National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 874 - 812 Double the Effort

Criminal Investigation Unit.

Lei Xin urgently combed through the recent cases of burglaries and incidentally had all of Zhu Tianwei’s colleagues called back to assist in the investigation.

By the time Jiang Yuan finished inspecting the crime scene and returned, Lei Xin had sorted out the criminal suspects.

"It’s not a hassle, they’re mostly ex-convicts," Lei Xin sighed, revisiting the old issue, "The public security situation in Qinghe City is very severe. These people used to follow Jianyuan for meals, but once their income was cut off, and they knew nothing else, some started engaging in traditional crimes."

"They’re just lazy and gluttonous," said Liu Jinghui, a man in his forties who still seemed overtly indignant as he spoke. "Following Jianyuan for meals might have been too comfortable, but ordinary people still work honestly. Even if being a porter is extremely hard work with low income, that’s no excuse for them to steal and live off others."

As the head of the Criminal Investigation Unit, Lei Xin was no longer as cynical as he used to be, nor could he speak his mind like Liu Jinghui; he could only shake his head and say, "I’m not making excuses for them, just that the reality is indeed complex. What I really mean is that, under the current circumstances, our Qinghe could really use Captain Jiang’s presence."

His was a request made in jest, with a mix of sincerity and probing.

Jiang Yuan, who was flipping through case files, looked up and said, "I was planning to stay a few more days anyway, Captain Lei shouldn’t find us bothersome."

Ningtai County was under the jurisdiction of Qinghe City, and although Ningtai County Bureau and Qianjin District Bureau were on the same administrative level, Qinghe City Bureau was the supervisory unit over Ningtai County Bureau and had the authority to give operational guidance. Over the past two years, Huang Qiangmin’s frequent travels had benefited both Ningtai County Bureau and Qinghe City Bureau, but mainly Ningtai County, with Qinghe City Bureau providing excellent cooperation.

Seeing the changing public security environment in Qinghe City, if Ningtai County Bureau had the capability to help, they should do so as much as possible. Not to mention that criminals from Qinghe City District could roam around, facilitating a breeding ground for crime, and it was unnecessary to wait until Qinghe City Bureau issued a command.

Lei Xin was pleasantly surprised and quickly said, "Really? Oh, that’s great. With you saying that, we can rest assured..."

"The cases still have to be worked through one by one." Jiang Yuan smiled and added, "For Zhu Tianwei’s case, it mainly comes down to an issue of gathering evidence. We should handle his case first and then see, yeah, we might as well take care of this batch of burglaries along the way."

"Burglary is indeed not to be underestimated; it’s basically a stepping stone to more serious crime," Liu Jinghui interjected.

Burglary requires entering the victim’s residence, which entails a higher risk than stealing outdoors or on public transport. Moreover, burglars must at least learn one skill, such as lock-picking or wall-climbing, and the learning cost alone is more than what novices in thievery can bear.

At the same time, the experience and courage required for burglary are significant. Burglary can easily escalate to robbery, violent break-ins, or even homicide, which is why the Criminal Law imposes much harsher penalties for burglary than for ordinary theft.

Thus, burglary represents an advanced criminal activity chosen by those in the Jianghu like Little Karami looking to step up their game.

The effects of this advancement path are quite significant. First, the profits are relatively high, with a single break-in netting anything from several hundred to a thousand yuan, and in some cases up to tens or even hundreds of thousands. This is much less challenging than hustling on the streets. Most importantly, burglars are not much subjected to the constraints of street gangs—criminals hate those who don’t follow the rules, and even burglars fear being stolen from, robbed, or killed.

Lei Xin continued discussing the case details, "These people mainly gather information through moving services, such as how many people live in a house, the layout of the residence, where valuables are kept, whether there’s a safe, jewelry boxes, and even hidden compartments in closets—a move can reveal a lot."

"Sometimes they even steal spare keys, and there have been cases where they directly steal the keys. Those living on higher floors who seem wealthy and are inconvenient to rob are their preferred targets."

"Moreover, most people’s homes are particularly chaotic during a move, and some won’t notice missing items for a long time, or may not even realize they have been burglarized."

Lei Xin summed it up, "It’s mostly a pattern of perpetuation. Initially, one person did it, then drew in accomplices, and later on, ex-prison colleagues who were released came to join in. We’ve figured out at least six individuals from this moving company aren’t clean. They’re being interrogated separately now; they shouldn’t be able to escape."

Liu Jinghui caught on immediately and asked, "Is the boss involved?"

Lei Xin shook his head, "No. But from the interrogation, it seems he at least knows something. Whether it counts as harboring criminals, we are not yet certain."

"The boss has a stable income and doesn’t want to be involved, but he can’t handle these guys either, so things have just dragged on," Liu Jinghui confirmed his guess with Lei Xin and continued, "I’ve worked similar cases before, where the company staff colluded, and the boss, being too scared to go to the police and unable to deal with the opposition, ended up being completely taken down."

"These people might not be clean either; with so many ex-convicts, the boss couldn’t have been unaware when hiring," Lei Xin paused, then added, "The problem now is still the evidence..."

