?511: Chapter 470: No Bragging   511: Chapter 470: No Bragging                                   Captain Bai felt somewhat guilty when Huang Qiangmin challenged him, andughed heartily as he said, “If you can solve the case, everything is good; but if you can’t, then stop blowing that horn.”


    Huang Qiangmin crushed the cigarette in his hand into the embrace of the Diao Lan nt and lit up another, his gaze hazy as he said, “Old Bai, I haven’t had much contact with you before and never realized how tough you really are.”


    “If you win, you can say whatever you want.


    If you can’t solve the case, then get lost.” Captain Bai’s eyes took on an especially arrogant look as he bluntly resorted to goading, and although his tactic was transparent, it was still irritating.


    Huang Qiangmin couldn’t help butugh and said, “If you had a bit more intelligence, you would know the reason we, Jiang Yuan, arrived in Shiting County is precisely because we’ve been continuously solving cold cases…


    Have you, Bai Jian, ever solved as many murder cases in your life as we’ve solved in two years?”


    Captain Bai, unwilling to lose face, unabashedly said, “No need topare, the number of murder cases I’ve solved in my lifetime is probably not as many as Jiang Yuan solves in a year…


    But…”


    Huang Qiangmin’s expression had softened, but hearing the word “but,” he could only look at Captain Bai helplessly.


    Bai Jian said, “Even if you’ve solved many cases, that doesn’t mean you can solve this one.


    Let’s put it this way, no one in the world dares to say that he can solve every case, right?”


    Huang Qiangmin was stunned to hear such stubbornness, and doubted he could even bite through it if it were thrown his way.


    Liu Jinghui found this exchange amusing andughed, “Captain Bai, logically speaking, what you just said was equivocation.”


    Captain Bai, feeling awkward about arguing with Liu Jinghui from the provincial office, stuck to his guns.


    At that moment, Jiang Yuan said, “Captain Bai, please find a couple of detectives from the special investigation team of the Ma Jiazhuang massacre, the kind who’ve been involved from start to finish.”


    Bai Jian said, “I am one of those detectives.


    What do you want to ask?”


    “The footprint on the window—did you follow up on it?” Jiang Yuan took out a photograph showing a close-up of a one-fifth portion of a footprint.


    It seemed to be the middle part of a shoe that had stepped on the window frame, leaving a trace.


    As soon as Bai Jian heard it, he knew what Jiang Yuan was asking about, “We did have someone look at this footprint at the time; it was too small to be used as evidence.”


    The crime scene was chaotic, making it difficult to distinguish which footprints belonged to the vigers, which to the perpetrator, and which to the police officers and joint defense team members that arrivedter.


    The only certainty was that the one-fifth footprint on the window could be confirmed as the perpetrator’s.


    It was a typical burry footprint location, and the forensic team in Shiting County had done their best to obtain a rtivelyplete imprint.


    However, due to the small size and the construction of the window frame, it ultimately proved to be of no use.


    Simr to fingerprints, footprints also need to be of a certain size and have certain distinguishing features topare.


    A one-fifth footprint, especially just the middle part of a shoe, is seen by experts in the field as essentially worthless evidence.


    Unless it is level 5!


    Jiang Yuan had already scrutinized the footprint carefully and picked up another photo, cing it beside the one-fifth footprint, and said, “These two footprints are from the same set.


    They belong to the same person.”


    Two photographs, both showing footprints, one with only a normal one-fifth, and the otherplete.


    Bai Jian was stunned, his expression gradually shifting to one of disbelief: Are you kidding me?


    Because in the two photos before him, one showed the footprint of a sneaker while the other was of an old cotton shoe.


    The shoes were different, yet to im they belonged to the same person…


    Jiang Yuan exined on the spot, “I believe the murderer changed shoes aftermitting the crime.”


    Now, not only Bai Jian but also the other people in the office crowded over.


    Changing shoes in the middle ofmitting a crime is something heard of but seldom seen.


    Huang Qiangmin also feignedposure with a snort, his curiosity simrly piqued.


    To be honest, he had not encountered manyplex cases; perhaps half of the puzzling cases he knew of were those he’d seen with Jiang Yuan.


    After all, the perpetrators of these kinds of cases wouldn’t concentrate their crimes in Ningtai County; it was only detectives like Jiang Yuan, who pursued cases across different locations, that had such extensive experience.


    Jiang Yuan took out a third photograph, showing a smear of blood,bel number 277.


    Jiang Yuan jotted down a number in his notebook and said, “The killer likely stepped in blood and, in order to avoid leaving too obvious traces, took off his shoes right here and put on a pair of the victim’s shoes.”


