Chapter 989: Confirming Identity and Tracking Clues

Everyone knows there’s definitely a difference; otherwise, Lu Chuan wouldn’t have brought it up, but they really can’t see it—it looks similar to other photos.

“There is a difference; the front and back center of gravity in these photos is significantly different from some other footprints. The center of gravity is tilted forward, with lighter pressure on the heel and heavier pressure on the front foot.”

Understanding that no one here has much expertise in Footprint Identification and Analysis, he didn’t keep them in suspense and went on to explain some reasons for this phenomenon.

“Generally speaking, only people who wear high heels for a long time develop this habit.”

“High heels?”

“Yes, high heels. People who wear high heels regularly have a slightly different foot pressure center compared to those who haven’t. Plus, you can try this yourself; most adult males have weaker forefoot pressure abilities.”

“It’s only those who wear high heels often or engage in ballet or similar dance training who can support their entire body weight on their forefoot alone.”

This was Lu Chuan’s assessment about the suspect’s possible habits or profession based on the footprints.

In fact, from a probabilistic standpoint, when identifying and analyzing footprints, male and female footprints show significantly different patterns.

Generally, the size of male footprints is concentrated above size 40, with sizes 44 to 45 being a relatively central range.

Within this range, sizes 42 to 43 are even more centralized.

Female footprints, on the other hand, are mostly concentrated between sizes 36 and 40.

With sizes 38 and 39 being relatively concentrated.

Aside from that, there are distinctions in gait between male and female footprints, with certain consistent differences in stride length and step width.

But these are just pattern recognitions.

Some men naturally have features similar to women, and some women naturally have features similar to men.

Therefore, Footprint Identification can only assist in gender determination and cannot be a deciding factor.

However, based on the scene investigation, the possibility that the suspect is female is slightly higher.

Additionally, Lu Chuan’s point seems to corroborate why the victim was poisoned.

The deceased was an adult male, and if the suspect was female, the likelihood of causing the man’s death through combat is indeed low. However, if poisoning was involved, the probability of causing death becomes much higher.

“Additionally, in the yard of the abandoned logistics park where the crime occurred, I found a set of tire tracks.”

After reporting the relevant footprint information, Lu began reporting on the investigation into the tire tracks in the yard.

“First, let’s talk about the tire brand.”

Lu Chuan flipped slides in the presentation, showing four sets of photos.

“All four tires are a type of noise-reducing tire by Continental. These tires were rarely fitted to original vehicles; I checked, and only four models of BMW cars from three years ago used these tires.”

Lu Chuan then projected the relevant car brands for everyone to see.

He continued, “And compared to the tire tracks from the other three tires, the wear on the front right tire’s track is much less, roughly about one-fifth of the wear on the other tires.”

“Though these car models have a relatively long sales period, only the production batch from three years ago used these type of Continental noise-reducing tires, so the car driven by the suspect should have been purchased three years ago.”

Compared to the clues found in the footprints, Lu Chuan actually felt that the clues found in the tire tracks were more valuable. It should be easier for the front-end police officers to follow this lead.

Lu Chuan continued the analysis, “From the amount of tire wear, the approximate mileage of this car should be between 30,000 to 40,000 kilometers.”

However, with different tires and mileage, the blossom patterns are quite distinct. During the tire track analysis, Lu Chuan can generally make accurate judgments.

“And the wear marks on the front right tire are only about one-fifth of the other three tires, implying that this tire was replaced later.”

“If a tire is replaced later, there’s only one possibility: that tire previously had a blowout, and a new tire was installed for lack of options. Based on the gap between the car’s mileage and the wear, combined with the buying time of this car, the tire replacement should have been around May or June of this year.”

Lu Chuan continued the report, “Of course, this judgment is based on the assumption that the vehicle’s mileage is relatively uniform. We also cannot rule out that this car might not have been driven much this year, but had higher mileage last year, which is also possible.”

Probability.

The limitations in Lu Chuan’s investigation and analysis were based solely on the traces found at the scene and involved some data-based, experiential, and technical judgments. He had not personally inspected the scene, so all analyses were probabilistic.

As Lu continued the report, others listened attentively and observed the information on Lu’s presentation.

The vehicle tire track analysis was indeed exciting for everyone.

The reasons are several:

First, the specificity of these tires allows them to narrow down the car models to a specific year, making it easier to investigate vehicles from that year. Although sales figures are not insignificant, perhaps in Haizhou City, the numbers aren’t so large.

Second, the right front tire of this car had a blowout.

This way, just by checking, within the past year — not just May or June — but within the past year, the sales records of Continental tires in Haizhou City should reveal some leads.

Third, having now determined the vehicle brand, they can investigate monitoring around the abandoned logistics park for related vehicle recordings, possibly uncovering more clues.

Compared to people, investigating vehicles is easier, given the larger body and the presence of license numbers.

“Very good, Lu Chuan, do you have anything else to say?”

Li Donglin was gratified by Lu Chuan’s numerous discoveries from a night of work.

“Director Li, not for now.”

“Alright, Wang Song, how’s your side of things?”

Li Donglin turned to look at others.

Wang Song was responsible for investigating the victim’s identity.

“We have a lead.” Wang Song stood up and took the presentation remote. “Just two hours ago, Lu Chuan sent us the victim’s DNA information, which we compared to missing persons within the province.”

“We finally found a lead.”