The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Chapter 868 - 455: Casting a Wide Net and Narrowing Down Suspects (Part 2)

"Oh? When exactly did they leave?"Political Commissioner Li pressed further, his knuckles lightly tapping the table.

"It was shortly after Wang Xiu passed away, around two months after the incident."

"From what we understand, this place had become a painful reminder for the whole family."

"Especially for the child, experiencing such trauma at a young age casts a significant psychological shadow."

"Her husband mentioned to an old neighbor that he didn’t want the child to walk daily in the area where the mother once lived, yet never see her presence again."

"To completely change environments, allowing the child to break free from the shadow and grow up healthily, he decided to move elsewhere with the child, cutting off ties with this place."

"Have there been any other discoveries?" Mr. Qin leaned forward slightly, asking in a serious tone.

"We focused on visiting the old neighbors around Wang Xiu’s residence."

"After all, four years have passed, and many people’s memories of the case details have blurred, but talking about Wang Xiu herself, most still have a lasting impression, and their comments are quite consistent."

"We reviewed the situation of the residents from that time; she had five neighbors on the same floor: Li Dong, Zhang Jian, Wu Yong, Che Biao, and He Shi."

"Currently, except for He Shi’s family, who moved to the city to live with their children two years ago, the other households still have residents."

The officer paused briefly and continued: "According to the recollections of three neighbors, Wang Xiu was modest and thrifty, lived frugally, seldom argued with others, and had a good reputation among the neighbors."

"They all said she treated people kindly, would always greet them, and occasionally shared her homemade pickles with neighbors."

"As for whether there were any suspicious individuals or clues around conflicts... we indeed have no breakthroughs at the moment."

"The interviewed individuals expressed regret and pity about this tragedy, with emotions quite stable, none appeared nervous, evasive, or deliberately changed the topic during the inquiry."

"Of course, these observations are limited to our half-day visit; if we delve deeper, it may require more time."

After hearing this report, Political Commissioner Li and Mr. Qin simultaneously furrowed their brows.

At the initial reopening of the case, they held some expectation for new investigation directions, hoping to find breakthroughs from past interpersonal connections.

However, after half a day of intensive checks, they still found nothing, leaving their hearts heavy.

Yet they also knew this case, after so many years, was inherently challenging with evidence hard to find and witnesses’ memories fading.

After hearing this news, everyone’s eyes simultaneously turned to Director Hou and Jiang An, as if they were the only visible beacons in this fog.

Jiang An and Director Hou exchanged a glance, a trace of seriousness passing through their eyes.

Director Hou nodded slightly and then spoke in a calm and clear tone: "Actually, today’s investigation results did not surprise me too much."

"On one hand, this case itself shows considerable complexity, with clues intertwined, making it difficult to quickly clarify."

"On the other hand, whether or not we have found clear clues from familiar interpersonal relationships, I still tend to believe that the possibility of a familiar acquaintance being the perpetrator cannot be ignored."

He paused briefly, his gaze sweeping over everyone’s face, and continued: "Particularly noteworthy is that during the autopsy, I observed that the deceased had almost no obvious signs of resistance."

"This point is especially critical."

"From a criminal psychology and behavior pattern perspective, if the victim did not effectively resist, it usually indicates two possibilities: one is she ’could not resist’, for example, due to drugs or physical limitations; the other is she ’dared not resist’, subjected to some strong psychological or physical coercion."

"And in our detailed toxicology tests and pathological analyses, we did not find any drugs or toxins that could have caused her to lose the ability to resist. Therefore, the possibility of ’could not resist’ can basically be ruled out."

"So the remaining explanation can only be ’dared not resist.’

"And behind ’dared not resist’ often lies more complex motives and situations — possibly direct violent threats, long-term psychological manipulation, or even fear arising from being controlled by something."

Jiang An took over the conversation, further supplementing: "Director Hou’s analysis is very accurate."

"If we infer along the line of ’dared not resist’ then the perpetrator is likely someone who made the victim feel afraid, even willing to endure the harm."

"This fear might stem from a long-term oppressive relationship or an instantaneous threat to life."

"In either case, it shows that the killer had some kind of ’authority’ or ’control’ in the victim’s mind."

This analysis was logical and progressive, causing several people present to nod in agreement.

However, despite the clarity of reasoning, execution remains extremely difficult.

Opposite, a young officer couldn’t help but scratch his head, his tone carrying some confusion and helplessness:

"Mr. Jiang, your ideas are indeed enlightening, and I understand that starting with the angle of ’coercion’ is logical."

"But the problem is, where do we begin our investigation?"

"The threat or coercion you mentioned could encompass too broad a range — it could be family, colleagues, friends, or any person who had contact with the victim and possessed control."

"We neither have specific evidence pointing to someone nor any eyewitness testimony, relying solely on the behavioral characteristic of ’dared not resist,’ how can we identify suspects?"

Hearing this, Director Hou also turned his head, his gaze landing on Jiang An.

At that moment, Jiang An seemed no longer the most junior member of the special task force but was gradually becoming the key figure in consolidating the team’s thought process.

Yet, facing the gaze from others, Jiang An showed not a trace of nervousness or unease.

He slightly turned his body, briefly exchanging a look with Director Hou, then calmly spoke: "Regarding this case, I do have some preliminary ideas."

"Our previous discussions might have overly relied on subjective speculation, but solving a case must ultimately return to objective evidence."

He paused, his tone more resolute: "During the early site inspection, we extracted a very fresh footprint."

"If we can eliminate interference from irrelevant personnel unintentionally introducing it later, then this footprint can become a critical breakthrough for our next investigation work."

"Based on the footprint’s length and stride features, we preliminarily estimated the suspect’s height to be around one meter seventy."

"The number of males within this height range is indeed large, and it poses considerable work for sorting, but even so, we must not give up — we must verify each one carefully."

Jiang An’s gaze swept across everyone present, and he continued: "Moreover, I believe, apart from height, we need to combine more behavioral and physiological characteristics for cross-screening."

"For example, the suspect may be left-handed, or perhaps there is some disability or functional impairment in his right hand."

"We even need to consider deeper possibilities — for instance, abnormal psychological states preventing normal marital relations."

After a moment, Mr. Qin said: "Combining the characteristics of being one meter seventy tall, physically fitting, having disabilities in the body, or existing psychological issues, indeed helps narrow the scope of the investigation and aids in identifying some suspicious individuals hidden among ordinary people. However..."

He paused briefly, "Such a multi-condition overlay screening method would multiply the workload."

At this point, Political Commissioner Li nodded: "This case has been shelved for quite some time, and now restarting the investigation, we already face many challenges."

"Precisely because of this, we cannot overlook any clues, no matter how minute they seem."