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

Chapter 403 Experimental Data
Otherwise, given the relationship between Zhou Yi and Lu Xiaoshuang, and Zhou Yi's status as a police officer, they should be taken to the interrogation room for a thorough interrogation.

It's impossible to give up without thoroughly investigating Zhou Yi's every move outside of work hours during that period.

After this investigation, although Zhou Yi knows he is innocent, the task force will likely have no chance of success.

Zhou Yi's business trip was, in a way, a way of avoiding suspicion.

Next, the conditions for committing the crime.

Based on the discovered body parts, it can be determined that Xu Liu was not only dismembered and sliced, but also deep-fried at high temperatures.

This complex method of disposing of corpses requires three conditions: time, setting, and physical strength.

During the first case analysis meeting for the 430 case, Zhou Yi asked Song Yiming to conduct an experiment, which simulated the process of the murderer dismembering and frying the body.

After repeated experiments, Song Yiming finally provided a reference data table.

The reason for repeated experiments, in addition to simulating human anatomy and the degree of dismemberment in this case, is to test the time required to fry meat in oil pans of different sizes.

Song Yiming was absolutely serious about this matter, which resulted in the city bureau's canteen being piled high with fried meat slices for those few days.

The cafeteria chef looked at the mountain of fried meat slices and wondered how to reuse them to make dishes.

But after thinking it over, I realized it was too difficult to handle, so in the end I just put it all back in the pot to render lard.

According to Song Yiming's reference data, it is necessary to work at least eight hours of high-intensity continuous work, provided that the perpetrator has medical or slaughtering experience, in order to achieve the dismemberment of the body in the case of the murderer. The difference depends on the perpetrator's psychological quality, physical strength and the size of the oil pan.

Given the psychological pressure that human flesh and pork would place on the murderer, unless the perpetrator had prior experience or extremely abnormal psychological problems, the entire dismemberment process would take much longer.

Song Yiming's experimental results came out after Lu Xiaoshuang was identified as a suspect. When he submitted the data at the meeting, Xie Guoqiang asked him how long the dismemberment process would take if it were Lu Xiaoshuang.

Song Yiming had never met Lu Xiaoshuang, but after learning about her height and weight, his answer was: It's impossible. Girls with that physique are basically not capable of committing such high-intensity crimes.

Zhou Yi later heard from Chen Yan that Song's answer had made several leaders somewhat embarrassed at the time.

Because only eight hours passed between Lu Xiaoshuang's disappearance and the discovery of the first bag of body parts, the data provided by Song Yiming only covered the processing of the body, not including the repackaging and disposal of the body.

With time and physical limitations eliminated, all that remained was the setting.

This method of committing the crime requires a separate location, which must at least have running water and drainage pipes, because a large amount of blood will be generated during the dismemberment process and needs to be cleaned up. It also needs to have gas or liquefied petroleum gas, because this kind of long-burning oil pan requires a stable energy source; you can't just slowly burn firewood.

Another point is that frying meat slices requires a lot of oil.

After extraction and testing, it was confirmed that the oil used to fry the meat slices was rapeseed oil, a common type of oil used in daily life.

Moreover, according to Song Yiming's calculations, at least fifteen catties of oil are needed.

The requirement of an independent location and fuel consumption were both unsuitable for Lu Xiaoshuang's personal circumstances.

Of course, the so-called conspiracy to kill can explain everything, but it's too far-fetched and lacks supporting evidence.

Based on this oil consumption, the task force sent people to visit and investigate all shops in the city that sell rapeseed oil, and to investigate unfamiliar faces who buy more than five kilograms at a time.

The reason it was five jin instead of fifteen jin is to take into account the possibility that the murderer purchased it in batches.

Finally, there's the murder weapon.

The murder weapon found in the mine was an iron kitchen knife with a wooden handle. The handle was cracked, and the area near the blade and the end of the handle were reinforced with iron hoops.

However, judging from the degree of rust on the iron hoop and the dirt inside, it should have been in use for at least five years.

The fact that the iron hoops were used to reinforce the cracked handle suggests that the knife may have been in use for well over five years.

This means that the cleaver could not be a commercially available product, but rather something used in daily life in a household or butcher shop.

Then it will be very difficult to trace the source.

Unless Lu Xiaoshuang stole the knife, she would have no way of getting it given her circumstances. So the task force mobilized the local police stations to go door-to-door asking if anyone had lost a kitchen knife and to identify the knife.

Lu Xiaoshuang's fingerprints were found on the handle of the knife, and the position of the fingerprints matched the normal right-hand grip.

However, Qiu Zhiyong, the head of the technical department, raised a major concern based on his years of experience in front-line technical investigation: the fingerprints remaining on the handle were too uniform in location and not deep enough, and the surface of the remaining fingerprints was not evenly stressed.

Old Qiu said that in a normal dismemberment, it's impossible for the murderer to keep the weapon in their hand the whole time from start to finish; it's unrealistic in practice.

If you put the knife down and then pick it up again, it's impossible for the fingerprints of your five fingers to perfectly match the position where you held the knife.

However, the fingerprints of Lu Xiaoshuang found on the murder weapon were in a single location and showed no signs of repeated overlap.

Dismembering a body requires a lot of effort, so the hand holding the knife will inevitably exert a lot of force. The fingerprints left on the handle will also be deeper due to the force. Furthermore, when gripping the knife normally, the force will be transmitted to all five fingers, so the surface of the remaining fingerprints will be very even.

However, the fingerprints of Lu Xiaoshuang that have been discovered so far are not very deep, and the pressure on the five fingerprints is uneven, with the middle part being significantly deeper and the surrounding part being shallower.

