Chapter 12: Unforeseen Complications

Suspect: male, height 1.73 meters, weight approximately 60 kilograms, bow-legged, hunched back, age between twenty and twenty-five.

Liu Guodong and the other two stared at the suspect characteristics Lu Chuan had written on the draft paper, looking completely bewildered.

Old Bai picked up the paper, the wrinkles on his forehead deep enough to crush a mosquito: "Little Lu... leaving aside the other characteristics for a moment, how did you analyze this hunched back?"

Old Bai had been working in crime scene investigation and trace evidence for over a decade; in fact, he was the one who had established the Haizhou City Criminal Investigation Detachment’s crime scene office.

It was just that his actual ability was indeed inferior to Liu Guodong’s, and coupled with his advancing age, he struggled to keep up with much of the work.

However, being older didn't just mean a decline in physical stamina; it often meant a wealth of experience.

While Bai Wenhai’s technical skills hadn't been particularly outstanding over the years, he had certainly seen the most cases.

He had naturally come into contact with things like footprint analysis, and in his earlier years, he had even seen experts from the provincial level conduct footprint analysis campaigns.

Therefore, it was no surprise that a top-tier expert could determine a person's height and weight through footprint analysis.

Although age was difficult, it was said that footprints from different age groups would show variations due to changes in the spacing of the bone sutures, which many experts could identify.

As for leg shape, that was even easier; bow legs or knock-knees could be determined based on the pressure distribution along the edges of the footprints.

But what about the hunched back?

Could that really be seen through footprints?

"It’s like this: because people with a hunched back have a curved spine, their center of gravity is different from an average person's; relatively speaking, their center of gravity shifts forward."

Lu Chuan picked up a photo of a shoe print: "The center of gravity of this set of shoe prints is about one centimeter further forward than that of an average person."

"Of course, if the person happened to be stooping when they left these prints, the center of gravity would also shift forward, but..."

Lu Chuan picked up other shoe print photos: "Every single photo shows the same thing, so that can't be explained away by just stooping or bending over."

Lu Chuan was a good teacher. Although they didn't know how Lu Chuan measured the center of gravity of the shoe prints, Bai Wenhai and the others now understood why he could determine the hunched back.

In that regard, Lu Chuan was better suited to be a teacher than Teacher Jia.

"But having just this isn't enough."

Yang Sen frowned as he looked at the suspect information on the paper: "I think Director Song’s goal should be to catch the person, not just to know the suspect's physical appearance."

Lu Chuan shrugged, thinking of his advanced mission: "That part is simple. We can issue an internal investigation notice based on the suspect's physical characteristics."

"Judging by the perpetrator's modus operandi, they should be a habitual thief. These guys won't stop easily, and there's a high probability they’ve been caught before."

Liu Guodong nodded: "The suspect's physical characteristics that Little Lu put together are already very detailed. I’ll go talk to the operations team and see if we can issue a notice. If anyone sees someone similar, they can notify us."

Yang Sen and Old Bai nodded. While issuing an internal investigation notice wasn't a trivial matter, it wasn't a major one either.

If a grassroots police station wanted to issue such a notice, it would require reporting to superiors for approval layer by layer.

But if the Criminal Investigation Detachment issued the notice, it was much simpler.

Of course, this notice had a limited scope; if it were a nationwide notice, the requirements would be much higher.

Generally speaking, without a case involving serious injury or worse, a nationwide investigation is unlikely, and it requires the suspect's criminal evidence to be basically solidified.

In fact, police work is different from what the average person imagines.

Usually, people think that solving a case just means catching the suspect.

But for the police, catching the criminal suspect is often not the top priority.

The most important thing is actually solidifying the evidence, then catching the person, and finally the trial.

If the evidence isn't solidified, even if the suspect is standing right in front of you and admits to being the killer, you cannot arrest them.

This is also why many small theft cases are difficult to solve.

