1995, Starting as a Criminal Investigation Expert

To make things easier for Li Shu at the research institute, a separate room was provided for him.

I intentionally found a room without windows; once the door is closed and the light is turned off, it can be used as a darkroom.

Li Shu didn't need any equipment for the entire jigsaw puzzle process; a microscope and some paper and pens were enough.

To put it bluntly, this process still relies on brainpower, comparison with experience, spatial analysis, and thinking ability.

The room is right next to the trace evidence testing laboratory.

Tan Ligang leaned against the wall and watched.

Li Shu sat there, frozen in place, staring motionlessly at the microscope, his right hand holding a pen, occasionally making a stroke.

More often than not, it's just about watching.

"Honestly, his composure is really impressive," Tan Ligang praised.

Li Shu arrived early in the morning and sat there for the entire morning.

After lunch, I immediately sat down here again, and for several hours, except when I went to the toilet, my butt barely left the chair.

In Tan Ligang's view, it is not easy for a 21-year-old to have such stamina.

Wang Ze'an, who was standing nearby, said somewhat speechlessly, "Director, if you really can't find anything to praise, you don't have to. Sitting for hours on end, isn't that a basic skill?"

Forensic identification, especially fingerprint comparison, everyone goes through this process, resulting in back pain and nearsightedness.

"Basic skills?"

Tan Ligang raised an eyebrow and said with a half-smile, "Then your basic skills aren't very good."

Anyway, he felt that Wang Ze'an might have gone to Scotland Yard as a visiting scholar for two years and picked up some of their bad habits, and that he should pay attention to a little bit of work-life balance at work.

In Wang Ze'an's words, better rest is for better work efficiency.

Tan Ligang does not entirely agree with this point.

"Why can't I?" Wang Ze'an immediately retorted, about to say something more, when Li Shu suddenly stood up and hurriedly said, "Hey, look, he can't sit still anymore."

Li Shu got up and walked straight out.

As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Wang Ze'an and said, "Brother Wang, wanna have a couple of punches?"

To prevent these office-based technicians from becoming too physically weak, there is a small training area in the building where they can exercise.

"Walk."

Wang Ze'an immediately followed.

The two arrived at the training ground, where there was no one else, and put on their boxing gloves.

I learned during a casual chat yesterday that Wang Ze'an likes boxing. When he's not busy with work, he often goes to the neighboring university to challenge himself, and he enjoys it immensely.

"I'm here."

Li Shu stepped forward and landed several jabs on Wang Ze'an's arm.

On the system side, my skill level increased by 1 point.

Like other skill experience, it takes 10,000 points to max out.

That little bit of experience is better than nothing.

Compared to the fingerprint comparisons that have exceeded six thousand, the experience of a skilled person with over three hundred fingerprints is pitifully small.

The slow experience gain is mainly due to talents like skill, firearms, and driving, unlike other talents where daily work can significantly increase experience.

It requires real-world experience.

For example, when we captured Zheng Cheng, we emptied a magazine and gained 700 experience points in one go, 100 per shot.

I usually practice shooting at the municipal police station, and I only gain a few points per shot.

Therefore, simply practicing will not increase experience enough.

The key is that Li Shu is a technical police officer, and he has almost no opportunities for real combat.

Because he understood this, Li Shu adopted a hands-off approach to these skills, practicing them whenever he had free time and honing them gradually.

Li Shu didn't pay any attention to this small increase in experience.

I came here to box because I've been sitting for too long and overused my brain. I'm afraid I'll make a mistake later, so I came here to completely clear my mind.

The puzzle mode cannot afford to be wrong; even a slight error can lead to disastrous consequences.

Wang Ze'an delivered a hook punch to Li Shu's face.

Li Shu endured it all, and then went on a rampage, burning through his liver.

Wang Ze'an stepped back to avoid it, and said, "What's wrong? Are you having trouble with that puzzle?"

He enjoys boxing because of the high work pressure he faces, and it's a way for him to relax his mind.

The puzzle mode itself is extremely difficult.

No, not at all.

Li Shu shook his head, launched into a fierce attack, and said, "I'm confident about this part, and I have a general idea of ​​the outcome. My main concern is what to do if the comparison doesn't match up next."

Wang Ze'an retorted, "I've noticed you're a bit too pessimistic. Can't you be more positive and think about how to compare?"

