The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective-Chapter 151 - 134: Return to the Scene of Death

Finally, Chen He said: "Maybe he really doesn’t know."

After thinking for a while, a fellow officer suddenly asked: "Mr. Li, do you think it’s possible to get infected at a hotel or a massage parlor due to poorly disinfected bedding, towels, or clothes?"

Chen He said: "I don’t know about that."

"However, how he got infected is no longer important."

"His condition has no connection to the case investigation."

"Let’s go and check out the nearby grocery store."

Meanwhile, Li Jian returned to the Detective Squad Leader’s office.

As soon as he sat on the chair and took a sip of tea, Mr. Ma’s call came through.

"Mr. Ma!"

"What’s the status of last night’s fire investigation at the Jiangtai Construction Site?"

Li Jian answered: "Last night, a male charred body was found at the scene. After a comprehensive autopsy, the cause of death is clear; he was burned to death while alive."

"After the fire investigation, the cause of the fire is relatively clear—a short circuit in the electric kettle wire started it."

"So, considering all the information, this seems to be an accidental fire incident."

Mr. Ma nodded and asked: "Were any belongings stolen from the site last night?"

"Currently, the local police station hasn’t received any theft reports."

"Is the identity of the male victim clear?"

Li Jian said: "The person on duty that night was Zhang Biao, who is missing."

"Additionally, based on the height estimate of the deceased, it matches with Zhang Biao’s height."

"We currently suspect the deceased is Zhang Biao."

Mr. Ma spoke: "For such a disfigured body, make sure to be particularly cautious, and verify it biologically."

"Mr. Ma, upon verification, Zhang Biao was a foundling, and his biological parents are unknown."

"Also, he hasn’t married, hence there is no way to conduct biological genetic testing."

On the other end, Mr. Ma suddenly knitted his brows.

Li Jian continued: "However, we discovered an opened bottle of liquor in Zhang Biao’s locker, and there were some bloodstains on the bottle."

"Next, we plan to use the bloodstains for genetic comparison with the bones to indirectly confirm Zhang Biao’s identity."

"Are you sure the bloodstains on the bottle are Zhang Biao’s blood?"

After a slight pause, Li Jian said: "Based on the item’s location, we infer the bloodstains were left by Zhang Biao."

"Frankly, we have no other choice."

"The security room was severely burned, and Zhang Biao’s toothbrush, clothes, and other personal items were not found."

"We can only compare the bloodstains on the bottle in the locker to confirm."

After a long time, Mr. Ma said: "No matter what, you must be cautious, extremely cautious, and avoid any mistakes with the identity."

"Yes! Mr. Ma!"

Then Mr. Ma said: "Oh, there is one more thing."

"Mr. Ma, please direct."

"Higher-ups are very focused on restarting construction at the Jiangtai site, and they have requested we lift the site’s lockdown urgently, so they can rebuild the security room and resume normal security operations promptly."

"Mr. Ma, rest assured!"

"Once we confirm that the bloodstains and skeleton gene match perfectly, we will lift the lockdown at the first opportunity."

At the same time.

In the forensic office, Jiang An was not idle.

He sat alone at the computer screen, carefully observing the fire scene investigation photos.

In Jiang An’s view, the original pictures of the primary scene were particularly important.

Although Li Jian, Zhang Yean, and others are optimistic about this fire site,

Jiang An feels subtly that something is off.

Especially when he saw the burn marks on the second level of the bed frame at the scene, his inner feeling of uneasiness grew stronger again.

If Zhang Biao was a careless person before his death, placing numerous clothes and bedding on the bed, leading to a localized massive burn.

But, why would Zhang Biao’s metal locker be so clean?

It’s worth noting that Zhang Biao had been working there as a security guard for over half a year, without a shred of personal items?

These contradictions seemed very abnormal to Jiang An.

Apart from these questions, Jiang An also harbored doubts about the deceased’s identity.

Although the deceased matched Zhang Biao’s height, the teeth’s wear level suggests a significant age difference between the two.

Considering the wear level of the deceased’s teeth, compared to normal wear patterns, Jiang An believed the deceased was at least 50 years old.

However, Zhang Biao, the security guard, was only 35 years old.

