Diary of a Criminal Investigator

Chapter 677: Major Crimes Unit Enters the Mountain

There are two possibilities when fingerprint identification analysis is unsuccessful.The first possibility is that after fingerprint identification analysis, the owner of the target fingerprint does not have a sample in the fingerprint database.

This situation is very common.

In relation to the massive population base, the police’s fingerprint database is inevitably limited.

Of course, in recent years, the police’s fingerprint database has become increasingly complete.

Especially through ID card processing, the proportion of fingerprint enrollment is increasing.

Compared to the past, now every teenager applying for an ID card needs to provide fingerprints.

At this rate of development, in another 30 to 50 years, the fingerprint database should be close to complete coverage.

Of course, this is just a prospective trend for the future.

In fact, the data in the current fingerprint database only covers a small portion of the existing population.

In many cases, fingerprints left by the culprit can be found at crime scenes.

But if the culprit hasn’t left their fingerprints in the system,

then naturally matching will not succeed.

The second possibility is that the fingerprint identification and analysis is not accurate, and although the target individual has fingerprints in the system, they cannot be matched with the ones found at the scene.

The likelihood of this second possibility occurring in real-life case solving is also quite high.

Not every crime scene investigator possesses advanced fingerprint identification skills like Lu Chuan.

Of course, for Lu Chuan, this situation basically does not exist.

With his ability, if a target individual cannot be found after identification and analysis, it is most likely because their fingerprints aren’t in the system.

"Your suggestion is... to do fingerprint collection?"

Li Donglin understood Lu Chuan’s intent.

Given that the indications presently suggest the perpetrator might be a resident near Beiliang Mountain,

and the culprit left a partial, blurry fingerprint inside the victim’s backpack,

then collecting fingerprints from all residents near Beiliang Mountain might successfully identify the culprit.

Lu Chuan nodded affirmatively; this was indeed his intention.

Li Donglin pondered for a moment.

Beiliang Mountain is a vast primal forest area in Beizhou City.

Additionally, Beizhou City stands at the provincial border, crossing Beiliang Mountain leads to another province.

The surrounding villages contain residents from this province and some from another a bit further away.

If all nearby individuals were to be fingerprinted, it would involve communicating with units in other provinces.

Furthermore, fingerprinting everyone would require a sizable mobilization of police forces.

This would demand immense manpower resources.

However, with three lives lost and two persons missing...

"Alright, this task is no problem; I’ll arrange for the Criminal Investigation Team from Beizhou City to lead the fingerprint collection of all surrounding residents."

"As for the neighboring province... I’ll handle coordination."

"Does anyone else have anything to report?"

"Hold on, Director Li, I have a request."

It was still Lu Chuan speaking.

"Oh? Go ahead."

"Into the mountain!"

Lu Chuan’s request was straightforward, summarized in just two words.

"You want to go into the mountain?"

"Yes, although the Criminal Investigation Team has already retrieved all three skeletons, and the photographs taken at the scene are comprehensive, I’d like to inspect the site personally."

"Moreover, the primary goal is to find clues and traces of the other two missing persons."

This was Lu Chuan’s main purpose for wanting to go into the mountain.

The missing expedition team had a total of 5 members.

Among them, the bodies of three men were discovered in the same area.

The two missing women had not been found.

Lu Chuan thought of going into the mountain to see if he could discover anything.

"In that case... no problem, I’ll arrange for the Beiliang Mountain police station to find a guide, and I’ll join as well, so we can go into the mountain together."

"Yes!"

Preparing to enter Beiliang Mountain isn’t a matter that one can embark on immediately.

The Beiliang Mountain police station needs to find experienced guides.

Lu Chuan, on his part, has some preparatory work to do.

The mountain roads are rugged and difficult, and not all equipment can be easily brought in.

Therefore, Lu Chuan needs to organize his crime scene investigation gear.

Li Donglin is also overseeing other work arrangements.

So the trip into the mountain was scheduled for early the next day.

The Beiliang Mountain police station has dedicated mountain climbing equipment.

Because many have gotten lost or called for rescue inside, the police station often needs to go in and search.

As rescue cases increased, the equipment gradually became more complete.

Everyone had a big backpack; Li Donglin, Lu Chuan, plus Chen Hu, the deputy commander of Beizhou City’s Criminal Investigation Team, and Li Hao, the chief of the Beiliang Mountain police station.

Accompanied by several seasoned policemen and a guide, they headed into the mountain.

The site where the skeletons were found is a distance from the mountain entry point outside the police station.

It would take a day’s walk to reach it on foot from the mountain entry.

This was the main reason the serious crime team didn’t venture into the mountain immediately upon arrival.

Since the skeletons and all evidence had been brought back, going into the mountain would’ve been too time-consuming.

Therefore, Li Donglin didn’t immediately visit the crime scene back then.

Although it was January and the weather outside the mountain was rather cold,

upon entering the mountain, the microclimate of the primal forest began to take effect.

Essentially, after entering each valley and crossing a peak, the climate seems different.

Initially, there was still snow as they entered Beiliang Mountain.

But after crossing two peaks, the snow had disappeared.

"This mountain here, inside it’s warmer, and snow is rarely seen all year round."

The guide provided by the Beiliang Mountain police station was named Chen Guoshi.

Chen Guoshi, aged over 50, was robust and agile, having spent years in the mountains, familiar with its landscapes,

Lu Chuan had visited Beiliang Mountain during the summer, but this was his first winter visit, and the microclimate puzzled him slightly.

It wasn’t cold inside; it felt more like it was autumn.

The leaves had turned yellow, covering everything.

"Old Chen, are there wild animals in the mountain?"

"Certainly, there are leopards, bears, and even tigers."

"But the wild animals in Beiliang Mountain typically don’t attack humans; there’s plenty of food with so many wild creatures around."

"For so many years, there’s been no report of wild animal attacks on humans."

Old Chen, being rather talkative, introduced the mountain’s specialties along the way, quickly becoming acquainted with everyone.

Meanwhile, as Lu Chuan and the others were entering Beiliang Mountain, the work outside was proceeding fervently.

West Valley Village.

"Old Song, let’s go, the village called us for a meeting, saying something about fingerprint collection, want to go together?"