Animal Detective

Chapter 375: Chapter 310: Deputy Ma, the Roundworm

Considering Ma Chang Town was too far from the county seat and traveling back and forth would be inconvenient, Li Xiaowen decided to hold the first case analysis meeting right there, borrowing a room at the Ma Chang Town Police Station.

The meeting began a little after seven in the evening, once Deputy Captain Zhu Qiuwei had returned.

He was in charge of on-site interviews and the external investigation.

The technical staff back at the Criminal Investigation Division joined via video conference.

Guo Jin wheeled in a television with a camera, providing a clear view for everyone.

Hou Yaxin, the chief of police, was also in attendance.

After all, the victim was a village chief.

Moreover, he had heard the case had some questionable details.

After sitting down, Hou Yaxin spotted Shen Xin in the corner of the room on his screen and greeted him.

"Xiaoshen, my apologies. I heard you were supposed to leave today. Sorry to have delayed your travel plans."

Hou Yaxin began with an apology.

Shen Xin quickly replied that it was no trouble.

He had already spoken with Sun Zhao; Shen Xin wanted to stay a couple more days to see if he could be of any help.

Hou Yaxin also thanked Shen Xin for his help in tracking down Li Xingping. He even asked Shen Xin to give Tian Kui plenty of praise and reward him with some good treats.

Li Xiaowen glanced at the screen and asked why Luo Xiaolong wasn’t there.

Someone from the forensics team was present—Luo Xiaolong’s assistant—but Luo Xiaolong himself hadn’t come.

The assistant quickly explained, "The autopsy is mostly complete, but Teacher Luo still needs to confirm a few details, so he had us come ahead."

Li Xiaowen nodded and asked each team to present their findings.

Shen Xin sat in the corner, silently opening a notebook to jot down key points.

The technical investigations team presented first.

"A total of seventeen bloodstains were found at the scene, mostly drip patterns."

"They’ve all been tested and confirmed to belong to the deceased, Zhang Kaiyong."

"As for the bloody piece of clothing Shen Xin found, the blood on the cuff was extracted and tested. We can confirm it also belongs to Zhang Kaiyong."

"Next, the murder weapon."

The head of the technical investigations team adjusted his glasses, displayed photos on the projector, and began his presentation.

"We only found Zhang Kaiyong’s blood on the brick. There were also fragments of human tissue at the point of impact, which testing confirmed were his as well."

"Look here. You can see a relatively clear grip mark."

He zoomed in on a section of the brick’s photo.

"When Li Xingping held the brick to strike Zhang Kaiyong’s head, blood spattered onto it. However, the area where his fingers were gripping was shielded from the spatter, leaving a clear void."

He knew what Li Xiaowen was thinking and continued, "As you all know, extracting DNA from sweat is difficult."

"It is possible to extract DNA from sweat."

"In a case like this, with Li Xingping gripping the brick in such hot and humid weather, it’s likely he left sweat on it."

"However, sweat itself doesn’t contain human cells. We can only detect DNA in it because of the shed skin cells mixed within."

"The concentration is very low, making extraction extremely difficult."

"But look, this is a fairly coarse, used brick, coated in cement. He was gripping it by the side, and to strike someone with it, he would have had to hold on very tightly."

"The cement on the brick’s surface is abrasive. We believe it would have scraped off a significant amount of skin tissue from his hand. We should be able to detect DNA, but it will take time."

Li Xiaowen gave a slight nod. He was already aware of these details.

’Extracting DNA wasn’t as simple as sticking a sample in a machine and getting an instant result.’

’It had to be extracted, amplified, and only then could it be confirmed.’

’All of that took time.’

’But if they detected Li Xingping’s DNA on it, that would confirm he had used this brick to bludgeon Zhang Kaiyong.’

’It would be iron-clad evidence.’

The technical team presented their other findings.

"Zhang Kaiyong’s head was struck multiple times. The wounds were so mangled it was impossible to infer from their shape whether another weapon had been used."

"However, some individual wounds were consistent with the rectangular shape of the brick."

"Next, regarding Li Xingping’s home."

"Traces of blood were detected in the sink and a washbasin in his house. Testing confirmed the blood also belonged to Zhang Kaiyong."

"Furthermore, some potential trace evidence and samples were found on the victim’s clothing, all of which will require time to analyze."

The tech team hadn’t even entered the scene until after nine this morning, so it had been less than twelve hours.

It was only thanks to modern technology and advanced equipment that they could extract DNA from blood in just seven or eight hours.

In the past, even extracting DNA from a blood sample would have taken two to three days.

Li Xiaowen didn’t comment, turning instead to the forensic pathology team.

"There were no obvious defensive wounds on the body. The cause of death was mechanical craniocerebral injury."

"Samples were taken from under the victim’s fingernails—a likely place to find the suspect’s trace evidence if he was scratched—but these also need time for analysis."

"Beyond that, the autopsy yielded no other significant findings."

Li Xiaowen then turned his gaze to Zhu Qiuwei.

Zhu Qiuwei opened his notebook and began reporting on the interviews he had conducted.

Shen Xin listened quietly. ’The timeline matched what I’ve learned so far.’

"Last night, Zhang Kaiyong was playing cards at Zhang Haomin’s house. At one point, Li Xingping stopped by."

"The game continued until almost one in the morning, at which point everyone left. Zhang Kaiyong headed home alone."

He stood up and pulled over a whiteboard, on which a simple map of Baijia Village was drawn.

Zhu Qiuwei pointed to Zhang Haomin’s house and the crime scene, then drew a line connecting them. "If Zhang Kaiyong was heading home, this was indeed the most direct route."

"We walked the route ourselves. It takes about five minutes to get from Zhang Haomin’s house to the crime scene."

"The game broke up around 12:40. That means he could have run into Li Xingping around 12:45, and an argument might have broken out."

"Another witness, Liu Shasha, saw Li Xingping a little after one o’clock. Walking from the crime scene to where she saw him heading up the mountain takes over twenty minutes, so the timeline fits."

Shen Xin stared at the simple map.