Chapter 44: Chapter 44 I’m Just Putting Myself in the Suspect’s Shoes

“Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Lin Chuan noticed the subtle glances exchanged between Shen Qianqian and Hu Daqiang, and with a slight furrow in his brow, he asked.

Shen Qianqian’s willow-like eyebrows crinkled as she intently gazed at Lin Chuan, “Lin Chuan, I’m a bit curious, how did you come to know all this?”

Lin Chuan’s face darkened as he defensively said, “I learned about it while doing research for a novel, do you believe me?”

“Believe… I guess.”

Shen Qianqian opened and closed her small mouth, her face showing an uncertain expression.

Believe that answer? As if.

Way too abstract!

Lin Chuan sighed softly. I’m here to help you solve the case, yet you’re always doubting the legitimacy of my knowledge.

Cough, even though it really isn’t legitimate.

But that’s in the Virtual World; here in the real world, I’m still a law-abiding good citizen.

Let it be, let it be.

Continuing the investigation for the sake of being a ‘true loyal fan,’ I suppose.

“Do we need to keep investigating here?”

Hu Daqiang looked toward Lin Chuan, his tone clearly seeking Lin Chuan’s opinion now.

“Let’s go to the 2nd floor,” Lin Chuan said with a smile.

Lin Chuan had already figured out the crime scene on the 4th floor.

The killer’s technique in fabricating the scene seemed rather clumsy in his eyes.

2nd floor, Hengli Gym.

The three of them crossed the police line, still wearing shoe covers and gloves.

The gym was arranged neatly with various exercise equipment, and it felt a bit stuffy due to the lack of open windows.

There weren’t many traces at the scene.

Shen Qianqian took out more than a dozen photographs, showing the bloodstain reactions detected by the Luminol Reagent.

Lin Chuan took the photographs and compared them against the scene one by one.

After a while.

Lin Chuan concluded, “This here, is indeed not the primary crime scene.”

Shen Qianqian and Hu Daqiang’s pupils suddenly contracted.

Especially Hu Daqiang, his brow furrowed deeply, his face filled with a puzzled look, “Comrade Lin Chuan, after determining that the 4th floor wasn’t the primary scene, we immediately started searching, and we discovered the victim’s DNA here as well. This isn’t the primary scene either?”

Shen Qianqian was better off; she had heard this hypothesis from Lin Chuan’s mouth before, but seeing how certain he was, she couldn’t help but ask, “How do you determine that this isn’t the primary scene?”

Lin Chuan smiled.

Then, he took out a photograph, an overhead shot looking down at the entire scene with the Luminol Reagent’s blood reaction, covered in blue-green fluorescence.

Lin Chuan pointed at the photo and said, “Look at this photograph, what shape are the blood reactions in?”

Shen Qianqian tilted her head, leaning slightly towards Lin Chuan, and looked seriously at the photo, “The bloodstain reactions are in an irregular oval distribution.”

“Is there a problem with that?” Hu Daqiang also asked, frowning.

Lin Chuan smiled, “Friends who frequently engage in killing know that blood continues to flow after it pours out of the human body. If it lands on a flat surface, it will spread outwards, forming a pool of blood.”

Hu Daqiang nodded in agreement.

With years of criminal police experience, indeed, as Lin Chuan suggested, blood flowing out of a body would form a pool on a flat surface.

But then, how does this match up with the irregular oval-shaped blood reaction pattern in the gym?

Why does Lin Chuan say this isn’t the primary scene?

Shen Qianqian also looked doubtfully at Lin Chuan.

Lin Chuan pondered for a moment, then explained, “Look here, this part of the floor has a slight slope. It’s imperceptible unless you’re feeling for it. That means, if the victim truly died here, the blood that flowed out, when encountering this sloped floor, would have traveled in lines, not forming an irregular oval-shaped pool as it would on a level floor.”

Shen Qianqian crouched down, and gently, with gloved hands, touched the floor, lightly brushing over it.

Indeed.

There was a subtle slope!

Shen Qianqian, still a young detective, now looked at Lin Chuan with suspicion and surprise in her eyes.

Lin Chuan’s investigation experience was scarily shrewd.

