Compared to the substantial evidence discovered at the crime scene investigation, the progress of the field team’s interviews and inquiries was quite unsatisfactory.

The neighbors upstairs, downstairs, and next door all reported that they hadn’t seen anything suspicious recently, and they weren’t very familiar with Yang Qianqian, who lived there.

The surveillance equipment in the residential area had only one camera at the main entrance, but its clarity was not high.

The field team had gone to the property management office to make a copy, and the details still needed to be analyzed back at the station.

The crime scene investigation team collected so much that it took them the entire afternoon to finish up.

After sealing off the scene, the members of the criminal investigation team returned as the sun had already set; it was already past 6 PM when they reached the station.

Lu Chuan, Yang Sen, and Old Bai went straight to the forensic lab for analysis, while Liu Guodong headed to the meeting room for a case analysis meeting.

In the meeting room, Qin Yong sat at the head, pressing his thumb against his temple, feeling somewhat headache.

"Let’s start with the situation. Zhang Hui from the field team, you go first."

Zhang Hui nodded. Since the case occurred suddenly, all the materials were verbal, so there was no PowerPoint presentation.

"Let’s talk about the report situation first."

"At 12:30 PM today, the Huaguang Street police station received a report of a suspected murder case."

"The first on the scene were two officers from the Huaguang Street police station, Yang Lin and Zhang Baohe."

"The person who reported it was a house cleaning maid."

"The maid’s name is Zhang Suzhen. We have investigated her. Female, 42 years old, works as a cleaner at Good Helper Housekeeping Company."

"According to Zhang Suzhen’s information, she has been cleaning at the site for three years, going there once a week."

"Since she regularly visits and most of the time the owner is not there when she comes, she initially didn’t notice anything amiss."

"As for the key, it was left with the housekeeping company by Yang Qianqian three years ago."

"During her cleaning process, Zhang Suzhen found the drain was clogged. She used a simple device she carried to unclog it."

"As a result, she found what appeared to be a severed finger and then called the police."

"She’s currently in the interrogation room to give a statement."

"We focused our inquiries on the property management company and the neighbors above, below, and beside the crime scene."

"The property management didn’t provide any particularly useful information; the surveillance facilities in the residential area are outdated, with only a standard-definition surveillance camera at the main entrance."

"We have already copied a week’s worth of surveillance footage, and Zhang is reviewing the video."

"The neighbors didn’t notice any suspicious individuals recently, but the resident of unit 603 mentioned an important piece of information - they had heard the sound of a meat grinder from the adjoining unit, which is the crime scene room, for several days."

"However, they thought it was just for making dumpling filling, so they didn’t pay special attention."

"The tenant of the house is named Yang Qianqian, female, 26, and rented the apartment three and a half years ago. She is a model."

"From the current situation, the deceased is likely to be Yang Qianqian herself, but the exact situation still awaits confirmation from the crime scene investigation."

Zhang Hui provided the basic information, introducing the context of the case.

"What about the situation at the crime scene?"

Liu Guodong straightened his back: "The crime scene investigation discovered quite a few clues."

"We found a blood-stained axe, a roll of plastic wrap, and a cutting board in the kitchen."

"Based on the blood spatter found in the kitchen, the murderer likely dismembered the body there."

"Lu Chuan is currently attempting to extract fingerprints from the axe handle and plastic wrap."

"As for what Zhang Hui mentioned, the neighbors reporting the buzzing noise, it is confirmed to be the murderer using a meat grinder to destroy the body."

"However, we currently have no clues as to how the murderer disposed of the bones."

"The clues extracted from the living room and bedroom weren’t very successful. Before discovering the clogged drain, the maid had performed some cleaning in the house, erasing many traces before the report."

"There were no footprints either; the floor had been mopped, leaving no useful clues."

"However, we found some hair in the bedroom and fingerprints in the living room; they are currently under forensic analysis, and the results are pending."

"That’s roughly the situation here."

Despite the murderer’s extremely cruel methods, from an investigative perspective, the difficulty level may not be very high.

It can basically be determined that the tenant Yang Qianqian is the victim.

The focus of the investigation should now shift to exploring Yang Qianqian’s social connections.

"Let’s delegate the tasks."

Qin Yong looked at Zhang Hui: "Field team two, you need to quickly figure out Yang Qianqian’s social connections."

"Since the cleaning staff visits once a week to clean Yang Qianqian’s room, we can deduce that her murder occurred within this week."

"I need to know everyone Yang Qianqian met and everywhere she went within this week. Every detail must be thoroughly investigated."

"Focus on any emotional or financial disputes."

"Yes!"

"Additionally," Qin Yong glanced at Liu Guodong, "the crime scene investigation team needs to work hard to quickly consolidate valuable clues."

"Yes!"

The pressure on Liu Guodong’s side wasn’t particularly heavy.

Although the murderer left many things at the scene, the testing process wasn’t slow.

When Liu Guodong returned to the forensic lab, Yang Sen was conducting DNA comparisons.

The finger found in the drain hadn’t fully decomposed, and extracting DNA material from the hair found in the bedroom was relatively easy, with comparative results expected by tomorrow morning.

From an evidential perspective, confirming the victim’s identity.

Lu Chuan was conducting evaluations on the axe, plastic wrap, and cutting board.

"How’s it going?"

"The fingerprints on the axe were wiped away, leaving little value or clues. Some fingerprints were found on the plastic wrap, but I doubt they’re the murderer’s, likely the victim’s remnants."

"Does the database have Yang Qianqian’s fingerprint information?"

Lu Chuan shook his head: "No, I just tried comparing the fingerprints found on the plastic wrap; no matches were found."

"I’ll mention it to Zhang Hui, so when they investigate Yang Qianqian’s social connections tomorrow, since she’s a model, she might have left fingerprints while signing contracts. See if we can match it."

Naturally, you can’t leave ten fingerprints when signing a contract, usually just the right index finger.

But this is the only thing to try.

Solving cases is like this; more clues don’t necessarily mean the case will be solved.

Many cases have dense clues, but none with strong directionality.

Yet, some cases have only one clue, and just that one can lead to capturing the suspect.

The crime scene investigation might need to work late into the night, while the field team wrapped up early. Tomorrow is the field team’s big day of action.