SFTD -Chapter 269 The Disappearing Evidence (Part 2)

Zhang Chao turned to look at everyone.

“That’s the case in summary. Based on the crime scene investigation, autopsy results, and surrounding inquiries, we ultimately classified it as a home invasion robbery. The impact of the case was significant, but crimes like this tend to be highly mobile, which makes them especially difficult to solve.”

After finishing his explanation, Zhang Chao let out a long breath. Even though more than four years had passed, talking about it still left him feeling frustrated. He had spent months buried in this case, only to end up with nothing.

Zhou Hai looked up at the standing Zhang Chao.

“Officer Zhang, have a seat. Were the bodies of the four victims cremated?”

“You don’t have to call me Officer Zhang, Forensic Doctor Zhou. Just call me Zhang Chao, or Da Zhang. The four victims were cremated shortly after the autopsies. Their families claimed the bodies and took them back.”

Zhou Hai nodded and continued:

“If I remember correctly, you didn’t have a forensic examiner at the time. Who performed the autopsies?”

“The autopsies were conducted by personnel sent from the Southeast City Judicial Appraisal Center. I remember your center’s Senior Forensic Doctor Gao led the team over here — Gao Mingtang, the original leader of Team Three.”

Flipping through the case file, Xu Biao had already located the autopsy report and handed it to Zhou Hai. Sure enough, the signature at the bottom was Gao Mingtang’s.

“Zhang Chao, explain the condition of the door, along with the distribution of footprints and fingerprints at the scene.”

The question caught Zhang Chao slightly off guard. He paused as though recalling the details before answering:

“There were pry marks on the entrance door. A crowbar had been used to force open the edge of the security door, then a small hook was slipped in to unlock it. It wasn’t an especially sophisticated method, but it worked very effectively against low-grade security doors like that one.

We found two partial bloody fingerprints at the scene. They couldn’t be used for database searches, but they were sufficient for comparison purposes. One bloody fingerprint was left on the white wall beside the living room light switch, and the other was on the inside of the door. Both were left-thumb prints.

At the time, Forensic Doctor Gao believed the killer’s glove might have torn, leaving the prints unintentionally. After all, there were no other fingerprints in the room, only many impressions from knitted work gloves.

As for footprints, we found sneaker prints at the scene. There’s also an analysis diagram of the movement path. The killer entered through the doorway and headed straight for the master bedroom. Ji Chenglong, who had been sleeping in the bedroom across from it, came out barefoot to investigate. When he saw what was happening in the master bedroom and tried to run, the killer stabbed him to death in the living room.

Afterward, the bloody footprints returned to the master bedroom, where the killer appeared to search through the room while threatening the victims. After killing the couple, the killer didn’t leave immediately. He stayed in the living room for some time, rummaging through every drawer and cabinet.

Only after that did he head to the secondary bedroom near the entrance, rape and murder Ji Chengxue, and then leave the Ji residence.”

Following Zhang Chao’s renewed explanation, Zhou Hai flipped through the file. The descriptions were extremely detailed. Every trace, every organ, and every tissue condition was accompanied by photographs. Zhou Hai carefully reviewed all four reports.

When he reached Ji Chengxue’s autopsy report, one photograph caught his attention.

He removed the photo, avoiding the overly bright sunlight coming through the window, and examined a picture of the victim’s neck with a magnifying glass.

Seeing Zhou Hai’s actions, everyone instantly fell silent. His eyes always noticed things others missed. Xu Biao hurried closer.

“Hai Zi, did you find something?”

Zhou Hai handed him the photo.

“Look at the position of the Dazhui acupoint on the victim’s neck. Aside from this rather blurry palm print, doesn’t there seem to be some kind of mark here?”

His words immediately drew everyone’s attention. Zhang Chao quickly leaned over as well, studying the photograph while trying to remember.

“There should be digital copies of the photos somewhere. Let me look. Back then, Forensic Doctor Gao left behind a compressed archive file.”

Xu Biao ignored the distraction and continued examining the picture through the magnifying glass.

There were many faint circular red marks on the back of Ji Chengxue’s neck. Vaguely, three or four rows of them could be seen. If one didn’t examine them carefully, they could easily be mistaken for livor mortis because they were so faint.

Using the scale marker in the photograph, it wasn’t difficult to estimate the diameter of each circular red mark. After some quick calculations, each mark measured around 5.2 millimeters.

However, the surfaces of the marks weren’t smooth. No two marks were exactly alike. Each seemed to possess its own unique texture.

Xu Biao narrowed his eyes slightly. Then he pulled out his phone and opened Taobao to search for Buddhist prayer beads.

Jade beads were too smooth. Sandalwood wasn’t right either. Materials like those couldn’t leave such clear impressions.

So what material was it?

At that moment, Zhang Chao located the compressed file and opened the images on the computer, enlarging them directly on-screen.

Zhou Hai stepped closer. The enlarged display made several details far easier to spot than before.

Especially on the far right side of the four rows of impressions, there was a drum-shaped mark bearing several neatly arranged rings and raised circular patterns. Though not entirely clear, it was obvious these weren’t characters or writing.

Xu Biao stared at it for a moment before suddenly realizing something.

“I know what this is. These are Bodhi seed prayer beads — a 108-bead Buddhist bracelet. And that drum-shaped bead should be a Tibetan dzi bead.”

As he spoke, he searched up several pictures on Taobao. Zhou Hai took the phone and compared them.

They were indeed remarkably similar.

Each Bodhi seed had intricate grooves resembling the folds of a human brain, covered in distinct natural texture. Every bead was roughly round, yet each one differed slightly from the others.

Xu Biao’s words immediately drew everyone’s interest. Huang Zhongsheng looked especially surprised as he leaned in.

“Wearing prayer beads while committing murder? Was the killer afraid of accumulating too much sin, or was this a spur-of-the-moment crime? Could it really have been a robbery?”

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes and browsed through the images Xu Biao had found before pondering for a moment.

“According to the information Xu Biao just looked up, the rounder the Bodhi seeds, the more expensive they are. Add in a large-diameter dzi bead like this, and the bracelet becomes extremely valuable. Even years ago, when prices were lower, something like this would still have cost at least seventy to eighty thousand yuan. A robber acting on impulse would carry such an expensive bracelet? And also conveniently have rope, tape, condoms, a dagger, and gloves on him? What is this robber, Doraemon? Does he carry a magical four-dimensional pocket with everything prepared inside?”

The moment he said that, everyone present — including Zhang Chao — froze.

Huang Zhongsheng braced both arms against the edge of the table.

“That’s right. The scene looks too much like a robbery. The intimidation wounds on Ji Heping, the bindings, gagging the victims, Ji Chenglong being stabbed in the back while fleeing, the search for valuables — these are all common robbery tactics.

But judging from the footprints and Zhang Chao’s analysis just now, the killer acted far too casually. It’s as though he wasn’t worried at all about taking on four people by himself.

And in a typical robbery, after entering the scene, the first thing the perpetrators do is confirm whether anyone is present. They check every room. Only circular search-pattern footprints would fit the psychological profile of a robber.”

Zhou Hai glanced at Huang Zhongsheng, strongly agreeing with his assessment, and nodded.

“Were toxicology tests performed on the victims’ stomach contents? Why don’t I see a toxicology report?”