Therefore, Lao Qiu believes that these fingerprints are more likely to have been deliberately left by Lu Xiaoshuang after she lost consciousness.

The uneven pressure on the fingerprints indicates that Lu Xiaoshuang herself was unable to exert any force at the time; her fingers were pressed down by external force. Listing these four points reduces Lu Xiaoshuang's suspicion by more than half.

This made Zhou Yi very happy, because the more doubts there are, the less likely it is to form a chain of evidence.

As for Lu Xiaoshuang's condition, Xie Guoqiang said that according to Xiang Jie's report, Lu Xiaoshuang's health has basically recovered, the swelling in her throat has subsided, and she can speak normally.

Xiang Jie will take Lu Xiaoshuang back to Hongcheng today to be investigated by the special task force. They are expected to arrive around 7 p.m.

Upon hearing that Lu Xiaoshuang had recovered, Zhou Yi and the others exchanged joyful glances.

Especially Zhou Yi, after all, Lu Xiaoshuang died so tragically in her previous life.

Even if the murderer wanted to do something to her now, he couldn't. With Lu Xiaoshuang in the hands of the special task force, she was effectively being protected.

Zhou Yi asked a question: Did Xiang Jie show Lu Xiaoshuang the detention notice?

Liang Wei said no. Although Lu Xiaoshuang had been identified as a suspect, there were still many doubts surrounding the case, so they made arrangements with caution.

“If Lu Xiaoshuang is one of the victims, then we shouldn’t put too much psychological pressure on her. If she is the murderer, then we can also lower her guard and then catch her off guard.” These were Liang Wei’s exact words.

In his previous life, Zhou Yi only looked at the files and didn't have any direct experience.

After attending the meeting in this lifetime, the feeling became particularly clear: the experts sent by the provincial department were indeed comprehensive in their thinking.

The meeting ended close to noon, and it would still be six or seven hours before Lu Xiaoshuang returned to Hongcheng.

Zhou Yi couldn't sit idle; he had to hurry up and investigate Xiao Bing's lead.

The investigation was naturally conducted in pairs, so Zhou Yi and Chen Yan were put in charge of this line. Director Xie's original words were that Chen Yan could help Zhou Yi quickly understand the situation.

After leaving the meeting room, Zhou Yi went to find Chen Yan.

It was lunchtime, and the task force had a special boxed lunch service. Chen Yan helped Zhou Yi get one, and the two found an empty office to eat and chat about work.

"Zhou Yi, so you still suspect this Xiao Bing?" Chen Yan asked.

“Well, Xiao Bing is still the most suspicious person when it comes to Lu Xiaoshuang being tricked out of school in my name.” Zhou Yi looked up and said, “This lunchbox looks good.”

Chen Yan said mysteriously, "It's said to be a special supply from the large faculty and staff canteen, a small token of the school's appreciation."

Looking at the high-quality boxed lunch, Zhou Yi thought to himself that in his previous life, the special task force stayed at Hongda University for three months. He wondered if the school had also provided such good boxed lunches for three months.

"Zhou Yi, so what are your plans for the next step of the investigation?"

"How's the preliminary investigation into Xiao Bing going?"

Chen Yan sighed and said, "Well, didn't we identify Lu Xiaoshuang as a suspect the afternoon after you left? The direction of the investigation was adjusted, and that lead was dropped."

Zhou Yi nodded. A temporary halt was reasonable, since the deceased had been replaced.

"However, the school has already provided the basic faculty and staff information. I'll get it for you after lunch."

"Okay." Providing only information means that no investigation has yet been conducted into the people around Xiao Bing.

"Hey, Brother Yan, what about Director Fang from the student affairs office? Is he still going to be with us now that we're looking for someone to find out what's going on?"

"No, after the task force was established, the school's attitude changed. They became very cooperative and no longer so tough."

Zhou Yi was not surprised by this. After the deceased was confirmed to be a student of Hongda University, Hongda University would definitely be anxious to solve the case. If they did not cooperate, the principal would be internally investigated. Let's find out what you are afraid of.
“Oh, but this Director Fang is also one of the school’s liaisons. We can contact him anytime we need him,” Chen Yan said.

"There's another question. In the previous investigation into Xu Liu's social relationships, did it find out that she knew Xiao Bing?"

Chen Yan thought for a moment and shook his head: "No, Xu Liu's male social relationships on campus are the key focus of the investigation. I don't remember Xiao Bing being included. His name is quite recognizable, so I can't be mistaken."

Zhou Yi bit her chopsticks. Although Xiao Bing was very suspicious in Lu Xiaoshuang's case, if Xiao Bing himself had no connection with Xu Liu, why would he target her?

Can't figure it out.

Zhou Yi's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Xiao Bing was thirty-two years old, unmarried, and unsure if he had a girlfriend. He lived alone at home.

In addition, there was the psychological trauma of the death of his parents when he was a child.

Could this guy be a seemingly refined but extremely psychopathic person?

His growth trajectory aligns with the characteristics of this type of group.

For some reason, he harbored a secret and extreme obsession with Lu Xiaoshuang, which led to him killing and dismembering her in his previous life.

In this life, Xu Liu and Lu Xiaoshuang had a conflict, which led him to kill and dismember Lu Xiaoshuang in order to avenge her.

But how did he know about this incident that only happened in the girls' dormitory?
Moreover, if he truly had obsessive and extreme feelings for Lu Xiaoshuang, shouldn't it be Zhou Yi who should have been torn to pieces?

(End of this chapter)