It is because solidifying the evidence is difficult.

Theft is different from murder; with murder, there is a body, a murder weapon, scene traces, and in the vast majority of cases, a specific motive.

Theft is different. Aside from things like residential burglary, in general theft—like stealing a bicycle—the bicycle is taken away.

Most of these occur in public places, and there are simply no traces left behind to be preserved.

As for motive... does stealing a valuable car count?

Of course, the scope of the investigation notice Liu Guodong was issuing was limited to the police stations under the jurisdiction of the Haizhou City Public Security Bureau.

This was equivalent to having their own people look for something; he had the authority to make that call. If he wanted to expand the scope further, Liu Guodong’s influence wouldn't be enough.

The internal investigation notice was signed off quickly; this type of request didn't even require Qin Yong’s signature.

Of course, the content of the notice was also very simple, just asking the grassroots police stations to keep an eye out for thieves with these physical characteristics.

It didn't mention that this person was the "talent" who had visited the home of Song Jianguo’s father-in-law.

In fact, this guy didn't even know whose house he had stolen from.

If he had known, you could have given him another ten thousand yuan and he still wouldn't have dared.

It’s just like how no lady of the night dares to stand on the street behind a police station; there has to be a sense of respect involved.

If you insist on trying, the consequence of a petty theft is being targeted by the Criminal Investigation Detachment.

Even after two years, there were still four crime scene investigators giving their all to figure out how to catch the guy.

It was a bit late by the time they finished work; it was already six o'clock by the time the notice was sent out.

However, the upside was that two-thirds of Lu Chuan’s advanced mission was complete.

The suspect's characteristic analysis was finished, and the internal investigation notice had been issued.

Next, it was just a matter of whether they could catch the guy.

Of course, that would depend on a bit of luck.

Lu Chuan used his "Eye of Truth" to take a look. People with similar physical characteristics hadn't appeared in investigation notices before, which meant this guy hadn't committed any major crimes in the past, though he certainly had now.

"Little Lu, off work?"

"Little Lu, you've worked hard."

"Lu Chuan, the first operations team is having a dinner tomorrow, come join us!"

...

In the courtyard, basically everyone he met greeted Lu Chuan.

This was a level of treatment Lu Chuan hadn't experienced in the half-month since he started working.

In fact, when he first started, he had caused a bit of a stir.

After all, he had caught a wanted criminal right after joining, and it was a suspect from a robbery-murder case twenty-eight years ago. Most importantly, he had nabbed the guy at his own wedding.

A personal third-class merit was something that truly made many people envious.

However, everyone had just cast curious glances, wanting to see if this person who had earned a third-class merit right out of the gate had three heads and six arms.

Beyond curiosity, there was also a bit of "sour grapes" sentiment.

But things were different now. Everyone knew that the key to the Zhang Wen murder case was the clue Lu Chuan had discovered.

Not to mention, just this morning, this guy had run over to the Huaguang Street Police Station and caught a suspect from a robbery and assault case from last year.

If catching that wanted criminal half a month ago was luck, these two cases were pure skill.

Of course, that wasn't the main point. Lu Chuan being strong was Lu Chuan’s business.

The key was that with the murder case solved, everyone had benefited from Lu Chuan’s success and didn't have to work overtime.

Even tomorrow, the day after, the day after that, and for the next three to five days, as long as no major cases occurred, everyone could spend more time with their families.

For criminal police, the two things they care about most are merit and time off.

Merit...

The average person doesn't even think about it; being named an annual advanced individual or a model worker is already a stroke of great luck.

A third-class merit... you might see one every three years. A second-class merit... you might see one every ten years.

As for a first-class merit...

Nobody wants one, because in the vast majority of cases, receiving a first-class merit means you have sacrificed your life.

Time off, however, is very tangible. Seeing the smiles on everyone’s tired faces showed just how great it felt.

However, the heavens have unpredictable weather, and people have unpredictable fortunes.