Chapter 16 Hairpin: The possibility of it being a little girl is higher.
"Who had their bell stolen?" Jiang Ling asked Liu Haoran.
"Let me check."
A year has passed, and Liu Haoran can't quite remember anymore. He reaches for the police report from the first incident.
Liu Haoran had just picked up the case file and hadn't even had a chance to look at it when he was interrupted by a burst of crisp applause.
"Slap, slap, slap!"
Everyone turned to look, and there was Wei Changfeng with a big smile on his face. Behind him stood Ying Songmao and his assistant Zhao Jingxin.
Ying Songmao changed into casual clothes, a dark gray woolen overcoat with a snow-white shirt collar peeking out from underneath. The coat was crisp and made him look even taller. He smelled faintly of disinfectant, indicating that he had just come from the laboratory.
While clapping, Wei Changfeng welcomed Ying Songmao and his assistant into the house, his eyes narrowing into slits with a smile: "Captain Ying and Officer Zhao have come personally to guide the bicycle bell theft case. Everyone, please welcome them."
Ying Songmao and Zhao Jingxin entered the office.
As the evening sun slanted through the window lattice, it bathed the entire room in a soft orange hue. The simple brown old furniture, the dark red painted floor, and the light green wainscoting in the Jinwu Road Police Station exuded a warm and inviting atmosphere under this gentle glow.
Ying Songmao's mood involuntarily lifted, his expression became less serious, and his gaze swept across the entire room before finally landing on Jiang Ling.
Wei Changfeng was still excited: "I never expected that such a small theft case would get the police chief to come in person. Our police station is truly honored today..."
Ying Songmao waved his hand, signaling him not to continue: "Let's get straight to the case."
Wei Changfeng immediately ceded the main stage to Jiang Ling: "Okay, everyone continue the discussion, I'll just listen in."
He dragged in a plastic stool and sat quietly in the corner. Although a bellyful of gratitude and praise was stuck in his throat, Wei Changfeng felt very comfortable.
The city bureau leaders just came to present the awards this morning, and Ying Songmao came again with his men just before closing time this evening. What does this mean? It means that our police station has achieved outstanding results and has received attention from higher-level leaders!
Ying Songmao paid no attention to Wei Changfeng's reaction; his attention was entirely focused on the two keywords Jiang Ling mentioned on the phone: "spatiotemporal analysis" and "serial cases": "How does the spatiotemporal analysis method lock down the criminal's life trajectory?"
Jiang Ling did not answer his question directly, but pointed to the blackboard in the center of the office with a map and the time of the incident written on it: "We have just started our discussion, Captain Ying, please listen to the case briefing first."
Zhou Wei happened to be standing in front of the blackboard, so he briefly reiterated what had just been discussed.
Liu Haoran delivered 11 files to Ying Songmao and arranged the photos of the physical evidence on the table one by one in the order of the incident.
Ying Songmao listened attentively, nodded, put on white gloves, took out a magnifying glass, and carefully examined each photo, occasionally using a ruler to compare the angle of the scratches.
Everyone waited patiently.
About half an hour later, Ying Songmao put down the photo and then spoke.
"The average height of a Phoenix brand bicycle when parked is 85 centimeters. Based on the angle at which the bell was removed, as indicated by the scratches, it can be preliminarily determined that the perpetrator's arm length is about 40-45 centimeters, corresponding to a height of 140-150cm."
"The scratches are shallow and haphazard, and the force of the marks indicates that the perpetrator did not have a strong grip."
Upon hearing Ying Songmao's words, Li Zhenliang and the others began to whisper among themselves.
"Height 140-150 cm, weak grip? Doesn't this confirm our earlier guess that the other party is a child?"
"Not necessarily, she could be a thin and short woman."
Jiang Ling did not participate in the discussion, but the light in her eyes was somewhat intense.
Forensic identification is indeed a science! Ying Songmao was able to deduce so much information just from these scratch photos. Arm length, height, and weakness—all of these match up with Shen Xiaomei.
