Chapter 975 - 502: Reconstructing the Scene of Death (Part 2)

But Jiang An is different.

It was during this case reopening seminar that Jiang An, with his unique perspective and analysis, ignited new hope for investigation.

If he could, through a near-instinctive keen sense, capture the subtle traces overlooked back then, perhaps this cold case, dormant for ten years, could indeed find a breakthrough and come back to life.

Thinking about this, Director Hou and Director Lu exchanged a glance, tacitly pausing outside the threshold, not stepping in.

The room was dimly lit as Jiang An switched on the strong flashlight in his hand.

Under the concentrated beam of the flashlight, dust slowly floated, revealing the living room’s furnishings that were preserved mostly as they were.

The old furniture remained in its original places, nearly identical to the layout recorded in crime scene photos.

Only in the center of the living room floor, the two human-shaped outlines drawn in white chalk had become blurred and mottled over time.

One could faintly discern a smaller, more delicate fetus-shaped outline at the leg position of the female corpse figure.

Jiang An stood at the entrance, quietly observing the space.

The room was full of cobwebs and dust-laden shelves, yet the tables, chairs, and cabinets had not collapsed, maintaining a bizarre sense of ’normalcy’.

He lowered his head, aiming the beam at the ground by his feet—where hints of dark brown, nearly black blood stains were faintly visible, most having dried and seeped into the cracks between the tiles, leaving only a few discernible traces.

Just as he was repeatedly reconstructing possible scenarios of the scene in his mind, Director Lu’s voice suddenly came from behind.

Director Lu walked over slowly, his gaze sweeping across the slightly dim room, and spoke, "The arrangement of the whole room remains largely the same."

"Though the bodies have been removed, the bloodstains were not cleaned, and the surrounding environment is relatively tidy—that, at first, we found quite normal."

Jiang An immediately replied, pointing to the living room entrance, "Was there absolutely no fingerprint or bloodstain extracted from this door back then?"

Director Lu nodded, his tone steady, "We conducted an on-site examination as soon as the crime occurred."

"Indeed, the doorknob showed no valuable clues—no bloodstains, no fingerprints, not even signs of impact or forced entry."

He paused briefly, continuing, "So at the time, we speculated that this door was likely open, or... was opened voluntarily from inside by someone familiar with the place."

Upon hearing this, Jiang An nodded slightly, shifting his gaze to the dust-covered table in the center of the living room.

A teapot and several glass cups sat on the table, positioned unremarkably.

Yet with time passing, all objects had accumulated a thick layer of dust on their surfaces.

However, on the ground near the table’s leg lay a lone disposable plastic cup.

Jiang An crouched down, pointing at the cup, "Was this also here at the time?"

"Yes," Director Lu affirmed, "When we arrived at the scene, it was just in this position."

"There are some leftover tea stains on the ground still, which leads me to speculate that some collision might have occurred at the time causing tea to spill out."

Hearing this, Jiang An stared at the disposable cup, deep in thought.

In rural areas, using disposable cups is not unusual.

What puzzled him was: under what circumstances would such a cup be used?

His gaze returned to the table—where there were already two well-placed glass cups, positioned without any oddity.

So, whose cup was this extra disposable cup used by?

And why was it found on the ground?

He couldn’t help but link this to his own family’s habit of entertaining guests: typically, only a disposable cup is specifically taken out when receiving a visiting guest.

Before his eyes, the presence of this cup seemed subtly out of place.

Thinking about this, he slightly turned his body, his gaze moving to Director Lu beside him, and asked inquisitively, "Director Lu, I remember the time you guys should have done an in-depth analysis of this disposable cup at the scene, right?"

Director Lu nodded, recalling, "Indeed, we did research it."

"I specifically asked the fingerprint experts from the technical department to conduct a comprehensive extraction, but the result only found fingerprints of the two deceased, with no third person’s trace."

