Chapter 1057: Multiple Reports, Information Consolidation

No matter how the suspect hides themselves, as long as they come into contact with Zhu Panpan, they will definitely appear along Zhu Panpan’s disappearance route.

Therefore, tracking and determining Zhu Panpan’s disappearance route is a crucial method and approach for the Major Crimes Unit to solve the case.

Currently, there are three locations related to Zhu Panpan’s disappearance where the suspect can be confirmed to have had contact.

The first is the trash bin in North Second Lane on Jianguo Road, where the victim’s severed finger was found.

Although it is unclear why the suspect cut off the victim’s finger and threw it into this trash bin in North Second Lane on Jianguo Road, preliminary judgment suggests the suspect should have appeared at North Second Lane on Jianguo Road.

Logically speaking, the killer couldn’t have had someone else throw the severed finger into the trash bin on Jianguo Road.

The second location is the North Suburb landfill where the killer discarded the victim’s body.

According to Lu Chuan’s assessment, the suspect likely carried the body into the dump pit rather than pushing it off the edge.

The forensic doctor has made a similar judgment, as there are no signs of rolling on the body.

The third location is North Third Lane on Friendship South Road, discovered by Wang Song.

Although the first crime scene where the victim was killed has not yet been found, Zhu Panpan’s disappearance location must be a place where the killer had contact with her.

Wang Song continued to report.

"We expanded from the center point of North Third Lane on Friendship Road to both ends of the lane, analyzing all individuals who passed through the lane the night of the crime, currently focusing on 1,087 people."

Friendship Road is the largest commercial street in Dongzhou City, so the pedestrian volume is immense.

"Isn’t the killer’s target on Friendship South Road a bit too large?"

Song Mingguang raised a question.

He continued, "The pedestrian volume on Friendship South Road is very high, especially since on New Year’s Day, the malls were open, could there have been witnesses to the killer’s actions against the victim?"

"Not necessarily."

Wang Song shook his head.

"If our initial judgment is correct, then the killer and the victim likely knew each other. Although not particularly familiar, if they had some work interactions, encountering the killer initially wouldn’t put the victim on guard, nor would it cause conflict."

"What about other aspects?"

Li Donglin has already coordinated related forces to collect DNA information on all of the 1,000+ people.

Although this work is extraordinarily heavy, Li Donglin spares no effort in solving the case.

"Let me report my side."

Song Mingguang stood up.

Song Mingguang’s main focus was on the landfill.

The suspect had to transport the victim’s body to the landfill themselves, leaving some trace during the process.

Moreover, transporting the body likely involved using vehicles or other tools, making them more noticeable than people. Song Mingguang investigated all vehicles that entered the landfill between the time of the crime and body discovery.

"Analyzing the current timeline, the victim’s disappearance time was the evening of New Year’s Day, the time of the crime was between 3 and 4 a.m. on the second day of the Lunar New Year."

The timeline from Zhu Panpan’s disappearance to being victimized, then having her finger severed and found on Jianguo Road, North Second Lane, and her body found at the North Suburb Landfill is now clear.

According to the forensic examination results, Zhu Panpan’s death occurred early morning between 3 and 4 a.m. on the second day of the Lunar New Year, but the severing of her finger occurred earlier than her death.

"Judging from the injuries on the victim’s finger, it’s clear that the finger was cut off while the victim was still alive."

This point is certain.

Lu Chuan also examined the finger.

There are obvious signs of stress injuries.

The fracture area of the whole finger shows retracted skin, with strong spasmodic reactions.

This indicates that the victim was not dead when the finger was cut off.

This judgment requires comprehensive analysis, but if the victim wasn’t dead, the injury often results in inward contraction of the wound.

Otherwise, the wound would roll outward.

This is a typical stress response.

This is also a classic feature of the Red-clothed Killer’s long-standing modus operandi.

Song Mingguang continued to report, "The time when the victim’s body was abandoned at the North Suburb Landfill was likely the evening of the fourth day to daytime of the fifth day after New Year’s."

"We’ve already inspected all vehicles passing through during this time frame, including analyzing and investigating pedestrians."

Moreover, Song Mingguang analyzed and concluded that this wasn’t an impulsive murder; the suspect should have planned on where to dump the body beforehand.

Therefore, Song Junguo believes the suspect might have visited the body dump site multiple times, prompting an extensive road monitoring inspection on the landfill route.

"We are focusing on vehicles frequently appearing near the landfill over time."

The vehicles most frequenting the landfill are, of course, garbage trucks.

"We also haven’t ignored garbage trucks as they offer discretion if the suspect used them to dump the body. Additionally, we conducted crucial investigations on regular vehicles frequently going to the landfill, though results are pending."

The key focus of these case investigations lies in details, whether it’s Song Mingguang, Wang Song, or Lu Chuan; no detail is overlooked. Regardless of whether these clues lead anywhere, the suspicious range around the suspect is maximized.

Since the suspect’s DNA was found inside the victim, once DNA identification is complete, expanding the suspicious range will certainly encompass the real suspect allowing for successful DNA comparison.

After Song Mingguang’s report, other groups also provided some situation briefings.

Everyone in the Major Crimes Unit is responsible for expanding the suspect’s suspicious scope to its fullest extent.