Even if it wasn't Shen Xiaomei, it could be "Xiaoyue".
When she was calm, Shen Xiaomei was willing to talk to the prison guards about Xiaoyue. Xiaoyue was in poor health, often coughing, and later coughing up blood, but she refused to go to the hospital and eventually died in Xiaomei's arms.
Jiang Ling deduced from Shen Xiaomei's few words that Xiaoyue was very thin, malnourished, and died of tuberculosis.
Ying Songmao picked up one of the photos and pointed to the jagged lines on the scratch: "This was not caused by an ordinary tool. It should be the marks left by a flat metal object, such as a key or hairpin, repeatedly slipping."
He then pointed to a photo and said, "Look here, there are marks of bruising from a slip, which suggests that the perpetrator used a foot to dismantle the structure. Therefore, the height should be adjusted down by 5 centimeters from 140-150 centimeters."
The police officers at the police station looked at them with admiration.
How can so many clues be deduced just from photos of physical evidence?
Ying Songmao sorted the photos according to the time of the incident: "Comparison revealed that the bruises from the slippage only occurred in the first three incidents. The number of scratches gradually decreased afterward, which indicates that the perpetrator was not skilled at the beginning and the method of committing the crime in the first three incidents was very immature."
After speaking, Ying Songmao put down the photo, took off his gloves, and began to summarize: "The perpetrator is 135-145 cm tall, thin, and weak. The first case, which occurred in November 1992, was his first offense. He had no experience in theft and used keys or hairpins as tools."
Jiang Ling removed the pearl hair clip that held her bangs back, then took out a key and placed them in front of Ying Songmao: "Captain Ying, could you please double-check whether it's a key or a hair clip?"
Ying Songmao glanced at Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling had short hair that reached her ears. After removing her hair clip, her thick bangs covered her forehead, obscuring her bold and thick eyebrows, and also concealing the sparkle in her eyes. She looked like a pretty and well-behaved girl next door.
She's still just a young girl, yet she's already taking charge of case analysis on her own. What kind of environment could have nurtured such a calm and intelligent person like Jiang Ling?
Ying Songmao picked up the hair clip and keys from the table: "Do you have a bicycle?"
"Yes!" Liu Haoran stood up. "The bicycles are all parked in the backyard shed. I'll go and bring one over."
The case team's office was on the second floor, but that didn't dampen Liu Haoran's enthusiasm for solving the case. He was young and strong, and he quickly carried a Phoenix bicycle upstairs.
Ying Songmao handed the key and hairpin back to Jiang Ling: "You do it." He was stronger, so it was more suitable for the slender Jiang Ling to do it.
Jiang Ling did not refuse and tried her best to mimic the little girl's strength as she swung across the handlebars.
Ying Songmao took a magnifying glass and carefully examined the marks left on the handlebars, then compared them with the photos.
Everyone curiously gathered around Ying Songmao, watching his every move with Jiang Ling.
"Xiao Jiang, you're still too strong. You need to tone it down and not use too much force in your wrist."
"So? Can you figure anything out?"
"If we can identify the weapon used in the crime, that will be another clue."
Although everyone was chattering around him, Ying Songmao was highly focused and didn't notice any noise from the outside world.
"The key is too thick, and the scratches are thin and shallow, so it's not a key. The hair clip has a right angle at the end, is flat and pointed, and the scratches it caused are consistent with the photo."
As soon as Ying Songmao said this, everyone cheered.
"Very good!"
"The perpetrator is most likely a woman; what man would use a hairpin to commit a crime?"
"Judging from the height and strength, it is more likely to be a young girl."
Ying Songmao remained unmoved by the excited cheers, calmly sitting back in his chair and saying to Jiang Ling, "You two continue your discussion."
Jiang Ling walked to the blackboard, straightened her back, and said with a steady gaze: "Okay, now we have identified the murder weapon, the perpetrator's residence, and have preliminarily determined the suspect's gender and build through forensic examination. Next, we will conduct a further analysis based on the motive."