Lei Xin looked at Jiang Yuan with hope.

The key to this case lay in the presence of only circumstantial evidence, without direct evidence. Direct evidence does not require corroboration of other evidence and can prove the main facts of the case, such as fingerprints or DNA found at the scene.

Circumstantial evidence required corroboration or inference, such as police having video footage of the suspect purchasing the same type of machete from a hardware store, which remains circumstantial. That alone couldn’t prove the purchaser had committed a massacre.

Of course, eliminating the alibis of other purchasers and combining other evidence to increase the suspicion on the suspect would suffice for burglary cases to proceed to prosecution, but for capital cases, such a hasty approach was impossible.

Jiang Yuan rarely felt so pressured.

Seven days had passed since the crime occurred, and while this did not constitute a cold case, many pieces of evidence were no longer present.

Jiang Yuan reassessed his skills and looked towards Lei Xin, "Let’s look for the murder weapon."

The answer wasn’t far from what Lei Xin had guessed, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

"How do we find it?" Lei Xin asked in a low voice.

Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui exchanged glances.

A strong sense of helplessness suddenly welled up in Lei Xin’s heart, just like on a Saturday morning when he’d managed to sleep in and then saw his wife’s gentle smiling face...

"Don’t worry, we’re not looking for Xu Taining," Jiang Yuan reassured Lei Xin, saying, "Director Xu won’t come all the way just to look for evidence, and there’s no need to find him. From the victim’s residential area to the suspect’s residence, there’s no river nearby. The suspect hasn’t showered yet, so under normal circumstances, he would have gone home as quickly as possible. If the murder weapon was discarded, it’s very likely it was left near the scene, or maybe..."

"Dumpster?" Lei Xin finished Jiang Yuan’s sentence.

If the weapon was discarded, in most cases, it would be near the scene. Because there aren’t many gun crimes in the country, and whether it’s a blunt or sharp weapon, once it’s stained with blood or flesh, it smells unpleasant and is difficult to conceal, easily leaving evidence elsewhere.

Therefore, whether experienced or not, whether voluntarily or under duress, the murderer would either take the weapon with them, discard it at the scene, or nearby—but rarely would anyone take it far away to dispose of it.

The dumpster that Lei Xin mentioned was even more practical; it was a trick only veterans would know.

If an ordinary person paid attention to criminal cases in society, they would often see in the news that the police found the murder weapon in a trash bin. Some would discuss among themselves, commenting on how stupid the murderer was for discarding the weapon in a trash bin, which seemed easy to find.

In fact, throwing it in a trash bin had the highest chance of escaping detection.

First of all, the police don’t go through trash bins for every case. In fact, it’s rare to actively search for a weapon. Most of the time, they search after an interrogation leads to a confession.

Secondly, cases aren’t always discovered immediately. If it’s delayed for a day or two, the weapon will have left the trash bin to head to another place, which is more mysterious and complicated...

Finally, if the murderer doesn’t dispose of the weapon in a trash bin but simply leaves it at the scene, under normal circumstances there isn’t anyone around to move it for them, so the police will always have a chance of finding it if they search for it.

In summary, the source of Lei Xin’s fear was that more mysterious and complex place—Garbage Mountain.

Following the principle that the one who suggests should be responsible, Lei Xin let out a heavy sigh, "Alright, I’ll organize a team to search Garbage Mountain."

"We’ll check the scene," Jiang Yuan bravely took on the other half of the task.

That day, Lei Xin set off with a dozen young criminal officers.

The next morning, another team of over 20 criminal officers, after being mobilized, stepped onto the suburban Garbage Mountain with a sense of tragic determination.

Jiang Yuan and the others, along with Dazhuang and Er Zhuang, accompanied by the police dogs supported by Qinghe City Bureau, searched around the residential area, circle by circle.

The weapon that had been used to kill had a strong smell, and the trained dogs could easily detect the scent of blood.

Indeed, on the third afternoon, four hours after the third group of criminal officers set foot on Garbage Mountain, a fashionable man walked into the police station near Xushuang Mingyuan.

"I want to report a crime," the man approached the reception desk.

"What seems to be the issue?" The officer glanced at the calm man and calmed himself down as well.

"While walking my dog this morning, my dog kept barking at the base of a tree—been doing it for days now. I got curious about what was going on, so I dug around and found a knife, broken, with blood on it," said the man, hoisting a plastic bag onto the counter.

The knife was a thick-backed cleaver, broken in two, and it looked familiar.

The expression of the police officer receiving the report grew more solemn, eventually becoming thought-provoking.

"Please wait a moment, I’ll make a report for you right away," the officer took out his cell phone.

"Ah, you need to make a report?" The fashionable man hesitated a bit.

"It won’t take long. Don’t worry, what’s your name?"

"Um... Wang Kejiang," the man gave his name and gave up any further thought, obediently sitting down with his dog on a nearby chair.

The police officer immediately made a call, "Chief, weren’t you saying you needed people for garbage collection today? Something just turned up here..."