Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 404: Ongoing Discoveries

Wang Changjiang has been working as a forensic doctor for many years and has seen all kinds of corpses.

Bloated by water, burned by fire, sun-dried, buried in the soil—he has seen every type of corpse.

But this case’s corpse, having been skinned alive in a violent manner, is the first of its kind for him.

The nerve endings for pain in the human body are actually concentrated in the dermis, with no pain receptors in the muscles and fat.

This means the victim’s most painful moment was actually when the perpetrator was skinning them.

Afterward, with their entire skin removed and crawling on the ground, the victim actually felt no more pain.

However, watching one’s own flesh crawl, that kind of terror must be beyond words.

"Anything else?"

"There is one more thing: we detected sedatives in the victim’s blood; that’s about it."

"Alright, now Old Liu, let’s hear from the crime scene investigation side."

Liu Guodong cleared his throat and straightened up: "There aren’t many clues from the crime scene investigation; first are the fingerprints."

"We found a total of thirteen fingerprints at the crime scene, and all were successfully identified."

Liu Guodong operated the projector, showing the fingerprint identification comparison results: "They all belong to employees of the lumber mill."

"These fingerprints were collected from timber or tools like forklifts inside the factory, not from the corpse or human skin."

"After obtaining these results, we confirmed with Action Team 2 that all these individuals were resting in the dormitory last night, so it appears they had no time to commit the crime."

"Another point is the trace evidence on the hot assembly."

Ever since the Criminal Investigation Team set up a trace evidence analysis lab, it has been used in almost every case.

For example, in the previous case of a discarded body in a landfill, it was the specific clay found inside the box containing the body that led us to the North Mountain area.

Although that clue turned out to be not very effective in the final case result, the perpetrator had indeed camped in the North Mountain; without other leads, that was the most crucial clue.

"We found a type of fiber on the skin, presumably from some kind of clothing or cotton fabric."

"Here’s the question: how did the perpetrator bring the person into the lumber mill?"

"Where are his clothes?"

"I’ve discussed this issue with Team Leader Ren Qiang. He has some theories, but I won’t go into detail now. Let’s talk about another clue, the footprint identification and analysis results."

"Lu Chuan provided a detailed analysis of the footprints at the scene. By combining this with the blood splatter on the wall during the skinning process, we have roughly deduced some characteristics of the perpetrator."

"An adult male, height between 1.82 meters and 1.84 meters, age between 25 and 30, with a clear contrast in the footprint pressure, indicating developed leg muscles. The height of the blood splatter and the markings on the wall show the perpetrator has strong arm strength, an excellent physique, weighing between 100 and 120 kilograms, with a low body fat percentage, suggesting a very robust build."

Normal footprint analysis is unable to discern the physique, such as whether the individual is fat or thin—such characteristics are difficult to determine.

But it’s different when the bloodstain pattern analysis results are integrated.

The blood spray patterns during the murder process can determine not only the angle of attack but also the strength at which it was executed.

"Based on the blood on the ground and the direction of the spattered blood on the wall, we judge that the perpetrator probably had his back to the wall and forced the victim to kneel on the ground, beginning the skinning from the back."

While speaking, Liu Guodong demonstrated the action with both hands.

Qin Yong felt his pressure lessen slightly after hearing this report.

With the perpetrator’s height and build characteristics identified, there now was a direction for the search efforts.

Especially with an image of someone 1.82 to 1.84 meters tall, burly and powerful, it would significantly simplify the follow-up work.

Next up is the report from the action group.

Action Team 1, led by Sun Jun, was primarily responsible for conducting neighborhood interviews and investigating surveillance footage.

"Let me first report on the situation regarding the investigation of surveillance videos."

The projector behind Director Sun was turned on: "Firstly, the surveillance video from the lumber mill is in a damaged state, and we could not extract any usable footage."

"When did it get damaged?"

Qin Yong’s question was understood by Sun Jun, suspecting if the perpetrator might have been the one to damage the cameras.

"The camera damage is not recent. After confirming with the gatekeeper security, they mentioned this to Zhang Xiaofeng a long time ago, but it has not been repaired."

"This aspect seems to have no issue."

Qin Yong nodded after some thought: "Continue."

"We found some video materials from the surrounding surveillance."

"However, some, due to angle issues, only face the house yard and gate and didn’t capture street scenes."

"Moreover, since the direction of the lumber mill’s gate and that of other factories are not on the same street..."

Sun Jun opened a photo: "In this direction, there’s only the gate of the lumber mill."

"There hasn’t been any progress on this front. Additionally, here."

Sun Jun’s subsequent photo invigorated Qin Yong and the others.

"What’s this?"

"Climbing marks!"

This was Sun Jun’s team’s most significant discovery.

"Yesterday, we conducted a detailed inspection of the walls surrounding the entire factory."

Sun Jun enlarged the photo: "The security at the gate indicated that the height of the factory courtyard walls is not high, making it possible for someone to climb over."

"Moreover, security confirmed no strangers passed through the gate during the time of the crime, as Old Liu just mentioned, so how did the perpetrator enter the courtyard?"

"Has this been checked by the crime scene investigation team?"

"Not yet," Liu Guodong shook his head, as he had only just learned of this information.

"Let’s ask Old Bai—no, let Lu Chuan go take a look."

"Yes."

Sun Jun continued to report: "Besides, we’ve also conducted some preliminary interviews within the surrounding factories and so far haven’t noticed any major problems."

"Later, we will focus on further investigations based on the body characteristics of the perpetrator provided by the crime scene investigation."

The presence of climbing marks on the wall raises the possibility of recovering fingerprints or hair?

Team 1’s discovery proved very valuable.

"How about Team 2?"

Ren Qiang’s group is responsible for investigating Zhang Xiaofeng’s interpersonal relationships and interviewing the lumber mill’s staff.

"There are some findings."

After a day of intense work, not only did the crime scene investigation office achieve results, but both Teams 1 and 2 also made numerous discoveries.

"Firstly, we conducted detailed interviews and screening of the lumber mill’s internal personnel, effectively ruling out the possibility of the perpetrator being among the current workers."

"There are two main reasons: one, all these individuals could account for each other being in the dormitory resting during Zhang Xiaofeng’s murder; two, I’ve met all these individuals, none of whom share similar physical characteristics with the profile provided by the crime scene investigation."

"Secondly, we restored the movements of the victim, Zhang Xiaofeng."