CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 46: MR. MA, OUR DIRECTION SEEMS OFF!

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone became alert.

The most surprised person was indeed Captain Li Jian.

At the beginning of this case task force years ago,

everyone’s attention was on the loss of property, not personal harm.

The suspect’s goal was to acquire money, not to kill.

It was only because of the victim’s resistance that the murder was committed.

However, Jiang An’s analysis just now seems to indicate there was indeed a problem with the case’s characterization back then.

There was a time when Li Jian encountered a case with fabricated theft during his work.

Some people lost a lot of money gambling and then stole from their own homes, reporting it as a theft.

But.

Could this case be the same?

Regarding the possibility of premeditated murder, Li Jian remembered that the task force had discussed it before.

However, after investigating all of the victim’s personal relationships, no obvious motive for others to kill was found.

It was not found that the deceased had significant conflicts with others in life.

After all, in Li Jian’s view, there must be a strong motive behind committing murder.

But the task force had not found similar clues in past investigations.

At this moment, all eyes were on Jiang An.

The two aspects of evidence have already been mentioned.

There is also a third aspect of the evidence.

In the waiting silence, Jiang An spoke, "For the third aspect of the evidence, I believe the perpetrator lingered at the scene."

"Please Wan retrieve the photos from the elderly mother’s bedroom."

Upon hearing this, Wan quickly moved the mouse in hand.

The screen of the projector instantly displayed the photos of the second bedroom.

Jiang An said, "Mr. Li, esteemed predecessors!"

"Among all the bedrooms, this one is relatively the most tidy."

"The placement of items is not chaotic, even if there are signs of rummaging in the wardrobe, the clothes scattered on the floor are minimal."

"At the same time, please note the victim’s pair of shoes."

"These shoes were placed together and did not look like the usual position after taking off shoes."

"From this position, it is quite consistent with the shoes having been moved together."

"Especially on the bed edge above these shoes, a semicircular indentation can be seen."

Upon hearing Jiang An’s prompt, Wan moved the mouse to find the indentation above the shoes.

Then, Wan kept enlarging the photo.

The indented area in the picture became larger, and it looked clearer.

Everyone’s attention was focused on that small patch of area.

He could see it at a glance?

How was this formed?

What is the significance?

The three questions instantly lingered in everyone’s mind.

Wu You, sitting in the meeting room, glanced at Jiang An, secretly giving him a thumbs up in his heart.

Years ago, when this case occurred, he was the primary forensic examiner.

He not only examined the four bodies, but also took part in the scene investigation of the entire case.

As for the elderly mother’s bedroom, Wu You personally went in to inspect it.

He thoroughly checked both the elderly body on the bed and the items in the wardrobe.

But.

He did not notice the semicircular imprint by the bed.

Recalling it now, he certainly saw the shoes by the bed at the time.

He just didn’t think about the behavior behind it.

Now, hearing Jiang An’s analysis, he suddenly realized.

No wonder it is said that the suspect lingered at the scene.

This is the evidence of lingering!

Jiang An said, "The material of this mattress might not be good, or the bed surface might be softer."

"Therefore, when something heavy presses on it, an impression is left."

"However this precisely creates evidence of the perpetrator lingering."

"From the degree of this semicircular indentation, it perfectly matches the process of someone sitting on the side of the bed."

"So, I believe the murderer sat at the bed’s edge during the crime."

Hearing this analysis, everyone was stunned.

The perpetrator lingered in the victim’s bedroom and sat on the bed’s edge.

Regardless of whether this conclusion is correct, the mere imagination already garnered everyone’s admiration.

Just as everyone was thinking quickly, Jiang An continued, "If the purpose of the perpetrator was to steal money, would he sit next to an elderly person?"

"This fully indicates that the perpetrator’s goal was not theft."

"If the perpetrator was sitting by the bed, it was to threaten the older person to hand over money."

"Why is there no sign of coercion damage on the elderly person?"

"From this point, it can be seen that the perpetrator’s purpose in entering the room was not for money."

Finally, Jiang An summarized, "Therefore, based on the above three aspects, I infer that this case is a premeditated murder case."

At this moment, in Mr. Ma’s office, he was holding a police internal case briefing.

This was a case of burglary turned homicide in neighboring Zhejiang Province.

The suspect fled for fifteen years after the crime, ultimately being captured.

Mr. Ma felt deeply moved after reading it.

He put down the briefing in his hand, recalling that family annihilation case from years ago.

The two cases have many similarities; all property was stolen, and all victims died.

Moreover, the nature of the cases was the same.

Burglaries turning into robbery murders.

This further solidified the investigation direction set by the task force back then.

Thinking about it, Mr. Ma felt a surge of excitement.

Back then, he was the group leader of the task force.

This fully indicates that there were no errors in the general direction of the case.

Following this path, Mr. Ma believed it was sure to reach the case-solving conclusion.

After a burst of excitement, he picked up his phone and dialed Li Jian’s number.

"Mr. Ma!"

"Mr. Li, I just saw a case in Zhejiang Province that is very similar to our case from eight years ago, both in terms of modus operandi and characterization results."

"Just now at the commendation ceremony, I heard you plan to reopen this old case."

"I think it is entirely possible to follow the major direction determined back then."

In the detective team’s meeting room, Li Jian looked up at the screen of the projector.

After a long time, he responded, "Mr. Ma, it seems there was a bit of a problem with the nature of the case back then!"

"A problem with the case’s nature?"

Hearing this, Mr. Ma looked surprised.

"What do you mean? Do you have new leads?"

"Mr. Ma, we are currently discussing that family annihilation case from years ago in our detective team."

"There is no new lead now!"

"But, we have gained new insights by carefully studying the original scene photos from back then!"

"So what is your conclusion now?"

Captain Li Jian paused and said in a low voice, "Now it seems, we cannot rule out the purpose of the perpetrator was directly to kill, and the scene’s theft traces may very well be a disguise."

As soon as he said this, Mr. Ma was immediately stunned.

He lowered his gaze, staring at the police internal newsletter on the desk.

Soon, all the photos of the scene and the bodies from that year flashed through his mind.