Diary of a Criminal Investigator

Chapter 673: Half a Fingerprint

The rest of the task force shared some opinions and views.After listening to the report, Li Donglin pondered for a moment and formulated the main direction for the subsequent work of the task force.

"What Old Song said was very good; we need to focus our investigation on other teams that went into the mountains at the same time as the missing victims."

"Especially all-male teams, a thorough investigation must be conducted."

A group of five went missing in the mountains, including a guide and three male bodies found in the same area.

Moreover, all showed signs of burial.

This indicates that the victims did not die by accident but were murdered.

The remains of the other two women among the five missing have not been found to date.

That does not mean the two survived.

As Song Mingguang analyzed, the two women were likely taken away by the perpetrator.

And it is certainly not close by, otherwise, it is impossible that the Beiliang Mountain police station found nothing.

As there were five victims, the possibility of a lone perpetrator is not high.

Investigating expedition teams that went into the mountains during the same period is indeed a feasible method.

"In addition, we should conduct a detailed investigation into the social background, interpersonal relationships, and family situation of the five people."

"It cannot be ruled out that this case was triggered by personal grievances among the five."

"Furthermore, all the equipment and remains found at the scene," Li Donglin looked at Lu Chuan, "Lu Chuan is to conduct a comprehensive second examination."

"Yes!"

This analysis meeting was not long.

The task force was mainly to understand the course of the entire case.

Wang Song and Song Mingguang each took a few people to follow two directions arranged by Li Donglin for investigation.

Since the five victims came from different places, their social connections and family backgrounds were different.

It could not be investigated in a day or two, so the task force was divided into several small groups to investigate at the residences and schools of the five people.

Meanwhile, Lu Chuan went directly to the evidence room of the Criminal Investigation Team.

According to the crime scene investigation of the Criminal Investigation Team of Beizhou City, all equipment of the five victims was found within a 300-meter range.

This included five backpacks, several tents, and some survival equipment for the outdoors.

Lu Chuan was not unfamiliar with this equipment.

Earlier this summer, Lu Chuan and Shen Yan went camping a few times and were quite familiar with some outdoor camping equipment.

"Director Lu, we have already sorted out the equipment according to type discovered."

Assisting Lu Chuan in re-examining the items found at the scene was Zhao Guofeng, the director of the Crime Scene Investigation Office of the Criminal Investigation Team of Beizhou City.

Although the two were not acquainted previously, Zhao Guofeng had long heard of Lu Chuan.

In the past two years, Lu Chuan had risen rapidly and was among the top in the crime scene investigation circle of the entire provincial office.

After showing off his skills in the provincial office’s fingerprint battle at the beginning of last year, Lu Chuan participated in multiple major cases with the task force.

He has now vaguely become known as the top figure in the provincial crime scene investigation field.

Zhao Guofeng’s work was quite meticulous.

Lu Chuan had just looked at the photos from the crime scene.

The victims’ backpacks and outdoor equipment were scattered within a 300-meter radius around the remains.

Many pieces of equipment were scattered.

Now they have been categorized and placed together by Zhao Guofeng and others.

"Director Zhao, have you found anything?"

"Some, but not very significant for solving the case."

Zhao Guofeng pointed to five backpacks in front of him.

"Among these five backpacks, the contents of four should be identical."

"We checked online, and they all belong to one brand, provided by the same outdoor survival equipment supplier as standard survival equipment."

"The contents of the other backpack are much simpler."

"It can be basically confirmed that the four same-branded backpacks belong to the four university students."

"The simpler backpack belongs to the guide."

"We checked the standard equipment list of these four backpacks and compared the items inside one by one."

"We found that the sleeping bags were missing, and the spare batteries were also gone."

"Also, some fire-starting devices for outdoor living were missing."

"This group entered the mountains half a year ago, which was July."

"The specific time was departure on the morning of July 2."

"The local police station received a report on July 10."

"We consulted the reporting students’ parents, and according to the adventure plan of these students at the time, they should have gone into the mountains on July 2 and come out on July 9."

"This means that the time when they might have been killed should be within this period."

"According to the equipment list in the backpack, these supplies and equipment were enough for 10 days."

"So, the possibility that the victims abandoned them halfway is very low."

"I suspect these things were taken by the murderer."

Zhao Guofeng’s judgment...

Does have some logic to it.

But, there also appear to be some logical issues.

"Director Zhao, when Captain Wang reported the case, he mentioned you found some cash in the clothes pockets of the remains?"

"And, there were no transaction records in the victims’ accounts?"

Zhao Guofeng nodded: "That’s correct."

"Then it’s strange, according to your inference, the murderer took some outdoor survival equipment but not their money."

"Why?"

Zhao Guofeng shrugged and shook his head.

He also knew that his speculation and the situation found at the scene were inconsistent and did not make logical sense.

But he couldn’t explain why.

Because there was no financial loss for the victims, the possibility of murder for money seems unfounded for now.

However, some of the outdoor survival equipment the victims carried disappeared.

This raises another issue.

Could it really be that the motive for the killing was just these pieces of equipment?

It shouldn’t be.

It was just a few sleeping bags, some spare batteries, some fire starters.

Putting aside this doubt for now, Lu Chuan continued to examine the evidence found at the scene.

From some subtle traces at the scene at the time of the incident, the judgment made by Zhao Guofeng and his team was that other than the person who reported the case, no one had entered the crime scene for a short period after the murder.

This means that after the murderer killed and buried the bodies, no one had been to the place again.

On one hand, there were no traces of outsiders at the scene.

On the other hand, if anyone had discovered it, they probably would have reported it long ago.

Beiliang Mountain is vast, and the routes taken by adventuring expeditions vary according to the different guides.

So, it is normal that no one entered the vicinity of the crime scene.

This has the advantage that the scene was not disturbed.

Likewise, the items in the backpacks were not touched.

Zhao Guofeng’s team checked all the items at the time.

They were fortunate to find half a fingerprint.

"We have already compared it, but unfortunately it wasn’t successful."