Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 395 Alibi Evidence and Physical Evidence
"The investigators found some of Lu Xiaoshuang's footprints about 140 meters from the cave entrance."

Wu Yongcheng's words imply that Lu Xiaoshuang must have collapsed from exhaustion at around 140 meters.

In other words, she crawled nearly 100 meters into the mine to survive.

This is incomparable to the outside world; the boundless darkness and suffocating unknown environment exert immense psychological pressure on humans.

Often, in dangerous situations, it is not the body that gives up first, but the spirit.

Lu Xiaoshuang's strong will to survive allowed her to save herself. She crawled and shouted for help, which eventually reached the ears of the little boy who was picking up coal cinders.

Let's assume she didn't try to save herself, or climbed in the wrong direction and went deeper into the abyss.

Zhou Yi couldn't believe the consequences.

Not only will she disappear without a trace, but she will also be mistaken for the victim in this life's dismemberment case, since the fried meat slices can no longer be identified by DNA.

If that's the case, then it's impossible to know when the bodies in the abandoned mine will be discovered.

By then, Lu Xiaoshuang, whose body has long since turned to bones, will be reopened for investigation, and the massive dismemberment case that has remained unsolved will also be restarted.

But how much meaning does that still hold?
At least for Zhou Yi, that's no longer meaningful.

Zhou Yi was filled with lingering fear, which made him realize that even though he had been reborn, he was still not omnipotent.

The murderer in each unsolved case is lurking in the shadows, and all the victims from the previous life, including Lu Xiaoshuang, are in danger at any time.

Zhou Yi couldn't possibly tie everyone to his own belt.

Wu Yongcheng stubbed out his cigarette, and seeing Zhou Yi deep in thought, he cleared his throat.

Because he was about to start talking about the real key points of mine exploration, not to mention Zhou Yi would be shocked, he himself was also extremely shocked by the result.

He was actually very conflicted and torn about whether or not to disclose case information to Zhou Yi.

Because before this, he had always been a principled and disciplined person.

Telling Zhou Yi the situation would mean not only violating the task force's confidentiality regulations, but also going against the principles he had always adhered to.

But deep down, his own voice told him that there was something fishy about this case, a lot of something fishy.

The fact that Zhou Yi was reported is highly unusual.

However, he needs a reason to break his own principles.

Zhou Yi's initial sophistry did not convince him, but his later words did reveal a loophole in the system.

Because, strictly speaking, all of these things happened before the task force was officially established.

Moreover, Zhou Yi also found himself an insurance policy.

Given Qin Beihai's status and prestige, Zhou Yi could rest assured with him protecting him.

He just couldn't understand why Old Master Qin would step in to help Zhou Yi, who had only met Qin Beihai once before.

"After discovering Lu Xiaoshuang's footprints, her colleagues who went down into the mine followed the footprints for about twenty meters and then found some things."

Zhou Yi hurriedly asked, "What is it?"

"A travel bag."

Zhou Yi's heart skipped a beat: "What kind of travel bag?"

Wu Yongcheng was slightly taken aback, because he did not expect that Zhou Yi's first question would be about the appearance of the travel bag. Shouldn't a normal person ask what's inside the travel bag first?

“A dark blue travel bag, smaller than the one retrieved from the Nansha River, with an equally worn appearance and severe signs of wear and tear. There is a faded five-pointed star mark on the front of the travel bag.”

Sure enough! Zhou Yi realized he hadn't guessed wrong. This travel bag was the second one the murderer used to dispose of the body in his previous life. It was found in an abandoned well at a construction site on Huahe Road in his previous life.

The coordinates where this travel bag appeared in this life have changed, so does that mean the contents inside have also changed?

"Captain Wu... is it also filled with slices of meat?"

Wu Yongcheng shook his head: "No, inside are human heads, Xu Liu's head."

Chen Yan had previously mentioned on the phone that the deceased was confirmed to be Xu Liu, which did not surprise Zhou Yi, as he had already been harboring suspicions.

However, there is problematic information in this.

He asked, "Captain Wu, let me confirm, is the head in the travel bag intact, or is it a damaged or altered head?"

Wu Yongcheng's answer was: "The head was intact, with no obvious trauma on the surface and no damage to the facial features. However, it had also been deep-fried, which made it impossible for the forensic doctor to determine the exact time of death."

Is the head intact?

This is unreasonable!
If, regardless of the previous life or this life, dismembering and slicing the body was done to facilitate disposal, then it's understandable.

