Chapter 638: Chapter 638: Crime Scene Investigation Findings
"The remaining items... are really too few."
Lu Chuan took the ashes sifted through the sieve and examined them carefully.
He wholeheartedly agreed with Yang Sen’s words.
But the scarcity of items doesn’t mean there cannot be any gains.
"These two small bone fragments should be a foot bone and a finger bone."
"Are there... no unburned teeth among them?"
Although the remaining bones were very few and quite small, after careful examination, Lu Chuan was still able to identify which part of the body they belonged to.
Zhang Hui had already grasped the basic situation of the report.
There were no valuable clues; the only forest ranger within several kilometers was the one who reported the incident.
Usually, no one comes up the mountain, and the forest ranger inspects it only once a year.
Moreover, there are many paths on North Mountain, and it’s impossible to trace from where the suspect came or what time they arrived.
In an area stretching for kilometers, there being no inhabitants naturally meant there were no witnesses.
From the perspective of the action team, the difficulty of solving this case is very high.
When Zhang Hui saw Lu Chuan holding only two blackened, nearly melted teeth and two small bones, his frown deepened.
"Lu Chuan, have you found any leads?"
"There are some clues, but they aren’t very significant."
"Oh? Let’s hear them? I’m completely in the dark here."
"First, around the crime scene, we found tire tracks left by a tricycle."
"Judging by the depth of the tire tracks, the tricycle tires seem relatively new, which indicates they were bought not long ago, as there is little wear."
Of course, for specific details, Lu Chuan still needs to conduct a data analysis of the tire tracks back at the station.
And by comparing tire tread patterns with those of some tricycles on the market, he might be able to determine the brand of the tricycle.
Nonetheless, this information is like looking for a needle in a haystack—unless the tricycle brand is obscure, it’s challenging to narrow down the suspect’s range.
Besides, the area around North Mountain is sparsely populated, and it’s unknown from where the perpetrator transported the body for cremation or how far.
However, finding tire tracks is better than nothing.
At least now we know what the suspect used to transport the body.
"Additionally, the area where the body was burned is less than a meter in diameter."
Lu Chuan gestured to Zhang Hui to indicate the entire burning area.
"If the perpetrator had burned the body directly, the ash should have been in the shape of a human body."
"But the burning marks at the scene form a circle with a diameter of less than a meter, suggesting that the suspect likely dismembered the body before bringing it here to burn."
"Hence, it can be basically determined that this location is unlikely to be the primary crime scene."
"Moreover, during the burning of the body, the perpetrator used an accelerant."
This point was relatively easy to assert.
Because generally, a body cannot burn so thoroughly on its own.
The scene left no large bones behind.
However, the specific composition of the accelerant used is not yet known.
It could be diesel, gasoline, alcohol, or something else.
Yang Sen has just collected the soil beneath the ashes, and once analyzed, it will provide an answer.
"Is there anything else?"
"For now, that’s all. We will later conduct an examination of the remaining bones, but the information obtained may not be particularly accurate."
Even with just the foot bone and finger bone fragments, through mathematical calculations, Lu Chuan could still deduce some information about the victim’s physique.
After a brief exchange, Lu Chuan needed to continue the on-site investigation.
"Brother Yang, bring over that small sieve from the car; I need to sift through the ashes again."
"Sure, give me a minute."
A few minutes later, Lu Chuan held a small sieve about ten centimeters in diameter to conduct a more meticulous sift of the ashes.
Yang Sen and the others squatted to watch.
This second sift was primarily to check for any finer residual traces.
This time the sifting did not create the large spread of ashes as the three had earlier.
Lu Chuan squatted on the ground, gently shaking the small sieve in his hand while the others peered inside it.
The focus was on meticulousness, leaving no detail overlooked.
"Stop!"
With sharp eyes, Yang Sen suddenly called to stop.
Then, amid the fine ashes, he picked out a very small round bead.
"What is it?"
"Not sure, but it feels quite hard."
The item was small, only about two or three millimeters in diameter.
"It looks like an iron bead; take it back for testing."
Lu Chuan continued sifting and quickly made another discovery.
"What’s this?"
The item in Lu Chuan’s hand was a nail-like object about half a centimeter long.
It resembled something like a rivet.
"Could it be a bone screw?"
Bone screw?
The voice was Tian Feng’s.
"This spring, my father slipped and broke his hand on a trip."
"At the hospital, they used bone screws for the fracture, and the doctor said they were titanium alloy—heal well without rejection, though a bit pricey."
"I saw the sample from the doctor at the time... it looked just like this."
"Take it back and compare it at the hospital to confirm."
The group remained busy and discovered some more details.
For instance, there were fragments of buttons that hadn’t entirely melted.
Parts of metal zippers remained as well.
Moreover, most importantly, they found a hook-like item.
This item, Lu Chuan didn’t recognize, but Old Bai did.
"A contraceptive ring, made of stainless steel—the victim was female!"
After a whole day of sifting through ashes, the on-site investigation drew to a close.
The findings from the crime scene weren’t insignificant.
From the body-burning ashes, they discovered two bones and two teeth.
There was also a fragment of a stainless steel contraceptive ring.
A tiny residue resembling an iron bead.
A nail-like item, possibly a bone screw.
Some button fragments.
A bit of zipper residue.
There were quite a few items, but their utility remains uncertain.
After wrapping up at the scene, Lu Chuan returned to the Criminal Investigation Team and began related work intensively.
The first task was analyzing the two small bones.
Theoretically, the length and size of human bones correlate with height in certain proportions.
Based on the size of each bone, one can infer the approximate height of a body.
In practice, using longer limb bones like the tibia and humerus gives higher accuracy in determining height.
However, skull and rib bones are less advantageous for this purpose.
The residual bones discovered at the crime scene were parts of a foot bone and finger bone.
Even though they’re relatively small and short, they were limb bones.
Lu Chuan could roughly ascertain the victim’s height from these.
Additionally, regarding the bones, Lu Chuan found another relatively important clue.
