The situation Qin Yong feared the most did not occur.
There was no second corpse in the reservoir; the salvage team pulled up an electric scooter.
This fell under the scope of the crime scene investigation.
Liu Guodong had already conducted a preliminary inspection of the electric scooter.
"Captain Qin, we found long hair twisted into the rear wheel bearing of the scooter."
Wearing triple-layered gloves, Liu Guodong held up a piece of hemp rope: "The hemp rope was found on the back seat of the scooter, likely used to bind the corpse."
"First, have the scooter transported back to the team; we need to conduct a detailed examination here on-site."
Faced with the electric scooter, a likely tool for disposing of the body, Qin Yong paid great attention.
"Ren Qiang, your group should conduct a survey of the nearby villagers."
"Sun Jun, you're responsible for checking the nearby surveillance cameras, especially focusing on footage from three days ago."
"Yes!"
Sun Jun was the action team leader; after receiving the orders, both began their work promptly.
Qin Yong frowned deeply and directly got into the car to report to the municipal bureau.
With the body submerged in the reservoir for at least three days, solving this case theoretically is much more difficult than the Zhang Wen case.
Of course, the specifics depend on the results of interviews and surveys.
There have been many homicide cases that were solved directly during public surveys.
After all, homicide is a rare event; besides extremely rare serial killers, few have the opportunity to gain experience.
Take Zhang Minlu, who killed Zhang Wen, for example.
He cleaned the crime scene thoroughly, but a burnt-out cigarette butt gave him away.
According to Zhang Minlu's confession, he smoked while wiping the scene.
He also realized that if the butt stayed in the ashtray, it would become evidence.
So, he only flicked the ash into the tray, keeping the butt.
But after the second cigarette, he tossed the butt into the trash.
Everyone makes mistakes, that's being human.
Being flawless, those are the exceptional ones.
In society, the vast majority are just ordinary people.
Similar to attendants at a club, most are skilled with their hands or words.
If truly gifted, they'd earn more at some other job.
Even if the pay isn't great, the quality of patrons they serve is generally higher.
The Criminal Investigation Team.
Lu Chuan had completed the extraction of the deceased's DNA information, and the fingerprint comparison was also done.
He was reporting to the newly returned Liu Guodong.
"The deceased is named Wang Lin, female, a local from Haizhou, 26 years old."
"Ding!"
"Basic task completed: The host has successfully extracted the fingerprint information of the soaked corpse, confirming the deceased's identity."
Coincidentally, the deceased had just renewed her ID card last month, leaving fingerprint information in the system.
Liu Guodong was surprised at how quickly Lu Chuan had confirmed the deceased's identity.
"Fingerprints on soaked corpses tend to swell, making system matching hard, right?"
Liu Guodong had previously dealt with fingerprints from soaked corpses.
The extraction wasn't difficult but matching was very challenging.
The swelling due to the body's bloat required secondary adjustments to the fingerprint.
This process isn't merely about shrinking the entire fingerprint image.
It requires skill and even more, experience.
Successfully matching depends on luck to some extent.
With Liu Guodong and Old Bai's level, they couldn't solve it in less than a dozen hours.
And yet, Lu Chuan managed it alone in under two hours?
Yang Sen, after washing his hands, joined them, taking Lu Chuan's fingerprint analysis report: "Last time when Ren Qiang asked for your help, didn't you say you weren't skilled in fingerprint analysis..."
Huh?
Yang Sen paused when he got the report: "These fingerprints..."
Liu Guodong also realized the issue.
The fingerprints Lu Chuan extracted showed no sign of swelling!
Soaked fingerprints with no swelling!
"Lu, how did you manage that?"
Lu Chuan saw nothing special about it; in the Intermediate Fingerprint Collection Skills, this was minor.
"I used a hollow steel needle..."
Lu Chuan explained the fingerprint collection process: "Fingerprints collected this way show no swelling."
The three of them exchanged a silent look, saying nothing.
They were stunned.
All those years lived in vain.
However, learning a skill without effort… it's not too bad.
It's just a bit embarrassing.
"Um... Lu, after we finish this case, let's treat you to a meal."
"Yes, I'll pay!"
Liu Guodong took the fingerprint report with Lu Chuan's name and went directly to report to Qin Yong.
This time, regardless of whether the case is solved, the crime scene investigation had scored an early success.
Never underestimate the importance of confirming the deceased's identity.
In most homicides, the murderer had a certain motive.
Whether it's a crime of passion, revenge, or for profit, a notable portion are committed by acquaintances.
Crime investigators fear crimes of passion the most.
Such as randomly killing a stranger on the street and then fleeing.
This is the hardest type to solve.
Like a single man in the dark night, passing by a secluded alley, spotting an attractive young woman.
Who knows what happens afterwards? The young woman wouldn't remember, unless she had remarkable recall.
Once the identity of the deceased is confirmed, one can trace and investigate their social connections.
The chances of finding the killer increase significantly.
Moreover, reporting to the higher-ups sounds better too.
At least now they know who the deceased is.
Otherwise, how do you report it?
That who? Who?
And you can't even find the killer if you don't know who's dead.
The crime scene investigation office, once again, subtly showcased its skills.
Liu Guodong quickly returned.
"We only have one task left now."
In the yard, Liu Guodong and the three others circled the electric scooter.
"Where to start?"
Liu Guodong furrowed his brows.
Happy Reservoir was the body disposal site, and the surrounding investigation hadn't yielded any results so far.
From the autopsy results, Liu Guodong had just been to the autopsy room.
The autopsy was underway, but according to Wang Changjiang's preliminary judgment, the corpse offered limited information.
Only the cause and time of death could be determined.
Lu Chuan had also checked the surface of the body, with no significant findings.
And this electric scooter, once used to transport the deceased, was the most likely place for the killer to leave traces.
But, after being submerged for three days.
With such a long time, even if the killer left fingerprints, they couldn't be collected.
"First, remove the hair tangled in the rear wheel bearing for DNA extraction and compare it with the victim's DNA to confirm this is the body transportation tool."
Old Bai suggested.
"I'll assist Lu Chuan in examining the exterior for any fingerprints."
Yang Sen stood with arms crossed next to the rear seat of the scooter, carefully observing.
Liu Guodong nodded: "Let's follow this order first."
The four of them divided the work and began inspecting the scooter.