Chapter 1096 - 560: Two Lines Advancing in Parallel

As the two senior leaders walked out of the conference room, everyone watched them leave.

Chen Guan, Director Hou, and Qin Feng all wore very grave expressions.

Previously, they thought that being a detective was probably just a job, a means of livelihood for most people.

But now, they deeply felt that lifetime detectives have gradually infused solving cases into their bloodstream.

Even when life was nearing its end, what weighed on their minds was not family or health, but more about those unsolved cases.

After a long time, Chen Guan turned to look at Jiang An and said, "Mr. Jiang, although what they said just now was heavy, try not to feel too much pressure.

The case was unsolved mainly because it’s indeed very difficult.

From the initial reopening of the case, we have been pushing it forward step by step. Even though we’ve used many methods, we still haven’t made a breakthrough."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Feng patted his shoulder and said, "Yes, when Chen Guan was the head of the Criminal Investigation Department, he also delved deeply into research many times. Just look at the wear and tear of that dossier, and you’ll know how much effort Mr. Chen has put in."

Chen Guan waved his hand and sighed, "Ah, it’s truly embarrassing to say, after all these efforts, we still haven’t found a breakthrough. Next, let’s push this case forward together and see if we can find a new breakthrough."

Director Hou continued, "Mr. Qin, please lead a team to sort through all the death-related cases within the last two years post-incident, particularly those involving skeletonization, incinerated bodies, or even dismembered bodies."

"As for the forensic examination, I’ll trouble Mr. Jiang to personally handle it."

After Director Hou said this, everyone got into action.

At this point, Deputy Director Chen Guan said, "Mr. Jiang, I’ll accompany you to examine the body from back then."

At the time the body was discovered, I was just an ordinary policeman, so I’m quite familiar with it.

If you want to know anything else, I can provide you with timely answers."

Qin Feng was about to refuse, but quickly changed his mind, "Alright, since Director Hou mentioned it, I’ll go along too."

Soon, half an hour later, the three of them, along with two other technicians, drove to the city morgue.

Like any forensic autopsy center, the autopsy center was located next to the morgue.

Soon, Deputy Director Chen Guan arrived at the front desk, and the receptionist, seeing him enter, quickly said, "Mr. Chen, here again for a body?"

Chen Guan nodded and said, "Still the same body from 15 years ago."

"Oh, here to check again then."

The receptionist immediately understood and quickly said, "No problem, the number is 557, I’ve got it memorized."

Then he spoke into the intercom, "Transport body part 557 to the autopsy center, Mr. Chen and his team are coming to study it."

Soon, ten minutes later, they entered Autopsy Room No. 1 together.

At that moment, on the table in Autopsy Room No. 1, lay a pile of body pieces, missing the head, with only the upper limbs, lower limbs, and part of the chest structure present.

Deputy Director Chen Guan picked up gloves from the nearby forensic preparation room and handed them over, "Mr. Jiang, do you think you need to wear protective clothing?"

Qin Feng waved his hand, "No need, just wearing gloves to take a look is fine. These body parts have been frozen for so long, there’s no blood or water, I’ll just take a look."

Jiang An put on gloves, approached the autopsy table, and after standing still, his gaze fell on the pile of body pieces.

Frozen for 15 years, the body parts looked like the color of raw pork, without any special conditions.

They only appeared somewhat darkened in color, but overall they had taken on a waxy white appearance, like a block of cured meat.

His gaze landed on the cross-sections of the body parts, which looked very smooth. He turned and said, "Mr. Chen, at the time these body parts were handled, did we investigate any relevant personnel?"

"Relevant personnel? Do you mean those with medical or butchery experience?"

Chen Guan asked.

Jiang An nodded, "Look at this cross-section, it still looks very smooth. There are no extra cut marks around, and these sections were made at the joints, which generally isn’t easy to achieve unless they are very familiar with human anatomy."

Chen Guan nodded and said, "We did conduct investigations in this area at the time, but still no results."

"Not only did we investigate this village, but even the neighboring villages were examined, yet no suspicious individuals were found."

"We even conducted a comprehensive investigation of the village veterinarians and health clinic personnel and found no suspicion of them committing the crime."

Director Hou added, "I remember when this case was reinvestigated the first time, I was also involved.

