flstandardbreds Chapter 1465 Difficulties in the Investigation Work
Chapter 1465 Difficulties in the Investigation Work
"In addition, we will expand the scope of the investigation and check hotels, internet cafes, and small inns around the urban villages to see if there are any records of the deceased staying there," Li Ming continued. "The deceased is more likely to be an outsider and may have stayed in the vicinity. At the same time, we will increase the investigation of hardware stores, focusing on people who have recently purchased thin wire and whose physical characteristics match those of the murderer."
"Understood." Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun immediately sprang into action, dividing the tasks. Xiao Yang was responsible for contacting the telecom operator to check the call records for the time period of the incident; Xiao Sun led a group to investigate hotels, internet cafes, inns, and hardware stores around the urban village.
The call log check was not going smoothly. The area around the time of the incident saw a high volume of calls, most of which were anonymous or from unregistered phone numbers, making it extremely difficult to filter out calls related to the deceased. Xiao Yang and the technical staff worked together to meticulously review the call logs, focusing on short calls and those with unusual tone of voice, but after a whole day, they found no valuable clues.
The investigation by Xiao Sun's side also encountered difficulties. There are more than a dozen hardware stores around the urban village, most of which are small shops without surveillance cameras. The owners couldn't remember if anyone had bought thin iron wire recently. "This kind of thin iron wire is very common. People buy it every day to tie things up or repair things. How can I remember who specifically bought it?" said one hardware store owner. "Moreover, the people who come to buy it are all kinds of people, and I haven't paid attention to their physical characteristics."
Xiao Sun didn't give up. He had his staff compare the wire from each hardware store to see if any matched the wire recovered from the crime scene in terms of material and specifications. After comparison, they found that the wire sold by three hardware stores was exactly the same as the wire found at the crime scene. However, due to the lack of surveillance footage and sales records, it was impossible to determine whether the murderer purchased the wire from these stores.
The search of hotels, internet cafes, and small inns yielded no results. No establishment had registered anyone matching the deceased's physical characteristics. "Perhaps the deceased was just here temporarily, without lodging, or perhaps staying at a friend's house without registering," Xiao Sun said.
The case reached another impasse. Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun returned to the office, both looking exhausted. "This kind of investigation isn't working; it's too aimless," Xiao Yang said. "We need to go back to the scene and examine it carefully again, to see if we've missed any traces. Sometimes, the most crucial clues are hidden in the details."
Xiao Sun nodded: "Okay, we'll go back to the crime scene tomorrow morning and examine it again. At the same time, we'll have the technical department speed up the processing of the marks on the wire, hoping to make some new discoveries."
The next morning, Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun returned to the crime scene. After a night of silence, the scene remained cordoned off, with no unauthorized personnel entering or leaving. The two donned forensic uniforms and conducted another thorough examination of the scene, this time focusing on corners they might have previously overlooked.
Xiao Yang squatted down where the deceased had fallen, carefully examining the ground with a magnifying glass. Suddenly, he noticed several extremely fine scratches on the ground, similar to the scratches he had found on the wall earlier. "Xiao Sun, look here," Xiao Yang called out.
Xiao Sun immediately came over and squatted down to examine them. "These scratches are very fine, like they were made by a sharp object. I hadn't noticed them before," Xiao Sun said. "Could it be that something the murderer was carrying accidentally scratched them during the crime?"
“Possibly.” Xiao Yang gently brushed away the soil around the scratches with tweezers. “These scratches are very fresh; they must have been left at the time of the crime. We’ll collect some residue from the scratches and analyze it to see if we can find any clues.”
He carefully extracted the residue and placed it in an evidence bag. The two continued their investigation, and in the corner of the abandoned coal shed, Xiao Yang discovered a small metal fragment, silvery-white in color, different in material from the wire found at the crime scene. "There's a metal fragment here, not from the wire," Xiao Yang said. "It looks like a fragment from some tool or ornament."
Xiao Sun took the metal fragment and examined it with a magnifying glass: "The fragment is very small, with irregular edges and some fine lines on it. We'll go back and do a composition analysis to see what material it is and what kind of item it is."
During this investigation, the two recovered several minor scratches and a metal fragment. Although the clues were still weak, they at least gave the case a new direction. Back at the branch office, they immediately sent the new evidence to the technical department for examination.
In the afternoon, the technical department reported that the residue at the scratch contained a small amount of paint. Analysis revealed that this paint was a specialized industrial paint, primarily used for coating machinery and rarely seen on the market. The metal fragment was made of stainless steel, and the markings resembled those on some mechanical parts. Comparison confirmed that the fragment came from a specialized cutting tool, mainly used in industrial production and maintenance.
“Industrial-grade paint, fragments of professional cutting tools…” Xiao Yang muttered to himself, “This suggests that the murderer may be engaged in work related to industrial production or machinery maintenance, or frequently come into contact with such equipment and tools.”
Xiao Sun's eyes lit up: "This narrows down the scope of the investigation! We can focus on investigating factories, repair shops, and processing plants around the urban villages to see if there are any people who fit the criteria. The perpetrator is 176 to 179 centimeters tall, weighs 65 to 70 kilograms, is 25 to 40 years old, male, works in industry or machinery, wears size 42 casual sneakers with diamond-patterned soles, and recently purchased thin wire."
"In addition, the markings on the wire have also been recovered," said a staff member from the technical department. "After technical restoration, the markings are a simple '工' character, which should be the manufacturer's logo. However, this kind of logo is very common and is used by many small manufacturers, so it is impossible to determine the specific manufacturer and sales area."
Although the markings on the wire didn't provide many valuable clues, the newly discovered paint composition and metal fragments greatly narrowed down the scope of the investigation. Li Ming immediately arranged for police forces to conduct a comprehensive search of factories, repair shops, processing plants, and other locations around the urban village, focusing on individuals matching the perpetrator's characteristics.
Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun also joined the investigation team. They started with the machinery factories closest to the urban village, questioning the workers and managers one by one, checking the workers' attendance records and surveillance videos, and comparing the workers' fingerprints and footprints.