Jiang Ling picked up a red piece of chalk and wrote the words "criminal motive" on the blackboard.
"Bicycle bells are small and of low value. The reasons for stealing them, and committing the theft 11 times, are nothing more than the following psychological factors."
"First, to make money. The original copper bells are worth between 15 and 30 yuan, which can be considered a source of income."
"Second, retaliation. The perpetrator may have been abused or harmed, and the tool used to harm her may have been a bicycle bell, or the person who harmed her may have been associated with the bicycle bell, so the perpetrator stole the bell to gain psychological balance."
"third,……"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhenliang couldn't help but raise his hand and ask, "Is it just a child being naughty or curious?"
Jiang Ling said, "Children's mischief or curiosity is accidental. This case involves a series of crimes that have become a habit, and it is definitely not just mischief or curiosity."
Li Zhenliang thought for a moment and said, "That's right, go on. What's the third one?"
Jiang Ling did not feel disturbed by Li Zhenliang's interruption. The discussion of the case should be a free exchange of opinions, and the more heated and divergent the discussion, the better.
“Okay, I’ll continue. Third, kleptomania. The perpetrator suffered psychological trauma in her childhood and relieved her emotions by stealing, which is a mental illness. The items she stole were usually small items that were not easy to be discovered, such as pens, erasers, hair clips, etc.”
The 1990s was a time of deepening reform and opening up, with opportunities everywhere. Everyone was focused on making money, so who had the time or energy to pay attention to mental health?
Zhou Wei remarked with a sigh, "This is the first time I've ever heard of the term 'kleptomania.' I've caught plenty of thieves, but they were all lazy and good-for-nothings; I've never heard of any of them having psychological problems."
Liu Haoran said from the side, "Ordinary thieves are after money, while kleptomania is a form of psychological compensation; these two are different."
Zhou Wei responded with an "Oh".
With so much knowledge suddenly flooding his head, Zhou Wei felt a throbbing sensation in his temples. He wasn't formally trained in law enforcement and relied entirely on experience to become a police officer, but he knew that Jiang Ling's analysis of criminal motives was very practical, so he listened very attentively, occasionally jotting down notes in his notebook.
As Zhou Wei was taking notes, something suddenly occurred to him. He looked up and asked, "Xiao Jiang, weren't we just discussing how the first crime scene was the furthest from the towel factory, which didn't fit your comfort principle? Why are we analyzing the motive now?"
Jiang Ling smiled: "Good question. Next, we'll combine these three criminal motives with the questions we just asked to create a psychological profile of the perpetrator."
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The criminal investigation theories involved are quite specialized, so I need to list the references to pay tribute to these experts who focus on criminal profiling research!
[1] Chen Wengao. On Criminal Psychological Profiling. Criminal Research, 2013
[2] Kang Jie. Problems and countermeasures in the application of criminal psychological profiling. Journal of China Armed Police Academy, 2016
[3] Kang Jie, Pang Jingjing. Application of criminal profiling in crime prevention. Journal of China Criminal Police University, 2018
[4] Lai Ji. Criminal Psychological Profiling: Reinterpretation of Principles, Tagging Cards and the Prospects of Big Data. Journal of Sichuan Police Academy, 2015
[5] Li Meijin. Crime prevention and control: people-centered approach. Criminology Forum (Volume 3)
[6] Lü Yunping. Reflections on Several Basic Issues of Criminal Psychological Profiling. Journal of Yunnan Police Academy, 2004.
[7] Lü Yunping. Technical approach to criminal profiling. Journal of Hunan Police College. 2008.
[8] Zhang Kai, Ma Hongping. Application of criminal psychological profiling in homicide investigation. Journal of Hubei Police Academy, 2015
[9] Zhang Ruolong, Yue Feng, Zhang Xiting. A review of research on FBI criminal profiling. Journal of Liaoning Police Academy, 2011
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