The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Hearing these words, Jiang An nodded slightly and continued, ”I completely agree with Director Hou’s earlier points.”

”The predicament we currently face precisely highlights a critical issue—if the characteristic of being left-handed is so distinctly recognizable in the population, why, after investigating a large number of people around the crime scene, have we still failed to identify any suspects?”

”This can only indicate that our current investigation direction might be flawed.”

He paused briefly, then turned to look at the projection screen.

The screen clearly displayed close-up photos of the victim’s neck.

Jiang An stood up, walked to the screen, and used a laser pointer to highlight details on the right side of the victim’s neck: ”Please look, there are multiple nail scratches and fingerprint impressions visible on the right side of the victim’s neck, and there are similar marks on the left side.”

”Based on the direction and pattern of these marks, we can basically determine that the murderer used their left hand during the throttling action.”

He moved the laser pointer’s dot, slowly dragging it along the direction of the marks: ”More importantly, these marks show obvious sliding characteristics.”

”This broad range of sliding marks actually conveys several key pieces of information—”

He surveyed the attendees, his tone becoming increasingly grave, ”It not only confirms the inference that the murderer is left-handed but also implies more questions.”

Hearing this, Director Hou, Political Commissioner Li, and Mr. Qin all showed deep thought on their faces.

Mr. Qin stood up, walked to the screen, carefully scrutinizing the photos, with furrowed brows: ”Mr. Jiang, do you mean that these sliding marks hide more information?”

”Apart from determining that the murderer is left-handed, what do these marks actually indicate?”

”In my view, apart from the left-handed characteristic, nothing else particularly stands out.”

Jiang An nodded, circled a few critical overlap points of the marks with the laser pointer: ”That’s a good question, Mr. Qin.”

”Please take note of the way these marks overlay—it’s not a simple parallel slide, but rather shows characteristics of repetition and uneven pressure.”

”This likely indicates that the murderer adjusted the way they applied force during the crime, displacing their hand as the victim struggled.”

After a brief pause, Jiang An spoke slowly: ”In this case, what we can currently ascertain is that the crime scene is located in a rural area, in the middle of a field.”

”For a case that occurred in such a specific setting, I believe that our first priority should be reasonably delineating the range of potential suspects.”

”Based on the existing information, we can generally reach a consensus—the suspect is very likely to be a resident familiar with the surroundings near the crime scene.”

He paused slightly, his tone even more somber, ”At least from a criminal psychology perspective, I personally think it’s unlikely that someone who has lived in the city long-term would specifically travel to the countryside to commit a crime in such a remote and harsh location against a rural woman.”

”Such behavior not only defies common sense but also contradicts most conclusions from studies on criminal geographical profiling.”

Director Hou and Political Commissioner Li both nodded in agreement at this point.

Director Hou responded, ”I agree with Jiang An’s analysis.”

”From the perspective of criminal characteristics and statistics, this judgment is very convincing.”

”The probability of acquaintance crimes in rural areas is indeed much higher than that of random external crimes, as evidenced in previous cases.”

Jiang An nodded slightly and continued, ”Therefore, once we restrict the suspect’s range of activities to the rural area, the next critical step is to further analyze the physical conditions the suspect might possess.”

”It’s well-known that this region is predominantly agricultural, with long-term residents mostly relying on physical labor for their livelihood.”

”And people engaged in physical labor for extended periods usually have relatively strong hand strength and control capabilities.”

His tone shifted, ”But the issue lies precisely here—if the suspect indeed possesses such strength, why, during the commission of the crime, are there still indications of movement and struggle in the victim’s neck areas?”

”According to the autopsy report, the victim was relatively slim and not muscle-bound.”

”Under such circumstances, the suspect should have been able to more thoroughly control the victim, without leaving such obvious marks of movement.”

”This is something worth further contemplation.”

While speaking, he moved the mouse and clicked on another photo: ”Please pay attention to the muscle state of the victim’s limbs and thighs—from the shape, her muscle groups are not very developed, generally belonging to a relatively frail physique.”

”This raises a thought-provoking question: faced with a victim clearly at a strength disadvantage, why did the murderer leave such significant sliding marks during the control process?”

He paused briefly and then continued, ”This fully demonstrates that the murderer, while using the left hand to apply control, did not manage to exert stable and consistent force.”

”For someone who routinely uses their left hand, the force, coordination, and precision control of their left arm should generally be equivalent to, if not stronger than, our typical right hand.”

”Therefore, I believe, even though the murderer did indeed use their left hand in committing the crime, this hand is likely not their truly dominant hand, at least not the hand with the strongest force and precision control.”