1995, Starting as a Criminal Investigation Expert

When I got back to the Municipal Bureau, it was almost 4 a.m.

I couldn't straighten my back in the narrow pipe. I groped my way through for a long time, and my back and legs ached terribly.

Li Shu rushed into the washroom and took a thorough shower.

Tan Guoxiong also went in.

Two brothers in misfortune scrubbed each other's backs, scrubbing vigorously.

Useless.

After taking a shower, Li Shu still felt a lingering stench on his body.

Then I quickly took a nap.

We had a brief meeting around 9 a.m.

Nothing was found at the scene.

It is speculated that the suspect simply disposed of the body in the sewer, while the clothing and head were likely disposed of separately.

"The body is still being processed; it will take some time." Han Jianjun, being elderly, kept yawning from exhaustion.

Qin Wenbao was busy dealing with the body and didn't come over.

Before Xu Qiang could ask further, he interjected, "After a preliminary examination, the cause of death still needs further confirmation, but it is speculated that it may have been caused by head injuries."

Deliberately discarding the head separately could not only be to conceal the victim's identity, but also to hide the method of murder.

"And there were no obvious distinguishing features on his body that could identify him."

As he spoke, he hurriedly gave some information about his health.

His height is estimated to be around 1.65 meters, but his weight and shoe size are difficult to determine.

"By the way, the deceased had pink nail polish on. Let's see if we can find out what brand it is later."

This can only be considered a discovery.

After all, it's normal for women to wear nail polish.

After inspecting the scene, Xu Qiang made his own judgment and asked the Donglin Municipal Bureau about the findings of the investigation by the First Brigade.

Even fewer were found.

It was an unidentified body, and the location where it was dumped was remote. It took so long to discover it, and we couldn't find any useful information.

"The key now is to confirm the identity of the deceased and find the head." The captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Donglin City Public Security Bureau is Mao Jianqing.

He was not tall, but in his prime, with bright, piercing eyes.

Only by confirming the deceased's identity can we know where she went and who she contacted, thus enabling further investigation.

Xu Qiang nodded in agreement: "Identifying the source of the body is crucial. Lao Han and you guys need to put in more effort on the technical aspects and think of a solution."

"Then we shouldn't just wait around. It's estimated that the body was dumped more than two months ago. Since the person has been missing for so long, the family will definitely report it to the police. So let's start by investigating the missing persons."

"Old Han, given the current state of the body, is it possible to extract DNA?"

Seeing Han Jianjun nod, he continued, "Then let's collect DNA from the families of the missing persons and send it to the provincial department for comparison to see if a match can be found."

Han Jianjun was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "Are you sure?"

The city didn't have the equipment, so we could only send it to the provincial department, or ask for help to send it to Songpu next door.

People live in big cities and have the necessary equipment.

The key issue is the cost; comparing prices once isn't cheap.

According to Xu Qiang, all missing persons should be compared. If a three-month time span is set, the number of missing persons is estimated to be dozens or even hundreds.

This is no small expense.

Moreover, public security bureaus across the province are lining up to send their cases to the provincial department, and it's unclear how long it will take for their turn.

Xu Qiang was clearly aware of the difficulties involved, and glanced at Mao Jianqing.

Mao Jianqing resolutely kept his eyes straight ahead, pretending not to see anything.

The Donglin Municipal Bureau cannot afford this expense.

"Let's collect them first," Xu Qiang sighed.

Let's draw blood first and then see how it goes.

If there aren't many missing persons, we can grit our teeth and give them away.

Xiao Rui suddenly interjected, "Guan Lin is just a short walk from Yanling. What if the victim came from Yanling?"

Do we have to collect information on the missing persons in Yanling?

And what about migrant workers?

Xu Qiang glared at Xiao Rui, thinking to himself, "Why are you contradicting me?"

The key is that if you don't investigate this way, you can't investigate at all.

At this moment, Lin Wanping saw Li Shu slumped listlessly on the table and suddenly called out, "Li Shu, don't you have any ideas?"

Having experienced the September 5th case, Lin Wanping's attitude towards Li Shu changed drastically.

If you run into him in the cafeteria, you can give him a chicken leg.

In the previous case, Li Shu proposed the idea of ​​a motorcycle repair shop, which later proved to be the right idea.

So, Lin Wanping took the initiative to ask.

Everyone turned to look at Li Shu.

Li Shu realized what was happening and quickly shook his head, saying there was nothing he could do.

