CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54: MR. MA’S AMAZEMENT

minutes later.

Li Jian, Jiang An, and Zhang Yean left the criminal investigation team’s meeting room together and went to the interrogation room opposite.

As Jiang An and Zhang Yean walked through the door of the interrogation room, they saw Deputy Director Mr. Ma Qingbo.

"Mr. Ma!"

"Mr. Ma!"

Jiang An and Zhang Yean greeted him.

Seeing the two young people, Mr. Ma nodded and specifically glanced at Jiang An. He said, "You’ve worked hard."

As soon as he finished speaking, Captain Li stepped forward and said, "Mr. Ma, the two of them just conducted a thorough study of the case in the criminal investigation team’s meeting room and made significant progress."

"Oh?"

Director Ma suddenly showed interest.

"Is there a new discovery regarding this case?"

Captain Li nodded.

He then said, "Just now, Jiang An and Zhang Yean thoroughly reviewed all the materials. They believe that the perpetrator wasn’t two people but rather three."

In an instant.

Mr. Ma was taken aback by this revelation, shifting his gaze to Jiang An and Zhang Yean.

He stood there, stunned.

Remember.

Back then, he was the leader of the special task force for this case.

The deduction that there were two perpetrators was based on multifaceted analysis, not just an assumption.

On one hand, considering the distribution of injuries and the resistance capacity of the four victims.

On the other hand, based on the footprint investigation at the scene.

There were many footprints in the living room, combined with bloodstain cover-up, making it impossible to distinguish them individually.

However!

Footprints were relatively scarce in Bedroom 1 and Bedroom 2, making analysis and differentiation easier.

Director Ma clearly remembered that back then, the special task force based their analysis of the perpetrator being two people on the footprints in these two bedrooms.

In Mr. Ma’s opinion, footprints are the most concrete evidence.

It’s impossible for a person to move through the air normally without leaving footprints.

Director Ma furrowed his brow.

How could there suddenly be an additional person?

However, what surprised Mr. Ma even more was what Li Jian said next: "Among these three suspects, there is a woman."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Ma focused his gaze on Jiang An.

His eyes reflected confusion and puzzlement.

In any criminal case, the deduction of the number of perpetrators is extremely important.

There’s a big difference between one person committing a crime and a group committing it.

For the criminal police, these are two completely different concepts.

Especially for this massacre case, the inference of two perpetrators back then was also based on the characteristics of financial invasion-type crimes.

In such burglary cases, usually, only one person is involved.

In large villa burglaries, it occasionally involved two people, but never more than three.

Thus, based on the crime scene environment and experience from previous cases, the special task force concluded that there were two suspects.

Moreover, this conclusion guided the entire investigation process.

Unfortunately!

Many years passed, and the case remained unsolved.

Seeing Mr. Ma’s puzzlement, Captain Li said, "Jiang An, why don’t you report the analysis process to Director Ma once more."

He smiled and said, "Your analysis is too professional, and I might find it difficult to convey as a non-expert."

Jiang An started to speak, "Director Ma, regarding the analysis of the number of perpetrators."

"I determined this based on the footprints."

"There are many footprints throughout the crime scene, and identifying them all is challenging."

"However, there’s a suspicious female footprint near the coffee table in the living room."

"Judging from the layer of that footprint, it existed while the victim Zhang Qian was still breathing."

"Moreover, the footprint’s distribution is very limited, mainly between the bodies of victim Zhang Qian and her husband."

As this was a report to the leader, Jiang An only highlighted the key points.

He didn’t elaborate much on the formation of the blood spatter.

After listening, Director Ma nodded slightly.

Although he wasn’t very professional with footprints,

he found Jiang An’s analysis quite reasonable.

Mr. Ma trusted this analysis a lot.

After all, since Jiang An joined the police team, he provided valuable leads in solving two tough cases.

It can be said that in supporting criminal investigation cases, Jiang An did exceptionally well, contributing significantly.

Following this, Li Jian reported, "Mr. Ma, apart from Jiang An analyzing three suspects at the scene, they also deduced one suspect had entered the victim’s home."

"In the living room, there was a brief interaction between the killer and the victim."

"This means one killer entered the victim’s home to stake out before the crime."

Hearing this conclusion, Director Ma found it even more incredible.

He thought for a moment.

Director Ma asked, "Did the victim’s home have hospitality activities?"

Jiang An nodded.

"We saw a ceramic cup on the coffee table in the living room, with some tea leaves in it."

"However, the tea leaves had darkened over time."

"Still, this cup was very similar to the cups in the cabinet."

"These traces all indicate the victim hosted someone before death."

Eight years had passed since this case, and Director Ma couldn’t remember some details.

However.

Seeing Li Jian and Jiang An both speaking so confidently, he didn’t have much reason to doubt.

Director Ma said gravely, "If the killer surveyed the scene before the crime."

"Then this surveying activity most likely happened that evening."

Captain Li nodded.

"According to our household cleaning habits, cups used for hospitality typically aren’t left out for long."

"Furthermore, since the crime happened at night, I highly suspect the killer entered the victim’s house that night."

After a moment’s reflection, Director Ma said, "This suggests a familiar relationship between the killer and the victim."

"Mr. Li, next, we plan to further analyze Zhang Qian’s social relationships before her death to find a suspect among the familiar connections."

Director Ma nodded, indicating his agreement.

"However, most of Zhang Qian’s relatives have left; there aren’t many truly familiar people."

Li Jian said, "Mr. Ma, Li Dong in the interrogation room once dated Zhang Qian for four years, so he should know her well."

Director Ma said, "That’s indeed an excellent breakthrough."

"If we can obtain information from here, it would be very valuable."

After a brief pause, Director Ma said, "Just now, I observed from the one-way glass outside the interrogation room, and from my years of criminal investigation experience, I feel Li Dong doesn’t seem like the culprit."

"Since entering the interrogation room, he’s been relaxed, which is not easy to fake for ordinary people."

Li Jian nodded, "Mr. Ma! I think the same."