The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Upon hearing this, Mr. Qin nodded slightly and responded, ”You mean... there might be some problem with his right hand that prevents him from using it normally?”

As soon as he said this, both Director Hou and Political Commissioner Li, seated nearby, nodded in agreement, their expressions growing more focused.

Jiang An then proceeded to further elaborate on his reasoning, ”Exactly.”

”Therefore, I tend to believe that this suspect is essentially right-handed, but at the time of committing the crime, his right hand was incapacitated due to some sudden or inherent reason, which forced him to use his left hand to perform key actions—this has precisely misled our initial profiling direction.”

After this hypothesis was presented, a brief silence filled the conference room, with several people exchanging looks, all showing signs of approval.

Jiang An continued to delve deeper, ”As for why his right hand failed at such a crucial moment, there are actually many possibilities.”

”It could be an old injury flare-up, or perhaps his right hand was injured while committing the crime.”

”It could also be that he needed his right hand to hold other tools, or while controlling the victim, his right hand was temporarily restrained... ”

Then, Director Hou nodded slowly, tapping his knuckles twice on the table, and pondered, ”Mr. Jiang, your line of thought does make sense.”

”However, following the direction you just mentioned, the scope might still be quite large.”

”With a large number of potential individuals involved, the investigation period and resource input would become an issue.”

Jiang An leaned forward slightly, ”Director Hou is right. If we only start by isolating suspects from the ’unable to use right hand’ point, we indeed face a massive workload.”

”But if we analyze it in conjunction with the crime scene environment—the unique rural conditions—we might find more specific entry points.”

He paused briefly and surveyed his colleagues around him before continuing, ”In a rural area, an individual accustomed to using their right hand suddenly switching to the left hand is usually accompanied by some external visible or traceable change.”

”For example, common labor injuries: slicing while harvesting, muscle strains or tears from lifting heavy items, or accidental fractures while building houses or repairing farm tools.”

”These situations often require medical attention and medication, and may even affect daily labor, leaving a strong impression among villagers.”

Just as he finished speaking, Mr. Qin interjected thoughtfully, ”So we can prioritize investigating individuals with right-hand injuries during the time frame of the crime?”

”But such incidents are not uncommon in rural areas—could it be too coincidental?”

Jiang An nodded lightly, his gaze serene, ”I’ve considered the ’coincidence’ Mr. Qin mentioned.”

”Indeed, locking the suspect solely based on hand injuries sounds a bit tenuous.”

”But note, we are not drawing conclusions from this one point alone; rather, we’re considering ’temporarily forced to use left hand’ as a key behavioral characteristic, combined with other existing clues—such as crime timing, motive connections, social relations with the victim, etc.—for cross-checking.”

He paused slightly, emphasizing his tone, ”More importantly, the perpetrator relied entirely on his left hand during the suppression and control, with the right hand barely involved in the key actions.”

”This does not match the general habit of coordinated movement with both hands, more like a compensatory behavior when the right hand is functionally impaired.”

These words brought a brief silence to the conference room.

Political Commissioner Li and Director Hou exchanged glances, and saw affirmation in each other’s eyes.

Director Hou took a sip from his teacup before speaking solemnly, ”Jiang An’s previous analysis is insightful.”

”We have always equated ’left-handed crime’ to ’left-handed individual,’ an assumption that may need adjustment.”

”If the perpetrator is originally right-handed but was forced to use his left hand due to injury, our investigative direction should avoid being misled by this behavioral characteristic.”

He shifted his focus and frowned slightly, ”But if following this reasoning, the scope of investigation might expand instead—most people in rural areas habitually use their right hand, any individual with recent right-hand injuries needs to be watched.”

Political Commissioner Li shook his head helplessly and sighed deeply, ”Indeed, under such circumstances, wouldn’t our scope of investigating right-handers grow even larger?”

At this moment, Jiang An suddenly spoke, ”Director Hou, I actually have an idea, it may be a bit bold, but it might be worth trying.”

Upon hearing this, Director Hou leaned forward slightly, ”Go ahead. This case has reached a bottleneck, and any possibility is worth exploring.”

Political Commissioner Li added, ”Mr. Jiang, as long as it can propel the case forward, I’ll fully support any method.”

Jiang An nodded and became serious, ”My approach involves a bit of boldness to push forward, and perhaps a touch of luck as well.”

”I mentioned earlier, the sudden shift from using the right hand to the left hand likely stems from the right hand being injured in the short term, preventing him from actively using his dominant hand.”

”This injury might fall into two categories: one being a temporary functional disorder, such as sprain, tendonitis, or a condition requiring fixed handling, eventually recovering over time post-crime.”

”The other possibility is permanent damage, like post-fracture malunion, leading to long-term restriction of right hand function.”

”Regardless, it means that around the time of the crime, the suspect’s right hand condition was abnormal.”

Jiang An further focused on key points, ”If we assume he did switch to using the left hand due to right hand issues, then very likely he sought medical attention around the time of the crime.”

”In that case, we only need to retrieve medical records from orthopedics, emergency, surgery, and related departments in hospitals across the city—and even surrounding areas—for those seeking treatment for right-hand injuries.”

”Combine this with the crime scene’s geographical position, timeline, and suspect’s possible movement trajectory for cross-referencing, it could potentially narrow down the scope and identify potential suspects.”

Upon hearing this, Director Hou and Political Commissioner Li’s eyes lit up almost simultaneously, their once furrowed brows relaxed.

Political Commissioner Li couldn’t help but tap the table lightly, and whispered, ”Makes sense!”

”Indeed, this direction is worth delving into.”

”Starting from medical records, it’s both operable and relatively targeted.”

”Mr. Jiang’s idea is not only bold but also extraordinarily perceptive.”

The two exchanged a glance and unanimously nodded in agreement.

Just as everyone indulged in the initial joy of narrowing down the investigation direction, Jiang An spoke again, ”However, there is one more instance, I believe we must pay special attention to.”

”We often say ’it takes a hundred days to heal tendons and bones,’ the recovery cycle for limb injuries tends to be long.”

”If the injury occurred months before the crime, then expanding the time span for investigation would undoubtedly be much more challenging.”

He further elaborated, ”Especially in some rural areas where medical resources are relatively limited, some people might not visit formal hospitals for systematic treatment after fractures.”

”Instead, they might rely on folk methods for simple realignment, not undergoing X-ray confirmation, believing it’s ’set,’ ’all good.’

”In such cases, not only is there no standardized medical record to trace, but even the specifics of injury timing and the actual severity might become a haze.”

”This poses a significant challenge in identifying suspects and narrowing down the investigation.”

Upon hearing this, Political Commissioner Li nodded slightly and spoke, ”Mr. Jiang, what you mentioned is indeed a real and critical situation.”

”But we should still attempt to start investigating individuals who sustained right-hand injuries within a month before and after the crime, focusing efforts on this timeline initially.”

”If no results are garnered within this scope, we’ll gradually extend the timeline forward, broadening the investigation.”

”Do you find this approach prudent?”

He said while glancing at Director Hou.

Director Hou then spoke, ”I completely agree with this approach.”

”Advancing in phases and focusing on priorities enables maintaining investigation rhythm and adjusting flexibly based on actual conditions, the most practical choice for now.”

Upon hearing this, a smile emerged on Political Commissioner Li’s face, summarizing, ”Alright then, we’ll proceed following this direction tomorrow.”

”Criminal investigation inevitably relies on rigorous logical reasoning and solid evidence gathering.”

”But at times, I also believe the investigation process requires a slight bit of luck.”

”It’s precisely these seemingly incidental twists that keep us believing: the net of justice is vast yet fine.”