"It seems the visitor may not have drunk from the cup," Jiang An said, deep in thought.

"It’s possible."

"However, so much time has passed, and as the conditions in the scene are limited, many details are unrecoverable now," Director Lu’s tone carried a hint of regret.

As his voice fell, Jiang An slowly turned around, his gaze returning once more to the disposable cup that’s marked as evidence, speaking softly, "But I still feel, this cup... seems to harbor some unusual information."

Seeing his expression grow serious, Director Hou, who had been standing at the door, also stepped forward a few steps.

Through the collaborative investigation of a few consecutive cases, Director Hou had gradually become familiar with Jiang An’s case-solving habits.

Only when catching critical clues would this young captain unconsciously furrow his brows, entering a focused and silent state of thought.

Director Hou immediately stepped forward, slightly bending over, "Mr. Jiang, is there any new finding at the scene?"

Jiang An did not immediately answer, only gently nodding.

He cast a calm gaze at the ground, extending his hand afterward to precisely gesture to a position that’s been marked as evidence.

There, a disposable paper cup lay slanted, its rim still retaining semi-dried water stains.

Following his guidance, Director Hou crouched down, his tone carrying slight hesitation as he looked up, "Looking at this cup alone... it seems like just ordinary scene debris, nothing special."

However, Jiang An took a step forward, slowly stating, "If you look at this cup in isolation, that’s true."

"But if we don’t treat it as an isolated piece of evidence, and instead consider it within the context of the spatial arrangement of the night of the crime, we might discover a different logic."

"I believe there might be an ’entertaining scenario’ that we overlooked."

"Entertaining scenario?"

Director Hou’s eyes flickered suddenly, repeating the four words as if chewing over their meaning.

"Look," Jiang An raised his arm, using his palm to gently trace a semi-circle encompassing the area of the coffee table, stools, and paper cups, "Notice the arrangement of these stools."

He approached the nearby spot marked with white lines, continuing, "In typical residential environments, seats are usually grouped together or placed against the wall to free up space."

"Yet here, the arrangement seems deliberate—two stools side by side on the same side of the coffee table, while a third stands alone across, forming a subtle stance of ’confrontation’ or ’conversation’."

"Considering the deceased were a couple, might this distribution of three stools appear more like they were entertaining a visitor?"

Jiang An paused after reaching this point.

His gaze once again fell upon the overturned paper cup, his tone becoming slower and more deliberate: "Also consider the specific location of the water stains’ spillage—right in front of the stool which was placed alone, with the splash direction pointing towards a guest seat."

"Could this be evidence of a sudden movement? Like someone abruptly stood up, knocking over the cup?"

As he described this, Director Hou and Director Lu standing nearby both gradually displayed serious expressions.

Their eyes subconsciously moved back and forth between Jiang An, the three stools, and the overturned paper cup on the ground, seemingly trying to reconstruct the possible scene of happenings that night frame by frame in their minds.

Under the light, the three seated, the water cup lifted then lowered, an action breaking the tranquility...

After a brief moment, Director Hou slowly nodded, his tone gradually filled with enlightenment: "Looking at each item alone, they are indeed mundane."

"But with your connection—the special layout of the stools, the presence of the disposable cup, the location of water stains... combining these elements indeed forms a complete and logical entertainment scene."

At this moment, Director Lu’s face revealed an expression of unabashed astonishment.

He had personally led several examinations of this scene, and repeatedly studied the crime scene photos countless times, yet had never placed these scattered details in a single living logic for connection.

Previously, although he had wondered about this disposable cup, he had never successfully related it to the seating arrangement or the position of water marks to form a cohesive, narratively compelling picture.

After a long silence, Director Lu finally turned, focusing deeply on Jiang An, his tone carrying a mix of marvel and sincere admiration: "Mr. Jiang, you’ve just stepped into this case today and already opened us to a new line of thought."

"This ability to reassemble fragments and read dynamics from static scenes... is truly admirable."