We considered that the suspect would have a strong background in anatomy, and from some perspective, this anatomical background served as an excellent criminal marker.

However, when we sorted through all individuals with a medical background in the city, we still found no suspects.

So when we further expanded the scope, we also unearthed no valuable clues."

Upon hearing this, Jiang An nodded gently, "Currently, I believe we still need to adhere to this distinct marker. We may not have found clues, but I think an average person might not achieve this level.

Look at this anatomical plane, it certainly appears to have a solid medical background. And what could the absence of these two locations signify?"

Upon hearing this sentence, the three people suddenly fell into silence.

After a long time, Director Hou said, "Actually, during the investigation reboot, we once thought the head might be related to identifying the victim, so the killer might have taken it away or hidden it elsewhere."

"The missing chest and perineum might involve certain bodily fluids, perhaps there was physical assault during the crime."

Listening to Director Hou’s words, Jiang An nodded, "That’s one possibility."

"However, I’m wondering if there’s any other possibility?"

"If these two parts can determine a person’s gender and age."

Then he asked, "If the killer wasn’t aiming for this purpose, then what other possibility could there be?"

"Why did they only take the head and these two parts, leaving the limbs behind? What’s different about these two parts?"

Thinking about this, Jiang An’s thoughts delved deeper.

To some extent, this is indeed a very troublesome matter.

The killer selectively hid other body parts and discarded them, what is the significance behind this? What other possibilities lie behind?

Meanwhile, in the archives room, Qin Feng leads some police officers from a newly formed expert team to register at the archives room entrance.

Mr. Zhang, who is in charge of the archives room, looked up and said, "Mr. Qin, since this case is being rebooted, will you be pulling all files within two years? You know, those files are not a small amount."

"Yes, we’re still hoping to restart it and see if there’s any result," Qin Feng said.

"Oh, is the approach different from before?"

Mr. Zhang adjusted his reading glasses and said, "Could it be that more people from the department have arrived? Or is it an expert team from Jing City?"

"No, it’s the provincial expert team."

"Oh, hasn’t the provincial expert team come a few times before? To be honest, this case has been hanging unresolved.

They’ve come several times without cracking the case. Restarting now, does it guarantee results?"

Qin Feng explained, "Not necessarily; this time, the people coming are young and talented; their thinking and breakthrough capabilities are very strong.

Our Mr. Chen also particularly values this, so later, please prepare all the files related to death cases from the past two years. Zhang, make sure there are no omissions."

"Okay, no problem, I can definitely ensure that.

Moreover, you’ve gone through those files many times, but indeed, this time the number of cases you’re organizing is quite large.

Later, I’ll print out a directory; regarding abnormal deaths within two years, the entire city might have around a thousand."

After talking, Mr. Zhang began to enter search information with his reading glasses on.

Soon, the printer outputted a directory list, which he handed to Qin Feng: "Mr. Qin, look. Since the case occurred, there are 1,006 in the archive."

"So many within two years?"

"Yes, back then, there were estimated to be over a hundred homicides; the rest involved abnormal deaths like fires, drowning, falling, and other causes."

"Alright, thank you, Zhang. I might need all these files."

"All of them? So many?"

"Yes, because we need to carefully sort through the files and understand the details."

"Alright then, I’ll give you the key; you can come to look whenever you want.

With over a thousand files, moving them elsewhere would be difficult for work; you can start in this archives room."

"No problem, then I’ll trouble you with the archives room."

Mr. Zhang smiled and said, "Trouble? We’re all on the same team."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Feng took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it over: "This cigarette, I don’t smoke much.

Zhang, try it, it’s a brand from out of province; see if it suits your taste."

Mr. Zhang declined. "No problem, take it and smoke; the archives room is quite quiet and lonely, smoking helps pass the time."

Mr. Zhang chuckled, "Haha, Mr. Qin, you really know me well.

When I was younger, I worked on the frontline for many years and solved many cases. Later, if it weren’t for my leg issue, I would still want to work on the front line like you guys. Unfortunately, I’m old now."

"Haha, no worries, being old doesn’t mean your spirit is; as long as we’re in the police team, we can shine in any position."

After speaking, Qin Feng immediately walked into the archives room.

The two officers beside him hurried in too. Once inside, they started sorting through the archives’ situation and listed all files according to the directory.