The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Jiang An focused intently for a moment, then said gravely, ”Judging from the scene, the bloodstains are very widespread.”

”I want to confirm, did we extract any blood footprints or blood fingerprints from the scene?”

At these words, Zhang Biao responded in a deep voice, ”We did find two blood footprints, but no blood fingerprints have been found yet.”

”The murder weapon was not left at the scene, but we noticed a fruit knife was missing from the victim’s home.”

”Therefore, I highly suspect that the killer used that knife.”

”Additionally, is there a knife sheath present?”

”No knife sheath was found.”

Jiang An continued the conversation, further analyzing, ”Since the killer used a weapon readily available from the surroundings, we need to carefully deliberate on the scope of the crime and profiling of the suspect.”

”Generally, when faced with such a heinous murder case, the killer often comes prepared, even acting recklessly.”

”However, in profiling the suspect for this case, I sense some contradictions.”

”Contradictions? What exactly are you referring to?”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Biao raised his head, his eyes showing a probing look.

At this moment, he held a notebook in his hands, as serious as a student listening to a lecture.

On the path of criminal investigation, anyone can be a mentor, regardless of age, if they can help advance the case and provide crucial clues.

Jiang An did not evade, his eyes calmly sweeping over those present, and spoke slowly, ”Firstly, these two victims were murdered in the same case. From the traces at the scene and autopsy results, the death process was quite brutal.”

”This raises a key question: How many killers are there? This point deserves our in-depth consideration.”

”Indeed,” Zhang Biao interjected, his expression serious, ”The number of killers is certainly a core issue.”

”Based on my preliminary judgment, the possibility of two persons cooperating in the crime is high, but we cannot completely rule out the possibility of a single person acting alone.”

”After all, when initially analyzing the case, we tended to believe that it required two to three people to fully control the situation—the victims are two individuals, and from the marks, both seemed to have resisted.”

Jiang An turned his head, nodding slightly, and said, ”I fully agree with the rationality of the possibility just proposed.”

”However, in this case, I believe there is a special factor that must be considered.”

”Oh? What special factor?”

At this point, several young officers nearby leaned forward in unison, intensely waiting for his follow-up.

Jiang An paused slightly, and a moment later, he continued speaking, his pace slow and clear:

”Please pay attention to a very important detail—the two victims were a married couple, and the female victim was pregnant before her death. Based on the results of the scene examination, her pregnancy was already quite advanced.”

”This means that at the time of the incident, her physical condition was actually in a very unique state: her movements were relatively slow, and her stress response ability would have significantly declined due to physiological changes during pregnancy.”

”It can be said that, in a sudden violent confrontation, she basically lacked substantial resistance capability and even had quite limited self-protection ability.”

He leaned slightly forward, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, with a composed analytical tone in his voice: ”Therefore, if we restore the scene purely from a physical confrontation perspective, only the male victim had the ability for effective resistance.”

”Moreover, in such an extremely dangerous situation, we can completely deduce that the male victim’s first reaction must have been trying to protect his wife—this is an instinct, a matter of human nature.”

”In other words, the female victim’s combat ability during the conflict can almost be ignored; she was more likely in a passive state, even unable to effectively evade.”

Jiang An paused for a moment, allowing this analysis to settle in the air, then continued his reasoning: ”So, when analyzing the power balance between the killer and the victims, assessing the formation process of resistance injuries, and even speculating on the means the killer might have used, we must highly emphasize this characteristic: although ostensibly two people were killed, effectively only one person could resist.”

”This disparity in power might affect our judgment on whether the killer acted alone or cooperatively, and might also alter our deductions on the crime method.”

”For example, whether the killer was thus more brazen, or if they felt at ease even after controlling the male victim.”

”Furthermore, this gap between the ’actual number of people resisting’ and the ’visible number of victims’ could even reflect a certain psychological state of the killer: was it long premeditated, or spontaneous; was there accurate anticipation of resistance capacity, or only during execution did the killer realize the opponent’s weakness.”

As his voice trailed off, silence fell again in the conference room.

”What exactly does this mean?”

Jiang An further explained, ”The core of my point is that we must thoroughly assess the possibility of the killer acting alone.”

”I believe even if there is only one person, they are entirely capable of simultaneously controlling the two victims.”

Upon hearing this, the attendees couldn’t help but look at each other, and a low murmur of discussion filled the room.

One person controlling two others and causing such extensive damage on the scene—could this really be accomplished? Many found themselves pondering similar queries.

At this moment, Jiang An’s gaze swept over the conference room, noticing each face filled with confusion and contemplation.

Especially Director Lu and Zhang Biao sitting on the podium, their uncertain expressions were particularly noticeable.

Yet, due to Jiang An’s previously layered and convincing analysis, they did not immediately refute but chose to continue listening.

Hence, regarding the crucial element of the number of criminals, Jiang An clearly reiterated his judgment: ”Therefore, in analyzing this case, we must fully consider solo crime as a key direction of investigation.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Biao couldn’t help but ask, ”Mr. Jiang, if there is only one killer, wouldn’t there be a lack of control?”

”When we visited neighbors back then, no one heard calls for help or sounds of struggle.”

”Simultaneously controlling two people, especially with one of the male victims being physically strong, wouldn’t the killer be at a disadvantage in strength?”

Jiang An nodded and responded steadily, ”This point is critical.”

”The male victim was indeed physically strong, but we noticed his resistance injuries and defensive wounds were mostly concentrated on his arms, palms, and the back of his hands, indicating a fierce struggle at the time.”

”However, the situation for the female victim was different—her body showed almost no obvious resistance wounds, more so injuries caused by attacks, and her injury pattern showed certain positional characteristics.”

Saying this, he turned to a technical officer nearby, ”Could you please bring up the victims’ autopsy photos? I’d like to explain specifically along with the images.”

”Autopsy photos?”

The female officer immediately responded, ”Okay, I’ll prepare them right away.”

Her words conveyed a sense of focus and admiration, as if she was a serious student awaiting the next explanation.

Before long, a clear set of autopsy images was displayed on the screen.

Jiang An enlarged one of them and pointed to the occipital region of the female victim: ”Please pay attention to this area, where there are a few small patches of red marks.”

”First, we can be sure these are not postmortem lividity, as the scalp skin in the occipital region is thick and structurally dense, preventing the formation of lividity.”

”These patchy changes actually belong to scalp bruises, caused by the head colliding with a blunt object.”

”Based on this, it’s deduced that at the time of the incident, the victim’s head likely suffered impact, possibly leading to temporary unconsciousness.”

He paused briefly, then continued supplementing, ”Such scalp bruises, if not accompanied by skull fractures, often only result in transient concussion-induced unconsciousness, which in the autopsy might not leave traces of bone damage, yet it sufficiently indicates the victim may have lost the ability to resist at that time.”