Chapter 41: Fifty Yuan for a Life

How much is a human life worth?

Li Bing's answer was fifty yuan.

In the interrogation room, faced with ironclad evidence, Li Bing had completely broken down.

"We had an agreement... we offered her fifty, but she insisted on eighty... I... I didn't mean to kill her... it wasn't intentional..."

Ren Qiang had been in the police force for over twenty years and had interrogated more criminals than he had met women.

He had interrogated many murderers.

But someone like Li Bing was truly a first.

Five hours ago, inside Air Raid Shelter No. 3 in Jiguan Mountain, Huang Lan's clothing and a large amount of blood were discovered.

It was confirmed as the primary crime scene of Huang Lan's murder.

Lu Chuan immediately conducted an on-site investigation, discovering numerous fingerprints, footprints, and the murder weapon.

After comparison, Li Bing was identified as the killer.

What shocked the investigators was Li Bing's motive.

Huang Lan went out every night and didn't return until midnight; she indeed had business to attend to.

According to Li Bing's confession, he saw Huang Lan on the night of June 19th while passing through Tongguan Road at the junction leading to Jiguan Mountain on his way home.

"The shops only charge eighty, but the ones outside are fifty..."

Huang Lan wasn't doing business in houses with red lights; instead, she solicited clients herself on Tongguan Road.

As for the location, it was in the woods of Jiguan Mountain.

However, the two had gotten into an argument over the price.

Li Bing used a pocketknife he was carrying to kill Huang Lan.

"Tell me about the process of how you handled the body and the bones."

"After I killed her, I left the body in the air raid shelter."

"I was afraid someone would find it, so I didn't deal with the body at first; I just went back to check every few days."

"Then I realized the body had started to rot. When I went back half a month ago, I found only bones left."

"I was afraid the bones would be discovered later, so I dismantled the skeleton in the shelter. Then, I took a little bit each time to the feed factory and mixed it in with large bones to be cut up. Some were crushed into bone meal, and some... were sold to hotpot restaurants..."

With this, the entire cycle of Li Bing's crime was closed.

After the interrogation ended, Li Bing identified the scene, and the case was considered solved.

*Ding!*

"Advanced Task Completed: The host has located the primary crime scene of the Skeleton Case, completed the collection of criminal evidence, and assisted the Skeleton Task Force in solving the case."

"Task Reward: Junior Fingerprint Identification and Analysis Skill Card."

"Does the host wish to claim the reward?"

"Claim!"

Fingerprint identification and analysis is currently one of the most commonly used methods of evidence analysis in criminal investigation.

The systematic theoretical knowledge of fingerprint identification originated abroad.

However, the application of fingerprints dates back to ancient times.

The "pressing of a thumbprint" in signing documents was a form of fingerprinting used for identity marking.

For hundreds or thousands of years, fingerprints have been widely used as an effective tool for identity recognition.

The reason fingerprints became a tool for identification is based on two principles: every person's fingerprint pattern remains unchanged throughout their life, and no two people have the same fingerprints.

It is just like how there are no two identical red palms in the world—some are tender and pink, some are brownish, some are exquisite and dewy, some are dry and withered, some have been touched by many, and some are clean and lovely.

When Lu Chuan was at the Police University, he had studied related knowledge. As a vital skill in forensic identification, Lu Chuan was able to perform simple fingerprint identification and analysis upon graduation.

However, compared to the Junior Fingerprint Identification and Analysis skill rewarded by the system, the knowledge Lu Chuan had previously learned was pitifully thin.

After years of development, fingerprint identification has formed a standardized workflow in criminal investigation.

In relevant work specifications, fingerprint identification can be divided into several processes: preliminary examination, individual examination, comparative examination, and comprehensive evaluation.

The goal is to reach a conclusion of identity through comparison, thereby providing evidence for criminal litigation.

The ridges on a fingerprint are uneven; the patterns have starting points, ending points, and intersection points.

These minutiae are the important characteristics used for fingerprint comparison.

In reality, it is difficult to collect fingerprints that are extremely comprehensive. In other words, it is difficult to perfectly match every single ridge in a fingerprint.

Therefore, current fingerprint comparison methods can be divided into two major categories.

The professional term is "determination of similarity or difference," or more simply, determining whether the fingerprints are the same or different.

This requires identifying comparison points, such as the intersection of two fingerprint ridges.

Two fingerprints are compared by selecting intersection points in the same positions. If there is a discrepancy, there is no need to compare other points.

A single discrepancy is enough to determine that the two fingerprints do not belong to the same person.

Of course, there are many professional terms in fingerprint comparison.

For example, the raised parts of the fingerprint ridges are called "ridges," and the recessed parts are called "valleys."

When ridges cross and extend, they form endings, bifurcations, trifurcations, isolated points, loops, and short ridges.

Fingerprint identification and analysis involves analyzing the similarities and differences through these characteristic points.

The complex knowledge and specialized identification methods made Lu Chuan feel a bit dizzy.

However, with the Intermediate Fingerprint Collection skill plus the Junior Fingerprint Identification and Analysis, Lu Chuan's proficiency in fingerprints had improved significantly.

Recently, the atmosphere in the Criminal Investigation Detachment had been relatively relaxed.

Although solving the Skeleton Case had taken over a week, the final result was fortunately very satisfying.

As long as a murder case is solved, everyone is a good comrade.

The following week was mainly dedicated to securing evidence and organizing materials.

Having been through the baptism of two murder cases in a short period, everyone was becoming increasingly familiar with this process.

But despite the familiarity, no one dared to make a mistake in organizing the materials for a murder case.

Lu Chuan's life was somewhat comfortable.

As it entered late September, the National Day long holiday was approaching.

"Old Yang, where are you going for the holiday?"

Old Bai was already planning his holiday travels while holding an enamel mug.

"Where could I go? My kid has the college entrance exam next year; I'll be staying with him to help with practice problems."

Yang Sen's life was currently quite grueling, revolving around his child every day.

However, in his words, in eight months, his hardships would end and he would be completely free.

"Little Lu, where are you going for the holiday?"

Lu Chuan, who had nothing going on, was bringing out some red palms to bask in the sun; otherwise, the leaves wouldn't be green enough. "No plans. I might have to treat Forensic Doctor Shen to a meal."

The dinner arrangement with Shen Yan had originated from the human bone hotpot soup.

Now that the case was nearly closed, that meal had to be made up.

Old Bai nodded. "Little Shen is good. Both of his parents work at the Municipal Bureau and are leaders; he comes from a police family."

Old Bai felt a bit envious of such families, because his son had not chosen a police academy for the college entrance exam.

But sometimes, Old Bai also felt a bit relieved that his son hadn't become a policeman.

After all, compared to most industries, the risks for police officers are higher.

Someone of Old Bai's age was definitely a healthy officer contributing to the rising average age of the police force.

*Bang.*

While they were talking, the office door was opened.

(End of Chapter)