But in this life, the murderer fried and boiled the meat slices, wasn't it to cover up the victim's DNA information?
But the corpses were handled so meticulously, so why is it that the head is a whole, intact head?

It's understandable that human heads are difficult to dispose of and are thrown into abandoned mines.

But they didn't even alter the facial features; they just coated the whole face with oil. Didn't the murderer know that this was still a basic way of preserving appearance?
Even if the murderer thought the mine was remote enough, by the time the head was found, it was already severely decomposed.

Did the murderer think that deep-frying the entire head would destroy all the DNA?
Can DNA still be extracted if the inside is not fully cooked?
Was it a slip-up by the murderer despite their meticulous planning?

Zhou Yi shook his head, feeling that this was unlikely; the murderer's methods in this life were clearly more sophisticated than in the previous one.

But why would someone do something so contradictory?

Moreover, when Lu Xiaoshuang was rescued, there were no signs of ropes or binding on her body.

Instead of killing Lu Xiaoshuang, they threw her and Xu Liu's heads into the mine together. It seems like they were using Lu Xiaoshuang as a scapegoat.

But based on this alone, it's impossible to directly designate her as a suspect; that would be too far-fetched. How could the task force make such a basic mistake right from the start?

"Captain Wu, have you found anything else?" Zhou Yi asked quickly.

Wu Yongcheng reached for the cigarette pack on the table, only to find it empty.

So he got up, walked to the side, took out a new pack from a drawer, tore it open, and lit one.

"We found a kitchen knife about two meters away from the travel bag." "Is it the murder weapon used to kill Xu Liu?" Zhou Yi asked.

Wu Yongcheng nodded, smoke billowing from his nostrils. "The appearance of the deep-fried body parts was deformed, making it impossible to compare with the wounds from the cleaver. We could only barely compare them with the cut surface wounds from the head, and a preliminary confirmation was that they matched. The bloodstains remaining on the cleaver and the bloodstains extracted from the head have all been tested."

Wu Yongcheng took another puff and said, "They're all type A, matching the blood type of the blood sample we took from that hair tie. After the task force was established, all these blood samples were sent to the provincial capital's laboratory for DNA testing and comparison, but the results aren't out yet."

Zhou Yi suddenly remembered Xiang Jie's words, and then Chen Yan's words. He seemed to have guessed why Lu Xiaoshuang had become a suspect in the murder of Xu Liu.

He asked in a trembling voice, "Captain Wu... don't tell me that Lu Xiaoshuang's fingerprints were found on the kitchen knife..."

Wu Yongcheng knew that Zhou Yi would be able to guess by now, so he nodded.

"There is only Lu Xiaoshuang's fingerprint on it. In addition... half a fingerprint was found on the metal zipper pull of the travel bag, and after technical comparison, it also belongs to Lu Xiaoshuang."

"In addition, Xu Liu's student ID card was found on Lu Xiaoshuang, and fingerprints of Xu Liu, Lu Xiaoshuang, and the police officers from the police station were found on it. Judging from the order in which the fingerprints were superimposed, the police officer's fingerprints were on top, then Lu Xiaoshuang's, and finally Xu Liu's."

Zhou Yi was at a loss for words. After considering all the possibilities, he never expected that the truth was actually a frame-up.

Xu Liu and Lu Xiaoshuang had a conflict, and Lu Xiaoshuang even suspected that Xu Liu had ruined her sweater, which led to the conflict. There are many witnesses to this.

This falls under the category of having criminal motives and inducements!

Lu Xiaoshuang has been missing since she left school at noon on April 30th, and this period may have coincided with the time of the murder, dismemberment, and body disposal.

This constitutes having no alibi!

Lu Xiaoshuang appeared in one of the dumping sites, a mine, and her fingerprints were found on the travel bag containing the human head and the murder weapon.

This constitutes valid physical evidence!
With these results presented to the task force, it would be difficult for them not to consider Lu Xiaoshuang as a suspect in Xu Liu's murder.

But this is utter nonsense! How could Lu Xiaoshuang be the murderer? She was the victim in this case in her previous life!

And that navy blue travel bag is irrefutable proof! In the previous life, that bag contained Lu Xiaoshuang's body parts!

But he couldn't say that; if he did, people would think he was crazy.

"Captain Wu, these few points alone are not enough to form a complete chain of evidence. How could you directly classify Xiao Shuang as a criminal suspect?" Zhou Yi was really anxious.

These circumstances are very unfavorable to Lu Xiaoshuang.

Wu Yongcheng did not comment.

