Free Web NovelChapter 692: Chapter 692: Mapping the Victim’s Social Connections
Lu Chuan concluded that the church on Mingde Road was not the first crime scene.
The determination of the first scene of a murder case is particularly important for solving the case.
If the perpetrator kills at the crime scene, they will leave behind detailed traces of the murder process.
Such as blood spatter patterns.
Through the identification and analysis of bloodstains, the situation at the scene can be partially reconstructed.
This includes information like the number of perpetrators, their height, and whether there was a struggle during the process.
The church on Mingde Road seems more like the site where the body was disposed of.
However, in general, if a murderer disposes of a body after killing, the ultimate purpose is actually to hide their identity.
Random crimes usually don’t involve body disposal.
Only when committed by someone familiar with the victim, or the perpetrator lives near the crime scene, would there be body disposal.
Whether it’s burying in the ground or submerging in water, the purpose is to hide the deceased, thereby removing police suspicion.
This case is different.
After committing the crime, the murderer boldly hung the body on the cross inside the church on Mingde Road.
There must be a reason behind the perpetrator’s actions.
To the perpetrator, the act of killing and hanging the victim’s body on the cross, creating this current shape, seems to have a reason on par with the murder itself.
After a preliminary survey, Lu Chuan and the others entered a detailed scanning phase.
Though not large, the church on Mingde Road is already quite big compared to the crime scene.
The footprints on the ground have been marked, with Yang Lin working on casting and photographing them.
Yang Sen’s task was heavier, as he scanned for all possible fingerprints.
Inside the church, there are three rows of benches where people come to pray and listen to Li Pingzhang preach.
And the cleaners generally don’t clean the benches.
So now, the three rows of benches are densely covered with fingerprints.
Yang Sen needed to collect these fingerprints one by one for analysis and comparison.
After all, no one can guarantee that the murderer didn’t touch these benches upon entering the church.
It is even possible that the murderer might be among those who listen to the sermons in the church on Mingde Road.
Wang Changjiang and Shen Yan also arrived at the scene, following Lu Chuan; the three of them were taking down the body from the cross.
"These wounds... are all post-mortem?"
With experience in handling bodies, Wang Changjiang could tell at a glance if the wounds were pre-mortem or post-mortem.
Lu Chuan nodded.
"The fatal wound was a stab to the heart, and the victim didn’t suffer too much pain before death."
"Moreover, the offender had already drained the blood at the first crime scene before bringing the body to the church on Mingde Road."
"Was it intentional, or did it just take a long time?"
"The time of death should be around 29 hours ago, which is to say, around 10:30 the night before last."
"Although we’re not sure how the murderer transported the body to the church on Mingde Road, I am more inclined to think draining the blood facilitated easier transportation."
"There are surveillance cameras outside, and Zhang Hui should be checking them; we’ll discuss it during the case analysis meeting later."
Wang Changjiang also nodded. The body itself was not particularly unusual, aside from the horrifying manner of being hung on the cross.
From what we can see now, the perpetrator left no personal traces on the body.
After returning to the Criminal Investigation Team, Wang Changjiang and Shen Yan needed to further dissect the body.
However, from the current situation, it seems unlikely they’ll obtain any useful information.
The entire site survey process lasted a long time, with Lu Chuan and the others busy from morning till evening.
After the sun set, the survey finally came to an end.
A police line was set up outside the church.
Lu Chuan took off his white gloves, packed them away, and reported the survey’s general situation to Qin Yong.
"Captain Qin, we can basically confirm this site is not the first crime scene; the body was likely transported."
"The time of death is 10:30 the night before last."
"The victim was stabbed in the chest, with a single blow piercing the heart and killing instantly."
"The marks on the chest, as well as those on the wrists and ankles, were post-mortem."
"All the footprints and fingerprints at the scene have been collected; we’ll start the analysis and comparison tonight."
"I suggest Zhang Hui first check the nearby surveillance, with a focus on examining the victim’s interpersonal relationships."
Lu Chuan believed the possibility of the victim’s death being committed by someone familiar was quite high.
"We’ve already started, but nothing has been found from the surveillance."
In the morning, Qin Yong had already arranged for Zhang Hui to review nearby surveillance.
Unfortunately, the surveillance camera at the entrance of the church on Mingde Road was broken and left unrepaired for years.
So it provided no useful information.
Thankfully, the surveillance at the previous and next intersections was functional.
Zhang Hui was arranging for team members to focus on logging all people and vehicles traveling through Mingde Road since the incident.
But this work is undoubtedly very complex, given the high foot traffic on Mingde Road, making it very challenging to sift through.
Furthermore, those who attended sermons at the church on Mingde Road with the deceased have begun to be screened, and a rough list has been established.
The church on Mingde Road can only accommodate up to 50 people attending sermons at a time.
On a typical day, it’s actually not that many; according to Li Pingzhang, at most, there were more than 30 people.
This narrows the scope considerably, and Li Pingzhang has a list of most people’s names and contact information.
This saves the police a lot of time in their investigation.
"The victim’s family hasn’t arrived?"
In the morning, there were quite a few onlookers outside, but it remained quiet outside.
Generally, if the victim had family, there would be some cries, at least.
But Lu Chuan didn’t hear anything.
"The victim’s parents aren’t in Haizhou City, but are on their way."
"The two children are minors, so they weren’t brought over."
Oh.
Lu Chuan nodded, not paying much attention: "Captain Qin, I’ll head back to do trace analysis first. I’ll report to you if there’s any development."
"Okay, try to do it as soon as possible. Right now, there aren’t many clues; report any findings promptly."
Though the case doesn’t seem complicated, there are very few useful clues at the moment.
Zhang Hui spent the whole day combing through and investigating the victim’s interpersonal relationships.
The results were not promising, as the victim had complex relationships.
Zhang Cuicui was in the wholesale fruit business, interacting with many people.
Upper-level wholesalers, peers, and clients below.
Including family, friends, and classmates, Zhang Hui has already listed over three hundred people.
Additionally, Zhang Cuicui has three ongoing lawsuits in disputes.
And two economic disputes have been adjudicated, but not executed.
There are more than ten people involved in major economic transactions with Zhang Cuicui.
