Chapter 8: A Small Test of Skill

Although the Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) office does not store case files, all physical evidence from every case is kept there.

Lu Chuan planned to test his new skill on cold cases left behind by the Criminal Investigation Detachment.

"Every homicide must be solved" is the attitude toward homicide investigations nationwide, but that does not mean every homicide can actually be solved.

Take, for example, the textile mill serial murder case from twenty-eight years ago.

If Lu Chuan hadn't obtained the system's "Eye of Truth," who would have guessed that a dignified five-star hotel manager was actually a fugitive wanted for twenty-eight years?

This is just like how not every child can find their biological father.

Of course, Lu Chuan wasn't so confident that he thought a primary-level footprint analysis skill could solve a cold homicide case.

For one thing, not all homicide scenes leave behind footprints.

For another, any cold homicide case has definitely gone through multiple rounds of old case campaigns.

Anything that still remains unsolved is exceptionally difficult to crack.

Although Lu Chuan felt his current knowledge of footprint analysis definitely surpassed Liu Guodong's, he wasn't confident he could surpass the experts at the Provincial Department.

Lu Chuan knew that top-tier footprint analysis experts could determine a person's occupation, lifestyle habits, and even leg morphology—such as bowlegs or a hunchback—just by looking at a shoe print.

Besides, Lu Chuan didn't want to discourage himself; wouldn't it be nice to pick an easy case and experience the feeling of being a master detective?

Soon, Lu Chuan found his target in the system: a robbery and assault case that occurred a year ago in the Haizhou City High-Tech Zone.

The victim had their arm slashed and was robbed of 820 yuan in cash.

The perpetrator wore a mask, and since it was the middle of the night, the victim didn't even know if the perpetrator was a man or a woman, let alone see their face, so no composite sketch was made.

The perpetrator also left no fingerprints; the CSI team only collected a pile of footprints at the scene.

Actually, logically speaking, such a "small" case wouldn't rise to the level of the Criminal Investigation Detachment. After all, only 820 yuan was stolen, and the victim didn't suffer serious injuries.

However, as robbery is one of the eight major crimes, the criminal police must keep an eye on it regardless of the amount. Last year, it happened to coincide with a "strike hard" campaign, so this case received a certain amount of attention.

It was just a pity that although the Criminal Investigation Detachment specifically assigned a team to follow up, there was no progress.

"Alright, you're the one!"

The case wasn't big, but the nature of the crime was heinous, and the only information from the scene was footprints, which fit the target Lu Chuan was looking for.

This was like a lecher scouting a location; when you don't know what the lady of the house looks like, you have to determine your target through other channels.

Wealthy mansions have dedicated guards, making the risk too high, and small, humble homes rarely have any beauties. A typical wealthy landowner's house is just right—at most, there are a few guard dogs, which can be handled with a few steamed buns.

The CSI office has a dedicated evidence storage warehouse, so even though there are only four people in the office, the benefits are quite good.

Old Liu is firmly at the deputy section-chief level, and Yang Sen and Old Bai don't have low status either.

In addition to having a dedicated vehicle (a specialized CSI van), there is also a specialized laboratory. And look, there is even a dedicated warehouse downstairs in the building.

There is a story behind this warehouse. According to Liu Guodong, the detachment spent a large sum of money to renovate it three years ago, and the current warehouse is temperature and humidity controlled.

The reason is a bit bizarre. Many years ago, the detachment handled a murder case involving strong alkali. The killer was quite clever; he wore a condom while committing the crime and threw it in a nearby trash can afterward.

It was by following this clue that they locked onto the suspect.

The suspect was eventually sentenced to death, but death penalty cases require periodic reviews.

As it turned out, when they went to check this key piece of evidence, the condom had almost been corroded because the warehouse was too damp.

You have to realize that the case back then was handled by the current deputy director. If a mistake like that had occurred, everyone would have been in deep trouble.

So, the higher-ups signed off with a flourish, and the renovation funds for the CSI evidence warehouse were released.

A week ago, Liu Guodong had brought Lu Chuan to the warehouse and specifically introduced him to every area.

In Liu Guodong's view, when he retires in the future, it will definitely be young people like Lu Chuan who take over. The family assets would have to be handed over to the young sooner or later, so there was no need to hide anything.

Once the young people grow up, the old folks can also take it easier.

It’s just that this time, Team Leader Qin gave Lu Chuan time off, so the rest of them still have to do the work...

All materials are stored by year and categorized; there are only five boxes of cold robbery cases.

Arriving at the cold case section, Lu Chuan successfully found the evidence files for last year's robbery.

Picking up the evidence box, Lu Chuan began his comparison right at the desk in the warehouse.

Upstairs, everyone was busy with the closing report on the Zhang Wen father-son mutual slaughter case. If Lu Chuan went up, it would be awkward whether he helped or not.

He might as well test his new skill in the warehouse.

In any case, the warehouse has constant temperature and humidity, as well as a fresh air system; it's much better than the foul, stifling environment upstairs.

Unlike fingerprint comparison systems, there is no automatic comparison system for footprints.

Strictly speaking, it's not that there isn't one; some criminal investigation detachments have their own footprint identification experts and have built their own systems, but the Haizhou City Criminal Investigation Detachment clearly does not.

Spreading out the photos, Lu Chuan began to measure the footprint data in detail. It had just rained on the day of the crime, so the footprints left by the suspect were very clear.

The blurred edges, weight distribution, stride length, pressure, and other various traces of the footprints were very obvious.

When the case was being investigated last year, the Haizhou City Criminal Investigation Detachment had also invited experts in this field to analyze it, but they were just CSI police from the neighboring city.

They were much better than Liu Guodong, but compared to true experts, they were lacking by more than just a little bit.

Therefore, they only made some basic judgments at the time: male, height between 1.7 and 1.8 meters.

There were very few other details.

As for finding experts from the provincial capital's criminal investigation detachment or even the Provincial Department, Qin Yong gave up.

Although it was a robbery and assault case, the amount was too small, and the victim didn't even suffer minor injuries. If he really submitted the case, not to mention whether Qin Yong would lose face, the file would likely just be thrown back at him.

"Ding."

"Basic task: Use footprints to analyze the physical characteristics of the robbery and assault suspect."

Although it was only a basic task and there was no reward for completion, it allowed him to familiarize himself with the skill, so Lu Chuan continued to observe.

"Blurred edges, insufficient force... center of gravity shifted backward..."

Lu Chuan had already entered the zone, placing several sets of footprints together to begin comparing them.

He also opened the calculator on his phone and began to calculate the measured data.

"That's not right..."

Half an hour later, Lu Chuan frowned as he held all the measurement and calculation data.

Without a doubt, he had run into trouble.

Sure enough, there is no such thing as a simple cold case.

At any time, in any place, never treat the police as people who just eat for free.

Although this robbery case wasn't big, it was one of the eight major crimes, and the bureau has performance indicators for the Criminal Investigation Detachment regarding such cases.

In fact, this is also one of the important assessment indicators for the Provincial Department regarding municipal bureaus.

Therefore, the people handling the case last year must have done their absolute best.

The reason Lu Chuan was frowning wasn't because he doubted the skill rewarded by the system.

It was because his calculation results were vastly different from the suspect characteristics locked onto during the investigation last year.

They were even subversive.

Because according to his calculations, the owner of these shoe prints should be a woman!