As he spoke, he delivered a straight punch that sent Li Shu staggering back two steps.

Then he said, "If all else fails, then we can do what you said last night and go to the surrounding counties and cities to compare. As long as we put in the effort, we will definitely be able to find this person."

Last night, Li Shu talked about his thoughts.

Li Shu kept wondering why the Anjing police, with such a large-scale manhunt, couldn't find this person.

That reminded me of the Zheng Cheng case.

The colleagues at Yuehai went to great lengths to capture Zheng Cheng, searching for guns and stolen goods, sparing no effort in terms of manpower and resources.

Now we know the reason: Zheng Cheng's modus operandi spans thousands of kilometers.

Even if a deity came, he wouldn't be able to catch this person.

By analogy with the Anjing case, Li Shu wondered if the suspect might also be using a similar modus operandi.

They come from other provinces and cities to commit crimes, and then leave after they've done it.

Li Shu waved his hand to stop, leaning against the sandbag beside him and said, "Director Yang and the others have the same analysis as me."

Yang Shaoting and his team had of course considered this, which is why they arranged for people to stake out Anjing's train station and other major transportation routes.

It can surround Anjing, with 16 neighboring counties and cities, and if you include those that are not adjacent but are close, there are more than 20.

They say they'll spare no expense, but a search as simple as finding a needle in a haystack is unrealistic.

"Besides, with so many counties and cities, there has to be a priority."

Just like in the Jianfeng Hotel case, fingerprints were collected by going to Zhangxi first, then Pingzhou, step by step, in a planned manner.

Searching aimlessly will only waste manpower and resources.

Wang Zean said, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. You yourself said there are so many counties and cities; we can only take it one step at a time."

He has a linear way of thinking, solving problems step by step.

Moreover, there's no way to analyze it.

If the cases are concentrated in a certain district, then the suspects may have come from the nearest county or city.

Because it's close by, it's convenient.

With over forty cases spread across the entire city of Anjing, it was impossible to determine which direction the suspects came from.

At this point, Wang Ze'an countered with a question: "By the way, what was the method you mentioned yesterday?"

Li Shu pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Brother Wang, you should know about criminology theories, such as criminal geography?"

Wang Ze'an looked surprised: "You know all this, kid?"

Criminology, broadly speaking, is the study of criminals and crimes.

There is a lot of relevant research abroad, but in China, in the early days of the People's Republic, influenced by Soviet jurisprudence, this stuff was considered "bourgeois pseudoscience".

Many criminal police officers in China share the same philosophy.

Why do bad people commit crimes? Because they are bad.

As for why he's bad, who knows? He was just born bad.

It wasn't until recent years, in the 1980s and 90s, that relevant research began and related courses were offered in some police academies.

Most of them are elective courses, and according to Wang Ze'an's idea, Li Shu would have a hard time getting access to them.

Not to mention, it also touched on the more specific field of criminal geography.

Li Shu disregarded the source of the information and said directly, "Brother Wang, as you know, the cornerstone theory of criminal geography is the three elements proposed by Cohen and Felson."

"That is, a motivated actor, a suitable target, and a lack of effective supervision. Then, the convergence of these three factors in time and space depends entirely on daily travel and life activity routes."

Wang Ze'an raised an eyebrow.

He was a visiting scholar at Scotland Yard in the 1990s, so he was certainly exposed to these cutting-edge international theories.

The three elements mentioned by Li Shu were proposed by these two American criminologists in 1979.

Li Shu continued, "That's the theory. The practical application is Kant's method of centering the circle."

"Wait a moment!"

Wang Ze'an hurriedly interrupted Li Shu, asking in surprise, "You even know Kant?"

David Kanter.

He initially studied architectural psychology and environmental design before transitioning to the study of criminal behavior and geographical patterns, eventually becoming a criminologist.

In the early 1980s, he gained fame for helping to solve the infamous British railway rape case.

Wang Ze'an was a visiting scholar in the UK, so he naturally knew this person.

The center-location method proposed by this person is the most mainstream analytical model in international criminology research.

Before he could ponder how Li Shu had accessed this information, Wang Ze'an said, "If it's a cross-city mode, then the center location is useless."

Li Shudao said, "I know."

Was that just a setup? He continued, "I have some methods and ideas that might be applicable to the current situation, helping us analyze which county or city the suspect is most likely to be in."

Wang Ze'an's eyes widened. "You even have a way to do this?"