Chapter 416: Chapter 252: Three Points of View

When Li Xiang arrived, he realized this case was not simple.

It was even more difficult than the 3·21 Mystery case he solved last time.

Because this time there were even fewer leads for the police, he couldn’t even attempt cranial reconstruction because there was no skull.

Just a pile of flesh. How to investigate this?

There’s no way; even with divine intervention, it couldn’t be investigated.

He was neither a deity nor the Judge of the Underworld, who could look at the Book of Life and Death and instantly know who she was, how she died, who killed her, and if there was any injustice involved.

He wasn’t.

All cases must rely on evidence; without evidence, he was powerless.

The task force in Longhai wasn’t foolish either. They had investigated for a week and combed through all possible leads, and still came up empty, so they could only ask the provincial department for assistance, hoping for a few experts to provide some insight.

That’s why Li Xiang came.

The vehicle quickly came to a stop, Li Xiang got out, and saw Qiu Cang approaching.

“Team Leader Li, let me take you to see the spot where the body parts were salvaged.”

“Alright.”

Qiu Cang led Li Xiang to a concrete dam. From a distance, it was a winding waterway, only a hundred meters wide, with turbid river water and abundant aquatic plants scattered within. A large portion of water plants had been dragged onto the dam, shriveled under the sunlight.

Looking back, beside the dam was a cement road in decent condition, with many pedestrians passing by.

Upon seeing police cars parked here, people began to get out of their vehicles to observe.

The local villagers already knew about the crime scene discovery; seeing several police cars arrived with boats, they curiously approached to watch the spectacle.

The task force members, while dispersing the onlookers, cooperated with technical staff to put the kayak into the water, then tossed some floats, neutral buoys, and other measuring instruments into the river.

This was the buoy drift flow measurement method, determining the river’s flow velocity and direction based on the drift of floating objects. It’s primarily used for observing surface currents.

Using the flow data and the presumed time of death from forensic experts, Li Xiang could infer the approximate site where the body parts were disposed of.

For precise time measurements, the buoy was used for half an hour, and then the on-site technical staff compiled the computer data for Li Xiang.

Li Xiang knew the formula, but calculating it was too cumbersome.

He had a more efficient method: to always control “Xiaomu” at home, Li Xiang purchased a laptop capable of remotely accessing his home workstation.

This allowed him to get “Xiaomu’s” computing support anywhere, anytime.

Li Xiang fed the measured data to “Xiaomu,” instructing it to estimate how far the body parts traveled in the water based on the forensic calculation of time of death.

While waiting, Li Xiang had already noted the water flow direction and asked Qiu Cang for a map.

“The water flows from the northwest to the south, which implies the body parts likely came from the northwest, around this area.”

Li Xiang circled a part on the map, indicating that anywhere the Xiangshui River flowed could be the site where the body was disposed of.

“The Xiangshui River traverses three cities: Langhua, Huai City, and Yuquan. Once I calculate the body parts drift, I can approximate the original disposal site.”

Qiu Cang felt slightly more reassured about Li Xiang’s expert status after hearing this.

Though they had floats and other equipment and could calculate water speed and direction, their initial investigation focused on local areas, costing much time in investigations.

It was only before Li Xiang arrived that they considered extending the search to neighboring cities.

However, determining the disposal site through water flow measurement was no simple task. If the measurements were accurate, it was fine, but inaccurate measurements could lead the entire investigation astray.

Even if Qiu Cang knew this method, he lacked the courage to use it. He preferred spending more time probing one city over taking a dead-end path, dragging everyone down.

Only because the expert team suggested using this method, if issues arose, Li Xiang would bear the responsibility.

So when he saw Li Xiang, his first thought was the buoy drift flow measurement method, which surprised him. Such courage deserved recognition.

“Ding.”

The computer sounded, and “Xiaomu” had completed the calculations. Li Xiang checked, and based on the formula, concluded that the body parts drifted approximately fifteen kilometers down the river. If the rain raised the water level and helped move the parts, the distance might reduce to about five kilometers.

This meant that the primary body disposal site was five to fifteen kilometers northwest of the recovery spot.

Seeing this result, Li Xiang asked for a ruler to map it.

“This ten-kilometer stretch spans two cities, precisely at the border between Huai City and Yuquan.”

His mapping showed the ten-kilometer river segment lay right on the boundary between the two cities.

“It’s not too bad; at least it eliminates one entire city, reducing the workload by one-third.”

Seeing this result, Qiu Cang offered some consolation.

“We can rule out another city.”

At that moment, Qiu Cang heard Li Xiang confidently assert that it’s possible to rule out yet another city. Curiously, he asked, “How can we do that?”

“You forgot what I just said? Why did the killer choose dismemberment?”

“For easier transport, without a vehicle?”

“Right, the suspect likely killed for the first time, so their psychological fortitude is weak, with inevitable panic. Coupled with a lack of vehicle for transport and no suitcase for the body, they opted to dispose of four body parts in garbage bags. For such a volume, at least four bags would be needed. The suspect wouldn’t brazenly choose a public place for disposal with four bags of body parts. Look at the city’s border with the Xiangshui River at Huai City and Yuquan—notice anything?”

Following Li Xiang’s prompt, Qiu Cang closely examined the map.

He soon noticed something peculiar.

Where Huai City and Yuquan border the Xiangshui River, the river splits the two at its banks. On Huai City’s side, transport infrastructure was more developed, with a highway in proximity making it difficult for a non-motor vehicle to access, thus complicating body disposal. Meanwhile, Yuquan had bordering city outskirts, near a village named Xiaowang on the map.

“If I were the killer, I might select this area.”

“Exactly, you know what to do next, right?”

“I understand.”

With Li Xiang narrowing it down to a village, Qiu Cang, as the task force leader, naturally knew the next steps.

He gathered the team to assign tasks to each subgroup.

Once the kayak was put away, the measurement tasks were completed, and everyone left.

The investigation emphasis shifted to the village of Xiaowang in Yuquan.

Li Xiang joined the field investigation team, preparing to inspect Xiaowang village.

The location was only about ten kilometers away; they drove and arrived in twenty minutes.

“Copy all social and civilian surveillance data within a five-kilometer radius along the Xiangshui River, for however many hours there are.”

“Yes.”

“Also, conduct interviews with Xiaowang village residents to see if any young women have gone missing recently. Men should be investigated too.”

Although the deceased was female, missing person searches mainly targeted women. However, Qiu Cang, with his wealth of experience, knew to include men in the inquiry.

Explicitly including this could sometimes yield unexpected results.

As Li Xiang pointed out, there was a strong possibility that the perpetrator was inexperienced. They would be nervous, managing any potential threat that the perpetrator, if from Xiaowang village, might be evading law enforcement, playing into police hands.

“Yes.”

Qiu Cang organized the tasks, and everyone dutifully carried them out, leaving Li Xiang and a few others at the scene shortly after.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep