The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Chapter 912 - 474: Inspiration by the Highway (2)

Upon hearing this, Mr. Qin couldn’t help but show a puzzled expression: "You mean, the fact that the deceased wasn’t wearing shoes can still provide some special clues?""Of course it can."

Jiang An nodded affirmatively, "If we can observe the wear on the soles of the deceased’s feet, we can completely deduce the distance he walked barefoot, and possibly even determine the type of surface he walked on."

"This information is crucial for determining the deceased’s movement trajectory."

These words hit Mr. Qin like a revelation, and he nodded repeatedly, "Indeed! This line of thought is very valuable."

As he spoke, he sighed, "Unfortunately, by the time of discovery, it was already a pile of white bones."

At this moment, Director Hou analyzed, saying, "If we consider the features like the deceased not wearing shoes and being scantily dressed along with the scene’s environment, we might need to consider that this person’s identity might be quite special."

"That’s right, Director Hou."

Mr. Qin sighed deeply with agreement, "This is precisely the key reason why we’ve been unable to find the source of the corpse."

"At that time, we conducted a carpet search and factual finding within a five-kilometer radius centered around the scene, and even compared it with the city’s missing persons database, but always failed to find any personnel with matching characteristics."

A long while later, everyone’s gaze naturally turned to Jiang An.

As the leader of the murder investigation team, he had long been accustomed to becoming the focal point of attention at such critical moments.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for his decision.

Suddenly, Mr. Qin asked: "If we’ve already checked all suspicious personnel within a 5-kilometer range, should we expand the search area? Increase to 10 kilometers?"

Jiang An replied: "Not just 10 kilometers, but also 20 kilometers of investigation."

Everyone looked at each other with many displaying expressions of surprise and confusion.

A 20-kilometer investigation range meant the workload would increase geometrically.

The investment of manpower, materials, and time would face tremendous challenges.

Upon hearing this, Mr. Qin hesitated slightly, then took a deep breath and continued: "Mr. Jiang, we have already reviewed the city’s missing persons database. If there were missing persons who fit the conditions, someone would definitely have reported it, but we haven’t found a match."

His tone carried a hint of confusion, clearly surprised at Jiang An’s suggestion.

After all, according to conventional case-solving thinking, if there were no clues in the city’s missing population, expanding the search range was indeed an option, but a span of 20 kilometers seemed a bit too bold.

Having listened, Jiang An nodded, but his gaze grew deeper: "This is indeed a way of thinking, but there’s one thing we absolutely mustn’t overlook, and that is the peculiar nature of the deceased’s clothing."

He paused, then continued, "If he was a local, his identity would probably have been clarified by now."

"But we can’t rule out that he came from far away, like from a distant manor."

"In this case, where he came from, we might not discover easily."

"But, why hasn’t anyone reported him missing?"

Jiang An’s voice was low, yet every word was clear, each question striking like a hammer on the hearts of everyone present.

Following Jiang An’s narration, he further posed a startling question: "Some people go missing, and their families might not report it."

"For instance, those abducted through irregular channels, especially women."

This sentence was like a bolt of lightning, with Director Hou, Political Commissioner Li, and Mr. Qin all showing a moment of shock, exchanging complex glances.

Instantly, the professional sensitivity of the three told them that the possibility Jiang An proposed was not unfounded but indeed a cruel reality.

At this time, the always silent Political Commissioner Li suddenly spoke, "You mean there’s a possibility of abduction?"

Jiang An nodded gravely, his expression becoming more solemn: "Just now, I observed the surrounding environment, and if considering this person simply came from nearby, I think the likelihood is quite low."

"But seeing these continuous mountains, coupled with the clothing characteristics of the deceased, and his daring highway crossing, I strongly suspect he may have been in a hurried escape."

His gaze once again swept across everyone present, "Therefore, next, I think our focus should be on expanding the search range for suspicious personnel, and at the same time, I believe we should check the records of cases involving abducted women and children to identify the deceased’s identity."

Upon hearing this suggestion, Director Hou and Political Commissioner Li nodded together, and Director Hou pondered for a moment before slowly speaking: "It makes sense, this idea is certainly worth exploring further."

"Using the degree of bone fractures to infer the impact force, and checking vehicle repair records to identify the suspect vehicle, is a feasible breakthrough given the limited clues available."

At this time, Political Commissioner Li slightly furrowed his brow, gently tapping his finger on the table as he said: "However, we must also acknowledge that even if the identity of the deceased is determined, identifying the criminal suspect remains a significant challenge."

"The case has been cold for a considerable time, and the scene evidence may have already disappeared; even the road surveillance records have likely surpassed their retention period."

"Moreover, with heavy traffic on highways and the complexity of vehicle types, screening suspect vehicles is akin to finding a needle in a haystack."

Jiang An chimed in: "Political Commissioner Li’s concerns are indeed very reasonable."

"If we adhere to traditional traffic accident investigation methods and conduct extensive searches and visits, it may indeed be of little effectiveness."

"However," he shifted his tone, "I still believe there is always a way."

"In this case, there’s a detail that has always intrigued me—despite the violent impact on the highway, the deceased only had rib fractures and a small indentation on the forehead. Could the impact force be smaller than we imagined?"

Then, Mr. Qin slightly leaned forward, keenly capturing this key point.

He immediately asked: "You mean, although the vehicle speed was fast, the actual impact force wasn’t large?"

Jiang An nodded, further elaborating his reasoning: "Exactly."

"We all know that collisions occurring at high speeds typically result in more severe injuries."

"But in this case, the deceased’s injuries were relatively minor, leading me to wonder: Is there a possibility the vehicle had already decelerated before the impact?"

"For example, the driver might have taken emergency braking measures. However," he paused, speaking in a deep voice, "this speculation also presents a contradiction: large trucks generally don’t brake suddenly because emergency braking incurs substantial repair costs, which drivers are well aware of."

At this point, Jiang An continued, "Yet, it is precisely this contradiction that provides us with a new investigation direction."

"We can focus on checking the car repair services around the scene, especially those specializing in large truck repairs, to see if there were brake system repairs for large trucks during the time of the incident."

"If we can find corresponding repair records, combined with the matching of repair time and incident time, perhaps we can open a breakthrough."

Upon hearing this, Director Hou finally showed a relieved smile.

He looked around at the investigation team members with a determined tone and said: "This line of reasoning is meticulous."

"From analyzing the impact force to checking vehicle repair records, each step follows naturally."

"If we can indeed find repair records with matching times, combined with other evidence, it is truly possible to form a complete evidence chain."

"It seems that we are finally seeing the dawn in this case that has troubled us for a long time."