Chapter 565: Chapter 565: Suspected Suspect

Meeting Room No. 4 of the Criminal Investigation Team in Tianzhou City, the provincial task force is organizing the first case analysis meeting.

Not a single member of the task force is absent, including Li Donglin, Lu Chuan, Song Mingguang, and Wang Song.

Key personnel from the Criminal Investigation Team in Tianzhou City are also present.

The team leader, Wang Chuanmin, sat solemnly to the right of Li Donglin.

For more than half a month, Wang Chuanmin hasn’t had a good night’s sleep.

A family of three was killed in a massacre, but after half a month’s investigation, Wang Chuanmin and the others made no progress.

Finally, feeling helpless, they had to seek help from the provincial department.

Though failing to solve the case is nothing to be ashamed of, asking for help from the provincial office, as the head of the Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team, still left Wang Chuanmin feeling disheartened.

Especially since they still have no leads at this point in the case.

This has been a heavy blow to the entire Criminal Investigation Team in Tianzhou City, with every investigator involved in the case hanging their heads.

"Comrade Chuanmin, please report on the status of the investigation."

Li Donglin and others received the notification yesterday, and the task force members gathered early this morning at the Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team and went directly to the scene.

However, since more than half a month has passed since the incident, it was well over the best time to solve the case.

Therefore, the information the task force obtained at the scene was quite limited.

Though the Criminal Investigation Team in Tianzhou City hadn’t cracked the case, they should have collected some clues over the past half month.

Wang Chuanmin nodded.

"First, based on the traces at the crime scene, we judge that there were three perpetrators."

This was easy to determine, as the killers did not try to hide their footprints during the murder.

As a result, there was a large amount of footprint information left at the scene by the perpetrators.

The Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team also has its own footprint identification expert, although there may be some discrepancies in precision compared to Lu Chuan.

But judging these basic facts is not a problem.

"The conclusion from the Footprint Identification and Analysis is that they were three adult males."

"Second, there should be a significant vendetta between the perpetrators and the victims."

This reason is quite sufficient.

The killers employed extremely extreme violent methods, with obvious retaliatory behavior during the murder.

Psychological experts from the Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team estimated that there was likely a grudge between the perpetrators and the victims.

This is also a major reason why the Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team determined this was a vendetta killing.

"Since the incident, we have thoroughly examined the victims’ interpersonal relationships."

"But no valuable clues were found."

This is what troubles Wang Chuanmin and the others the most.

Since it has been determined that there was a grudge between the victims and the killers, there must be some connection between them.

But after checking the two adult victims and the parents of the child’s classmates, as well as everyone they knew, no deep-seated grudges were found in their interpersonal relationships.

"Have fugitive suspect checks been conducted?"

"In the past half month, the Tianzhou City Public Security Bureau has received twelve investigation assistance notices."

"But no one matching the characteristics was found."

"Furthermore, we conducted investigations on society’s idle personnel around the crime scene, without discovering significant clues."

Li Donglin looked around, understanding the Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team’s clues were limited.

But it’s not that Wang Chuanmin and his team have no achievements at all.

At the very least, the established relationship networks could help the task force reshuffle their investigative strategies.

"Old Song, you go ahead."

After the Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team finished their report, Li Donglin looked at his task force members.

The task force had already received copies of the case files upon yesterday’s notification, and it’s believed they all read through last night; moreover, they visited the scene today, thus everyone should have their own views on the case.

"Vendetta!"

Song Mingguang’s eyes were sharp, providing a clear judgment.

"The killers’ methods were extremely brutal, with execution-style murders."

"I have seen photos of the deceased’s slit throat."

"It wasn’t a smooth horizontal cut, but a slow, deliberate slice."

"The killers relished the process of killing."

"Moreover, from the traces at the scene, the killers completely had the capability to kill all three in a very short time, yet they humiliated the female victim in front of the male victim."

"The purposeful retaliatory nature was very evident."

"Additionally, the perpetrators were professional, leaving no fingerprints."

"Most likely, it was not their first murder."

"Considering there were three of them, I would lean towards... fugitives or individuals with criminal records!"

The task force is indeed different.

Song Mingguang just looked through the files and spent two hours on-site to reach such direct conclusions.

Don’t underestimate these conclusions; there aren’t that many fugitives or people with criminal records.

Moreover, this completely overruled the initial investigative direction of the Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team.

One could say that simply by limiting the range of suspects, the range of the killers’ identities was greatly reduced.

Song Mingguang’s judgment was succinct, taking only four or five minutes to present his conclusions to everyone.

Li Donglin listened, furrowing his brow, not speaking for a while.

He seemed to be considering the accuracy of Song Mingguang’s judgment.

After a moment, Li Donglin finally spoke: "Anything else?"

"Not for now."

"Alright, Wang Song, let’s hear your view."

"I agree with Old Song’s viewpoint."

"The Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team has already conducted an exhaustive investigation into the victims’ interpersonal relationships, and based on the results, the possibility of someone they knew being the perpetrators is extremely low."

"I concur with Old Song’s assertion that the likelihood the killers are fugitives is higher."

"However, considering the social status of the deceased—one being a public servant, the other a teacher—it seems they are hardly connected with fugitives."

"My suggestion is to investigate any possible conflicts they might have had prior to the incident."

"An inquiry into the victims’ whereabouts before the incident might be necessary."

"That’s about it."

Li Donglin agreed with Wang Song and Song Mingguang’s judgment.

These two, while not leaders in their respective criminal investigation teams, are among the best in the province when it comes to case handling.

Moreover, their guesses are not without evidence.

The killers’ method of murder could actually reflect their psychological state at that moment to some extent.

The killers were very composed while committing the murders at the scene.

Their methods were very cruel, and obviously, this wasn’t their first experience with killing.

Li Donglin’s preliminary judgment was also that the perpetrators were probably fugitives with multiple murders to their name.

However, identifying the killers as fugitives doesn’t make solving the case any easier.

On the contrary, it makes the case even harder to solve.

After all, if they were easy to catch, they would not be fugitives.

"Lu, what are your thoughts?"