Regarding teeth wear, since everyone’s dietary habits differ, there’s a significant individual variance.

But a gap of up to 10 years left Jiang An feeling deeply uneasy inside.

Next, Jiang An scrolled through and carefully reviewed all the investigation photos.

The status of doors and windows, the distribution of items, the burn marks, as well as the original position of the body, the extent of the body’s char marks...

Jiang An kept digging deep into thought, imprinting all these photos into his mind.

He exerted all his efforts to reconstruct static objects into dynamic actions, recreating the whole process of the fire ignition, burning, and extinguishing.

Suddenly, a thought emerged in Jiang An’s mind.

Back then, in this security room, could there have been only the deceased alone?

If this deceased wasn’t Zhang Biao, why was he dead in the security room?

...

Noon, 12:30.

Li Jian, Jiang An, Zhang Yean, and Wan sat having lunch in the canteen.

Suddenly, Li Jian’s phone rang.

"Mr. Li, the results of the genetic comparison are out."

"How is it?"

"The genes on the White Bone and the bloodstains on the liquor bottle match completely."

"Are you sure?"

"Mr. Li, I’ve confirmed it three times, the genetic markers are a 100% match."

"Good, thank you for your hard work."

Li Jian put down the phone, feeling very excited inside.

He said excitedly: "There’s good news; the results of the bloodstain comparison are out."

"The skeleton of the body at the scene and the bloodstains on the bottle match completely."

"I think we can now confirm the deceased is Zhang Biao."

In an instant.

Zhang Yean and Wan cheered with joy.

But Jiang An furrowed his brow.

Zhang Yean turned and said: "Junior, the case has made such progress, aren’t you happy?"

Jiang An’s face was solemn, then he turned to look at Zhang Yean.

"Senior sister, how was the fingerprint comparison on the bottle?"

Zhang Yean said: "Just after we came back, the fingerprint comparison was conducted."

"The fingerprints on the liquor bottle are different from those on the knife handle, ruling out Zhang Biao’s involvement in the crime."

Suddenly, Jiang An said effortlessly: "Senior sister, have you ever considered that the deceased may not be Zhang Biao?"

"Ah! Not Zhang Biao?"

Zhang Yean was taken aback.

She hadn’t thought about this problem yet.

After a moment, Zhang Yean said: "Current evidence supports it."

"It’s impossible Zhang Biao would place someone else’s belongings in his locker."

"Besides, that bottle of liquor was also recently opened."

"There’s a distinct alcohol scent in Zhang Biao’s stomach."

minutes later, after everyone finished lunch, they left the cafeteria.

Jiang An turned and asked: "Mr. Chen, did you check the surveillance last night?"

Chen He answered: "We checked last night; the surveillance control room is right in the security room."

"After the fire, all hard drive data were destroyed, and surveillance records are not visible."

"Is there any way to recover them?"

Chen He said: "Data recovery is extremely costly and not always successful."

After everyone returned to the Detective Squad office, Li Jian said: "Last night, everyone worked hard."

"Regarding last night’s fire incident, we’re generally wrapping it up."

"The cause of the deceased’s death is very clear; he burned to death while alive."

"The fire cause was an electrical short circuit; unless there are special circumstances, we should unseal the security room early so Jiangtai site can restore normal security order soon."

Others in the office nodded after hearing this.

Suddenly, Jiang An stood up and said: "Mr. Li, I’d like to go back to the site once more before lifting the lockdown."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Jiang An.

Some started whispering.

"This case is already ruled an accidental death."

"It’s not a criminal case, is there still a need to investigate the site again?"

"We have an unsolved Liu Jun death case on our hands, we should focus on unsolved cases."

....

After a while, Li Jian smiled and nodded.

"It’s okay! You can go and re-investigate the site."

"Once you’re finished, I’ll notify the local police station to unseal the site."

Jiang An nodded.

"Thank you, Mr. Li, I’ll go right away."

After speaking, Jiang An quickly left the Detective Squad office.

However, shortly after he exited, Zhang Yean quickly caught up with him.

"I’ll go with you."

"Senior sister! No need, I can go by myself."

"It’s okay, I’ll accompany you."

"If there are any important discoveries at the scene, I can instantly help document them with photos."