Zhou Yi added, "If Xiao Shuang was kidnapped, it would be easy for the killer to wipe away the fingerprints left on the murder weapon and travel bag, and then deliberately leave fingerprints on Xiao Shuang's fingers."

Wu Yongcheng remained silent, simply smoking quietly.

"Captain Wu, even if we take a step back and say that you've all met Xiao Shuang, how could she possibly be capable of doing such a thing? Murder, dismemberment, cooking, and disposing of a body—even an adult male might not have the physical strength and mental fortitude to complete these crimes. How could a female student with an impeccable record possibly have accomplished such a complex series of crimes!"

Zhou Yi spoke faster and faster, his emotions becoming increasingly agitated.

"Besides the murder weapon, there's also the primary crime scene. If the primary crime scene wasn't found, how can we say Lu Xiaoshuang is a suspect? Murder and dismemberment require the means to commit the crime. She's just a little girl living in a tiny attic of less than three square meters. Where would she have gone to dismember the body or cook it?"

In the end, Zhou Yi got so excited that he slammed his hand on the table, making the glass jar that Wu Yongcheng used as a water glass rattle loudly.

"Calm down," Wu Yongcheng said calmly.

"I'm sorry, Captain Wu, I wasn't targeting you, I was just angry."

"Do you think the task force didn't consider these points of doubt you raised?"

These words startled Zhou Yi.

Wu Yongcheng continued, "People aren't stupid, of course they will have doubts about this matter. These few points alone are not enough to form a complete chain of evidence."

"All evidence must corroborate each other, eliminate reasonable doubt, and lead to the sole conclusion that the suspect committed the crime in order to form a complete chain of evidence sufficient to convict him."

“Zhou Yi, you can’t be unaware of this, can you?” Wu Yongcheng asked.

Zhou Yi nodded. Of course he understood. This was a requirement for forming a complete chain of evidence. Only in this way could the public security authorities formally submit a case closure report and proceed to the next stage of judicial proceedings.

Wu Yongcheng then asked, "Then tell me, what are the requirements for changing 'suspect' to 'criminal suspect'?"

Zhou Yi replied in a hoarse voice: "After a criminal case is filed, preliminary evidence needs to be collected to prove that the suspected person may be involved in the case. Then, an internal approval process is carried out to issue a summons or detention warrant."

"Then tell me, do the following three points count as preliminary evidence: having a criminal motive, not having an alibi, and having key evidence in the case?"

Zhou Yi nodded helplessly. Of course, it doesn't matter. In terms of procedure, there is no mandatory requirement that preliminary evidence must meet the standard for conviction once the suspect is identified.

Wu Yongcheng's meaning is crystal clear: the physical evidence discovered so far constitutes reasonable suspicion of the suspect, and the task force's identification and investigation of the suspect is a reasonable and legal procedure.

It's abnormal not to investigate simply because you think it's impossible!

After all, they weren't Zhou Yi, not even the members of the Third Brigade.

“Zhou Yi, I understand your feelings about being close to Lu Xiaoshuang. Not only you, but also me and Xiao Qiao don’t believe that Lu Xiaoshuang could be the murderer. But criminal cases cannot be decided by emotions or by your own thoughts. Perhaps that’s how it is in terms of sentiment, but it’s absolutely not the case in terms of law, because the law only considers objective facts,” Wu Yongcheng said earnestly.

"And you need to know that identifying Lu Xiaoshuang as a suspect is not to make her the murderer, but to conduct a targeted and comprehensive investigation to rule out the possibility that she is the murderer."

"Since the murderer framed her, we have to clear her name, don't you think?"

Zhou Yi sighed deeply, feeling like crying but having no tears left. He understood everything Wu Yongcheng was saying.

However, the law is impartial and only considers facts. At present, apart from Lu Xiaoshuang, there are no other clear suspects in this case. Therefore, given the physical evidence, Lu Xiaoshuang is naturally the biggest suspect in this case.

If the person suspected today were not Lu Xiaoshuang, but someone completely unrelated to Zhou Yi, he might still agree to continue the investigation in that direction.

Unfortunately, he was not a saint and could not ignore his feelings for Xiaoshuang.

Moreover, he was the only person in the world who knew that Xiao Shuang was actually the original victim in this case.

However, the development of events far exceeded his expectations for the first time.

This was a challenge he had never faced since his rebirth.

Lu Xiaoshuang has become a pawn in his game of wits with the murderer.

Moreover, he had deeper concerns.

He was afraid that although Lu Xiaoshuang would not die in the grand case in this life, she might still be ruined by it!
(End of this chapter)