The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

”Mr. Qin, all the clothing fragments that were recorded back then are here.”

Jiang An put on gloves, gently opened the evidence box, and took out the items inside one by one, laying them flat on the lab bench.

The fragments varied in size, their colors faded; some had become so brittle they would almost crumble at a touch.

After about ten minutes of meticulous sorting, these fragments gradually formed the rough outline of the original garments.

Although there were many tears and missing parts, the overall shape was still recognizable.

Mr. Qin took a deep breath and said slowly, ”The victim’s upper body was wearing a plain T-shirt, and her lower body a pair of shorts—just that very common summer combination of an ordinary T-shirt and shorts.”

”Judging from the fabric and style, they’re all types that are very common on the market, with no particularly obvious brand features.”

”Female, 22 years old”—these key words flashed repeatedly through Jiang An’s mind.

He suddenly raised his head, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. ”For a young woman, don’t you think there’s something wrong with this outfit?”

Mr. Qin nodded slightly, his tone growing even more serious. ”In fact, we did notice this problem at the time.”

”There is indeed obvious incompleteness in this set of clothing. We did not find the victim’s panties or bra.”

”Oh?” Jiang An leaned forward. ”Then how did the task force explain this situation back then?”

Mr. Qin stepped forward and said in a low voice, ”At the case analysis meeting, someone did suggest that this might be related to her personal living habits.”

”After all, everyone’s habits are different. We couldn’t rule out that some people really do have the habit of not wearing underwear.”

After getting this answer, Jiang An rubbed his chin thoughtfully and continued to press, ”But I take a different view.”

”Aside from the missing underwear, did you notice that her shoes and socks were also nowhere to be found? Doesn’t that strike you as strange?”

Prompted by this reminder, Director Hou suddenly looked up and said thoughtfully, ”That’s true.”

”If the absence of underwear can barely be explained away as a matter of personal habit, then how are we supposed to explain the disappearance of her shoes and socks?”

”Even if she didn’t wear socks, she’d at least have basic shoes, right?”

”Could it be that the shoes fell off somewhere else during the disposal of the body and weren’t dumped here together?”

Jiang An pondered for a moment and said, ”What Director Hou suggested is indeed possible, but we need to consider that shoes are usually relatively secure items of clothing.”

”If no obvious fractures or injuries were found on the victim’s lower limbs, why would the killer go to the trouble of taking off her shoes before dumping the body?”

”What exactly is the reason hidden behind this?”

”Could it be that there was some special marking on the shoes, or some clue that could directly point to the killer’s identity?”

Once this question was raised, everyone present fell into deep thought.

After all, in previous cases, this kind of situation was indeed quite rare.

Generally speaking, when dealing with the victim’s personal belongings, killers tend to selectively take those items with obvious identifying features that can directly reveal identity, such as mobile phones, wallets, and IDs.

But the distinctiveness of shoes is usually not that high. After all, the number of pairs of the same style and size on the market is considerable; their uniqueness and identifiability are relatively weak.

Five minutes later, Jiang An suddenly raised his head, his sharp gaze sweeping over everyone present, and said firmly, ”I believe the victim’s attire is something that deserves our in-depth scrutiny.”

”For a 22-year-old woman, unless there is an intellectual disability or some kind of special situation, this kind of outfit is absolutely out of the ordinary.”