Chapter 1027: Arson Scene

In general, fire scenes are handled by firefighters, and the police typically do not get involved.

Unless the fire scene is particularly chaotic or the fire has a large area, or someone calls 110, then the local police might attend.

This time, however, is different.

After the fire occurred yesterday, firefighters took about half a day to extinguish the fire. During the investigation into the cause of the fire, traces of arson were found at the scene.

Moreover, while clearing the fire scene, they discovered two bodies.

At the scene, the firefighters continued to communicate with Lu Chuan.

"These two bodies were not burned to death."

Those who frequently handle fire scenes are well aware of the condition of bodies that are burned to death.

"We noticed something was wrong, so we called you."

Currently, the bodies are still at the scene.

The handling of a fire scene does not end just because the firefighters have extinguished the flames.

Typically, after dealing with the open flames, firefighters conduct a detailed examination of the extinguished scene.

One of the most important reasons for this is to find the cause of the fire and analyze it.

Firefighters need to provide a fire analysis report.

This requires significant expertise.

The fire occurred in a warehouse.

But the warehouse is surrounded by many self-built houses in a residential area, so when this kind of warehouse catches fire, the burned area is quite large, impacting the surroundings.

The scene is very chaotic, with black substances mixed with water and combusted materials everywhere due to firefighting.

Lu Chuan has inspected similar scenes before and encountered similar cases, and handling them is quite tricky.

Because fire scene examinations are usually difficult to conduct.

Comparatively speaking, a completely burned-through fire scene is easier to examine than one that has been subjected to firefighting water.

"This corner is the initial point of the fire."

The firemen have already found the initial point of the fire in the warehouse.

At the northwest corner, near the entrance.

Lu Chuan took a look, squatted down, pinched some burnt ashes from the ground, and sniffed them.

There was a faint smell of gasoline.

"Did the perpetrator pour gasoline here and then ignite it?"

The firefighter nodded, surprised that the criminal investigation team captain opposite had some knowledge of fires.

"It was likely intentional arson."

In fact, most people rarely witness what a real fire scene looks like.

Typically, the smell at a burned-over scene is very complex and pungent.

Many substances, after burning, will have their smells amplified, and many odors are easily identifiable at the fire scene.

Although the effective substances in gasoline vaporize after burning, the residual gasoline smell can be detected for a long time.

Even though the scene was almost destroyed after firefighters put out the fire and later re-examined, Lu Chuan still believed it held considerable investigative value.

"So, we’ll take over the scene here, and if we need technical assistance regarding the fire situation, we might have to ask you guys at the firefighting unit for help."

The other side nodded: "No problem, contact us at any time if you need anything."

The scene has already been handed over, and the firefighters have directly withdrawn, leaving the entire scene to the criminal investigation team.

Lu Chuan promptly arranged and investigated related tasks, with three teams starting to divide the work.

"Wang Zhaokai, our first team is responsible for conducting inquiries and investigations around the area, who reported the fire yesterday, whether there are any unusual discoveries; make sure the investigation is thorough."

"Chen Jiang, your second team will investigate all nearby surveillance footage, whether public or private, and find all the footage from yesterday night at the time of the incident."

When Lu Chuan had just entered the alley, he noticed a lot of surveillance cameras by the roadside, and some inside shops had surveillance cameras as well. Last night, if someone committed arson, they might have been recorded.

"Sun Biao, check the circumstances of this warehouse."

After receiving orders, Lu Chuan brought the criminal investigation team’s scene survey members directly into the scene.

"Start from the door here and slowly progress inwards; don’t rush."

The examination of a fire scene is different from a normal scene. For a normal scene, one glance can see what the entire scene is like.

But a fire scene is heavily covered with ashes and other covers.

You need to start from one point and slowly clear and advance.

No detail can be overlooked.

According to the firefighting team’s investigation results, the perpetrator should have set fire to the scene after committing murder, trying to cover up the traces of the murder.

Burning the scene suggests that the perpetrator left many traces at the scene that are hard to clean. Another aim was to conceal the identities of the deceased.

The bodies have been taken away by the forensic doctor.

The specific cause of death will have to be determined through an autopsy, as the surfaces of the bodies have been burned.

As it stands now, the cause of death is unclear.

As for the forensic doctor’s conclusion that the bodies were not burned to death, this is mainly because the bodies are not in a curled position.

Generally speaking, when a person burns to death, the body will curl up.

However, the two bodies found at the fire scene were lying face-up, one facing upwards and the other facing downwards. Besides the front being charred, the parts in contact with the ground were intact.

Both bodies were extended, which is definitely suspicious.

Actually, simply destroying the murder scene, fire is not the best means.

Many suspects think that by burning everything at the scene, none of their traces can be found, but that’s not the case.

Especially this kind of scene that hasn’t been completely burned.

At the ignition point, Lu Chuan found a partially melted lighter in the corner.

Although the lighter had melted, only part of it was melted; the upper part remained relatively intact.

If the perpetrator used this lighter to ignite and then casually threw it away, Lu Chuan might be able to extract the perpetrator’s fingerprints from the lighter.

Furthermore, because the warehouse contained many combustible materials that didn’t burn completely, many scattered items that didn’t fully burn protected the ground.

After exploring a few areas, Lu Chuan and his team discovered some bloodstains underneath.

Continuing the examination, a dagger was found near the ground where the bodies were.

The handle of the dagger had been half-burned but the part against the ground still had some residues.

It had brownish marks, likely bloodstains.

This is very likely the murder weapon.