National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 956 - 892 Temporary Camp

Boom, boom, boom.

Dozens of iodine lamps were turned on one after the other, making every detail of the crime scene visible.

Grr...

Several birds sleeping in the trees, dazzled by the bright lights, flapped their wings and left.

Over twenty members of the trace evidence and criminal police teams, shoulder to shoulder, bent their heads to sift through the flesh and debris, while searching for any suspicious physical evidence.

There were as many as ten of these teams, each member with a direction to move in and a specific area to clean up. Each person also held a map, marking off the areas they had finished on paper, so that later, everyone would take full responsibility for their own assigned section.

The map was made by Xu Taining on the plane, based on the reports from the scene.

The lights were shipped to the site as soon as Xu Taining landed.

By the time Xu Taining arrived, it had already become dark. Under the lights, he reorganized the personnel, reassigned team leaders and work areas, and even adjusted the maps on the spot, reprinting task sheets for certain teams...

At the same time, cranes, bulldozers, and transport vehicles that had been gathered from around the area were all put into operation, operated by an engineering team called in to start lifting and removing slabs from the scene.

A special area was cleared out at a landfill on the city outskirts, where the debris from the explosion site would be piled up, giving priority to the police for a secondary search. Or, it would wait to be cleared with the regular waste and taken away for processing.

Within a 100-meter radius from the blast center, hundreds of criminal police, trace evidence technicians, scene surveyors, forensic doctors, and workers sifted through layer by layer, as if it were an archaeological site.

A machine repair factory near the sealed area, currently out of operation, was also rented for the occasion, and hundreds of workers had started renovating it. They were set to build a preliminary screening area and two temporary labs, mainly for sealing and processing evidence, while more delicate work would still be sent to mature labs.

However, for the Criminal Police Brigade and people like Jiang Yuan, traditional evidence that was typically of high value was not so important at this time.

The primary task of the scene investigation was to find remnants of explosive material—simple, practical, but very hard to find.

At the same time, in the repair factory, temporary prefab houses and construction-grade kitchens, dining rooms, shower rooms, and other living facilities were being built to cater for the meals and rest of the several hundred people on site.

Jiang Yuan’s requirement was to handle the scene with absolute professionalism and a specialized approach. This meant that numbers were not the most important factor, but it was even more challenging to assemble the necessary number of specialists. Once they arrived, there was no need to leave; with eating, sleeping, and living all taking place on site, it would be easier to manage.

Upon seeing this, Wang Sheng, the head of the Meiyang City Criminal Police Brigade, also moved right in, setting up a tent on the spot for his day-to-day office work.

By morning, a row of three field tents had been erected.

Most of the leadership of the Meiyang City Criminal Police Brigade ended up sleeping and working right at the crime scene.

At 8 a.m., the officers who were replaced looked lifeless as they walked into the repair shop wearing their blood-soaked uniforms.

A line of civil police officers had been waiting at the entrance, smiling as they handed a plastic bucket to the criminal police who entered, saying, "Go straight ahead; the bathroom is on the right-hand side, the shower room on the left, with a large space. There’s hot water, new towels and underwear in the bucket, as well as a toothbrush and toothpaste. When you come out of the shower room, there will be new uniforms and work clothes available, and throw your dirty clothes into the bucket by the door. There’s a marker tied next to it; write your name on it."

The criminal officers, groggy from a night’s work, lifted their heads in confusion to look at the civil police in front of them: "What’s that?"

"Experts from outside; they’ve arranged everything from defecating, showering, eating, to sleeping in one go," the civil police replied accurately.

The criminal police, holding the plastic buckets, frowned: "So it’s like a bathhouse, isn’t it?"

"It’s more rudimentary than the bathhouse, and it doesn’t take as much time," replied the agency policeman, echoing what Xu Taining had said before.

Carrying a plastic bucket, the detective walked forward in a daze and sure enough, he saw a row of temporary prefab houses. Across from them was a row of temporary toilets brought in, looking fairly clean, but both the prefab houses and the toilets were old.

