Chapter 961 - 496: Watch Me Counter Every Move! (Part 2)

After a brief pause, Jiang An turned to Captain Zhang and Director Lu, still speaking in a calm and sincere tone: "Captain Zhang, Director Lu, I indeed didn’t catch the specific opinions of several colleagues sitting below just now."

"I think maybe we could ask them to stand up and briefly state their true thoughts."

"In this way, our subsequent discussion can be more targeted and more likely to touch on the core of the problem."

Captain Zhang smiled and waved his hand upon hearing this: "Oh, how can we ask them to take up everyone’s time?"

"Those opinions are fine for private exchanges, but bringing them up in this setting might seem less formal."

"We can’t waste the precious time of the leaders from the provincial department."

"If there are any issues, we can discuss them slowly after the meeting."

"Mr. Jiang, please continue with your insights."

Jiang An gently raised his hand: "No need to be polite. I think it’s better to let them speak out."

"For me personally, this is also a rare learning opportunity. Actually, this time I came with Director Hou, and rather than ’guiding,’ it’s more about ’learning.’"

"I believe that among our province’s dozens of criminal investigation teams, there are many experienced and highly skilled colleagues who are examples I should humbly learn from."

"Letting them speak is both a sign of respect to them and a process for me to broaden my perspectives and continually improve."

Hearing this, Director Lu, who had been quietly listening, gently cleared his throat and spoke: "There’s truth in what you say. Mr. Jiang is young, but he has a clear mind and unique insights. What’s more rare is his modesty and composure."

"Today, let’s break with convention and not stick to the hierarchy of reports. Everyone can speak freely."

As he spoke, he lifted his head, slowly scanning the veteran officers sitting across from him, and particularly nodded towards them, "You all are experienced and have seen many scenes, why don’t you share your views first."

"Today, we’re not separating by rank. It’s just an exchange and discussion with Mr. Jiang, and we also ask Mr. Jiang to enlighten us, maybe it’ll bring some new inspiration."

After Director Lu finished speaking, a middle-aged officer with graying hair and a calm demeanor spoke: "Director Lu, in that case, let me first share a few of my thoughts with Mr. Jiang."

"Please go ahead." Jiang An maintained a composed and gentle smile, nodding gently in indication.

"Mr. Jiang, you mentioned earlier that regarding the issue of fetal delivery, you believe that external force caused the delivery."

"On this point, I have some questions."

"If it was indeed caused by external force, then the force must have been very strong, possibly even a sudden and intense act of violence."

"What form did this force take? Was it a uniform force on a flat surface, an arc impact, or an instantaneous violence concentrated on a single point?"

He paused for a moment and continued: "However, in our preliminary detailed examination of the deceased’s body, no clear traces of external force were found—neither contusions or bruises on the abdominal skin, nor fractures or distortions in the pelvic bone structure."

"As you know, our criminal investigation work is based on ’facts and evidence.’

"If a hypothesis lacks corresponding physical evidence support, then in actual casework, I’m afraid... it doesn’t hold water."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire conference room suddenly fell into silence.

It was clear that this veteran officer’s wording was sharp, his attitude exceptionally firm, and he made no effort to hide his disagreement with Jiang An’s view.

Perhaps, this was exactly the scene that Zhang Biao and Director Lu hoped to see—the atmosphere in the venue was instantly pushed to a tense state.

Jiang An heard this, and unhurriedly smiled.

He did not respond immediately but slowly turned his head, his gaze sweeping over every face in the conference hall.

At that moment, he seemed to silently gather the attention of the entire room upon himself, with an aura that was calm and powerful.

As the backbone of Jiangcheng’s criminal investigation, Jiang An had always been accustomed to proactively stimulating discussion after presenting key points—he would always smoothly add: "If anyone here has a different opinion, please be sure to point it out."

At this moment, he once again utilized this style, his tone calm yet carrying a force that couldn’t be ignored: "Earlier, I proposed that there was a delivery behavior caused by violence at the scene."

"This elder brother believes there is a lack of apparent evidence, so, I would like to ask the other comrades present, do any of you share this sentiment?"

After he finished speaking, there was a brief disturbance in the venue, with nearly half of the officers—about a dozen people.

Jiang An took all of this in, his gaze steady as he scanned the venue, continuing to speak with a voice clear and calm:

"Then, is there anyone who agrees with the point I just made?"

With those words, the venue instantly sank into silence.

Captain Zhang and Director Lu exchanged a glance, their brows imperceptibly furrowing slightly.

Captain Zhang’s habitually straightened spine seemed to tense up for a moment, while Director Lu lifted his teacup but didn’t bring it to his lips, instead slowly rubbing his finger along the warm cup edge.

Their expressions were calm, yet beneath that calmness, there was a clear sense of solemnity and displeasure.

Both of them simultaneously turned their gaze to the audience below, slowly surveying the vast meeting room.

Every face was either looking down at a notebook or staring unblinkingly at a blank screen, or outright avoiding eye contact.

minutes later, Jiang An said, "Alright then."

"Since all the colleagues are so... cautious and temporarily unwilling to express their views."

"Then, I will proceed to present the point I raised earlier in more detail."

"This time, I will focus on the specific evidence supporting this point, analyzing them one by one from the path of discovery, morphological characteristics of the injury, and possible mechanisms of formation."

Having said this, he slightly turned towards the direction of the control panel, "Could I trouble the comrade who operated the projector earlier to bring up the close-up image of the deceased female’s abdomen again?"

"Yes, from that angle during the autopsy, we need to take a closer look again."

The female officer, with her hair neatly tied in a high ponytail, exposed a section of white neck.

She smiled slightly at Jiang An.

Since the beginning of the meeting until now, her gaze hadn’t left the young detective captain.

Even though by rank and seniority, Jiang An was slightly younger than her, she secretly admired him.

The Jiang An before her, not only faced the crowd without a trace of timidity, but his every word and action carried a calm demeanor resembling a general. What caught her attention more was his eyes: tranquil, profound, as if they could penetrate the surface, directly seeing the depths of the human heart concealed with darkness and guilt.

"Mr. Jiang, is this the one?"

She quickly composed herself, turning the tablet in her hand towards Jiang An. The screen displayed the close-up of the deceased’s body surface.

Jiang An nodded slightly, his gaze not leaving the screen, adding: "It would be best to juxtapose the surface injury photos with the abdominal cavity dissection images, combining internal and external, to see more thoroughly."

The female officer promptly understood, her fingers quickly sliding and stitching on the screen, soon integrating the two key images into the same PPT frame.

Jiang An looked at the projection screen and said solemnly, "Earlier I mentioned that it is highly likely the deceased was subjected to severe external force on the abdomen, prompting an abnormal delivery behavior—"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over every face below, "The critical evidence lies in these two comparative images."

"Can anyone discern the clue?"

A calm voice echoed synchronously in his heart: Since you intended to set me up at the start, let’s involve everyone in it as well.

The line of criminal investigation doesn’t rely on seniority but on observation and intellect.

After speaking, the conference room plunged into a deeper silence.

The crowd was first taken aback, then involuntarily exchanged looks, seeing only similar bewilderment and confusion on each other’s faces.....