Chapter 28: Locking in the Suspect

Conference Room No. 1.

Even after an all-nighter, everyone was still busy.

When a homicide occurs, being able to catch a nap in a chair is a luxury that most investigating officers cannot afford.

Of course, at a time like this, it wasn't just the criminal investigation detachment that was busy; the grassroots police stations were also swamped.

Since yesterday morning, every individual with a close connection to the deceased had to be screened.

This workload was impossible for the criminal investigation detachment to complete quickly on its own.

Grassroots stations also had to dispatch personnel to follow up, and even some less important individuals required their investigation.

It had now been twenty-one hours since Wang Lin's body was discovered.

The forensic autopsy report had also been issued.

The specific time of death should have been between 2:00 AM and 3:00 AM four days ago.

There were no signs of sexual assault while she was alive, but there were post-mortem strangulation marks on her breasts and private areas.

This point drew high attention from the special task force.

Post-mortem desecration of a corpse suggested the possibility of a murder motivated by revenge.

However, based on detailed observation, the strangulation marks showed petechiae, which indicated that the killer had used violence through her clothing.

Therefore, no fingerprints were found directly on the victim's body.

The Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Office.

"Master, the analysis of the three sets of footprints is complete. The physical characteristics of the owner have been basically determined."

Lu Chuan handed the final footprint analysis report to Liu Guodong, who had dark circles under his eyes, and lit a cigarette.

Having not slept all night, even with Lu Chuan's body in his early twenties, he felt a sense of fatigue.

"Male, height approximately 1.73 meters, weight around 70 kilograms, preliminary age estimate between twenty-eight and thirty-three."

"His occupation likely involves long periods of standing; the gaps between his metatarsals are slightly larger than those of an average person."

"A chef?"

Yang Sen leaned in, applying two drops of eye drops to himself.

Lu Chuan shook his head. "Not necessarily. It could also be a DJ or something similar; the specific details cannot be confirmed."

"Master, how is the fingerprint comparison going?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Guodong's expression turned solemn. "Out of seventy-two sets of fingerprints, we have only successfully matched twelve."

This success rate...

Was indeed not high.

It wasn't just because the collected fingerprints were overlapping; another reason was that the handles of the electric scooter were cylindrical.

Even with individual fingerprints, the distortion left on a cylindrical surface is extremely severe.

Fortunately, the handles were smooth rubber grips with the protrusions worn down; otherwise, fingerprint collection would have been impossible.

But even so, to achieve a successful match, the fingerprints required preprocessing, which was incredibly difficult.

Lu Chuan had studied CSI, so he knew very well that analyzing and matching fingerprints collected from cylindrical or irregular objects required superb technical skill.

"What are the results?"

"Heh, the interesting part is this result."

Old Bai also climbed up from the sofa and took the cigarette Lu Chuan offered. "Out of the twelve sets of fingerprints, all of them belong to the owner, Wang Song."

Huh?

"All twelve sets belong to him?"

That seemed unlikely.

"Wang Song's electric scooter was stolen. The fingerprints left on the top layer are most likely those of the thief."

"And of course, that thief might be the one who murdered Wang Lin."

"How can all twelve sets belong to Wang Song..."

Lu Chuan froze for a moment, then suddenly realized something. "Wang Song... filed a false report?"

The analysis results from the CSI office were quickly delivered to Qin Yong.

*Slap!*

Qin Yong, who had also stayed up all night, looked at the CSI report, his eyes gleaming.

"Arrest Wang Song immediately!"

The fingerprints were one thing, but the key was the footprint analysis Lu Chuan had performed.

The physical characteristics of the shoe prints on the scooter's floorboard matched Wang Song's physique.

With the CSI fingerprint match and the suspect profile from the footprint analysis, Wang Song quickly confessed to the killing of Wang Lin.

And Wang Song's motive for the crime left the interrogating officers extremely shocked.

Wang Lin and Wang Song actually did not know each other.

The only intersection in their lives was a chat application.

"I didn't actually want to kill her," Wang Song, already restrained and slumped in the interrogation chair, said.

"We had already agreed on a price, but she raised it at the last minute. She threatened to tell my wife if I didn't pay more..."

"I... ugh... I really didn't mean to..."

Through a mess of snot and tears, Wang Song recounted the details of their meeting.

Besides being a lead dancer at a slow-dance bar, Wang Lin had other part-time jobs.

There were many men on the chat app with such requirements.

Four days ago, the two had agreed on a price of five hundred yuan.

The meeting place was set at Wang Song's restaurant.

However, after they met, Wang Lin demanded the price be raised to one thousand yuan, using the excuse that Wang Song was ugly.

She even threatened that if he didn't pay, she would cause a scene at his restaurant and tell his wife about his affairs.

In a moment of panic, Wang Song strangled Wang Lin to death in the restaurant.

"What about the strangulation marks on Wang Lin's breasts and her lower body?"

This was the result found by the forensic medical examiner.

"That... after I strangled her, I wanted to... I wanted to enjoy myself a bit..."

"But... I was afraid of leaving evidence, so I did it through her clothes... through her clothes..."

Wang Lin's phone, ID, and handbag were found in the kitchen of Wang Song's restaurant.

As for the stolen electric scooter, it was a play staged by Wang Song.

That night, he rode the scooter out and then returned to the restaurant.

The traffic surveillance footage showing the theft was actually left there intentionally by Wang Song.

He had lived on Beihu Road for over twenty years and was very familiar with the area; he knew exactly where the cameras were and where they weren't.

He then returned to the restaurant via a path without surveillance, took Wang Lin, and drove to Xingfu Reservoir to dump the body.

*Ding!*

"Advanced Task Completed: The host used a self-made fingerprint developer to collect key fingerprint information from the crime scene electric scooter, helping the task force narrow down the suspect range and solve the Xingfu Reservoir body-dumping case."

"System Reward: Intermediate Skeletal Identification and Analysis Skill Card."

"Does the host wish to claim the reward?"

Intermediate Skeletal Identification and Analysis?

Lu Chuan was slightly stunned.

The skill rewarded by the system this time was a bit strange.

Skeletal remains, generally speaking, were not encountered often.

But once encountered, there was a high probability it was a homicide converted from a long-term missing person case.

Of course, there were also accidental deaths leading to disappearances, but that probability was small.

Although it was strange why the system would reward this specific skill, it was still an intermediate skill card.

Having already experienced the intermediate fingerprint collection skill card, Lu Chuan knew that this was already expert-level ability.

Based on Lu Chuan's understanding, this was the kind of ability held by top-tier experts at the provincial level.

"Claim!"

*Whoosh!*

Streams of information surged through Lu Chuan's consciousness.

Knowledge regarding the human skeletal system flooded into his mind.