Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 289: Discovery on the Shoelaces

Even though the nature of the case has been confirmed, the process of investigating it is not going very smoothly.

Firstly, the crime scene is too clean and tidy.

The driver who hit and killed the victim has been thoroughly investigated and found to have no connection to the deceased.

"The suspicion of the driver being involved in the crime can be ruled out."

All relevant information about the driver is displayed on the projector.

"Zhao Xiaoying, female, twenty-four years old, resident of Haizhou City, financial cashier at Friendship Mall, was driving to her mother’s house at the time of the incident."

"We’ve looked into it; Zhao Xiaoying is single and unmarried, lives alone in a rented place near Friendship Mall, but returns to her parents’ home three or four times a week."

"The road where the crime occurred is a route Zhao Xiaoying must take to get home."

Zhao Xiaoying’s social background is relatively simple, without particularly complicated circumstances, and she only associates with classmates and colleagues.

Ren Qiang quickly investigated and clarified her situation.

"What about the deceased?"

"The deceased is Sun Hao, a resident of Haizhou City, thirty-six years old. He started in construction, married fourteen years ago, abandoned his wife and child twelve years ago, and ran off with a woman he met at a karaoke hall. After that, his family lost contact with him."

Although Sun Hao’s wife was greatly aggrieved, she cooperated with the police to provide much information about Sun Hao’s past.

Started in construction?

No contact with family for twelve years.

"Where has he been all these years?"

"Still under investigation."

The time is too short; apart from the forensic doctor’s autopsy report, there are currently no particularly significant clues.

"In that case, the focus will now be on investigating Sun Hao’s social relationships."

"The murderer plotted meticulously, using a traffic accident to kill the victim; there must be a strong motive for murder."

Qin Yong began deploying the tasks ahead.

"First, start by investigating the movements of the deceased’s wife. Sun Hao abandoned her and their child twelve years ago; it’s possible she might hate him due to love turned to hate."

"Also, clarify the situation of the third party who left with Sun Hao back then. All these years, without contact with his family, check if he had a woman living with him elsewhere."

"Third, track surveillance footage of Sun Hao appearing at the intersection of Binzhou Road and Yingbin Road. Although there’s no surveillance at this intersection, other crossroads have surveillance."

"He couldn’t have suddenly appeared at this intersection; find out how he ended up there."

"Yes!"

Now that it’s confirmed to be a homicide case, the entire Criminal Investigation Team has to act.

The Intelligence Investigation Unit and Action Group must be mobilized.

At this time, the crime scene investigation office was actually relatively idle.

"Lu, how did you discover it at that time?"

Old Bai, although he knew Lu Chuan’s technical skills were solid, still felt that technology and criminal investigation were two different things.

"I don’t know either; it just felt like a normal collision shouldn’t have been in that position."

At the time, Lu Chuan wasn’t entirely sure there was a problem with this case.

From the crime scene, it looked like an ordinary car accident, but Lu Chuan felt the impact point was somewhat unusual.

Of course, this impact point seemed normal to the traffic police.

There have been many bizarre traffic accidents, cars ending up on rooftops, and even people being hit and ending up in the car trunk through the window.

Compared to those incidents, a side-door collision seemed very ordinary.

However, out of trust in Lu Chuan’s crime scene investigation skills, and due to the indifferent reaction of the victim’s family, Ren Qiang opted for a more cautious choice.

"Old Bai, Lu, come take a look at this."

Although Yang Sen hadn’t gone to the crime scene, with a homicide now, he was also studying some photos from the scene.

These were all taken by Lu Chuan.

In the meeting room where Liu Guodong was holding a meeting, only three people were present at the crime scene investigation.

"What’s going on?"

"Look at this, why do I feel something’s strange about it?"

Yang Sen was pointing at a shoe photo on the computer screen, looking puzzled.

"You mean... the shoes?"

Old Bai put on his reading glasses, moving closer to the screen to take a closer look.

"Nike sports shoes... mixed colors... nothing strange about that, right?"

"No, no, I mean the shoelaces. Look, aren’t the shoelaces on both shoes a bit different?"

Lu Chuan observed it; this detail wasn’t something he noticed at the scene.

Now, with Yang Sen pointing it out, there certainly was something different.

"Do you mean the direction in which the laces are tied?"

"Right," Yang Sen zoomed in on the photo: "The laces of both shoes are tied into a butterfly knot in a crisscross fashion."

"But, the cross-press marks of the knots on the left and right shoes are different."

"They’re opposite on the left and right foot."

While speaking, Yang Sen gestured: "It seems like..."

"They’re not tied by the same person!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Right!"

"It doesn’t look like one person tied those shoelaces."

The three of them felt like they had discovered a new continent.

Yang Sen placed a pair of sports shoes under the desk, took them out, untied the laces, and began experimenting.

"When we normally tie shoelaces, they should be tied the same way for both feet."

Indeed, when Yang Sen tied the laces, the direction of the lace press marks on both shoes matched.

"But when I tie it like this..."

Yang Sen untied the shoelaces on the left shoe, flipped the shoe over with the toe facing himself, and then re-tied it.

When placing the two pairs of shoes together, indeed, the direction of the lace press marks changed.

Although both were tied in a butterfly knot style, the press marks on the left and right butterfly knots were opposite.

"Is it possible that when Sun Hao was tying one shoe, the toe was facing outwards, and when tying the other, he specifically took it off with the toe facing inwards?"

Lu Chuan and Old Bai shook their heads.

Yang Sen continued analyzing, becoming more excited: "Is there a possibility that Sun Hao simply had a habit of tying his shoelaces differently for each foot?"

For this...

Old Bai shook his head, "We can’t rule out this possibility, but the likelihood is very small."

"We just experimented with shoelace tying methods; everyone has their unique habits, which are not easy to change."

Tying shoelaces is actually an unconscious action.

When someone ties their shoelaces, they don’t consciously think about it, they just start tying.

Except for some people particularly concerned with aesthetics, like some women, who might use different tying methods for different shoes.

But when it comes to a single tying method, each person’s habit should not vary greatly.

Just like when the three of them tied their laces just now, it was an unconscious action, done quickly without needing to think about how to tie them.

"So, we can basically conclude that one of the shoelaces on the deceased was likely tied by someone else!"

"Is it possible that this person is the murderer?"

The three exchanged glances; this was a logical deduction.