Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 292: Unexpected Discovery

At ten thirty in the evening, Lu Chuan’s micro-evidence analysis was finally complete.

However, the results were not ideal.

The biological traces extracted from the victim’s shoelaces mostly contained DNA information.

After comparison, it was a complete match with Sun Hao’s DNA information.

In other words, although someone, most likely the murderer, tied Sun Hao’s shoelaces, the person did not leave their biological material on the laces.

This suggests that the perpetrator very likely wore gloves.

In that case, the broken fingerprints extracted from the laces may also belong to Sun Hao.

Crime Scene Investigation office.

The three of them, Liu Guodong included, saw Lu Chuan finish the experiment and quickly inquired.

"Lu, how are the results?"

"Not good, the biological traces extracted from the shoelaces all belong to the victim, Sun Hao, with no special findings."

Lu Chuan’s answer left everyone somewhat disappointed, but this was actually the norm.

Theoretically speaking, since the murderer handled Sun Hao’s shoelaces, there must be some material left behind by the murderer.

This is an objective law that cannot be changed, though the amount of material left behind varies.

Even though Lu Chuan conducted micro-evidence collection, he couldn’t possibly gather all the material on the shoelaces.

The current results are the worst case scenario.

"Now we can only hope for the fingerprints."

Fingerprints...

All three of them, Liu Guodong included, sighed in unison.

The possibility of conducting identification analysis on fingerprints collected from the shoelaces is daunting.

The shoelaces on Sun Hao’s athletic shoes are flat rather than round.

If the laces were cylindrical...

It would basically be impossible to conduct an identification analysis.

Lu Chuan drank a few sips of water and got busy again without resting.

The shoelace width is less than half a centimeter, and the collected fingerprint is only one-third the size of a normal fingerprint.

Furthermore, due to the force exerted in tying the laces, the prints are heavily pressed and significantly deformed.

When Liu Guodong and the others initially handled it, they felt at a loss.

However, in Lu Chuan’s hands, it might only take a bit more time.

Since acquiring advanced fingerprint identification analysis skills, Lu Chuan has compared and analyzed numerous fingerprints and is very experienced, allowing him to process the fingerprints swiftly.

A total of five broken fingerprints, with preprocessing completed in less than an hour.

"Now let’s see if there are any findings."

In the system, the five fingerprints are compared one by one.

Ding!

Soon, a successful match notification sounded.

"Did it succeed?"

The three of them, Liu Guodong included, eagerly gathered over.

A successful match signifies that the collected fingerprints are useful.

Of course, the results aren’t necessarily the best.

The matched fingerprint belongs to Sun Hao.

Ding!

The second fingerprint is also Sun Hao’s.

Ding!

The third fingerprint is still Sun Hao’s.

They all held their breath, waiting in silence.

If all five fingerprints belong to Sun Hao, then the lead on the shoelaces is completely lost.

Ding!

The fourth fingerprint is still Sun Hao’s.

Only one is left!

Ding!

All four widened their eyes, holding their breath.

Sun Hao!

Still Sun Hao!

All five fingerprints are Sun Hao’s.

Lu Chuan’s tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and he leaned back against the chair.

"As expected, no successful match."

In fact, while conducting micro-evidence analysis in the underground lab, Lu Chuan had already had a premonition upon not finding biological traces from anyone else.

The fingerprint match was likely unsuccessful.

Because if the murderer wore gloves while tying Sun Hao’s shoelaces, then there would be no biological traces or fingerprints left.

Conversely, if the killer didn’t wear gloves while tying the shoelaces, leaving fingerprints would also leave biological traces.

The two complement each other; if one is discovered, the other should be as well.

The current situation is the worst-case scenario: micro-evidence analysis yielded no results, and neither did fingerprint identification analysis.

"Is there no other way now?"

Yang Sen sighed; in recent cases, the crime scene investigations have typically turned up major discoveries.

But this time, micro-evidence analysis did not yield the desired results, nor did fingerprint identification analysis.

What to do?

It seems like everything that could be done in the crime scene investigation has been done.

"On our end... this might be all we can do."

Liu Guodong shook his head.

Crime scene investigation isn’t almighty and can’t always play a decisive role in every case.

Nevertheless, in this case, the role of crime scene investigation was significant.

The determination of the nature of the case was a question raised by Lu Chuan.

The suspicion surrounding the shoelaces also confirmed that the victim did not die from a normal car accident.

"Alright, everyone, take a nap; it’s been a long day. Especially you, Lu, get some sleep. I’ll go give Captain Qin a brief report."

Lu Chuan and the others nodded, leaving the computer area.

Old Bai lay down on the sofa, while Yang Sen and Lu Chuan unfolded two camp beds and lay down.

Qin Yong’s office.

"The micro-evidence test results on the shoelaces all point to Sun Hao’s biological traces, and the fingerprints are also Sun Hao’s."

"At this point, there’s essentially no need to continue pursuing this line of clues."

Liu Guodong gave a brief report on the situation.

Qin Yong leaned back in his chair and spoke after a moment.

"This murderer is very cautious."

Liu Guodong nodded; such a perpetrator is rare.

So clean and efficient, either a seasoned killer or naturally cautious and meticulous.

"Is there any possibility to trace the source of the drugs?"

The indoleamines found in the victim’s body aren’t something an ordinary person can acquire.

"We’ve already set someone to investigate, but there’s no result yet."

Of course, this is an important line of investigation, and the perpetrator might not know that their crime has been exposed.

After all, the accident seemed like a random car crash at the time.

And in the vast majority of such accidents, no one performs an autopsy on the corpse.

So, looking at it now, one advantage is that the murderer might not yet know that their plan has been uncovered.

"Alright, Old Liu, you’ve worked hard too. Go rest, and maybe there will be good news tomorrow."

Liu Guodong didn’t chat much and returned to the Crime Scene Investigation office after a while.

Lu Chuan was lying on a camp bed, chatting with Forensic Doctor Shen.

"No findings from micro-evidence, and no successful fingerprint match."

"That’s okay; a murderer who plans so meticulously might not leave such traces, so don’t overthink it."

Forensic Doctor Shen had already gone home; after they finished the autopsy, there was nothing left for them to do.

Lu Chuan shook his head, adjusted his mood, and stopped talking about the case.

"Why haven’t I seen you update your social media in the past few days?"

Forensic Doctor Shen habitually updated her social media, but it’s been empty for the past two days.

"I did post, but today’s photo didn’t look good, so I deleted it. Then I got busy and forgot."

Oh?

Hmm?

Deleted?

Lu Chuan sprung up from the camp bed.

Yang Sen nearly fell off his bed out of shock.

"Lu, what’s wrong?"

"The phone! Brother Yang! Where’s Sun Hao’s phone?"