Seeing that Xu Qiang was still looking at him, he smiled wryly and said, "Chief Xu, I really have no idea."

Now we're stuck at the first step. The corpse is in such a state, and we're not gods, so what can we do?

This is unlike what the system described, where DNA matching equipment is everywhere in the future, and a national DNA database is available, so that a simple comparison can find a person.

The case analysis meeting ended without any resolution.

Back in the office, Zhao Yong wasn't there. He asked around and found out that Qin Wenbao had made some discoveries.

Li Shu followed.

The forensic team belongs to the technical brigade, but it's in a separate building in the compound, where the morgue is also located.

When he arrived, Zhao Yong was standing close to the body, examining it closely.

Seeing everyone arrive, they quickly called Han Jianjun up to take a look.

The stench was so strong it filled my nostrils, and there was also the corpse in that state.

A highly decomposed corpse is something most people cannot accept.

Despite feeling nauseous, Li Shu also went to take a look.

However, it was the right hand, which had undergone adipocere formation, and the dermis of the fingers was still clearly visible.

Normally, when a corpse is submerged in water, the epidermis and dermis separate, potentially forming what is known as a human skin glove.

In this situation, there are ways to extract fingerprints.

For example, you could remove a human skin glove completely, put it on a person's fingers, and press directly.

If the skin is damaged but the internal tissue of the finger is not yet severely decayed, there are still ways to treat the finger and try to extract fingerprints.

For example, injecting glycerin, liquid paraffin, etc.

These methods are taught in schools.

It's said that there's also a deep-frying method, which was introduced as extracurricular knowledge by the professor of that course.

The dermal tissue is cut and separated, and then fried in lard at a certain temperature, just like frying pork skin. The purpose is to make the expanded dermal tissue shrink, harden, and reveal clear texture.

However, none of the above methods are suitable for the current situation.

Li Shu also saw it.

The entire hand is now in a state where the skin has been completely corroded away, and the overall color is yellowish-white.

It looked like it was covered in a layer of solidified lard, making people feel nauseous.

But as Qin Wenbao said, because it had turned into a waxy state and coincidentally, the inside had not decomposed further, so the dermis was still visible.

The fingerprint on the ring finger, in particular, is clearer.

Han Jianjun frowned. This was indeed good news, but then he asked, "Old Qin, do you mean I need to take fingerprints? How do I do that?"

How do we extract this information?

The surface is covered in amber, so any ink will just clump together, and applying gold or silver powder will make it look the same.

Qin Wenbao clearly knew this as well, and said, "I'm just telling you, but as for how to do it, don't look at me, I don't know either."

He even sighed as he spoke.

They said that if it hadn't been thrown into the sewer and turned into adipocere, that lump of rotten flesh would have been even more unsightly.

Han Jianjun told him to stop wasting time and quickly think of a way to find some easily identifiable features on the rotting corpse.

It was almost noon when I came out of the morgue.

Tan Guoxiong instinctively asked Li Shu if he wanted to go out for dinner together.

Zhao Yong patted him on the shoulder and laughed, "Not bad, you can still eat."

Tan Guoxiong was stunned for a moment, then quickly shook his head.

"Li Shu, why aren't you saying anything? Are you tired from crawling through the sewers?" Zhao Yong asked.

Li Shu came to his senses and subconsciously wanted to speak, but then suddenly stopped.

Just now, upon seeing the adipocere corpse and hearing about fingerprint extraction, Li Shu suddenly remembered that he had seen some information in the system that described a method for extracting fingerprints from adipocere corpses.

I quickly checked, and it really was there.

The document even included a case study, a dismemberment case, which Li Shuyi compared and found that the bodies were in similar condition.

Fingers are also saponified to form adipocere, which is then preserved in the dermis.

This method, called magnetic powder photography, can extract fingerprints according to the information provided.

Li Shu subconsciously wanted to say that he had a way to extract fingerprints, but he stopped himself from saying it.

He could explain the fingerprint comparison method he had proposed before, saying that he had come up with it himself.

However, this magnetic powder photography method is a method that people have explored and summarized in their actual work.

If I'm a newbie and claim to understand this method, how would I explain it?

You can't exactly say that you secretly used cadavers for experiments while you were in school.

Especially since this is a body that has undergone adipocere, which is a very rare occurrence.

You certainly can't say you saw it in a journal; those are methods from over a decade ago, and they don't exist now.