The bucket-carrying detective looked down at his clothes and felt they might pollute the toilets, so he entered the prefab houses first, took off his clothes, showered, brushed his teeth, came out to change clothes, and completed the whole process in just over ten minutes — indeed saving time compared to a bath center...

Upon exiting, there was another row of temporary toilets, so he spent a few more minutes defecating, then followed the signs to a new prefab housing area, ate a simple box meal, and slept in a bunk bed in a six-person room.

The environment for the entire process couldn’t be described as harsh, but it was far from comfortable either. Even the detectives, who were used to tough conditions, found it quite uncomfortable, but with exhaustion setting in, there wasn’t much choice — most tossed and turned, only managing to sleep for four or five hours before being called up to re-enter the scene and continue the investigation.

Brigade Chief Wang Sheng had pulled an all-nighter on the first day, and come the next morning, he couldn’t keep going no matter what, joining the majority to shower, eat, and sleep. When he woke, he felt his whole body aching. Entering the command tent, he couldn’t help but say, "I did get some rest, but I really feel terrible."

"Going home is too relaxing," Xu Taining was sitting inside the tent, multitasking as he insisted on voicing his views. He had his own theory and insisted on practicing it with other people’s money.

"Is staying up too tense then?" someone teased from the side. The detectives of Meiyang City watched as their team’s funds rapidly depleted, which psychologically created a bit of a gap.

Xu Taining replied to every question, loosened the collar of his shirt and said, "Staying up too long decreases concentration, and we can’t guarantee the efficiency and accuracy in searching. The residue from the explosives that Jiang Yuan is looking for could be tiny, and someone who has been up for two whole nights can’t handle this."

His answer sounded logical, but it was not approved by the public.

Sure enough, someone commented, "It’s not to the point where you see evidence and don’t know how to collect it. You’re exaggerating."

"Maintaining a good condition is fundamental," Xu Taining did not continue on the topic, after all, as long as there was no issue with the implementation, he didn’t have much to say.

Turning around, Xu Taining saw Wang Sheng come in, and emphasized, "We are assuming there is a criminal out there with explosives, who knows how to detonate them remotely, and is willing to commit crimes. With this assumption, allowing detectives—especially those with specialized technical skills—to go home for meals and sleep is too luxurious. But making them work back-to-back all night could lead to mistakes."

"Right, we understand your point," Wang Sheng felt that Xu Taining was talking to him and responded.

Xu Taining smiled confidently, "Practically speaking, this method has been verified as well. Although setting up temporary prefab houses and the like will cost a bit more money, it’s much more efficient than commuting or borrowing dormitories from other factories, and it is less difficult to manage."

"That’s more than a bit of money," Wang Sheng chuckled.

"We are on a tight schedule with heavy tasks, expenditures are bound to be a bit higher than usual," Xu Taining didn’t need to discuss the loss issue.

Wang Sheng waved his hand and brought the conversation back to the case itself, "Any new information?"

"We’ve recently discovered a button cell battery; from where it was found, it might be from the explosive device. In addition, we extracted a damaged battery casing and circuit board from the outer area, but we can’t yet confirm that it’s related to remote detonation," Xu Taining quickly responded, continually summarizing new updates here.

Wang Sheng nodded slowly, "What does Captain Jiang say?"

"Captain Jiang is still busy, but from what I understand... Jiang Yuan seems to be looking for evidence of remote detonation," Xu Taining answered rather diplomatically.

Wang Sheng’s eyelid twitched, "That certain?"

"To tell the truth, I don’t believe it was a suicide bombing either," said Xu Taining, "We don’t even know who was wearing the bomb vest. Who would silently blow themselves up?"

This couldn’t be said to be evidence, nor could it be considered a conclusion of the investigation, but this thought received unanimous approval, as the policemen in the command tent nodded in agreement.

Wang Sheng’s expression could only grow more solemn; the longer the delay, the greater the psychological pressure on him.