Another incident?!

Lu Chuan, still a bit groggy, was instantly awakened. At this time, in a situation where a homicide has occurred, whatever Zhang Hui called an incident must be a case worth noting.

Liu Guodong put on his police uniform, wide awake: "Another murder case?"

Zhang Hui nodded, his bloodshot eyes gleamed sharply: "It's a homicide, and... still at Qinghe Amusement Park!"

Forty-five minutes later, Lu Chuan was standing at the same spot as yesterday.

The construction site of Qinghe Amusement Park, about seven hundred meters to the east of the main entrance, near the edge of a wall close to the woods.

Today's sunshine was bright, but it brought no warmth to the crime scene investigators present.

The same dumping site, the same naked corpse, the same person reporting the case.

Zhang Fugui looked pale, and he stammered when answering Zhang Hui's questions.

"It was this morning... because of yesterday's incident, I advanced my patrol time a bit today, and then..."

The police line that Zhang Hui and others put up yesterday was still there, but the empty ground now had another body on it.

Though Zhang Fugui once worked at a mortuary crematorium, encountering two body dumps in two consecutive days was...

"Officer... why not station someone here tonight?"

"The perpetrator might even come back..."

Come back?

Zhang Hui's eyelid twitched at the thought.

Finding two corpses in two days at the same location was unheard of for Zhang Hui.

He had seen and investigated serial murder cases, but never encountered such a case.

Even for those at the scene who have been with the criminal police for over twenty years, this was unheard of.

Dumping another body at the same location, what was the perpetrator thinking, hiding under the spotlight?

Or was it a provocation against the police?

No matter what the reason, Lu Chuan had already started putting on his gear to begin the crime scene investigation.

This time, Wang Changjiang and Shen Yan joined him.

The site had already been investigated yesterday, and apart from the new body, nothing had changed.

The location where the body was dumped was almost identical to yesterday, the naked body tossed over the wall, with scratches on the skin and drops of blood on the snow.

The strangulation marks on the neck were very clear, and this victim was also strangled to death.

"Old Wang, you start with the body examination; we'll handle the surrounding crime scene investigation."

Liu Guodong, with Lu Chuan, briefly looked at the body and then began inspecting the scene using the circular radiation method, one doing an outer spiral, the other an inner spiral.

Since a detailed investigation was conducted yesterday, there wasn't much new to find.

They collected the bloodstains from the snow and moved from the main entrance to the outer wall.

Here, the area had also been cordoned off after yesterday's incident.

The police line now lay on the ground, clearly having been tampered with.

Logically speaking, this line should not have been tampered with by nearby strolling elders.

Moreover, according to normal human behavior, with a body just discovered nearby, it's unlikely anyone would come for a stroll here.

Therefore, the cut police line is likely the work of the perpetrator.

"Master, I'll collect footprints and fingerprints first to see if we find anything."

Liu Guodong nodded. With the perpetrator having dumped a body here again, traces were sure to be left behind, increasing the likelihood of finding footprints.

But finding fingerprints was less probable.

Given the current low temperatures, people usually wear gloves outside, especially a murderer handling a body.

No fingerprints were found during yesterday's crime scene investigation either.

Lu Chuan had inspected outside the wall yesterday and remembered the ground conditions.

Therefore, any changes on the ground were immediately apparent to him.

Messy footprints were deeply embedded in the snow, with evident forceful stepping marks near the base of the wall.

With a ruler and a camera, Lu Chuan began to take photos.

Soon, a series of chaotic yet distinct footprints were collected.

"Judging by the direction of the footprints, the other person came from the west, and then returned the same way."

In detail, footprint analysis comprises two areas: one is analyzing the footprint owner's basic features like gender, age, height, weight, etc., based on footprints' shape, size, and depth.

The other is footprint tracking, also known as gait tracking, which is a dynamic footprint analysis method.

By combining the footprint shape features and gait features with investigations and inquiries, the criminal's movements can be traced.

Gait tracking is an empirical science developed from the folk experience of "tracking steps," and through years of research, it has formed the forensic technique of identifying individuals based on their steps.

Generally, a person's footprint characteristics and walking patterns are hard to change.

For example, splayfootedness, pigeon-toed, bowlegs, or knock-knees.

Advanced footprint analysis can deduce a person's gender, occupation, physique, habits, age, and physical traits from the weight distribution, gait, stride length, edges, pressure, earthy residues, etc., of footprints.

Height and weight are the easiest to determine.

Usually, the length of a footprint equals one-seventh of the person's height. This is a general statement, and the specific formula is height equals footprint length multiplied by 6.876.

Different age groups of potential criminals have footprints with distinct age-related features.

For example, juvenile suspects tend to have short steps, small footprints, irregular spacing between footsteps, small bone seams, overall cohesive footprints, and usually take winding paths.

Whereas young adult suspects generally have large footprints, take wide steps, and maintain evenly spaced, straight-line footprints.

Middle-aged suspects show different characteristics; they walk steadily and slowly, with shorter strides compared to their younger years.

Elderly suspects have even shorter strides, with heel pressure exceeding that of the sole, wider bone seams, sparse footprints, and a light, floating sensation to their tracks.

Moreover, if a criminal suspect's steps at the scene are erratic, with inconsistent distances between footprints, it may indicate exhaustion or injuries.

The footprints in the snow, though chaotic, had deep heel impressions and shallow forefoot impressions, indicating the suspect's upright posture and good physical condition.

The pressure on the investigators has increased significantly due to the second body dump by the criminal. Still, correspondingly, the criminal also left more and clearer traces.

"Lu, you collect the footprints first, and I'll report the direction of the suspect's footprints to Captain Qin to see if we can track anything."

"Alright, master. Once I'm done collecting, we'll investigate the surroundings again."

After yesterday morning's incident, all evidence within a kilometer of the scene was collected and taken in.

Reexamining the area now, if anything new is found, it may have connections to the criminal.

For example, if the suspect had a cigarette after dumping the body, it would be excellent evidence.

That would practically mean the suspect turned themselves in.

However, unfortunately, the criminal clearly didn't make such obvious mistakes.

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