The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Chapter 826 - 437: Preliminary Summary of the Investigation Results

After a moment of excitement, Jiang An took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his churning thoughts, and his gaze returned to the yellowed case file.This case, the time of the report was marked as five years ago, but according to Forensic Doctor Wu’s estimation of the time of death.

The discovered corpse had actually been dead for about two years.

In other words, the true time of death should be traced back to seven years ago.

Seven years!

Jiang An unconsciously tapped lightly on the desk with his fingertips.

The young woman’s body found in the dry well last night, the modus operandi looked similar to seven years ago.

Is it the same killer?

If so, why did he act again after seven years of silence?

This long interval of seven years is enough to change many things—his life trajectory, modus operandi, psychological state, even the standards for choosing his targets... Where

should one start to find the hidden connection points between the two cases?

Jiang An knows well that for serial cases, merging and parallel investigations are crucial breakthrough points.

Clues in individual cases are often limited, like searching for a needle in a haystack.

But once multiple cases are compared together, those seemingly isolated details—a peculiar habit in the modus operandi, the choice of certain types of victims, the tiny physical evidence left at the scene—can intertwine into a clear net; the killer’s shadow is often hidden at some node of this net.

Perhaps when looking at a single case, it’s difficult to pinpoint a target, but when two, three, or even more cases are laid out simultaneously, those recurring features will be like fireflies in the dark, weak yet sufficient to guide the way.

Thinking of this, Jiang An’s gaze once again turned to the crime scene photos spread out on the desk.

He firmly believes that the crime scene is the only "silent calling card" left by the killer, and scene investigation is the cornerstone of criminal investigation; any slight oversight could lead the entire investigation astray.

The deceased in the photo was only 22 years old.

While last night’s victim was 24 years old.

The ages are similar, both so young.

This may not be a coincidence.

Then, he continued flipping through the case file, his gaze lingering on the last part—the summary report of the investigations conducted at the time.

The report showed that the task force had deployed vast police resources, conducting a three-month carpet search, reviewing all missing person records in the city and surrounding areas.

However, no one’s physical characteristics or age matched this deceased.

Not only did the age not match, but there was no intersection with the time frame of the disappearances either.

Thinking of this, Jiang An furrowed his brows tightly.

A 22-year-old young woman, it’s impossible for her to be completely isolated from society.

She might have family, friends, colleagues, and her own fixed social circle.

Such a person suddenly goes missing, and no one reported her in the span of two years?

That’s too unreasonable.

Could she be someone living on the fringes of society?

Or did her social circle, for some reason, remain silent about her disappearance?

Or perhaps... the killer deliberately created the illusion that she hadn’t gone missing after committing the crime?

The myriad of questions, like intertwined vines, drew Jiang An’s thoughts deeper and deeper.

According to past experience, such unidentified corpse cases usually don’t escape two typical scenarios.

One is a domestic crime, where the killer lives under the same roof as the deceased, and after committing the crime, often won’t report it, but will deliberately create the illusion of the deceased "going out and not returning"—either claiming the person went to work elsewhere, or fabricating the excuse of running away.

More chilling is that some family members will even cooperate with the killer to act, weaving lies among neighbors, allowing a living person to be quietly erased from people’s memory, ultimately becoming a cold entry of "long-term missing person" in a file.

The other scenario is where the victim herself is an invisible person riding on the fringes of society.

Maybe she is a homeless wanderer, a migrant worker lacking close family ties, or another special group living in the shadows.

They are like dust scattered by the wind, even if they disappear suddenly, there is no ripple.

No one will inquire about their whereabouts, no one will report them missing.

Their life and death have never been within the majority’s scope of vision.

Thinking of this, Jiang An’s blood, which had been boiling due to the reopening of the case, gradually settled down.

This cold case from seven years ago, the original investigation was nothing if not thorough.

The visits and search covered all regions, the evidence testing used the most advanced technology of the time, and the case analysis meetings were held more than twenty times.

Yet, such a thorough investigation ultimately got stuck at the most critical juncture: identifying the victim’s identity.

"Unidentified corpse case, identity is the key."

He muttered to himself.

Now that the old case is being re-investigated, they still face the mystery unsolved for seven years: Who is this person whose life was taken?

Jiang An took a deep breath and cast his gaze outside the window.

At 6:30 PM, the city’s evening rush hour had just begun, and people were streaming out of office buildings heading home.

Yet the Criminal Investigation Squad’s office building remained brightly lit, the sounds of keyboards clacking, phones ringing, and colleagues discussing echoed continuously.

For detectives, getting off work on time is a rarity, burning the midnight oil is the norm.

The officers who had gone out to conduct visits were returning, each wearing the fatigue of a day’s rush.

Jiang An silently sat in the first seat of the conference room, waiting for each team’s firsthand information of the day.