Or could it be that he truly often engaged in killing and had specialized research on how the blood from his victims flowed?

If that were the case, how many people would he have to kill?

A pathological killer?

Shen Qianqian shook her head and quickly dismissed this horrifying thought.

Hu Daqiang also swallowed hard.

The newcomers performed very well, Lin Chuan’s line of reasoning was about to make his face, as an old criminal police officer, burn with embarrassment.

Thirteen years of cases, all for nothing!

Take a look at Lin Chuan.

He was so meticulous, meticulous enough to detect the slightest incline in a patch of ground and its implications for the flow of blood.

Hu Daqiang completely put away his underestimation and asked earnestly, “Comrade Lin, your reasoning is very sound. Since this is not the primary crime scene, where would the primary crime scene be?”

The primary crime scene was crucial for solving the case.

He hadn’t considered that the murderer would be so cunning as to fabricate two scenes in a row, to confuse the police’s hearing and sight, and to mislead the direction of the investigation.

Lin Chuan smiled, “I believe you’ve already deduced that the victim was 165 cm tall and weighed about 60 kg. The killer, when moving the body to stage the scene, wouldn’t have gone too far from the original crime scene.”

Shen Qianqian nodded, “Right.”

“But if he had time to fabricate two scenes one after another, it means he had ample time to destroy the primary scene,” Lin Chuan said.

Officer Shen and Hu Daqiang’s faces immediately grew somber.

Hu Daqiang furrowed his brows, “Does that mean the lead has been lost again?”

Lin Chuan shook his head and smiled, “If we can’t find evidence at these two scenes, we can investigate from a different angle, can’t we?”

“Which direction?”

Hu Daqiang’s train of thought was already following Lin Chuan’s.

“Put yourself in the killer’s shoes and imagine you are someone who needs to fabricate two crime scenes and clean up the primary scene. What would you need?” Lin Chuan asked, smiling.

Hu Daqiang, as a seasoned criminal police officer, instantly understood Lin Chuan’s idea, his eyes lighting up, “Are you talking about tools?”

To clean up a scene, one must possess tools.

Especially to clean up bloodstains, one might use disinfectant, Luminol Reagent, or bleach powder.

But that’s not all.

One would also need towels that could absorb blood, a bucket of water, a mop for wiping the floor, and so on.

“Exactly.”

Lin Chuan nodded and said with gravity, embodying a great detective, “Based on the clues we have, I infer that his method of fabricating the scene was not professional. Let’s put ourselves in the killer’s shoes.”

“Firstly, after the murderer used a dumbbell to kill the victim, he began to erase her traces, carrying or holding her to the fourth floor of Hengli Company, then fabricated the first scene inside Hengli Company.”

“Secondly, he returned to the scene to collect blood, took the murder weapon, the dumbbell, into Hengli Gym, and fabricated the second scene.”

“Thirdly, he started cleaning up the original crime scene.”

“This is also the most critical step. It’s best to first use towels or paper towels to absorb the blood, because if one were to wash it away with water, it would cause a large area of blood to spread and it wouldn’t completely remove the bloodstains, thus not avoiding a reaction with the Luminol Reagent.”

“Then, begin using disinfectant or perhaps…”

“The last step is to deal with the cleaning tools.”

“If he was foolish, he might take all the tools with him.”

“But with high-definition cameras monitoring the elevators, underground parking lot, and the street outside, carrying the tools would make it very easy to get caught. Therefore, if he was a bit smarter, he would hide these tools within Hengli Building, in a place he considers safe.”

“And that place should be on the fifth floor.”

“Because the fourth and second floors were staged scenes, the goal is to direct the police’s attention to below the fourth floor.”

“The real crime scene is very likely to be the warehouse on the fifth floor.”

Hisss!

After listening, Shen Qianqian took a deep breath and stared steadily at Lin Chuan.

The steps were too clear!

“Officer Shen, I’m just adopting the perspective of the suspect, don’t look at me like that. Novelists talk about immersion when writing books, and it’s the same with reasoning,” Lin Chuan explained immediately.

Fearing that Shen Qianqian would pull out a pair of silver handcuffs, clink them shut, and place them on his own wrists.

Taken away!