the burden, but losing the initiative very likely means losing the evidence.

Ultimately, if one only matches a single footprint, the persuasiveness of the case is too poor. So-called isolated evidence is hard to stand on; a footprint is even more of an indirect piece of evidence. It can only prove that the killer was at a certain place, and even the specific time cannot be determined. Therefore, having only a footprint is actually unable to advance the proof of the case to the level that the killer was at a certain place at a certain time, interacted with someone, and killed someone.

A very natural and reasonable suspicion is: since the victim's face could have been peeled off by dogs, could the victim have been killed by another person or another type of animal, while the suspect just appeared at the wrong place at the wrong time and had a fight with the victim at the wrong time?

Jiang Yuan naturally wouldn't allow such a situation to appear in his case, so he specifically explained it.

Bai Liu Jian also immediately realized Jiang Yuan's requirement and hurriedly agreed, saying, "The investigation of the suspect should indeed have a wider scope."

"Yes, this case is difficult. The point about dogs tearing off the scalp is hard to prove because the skin was torn off, and no tooth marks were left on the remaining muscle on the scalp. The current guess hasn't been confirmed yet, so we still have to face it with our greatest strength." Jiang Yuan offered a bit of emotional intelligence and then added, "Let's catch the dogs first."

"Understood. It has already been arranged." Bai Liu Jian paused and then added, "At the same time, we will list the scope of the list as soon as possible based on the victim's network of relationships and conduct further screening."

"Yes, the killer should be a male between 35 and 40 years old, between 1.60 and 1.68 meters tall, weighing between 140 and 160 jin at the time of the crime, right-handed, with a short stride, a stride width of about 65, and footprints mainly characterized by heel-striking." Jiang Yuan said, then added, "I'll have Wang Wang Chuanxing send the information to you later, and then I'll write a footprint identification report."

"Good, that's good." Bai Liu Jian's confidence had greatly increased.

As far as the conditions given by Jiang Yuan were concerned, even if the victim's network of relationships was a bit complex and the list was a bit long, after a little screening, the difficulty would become very small.

Soon, the dog-catching team also sent back news.

Of the 22 dogs in the village, 20 were arrested. Two lucky ones happened to be playing outside the village, and people had already been sent to arrest them.

And the police dog squadron, which had contributed the most to the dog-catching operation, became uneasy after arresting the suspect dogs.

Li Li specifically came to find Jiang Yuan and said, "What should be done with these dogs?"

"The three dogs involved in the case are definitely finished." Jiang Yuan spoke the truth and then added, "As for the remaining dozen or so dogs, as long as it's proven that they are innocent, I'll cook them a meal and let them go back."

"How can they prove they are innocent?"

"Look at their feet." Jiang Yuan looked at Li Li calmly.

Li Li hesitated: "Can you tell from dog feet? You won't look at them wrong, will you?"

"No." Jiang Yuan said and ordered: "This job is left to you. You call Shen Shen Yaowei to join you, make rubbings of these dogs' footprints, and we'll compare them in a while. Besides, they might be needed as evidence later."

Li Li agreed and then asked: "That... the dogs that aren't innocent..."

"Suspect dogs."

"Alright, suspect dogs... can the suspect dogs just have a surgery?" Li Li knew it was unreliable, but still held onto a bit of hope.

Jiang Yuan spread his hands: "You can go ask the prosecutor. If he agrees, I don't object... Anyway, I won't perform it. This job is left to Miao Miao Ruixiang and Shen Shen Yaowei to handle."

The three dogs involved in the case, even for the sake of preserving evidence, would be dissected after being put down. And for forensic experts, dissecting dogs actually has no psychological barrier. During their studies, forensic students, like medical students, learn practical skills by dissecting dogs.

If one wants to do scientific research, the more ordinary and simpler ones are also done using dogs. In this matter, it's not that monkeys aren't useful, but that dogs are more cost-effective.

In fact, a forensic expert like Jiang Yuan who can distinguish suspect dogs is already a stroke of good fortune for the dogs of Tangui Village. Otherwise, in a situation where the suspect dogs couldn't be distinguished, all 22 dogs in the village would have to be dissected, one by one.

Li Li was the squadron leader of the police dog squadron and a senior criminal police officer. Seeing that things had come to this, she had nothing more to nag about and turned to make arrangements.

Jiang Yuan turned to find the village head's house, spent some money, and in the village head's kitchen, used his LV5 dog-meal skill to cook a grand feast for all the dogs in the village.

The number of dogs attending the feast was still 22. The two runaway dogs had realized their errors and returned, and with the three police dogs on the payroll sitting at the head table, the number of dogs in Tangui Village remained unchanged, just like that year and that day.