Chapter 901: Lu Chuan’s Discovery

Just like Lu Chuan analyzed in the case report, Lu Chuan feels that this is very likely not the initial crime scene.

So, if this guess is correct, the suspect would have to drag, move, or carry Wang Jingya’s body from the car through the yard before entering the room.

During this process, what could he come into contact with?

"This is a plum tree, right?"

The distance from the road at the entrance to the room is about 30 meters.

There’s a small orchard in the yard, with several fruit trees planted inside, now lush with leaves, already bearing fruit.

When Lu Chuan first arrived, he noticed that each household in the village had a small yard like this, some planting fruit trees, others growing vegetables.

A home vegetable garden is a norm in rural areas.

However, due to the merging of villages and towns, most people have moved away, so many orchards have been largely abandoned.

"It is a plum tree, and it’s almost ripe."

It is already August, and in at most a week or two, the fruits on the tree should be ripe.

After nodding, Lu Chuan circled around the plum tree, carefully observing each branch and leaf.

Zhao Zhigao found it strange why Lu Chuan was fixated on this tree.

"Does Captain Lu like to eat plums?"

Lu Chuan shook his head.

"This tree... is in a perfect spot."

Lu Chuan pointed to the road under the tree in the yard.

"Even though this plum tree isn’t big, it’s lush. If we were coming from outside, and didn’t slightly avoid it, we might bump into this tree, right?"

Zhao Zhigao nodded. He had come and gone from the scene many times and always had to avoid this plum tree, so he knew Lu Chuan was right.

"So, Director Zhao, if the suspect was coming and going, wouldn’t they also possibly bump into this tree?"

This is...

"They would likely bump into it."

Not likely, but definitely!

Lu Chuan’s crime scene investigation starts with this plum tree.

If the suspect contacted this tree, they could have left something of theirs on it.

Of course, this is only a possibility. This tree has been here as police officers have come and gone, so even if something is left behind, it’s uncertain if it belongs to the suspect.

Lu Chuan’s job is not to miss any detail, any point of intersection with the suspect, or any objects possibly related to them, conducting a thorough investigation and trace evidence collection.

In fact, trace evidence collection is not the hardest part; the key is discovering these things.

Hence, the most crucial aspect of trace evidence collection is the ability to find things others can’t by focusing on details, uncovering clues others miss.

Efforts pay off, and soon Lu Chuan discovered some chemical fibers on this plum tree.

Additionally, he found a strand of hair on one branch.

Throughout the process, Zhao Zhigao didn’t utter a word, watching how Lu Chuan collected trace evidence from this plum tree.

Honestly, Zhao Zhigao admired Lu Chuan. First, he hadn’t thought that this plum tree and the suspect could intersect.

On his first visit to the scene, he saw this plum tree, and every time he came and went, he avoided this plum tree.

Instead of rushing, Lu Chuan spent over an hour on this plum tree, lingering instead of leaving.

With a magnifying glass, from root to tip, Lu Chuan examined every leaf and every branch.

On this one tree alone, Lu Chuan spent almost three hours.

"Alright, let’s go."

In fact, Lu Chuan had his own reason for choosing this plum tree.

The suspect tidied the entire scene, but just as Zhao Zhigao hadn’t noticed this plum tree, the suspect likely ignored this tree too.

So, regular evidence detection spots or locations that the police and the suspect are aware of could potentially be overlooked by the suspect.

"When the suspect left, the yard was swept, right?"

Even though the crime happened a few days ago, part of the yard is noticeably cleaner, with no messy dead branches or dried grass, suggesting it was swept shortly before.

This cleaning is quite interesting.

Zhao Zhigao nodded, "The suspect didn’t clean the entire yard, but rather meticulously swept the path they took, specifically to erase their footprints. We couldn’t find the cleaning tool, likely taken by the suspect."

This is the interesting part Lu Chuan mentioned: though the yard is generally clean, a goat path-like line was distinctly swept.

This is likely the path the suspect took from the road to the room.

Meanwhile, other corners remain cluttered.

Arriving at the door, Lu Chuan didn’t enter directly but headed to the adjacent side room.

"Wait for me a moment."

Just like with the plum tree, Lu Chuan carefully inspected everything in this side room.

Lu Chuan was certain the suspect had been here.

This side room originally stored firewood for the homeowner.

Inside now are some branches, kindling, and miscellaneous items.

When the suspect dealt with the body, cooking it required a lot of dry wood.

He wouldn’t have gone elsewhere to collect wood, so he must have used whatever was in this side room.

Therefore, while collecting wood, it was possible he left something of his here.

Watching Lu Chuan working in the wood storage, Zhao Zhigao understood his logic.

Though Zhao Zhigao hadn’t thought of this during his crime scene investigation, he saw Lu Chuan’s thought process clearly.

Honestly, even though Lu Chuan had just arrived at the scene, hadn’t seen many places, and hadn’t even entered the room yet,

Zhao Zhigao had a feeling that by the end of a thorough investigation of the scene, Lu Chuan would uncover significant clues.

It seemed that Lu Chuan’s approach to crime scene investigation was entirely different from his own.

Points he focused on during crime scene investigation were completely ignored by Lu Chuan, who instead focused on areas he hadn’t even considered, spending a great deal of time and energy.

Like a plum tree, or this wood storage room.

Lu Chuan spent over an hour working inside the room again.

When he came out, he was carrying four or five collection bags.

His expression revealed he had made some discoveries.

Of course, this doesn’t mean the collected items necessarily belong to the suspect.

Logically, the homeowner would have visited the wood storage before leaving, so these items could belong to the original owner.