Chapter 1170 - 600: What Is the Motive for the Crime? (2)

After finishing, he added a sentence: "Although we cannot be one hundred percent sure at the moment, based on the past few days of investigation, analyzing basic information such as age, gender, and place of residence, we can almost pinpoint it."

Director Hou smiled slightly and said calmly, "Better safe than sorry."

"No matter how rigorous our reasoning is, it ultimately must be transformed into conclusive evidence."

"Otherwise, how can it withstand scrutiny in court in the future?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Qin Feng immediately stood up and responded crisply, "Okay, I’ll get to it right away!"

Then, he selected several experienced investigators and quickly left.

Liu was lifting the investigation box and asked, "Mr. Qin, where should we go first?"

"Let’s start by reviewing the residences of the three deceased." Qin Feng walked briskly, "Mr. Jiang specifically instructed before departure that these rooms might be the primary scenes, we must be careful before entering, don’t destroy any traces."

"Mr. Qin, do you think this case... could it really be as Mr. Jiang said, that the killer has another move?"

Qin Feng did not look back, his tone becoming solemn, "That’s why we need to move faster."

Relying on the basic information from the public security system’s "One Standard, Three Realities," they quickly pinpointed the residences of the three deceased.

"I will emphasize once more: after going in, first check the door lock, the floor, and the walls. If there are signs of a struggle or old bloodstains on the ground—even if they appear aged—do not touch them, notify the scene investigation staff immediately. Understood?"

"Understood." The three responded in unison.

Liu added, "Mr. Qin, should we also collect everyday items like toothbrushes and towels uniformly as Mr. Jiang said?"

"Yes, not a single item should be missed; we’ll use them for DNA comparisons later."

Zhang Fei’s residence was the first to be opened.

After unlocking it with technical skills, the door hinges made a slight "creak" sound, Qin Feng gestured for everyone to stop at the door while he leaned half his body inside to briefly look around.

The quilt was folded neatly, the water cup and ashtray on the table were arranged orderly.

One of the officers said, "This is too normal... doesn’t seem like a place where something happened."

"Don’t rush to conclusions." Qin Feng crouched down, carefully inspecting the edges of the door lock and frame, "The lock cylinder is intact, no signs of prying, check the windowsill."

Liu put on white gloves, went to the window, and checked: "The windows are all locked, no damage seen."

"Next one." Qin Feng stood up, his tone revealing no emotion.

"Mr. Qin, the clothes are hung neatly, doesn’t seem like they left in a hurry."

"Any signs of opened drawers or cupboards?" Qin Feng asked.

"Haven’t found any for now."

...

On the way back, Li couldn’t hold back any longer and said with a furrowed brow, "Mr. Qin, it feels a bit off that all three places are this clean, right? If these were indeed crime scenes, how could there be no traces at all?"

Qin Feng lit a cigarette and took a deep inhale.

"There are two possibilities," he began slowly, "either these aren’t the primary scenes. Or... the killer cleaned it too thoroughly."

"If it’s the second—a more formidable opponent than we imagined."

He patted Zhao’s shoulder, "Let’s go back and see the DNA comparison results."

At 11 PM, Qin Feng led the team back.

Upon entering the office, Jiang An immediately came up to inquire about the details.

Upon learning that the locks of the three residences were all in a locked state with no abnormalities inside, Jiang An pondered for a moment and analyzed, "From the current situation, we can determine a very important thing—the locations where these three people were murdered were probably not at their homes."

"If they were murdered at home, there would likely be messy traces or signs of a struggle inside."

As soon as this viewpoint was put forward, everyone present nodded in agreement.

Qin Feng picked up the conversation, "I specifically inspected the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen when I was on-site, and indeed found no signs of struggle."

"All items are neatly arranged, knives, and such items are also in their original state, with no signs of being used."

Director Hou pondered, "If the original scene is not at the home, it indicates that these three were likely killed outside."

"And if the murder location is confirmed to be outdoors, the complexity of this case increases significantly."

After a simple discussion, the few of them involuntarily looked towards Jiang An.

At this moment, Jiang An was sitting beside the conference room, elbows on the table, brows furrowed, deeply pondering.

"Mr. Jiang, do you have any new perspectives?" Qin Feng asked softly.

Jiang An nodded and slowly said, "I heard everything you discussed just now."

"Now that we can determine that the primary scene is not indoors, this matter has become more complicated."

"Where were these three people killed? The forensic examination shows that the deceased have blunt force trauma marks on the occiput, and the damage in that area is likely the fatal injury."

"Could it be an outdoor, casual and unguarded sneak attack? And a close-range one at that?"

He spoke while tapping the back of his own head with his finger, indicating such an unexpected fatal blow.

After hearing this, the meeting room fell into a brief silence.

Each person was replaying various possibilities in their mind, and none easily dismissed Jiang An’s judgment.

In comparison to past cases, this case is much more complex.

The fundamental reason being—there is no clear primary crime scene for study.

In common criminal cases, the primary scene often contains a large amount of useful trace evidence.

Through detailed analysis of the scene, crucial evidence like fingerprints, footprints, and biological samples can often be found.

As long as the murderer has been there, traces will inevitably be left. But why is it that in this case, hardly any valuable trace could be found? The very reason being the primary scene cannot be found.

If it’s truly as Jiang An speculates, that the deceased were attacked and killed unexpectedly, this site should be easier to find—because the act of sneak attack itself would leave signs of struggle or resistance.

Yet the reality is, such a site seems to not exist at all, as if the murderer, unnoticed by the deceased, dealt a quick and clean death blow from behind, leaving no excess trace.

After lengthy contemplation, Director Hou slowly opened his mouth, "Currently, we cannot determine where the primary scene is."

"Can we start from the motive? Because even if we search extensively for scenes, it’s unlikely that all three murder locations would be simultaneously found.

The three had different times of death, locations might differ too.

Therefore, should we prioritize analyzing the motive to gradually sketch a profile of the suspect?"

"Motive?" Jiang An pondered for a moment, with deep-set eyes, "During the discussion just now, I was also thinking about one thing—what is the motive behind the killer’s actions in this case?"

"These three people intersected in life, but is this connection only because their residences are in the same village?"

"Or is it because they are bachelors, or grew up in such rural families with shared childhood experiences?"

"The motive is crucial."

"Given the killer chose to target three at once, and these three differ in profession and living environment, what reason caused them to be targeted and killed simultaneously? I believe this motive is worth delving into."

Hearing this, Jiang An nodded, firmly saying, "I think Director Hou makes a very good point."

"Tomorrow we should go to the place they once lived together, visit the village deeply, and might then find a common latent motive that could incite murder."