    Jiang Yuan began to disy numerous photos, which were of the footprints of old cotton-padded shoes and athletic shoes inside the room.


    Previously, Bai Jian and the other criminal detectives from Shiting County hadn’tpletely disregarded the possibility of using the direction of the footprints to work the case, but there were too few clues from the footprints and yet too many of them.


    The courtyard of the Ma Family was made ofpacted earth, from which walking into the living room with its tiled floor left behind numerous footprints, albeit with poor rity.


    From the one-fifth footprint on the windowsill to the athletic shoe print on the floor, it’s no exaggeration to say that even if one didn’t possess LV5 footprint identification skills, at a minimum high-end LV3 skills would be required, a level most footprint experts in Shannan Province couldn’t reach.


    If it were a high-profile case with absolutely no clues left, one would be forced to rely on footprints, perhaps by packing up all the courtyard prints, categorizing them, thenparing, and for that, finding a high-end LV3 footprint expert who could work the case would be feasible, just like Jiang Yuan had done before.


    The entire process, though, would be cumbersome and time-consuming.


    However, Jiang Yuan didn’t need to go through so much trouble now, with the emergence of the new LV5 footprint identification, perfect for tackling suchplex prints.


    And this step was the most critical one: 0-1.


    Inparison, what everyone found more intriguing and curious about, the shoe-switch, was in fact 1-2, easily deducible by a low-end LV3.


    Immediately following, Jiang Yuan disyed several photos of bloodstains and said:


    “The killer entered wearing his own athletic shoes, but soon after entering, he encountered the victim Ma Jun.


    Ma Jun probably didn’t realize someone had broken in, and the killer quickly murdered him.


    Afterwards, the killer took off his own shoes and, from a nearby shoe cab, pulled out a pair of Ma Jun’s shoes to continue his crimes, eventually leaving in his own shoes.”


    “The shoe sizes of the victim Ma Jun and the killer were quite close, probably differing by only half a size, 42 and 42.5, something like that.”


    “The two individuals were simr in height, but there were significant differences in weight and age.


    Thus, from here, one can distinguish which old cotton-padded shoe prints belonged to the victim Ma Jun, and some others were likely the killer’s.”


    Bai Jian hurriedly said, “Those old cotton-padded shoes were quite popr at one time, and many people in Ma Jiazhuang wore shoes with the same soles.


    How can you tell them apart?”


    Jiang Yuan replied with ease, “Even if they are from the same batch of shoes with the same soles, the wear patterns will be different.


    The soles, once worn, naturally have their distinctions.”


    Using examples from the crime scene right there, Jiang Yuan disyed three photos: “These three photos show the footprints of three identical pairs of old cotton-padded shoes, and you can see that the wear points on the right side, left side, and heel are all different.”


    Bai Jian’s eyes widened, feeling as if he had spotted something, yet also as if he hadn’t seen anything at all.


    With no way of exining influence of “different tones on magical power” to muggles, Jiang Yuan waited briefly before continuing, “The key is, the same type of footprint reveals two different body types, which also means the shoes were worn by two different people…”


    “The same pair of old cotton-padded shoes, showing discordant footprints might be family members mixing shoes, but whenpared with the athletic shoes, it’s still possible to identify the differences.”


    “All in all, finding a breakthrough by using the scene’s footprints, as of now, seems to be feasible,” concluded Jiang Yuan swiftly, turning to Captain Bai.


    Bai Jian couldn’t refute him and even felt that what Jiang Yuan said made some sense.


    At this moment, Bai Jian’s heart began to pound uncontrobly.


    If the points Jiang Yuan raised were to be verified, this case might really have a new lead.


    For an unsolved murder case, any new clue is invaluable.


    And the clue at hand sounded quite reliable.


    “The killer must have had a good understanding of the Ma family home.


    The bloodstain trajectory shows that the killer moved decisively,” Liu Jinghui suddenly interjected, “A fellow viger?


    Or perhaps a rtive or friend?”


    Jiang Yuan said, “The murder was also carried out very decisively.”


    “Ma Jiazhuang is a rather secluded vige, isn’t it?


    If we go back a few years, outsiders would have been scarce.


    Knowing theyout of the Ma family home, especially being able to find it, must have been something only a local could do.


    But the Ma family wasn’t exactly affluent.


    Why single out their house as the first to burrize?” pondered Liu Jinghui aloud, his mind already brimming with inspiration.


    Silently, Huang Qiangmin took out his cell phone and began sending messages to several leaders in charge of Shiting County.