ebookland Chapter 1119, First Case Analysis
Chapter 1119, First Case Analysis
While sorting through the samples, Xiaolin suddenly noticed a ring imprint on the deceased's left ring finger. Although the ring was missing, the pigmentation on the skin was clearly visible. "It's 1.8cm in diameter, so it should be a silver ring," she said, measuring the width of the imprint. "The edges have patterns, so it might be a special style. We need to compare it with the missing items database." Zhang Lin nodded, and the scalpel finally sliced across the deceased's heart: "The cause of death is complex: blunt force trauma leading to craniocerebral injury, a rib fracture puncturing the lung and causing hemopneumothorax, and hemorrhagic shock. Multiple factors worked together to cause death. A single injury would not be fatal, but the combination would lead to death within 1-2 hours."
As the last stitch pierced the skin, dawn broke outside the window. Zhang Lin looked at the autopsy report's conclusions; the determination of the time of death and cause of death fit together perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle. The matching red fibers, the DNA under the fingernails, the bruises caused by dragging, the injury characteristics matching the scene… every detail told the story of the deceased's final encounter.
On Xiao Wang's notebook, the words "red dress" were circled, with the note "polyester fiber 150x100 strands/inch" next to it. He led the technician to the apartment building where Zhang Lei lived. The motion-activated light on the third floor turned on at the sound of footsteps, and the small advertisements on the wall were swollen from being soaked by rain. "Check apartment 401 first," Xiao Wang pointed to the apartment number. The landlord said that a woman in red had been seen coming and going last Saturday, and Li Juan, the resident of apartment 401, was Zhang Lei's upstairs neighbor.
When the door to apartment 401 was opened, Li Juan was breastfeeding her baby. A red dress hung on the clothesline in the living room, its material gleaming in the sunlight. "This is my cousin's dress," she said, pointing to the lace trim on the dress. "She came to visit last Saturday and said her dress got oil stains on it. She washed it at my place but it wasn't dry, so she left it here." Xiao Wang asked the technician to take down the dress. Fiber samples showed that the warp and weft density of the red fibers found at the scene were completely consistent. "Her name is Zhao Xiao. She works as a cashier at a supermarket and lives in the Sunshine Community in the west of the city."
When Zhao Xiao was found, she was scanning barcodes at the supermarket checkout. The sleeves of her red dress were rolled up to her elbows, revealing a silver bracelet on her wrist. "I did go to Li Juan's house last Saturday," she said. A pack of tissues was in her cash register drawer, the packaging matching the one found in Zhang Lei's living room trash can. "I went around 7 p.m. and left at 7 p.m. Li Juan can testify to that." The supermarket's surveillance footage showed that Zhao Xiao's attendance records from July 1st to July 5th were complete, with her working hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, leaving no opportunity to commit the crime.
"Do you know Zhang Lei downstairs?" Xiao Wang's notebook lay open on the cashier's counter, the pen cap tapping against the date "July 3rd." Zhao Xiao's eyes were somewhat blank, her hand pausing as she scanned the items: "I think I've seen him before, sometimes we bump into each other in the hallway, but we've never spoken." She suddenly remembered something, "Last Saturday, I was hanging clothes on Li Juan's balcony when I saw a man downstairs moving something, it was quite heavy, it looked like a low cabinet, but I didn't pay much attention at the time."
Xiao Wang immediately retrieved the building's surveillance footage. At 4:17 PM on July 1st, Zhao Xiao appeared in the hallway, wearing a red dress and carrying a fruit basket. "She entered apartment 401 and didn't leave until 6:12 PM," Xiao Wang zoomed in on the footage. "She didn't go downstairs during that time; the elevator and stairwell surveillance footage confirms this, and it completely deviates from Zhang Lei's time of death." The technician added that Zhao Xiao's fingerprints did not match the unknown male fingerprints on the fire hydrant box, and her DNA also did not match the skin tissue fragments found under the deceased's fingernails.
Zhao Xiao's call records show that from 8 pm to 10 pm on July 3, she was on the phone with her mother for 1 hour and 23 minutes. The call location was listed as her home in the Sunshine Community. "My mother has difficulty walking, and I call her every night to check on her," Zhao Xiao said, showing the call records. "That day we talked about a supermarket promotion, and I said I would buy her a pair of non-slip shoes. How could she possibly commit murder?" Her bank statements also showed no abnormalities, with no large transfers recently and no connection to Zhang Lei's account.
“She is 158 centimeters tall,” Xiao Wang said, comparing the shoe print data at the scene. “The estimated height of the perpetrator is around 175 centimeters, with a stride length of 68 centimeters. Zhao Xiao’s stride length is only 55 centimeters, which does not match the footprint characteristics at the scene.” The technician measured the width of Zhao Xiao’s palm, which was 7.5 centimeters, 1.5 centimeters narrower than the grip marks on the balcony railing. “Furthermore, she is not very strong and could not have moved an 80-kilogram low cabinet by herself.”
When Zhao Xiao's DNA comparison results came back, Xiao Wang was organizing the investigation materials. The report showed that Zhao Xiao's genetic profile did not match any biological samples found at the scene. Although the fibers on the red dress were consistent with those found at the scene, they were not stained with any blood or the victim's skin tissue. "She just happened to be near the scene," Xiao Wang crossed out Zhao Xiao's name. "That red dress was a coincidence; she has no connection to Zhang Lei's death."
After ruling out Zhao Xiao as a suspect, Xiao Wang stood in the stairwell of the apartment building. Suddenly, the motion-activated light went out, and in the darkness, she could almost hear the sound of a low cabinet being dragged. The clue of the red dress had gone cold, but the man Zhao Xiao mentioned moving the low cabinet became a new direction for the investigation. In Xiao Wang's notebook, the words "mysterious cabinet mover" were circled, with a question mark next to them, as if waiting for the answer to be revealed.
The next morning, the curtains in the Criminal Investigation Division's meeting room weren't fully drawn, and the morning light cut diagonally across the case file of "Zhang Lei's murder." A ring of tea stains clung to the rim of Li Ming's enamel mug, creating a strange symmetry with the cigarette butt on the table. "Everyone's here," he said, tapping the table with his knuckles. The notebooks in front of the attendees were all open; Xiao Yang's investigation notebook still had red fibers from the scene stuck to it. "Let's go in order. Xiao Yang, first, explain your new findings from the detailed investigation."
Xiao Yang lifted the projector screen, and a 3D model of Zhang Lei's house instantly filled the walls. The rectangular blank space in the center of the living room stood out starkly against the point cloud data. "Focus on the missing low cabinet," he said, outlining the blank area with his laser pointer. "Based on the scratches and load-bearing marks on the floor, its volume is estimated to be 180x60x50cm, the material should be oak, and its weight is approximately 80 kilograms." The model rotated towards the balcony, and the gripping marks on the railing showed a pale blue fluorescence under a 450nm wavelength. "The extracted skin tissue fragments match the fingerprints on the fire hydrant box, indicating that the man in the black jacket was the one who moved the cabinet."
Zhang Lin suddenly raised his hand, and the forensic report flipped between his fingers: "The skin tissue under the deceased's fingernails is completely consistent with this man's DNA profile." He pointed to the STR map on page 5 of the report, "All 16 loci match, indicating that the deceased had a fierce struggle with him before his death."