Captain Lu was aloof again today.

Chapter 60 Case Facts
The journey from the city to Quyang County is not far; if the road conditions are not congested, it takes about four hours by car.

A seven-seater sedan was speeding down the road. Chen Jin was driving, and Xiao Song, who looked nervous, was sitting in the passenger seat.

This was the first time he had come into contact with a serial murder case since he officially became a criminal police officer.

Bai Rushuang sat in the second row, holding a laptop in her hands, with a large stack of hastily printed documents next to her.

Beside her, Wei Qingsong was frowning as she looked through the information of the four deceased over and over again, trying to find clues.

The situation was urgent and time was of the essence; they could not afford to waste a single second, so they began to analyze the case during their journey.

Lu Jingming sat directly behind Wei Qingsong, his eyelids slightly lowered, his expression unreadable. His right hand was slightly bent, resting on his knee, his fingers tapping lightly and casually.

Another junior police officer was sitting next to him.

“The first two cases were too far apart, so it’s unlikely we’ll find any clues. But the third victim, Jiang Keying, and the fourth victim, Luo Jiajia, were murdered only six days apart. I think we should start with them.”

Bai Rushuang glanced at Lu Jingming out of the corner of her eye, and hesitated before expressing her opinion.

Upon hearing this, Wei Qingsong quickly found the information on Jiang Keying and Luo Jiajia.

"Jiang Keying, female, 30 years old, single and unmarried, had an argument with her family on August 22 and ran away from home, never to return. On the morning of August 23, she was found by a rural road. There were no surveillance cameras nearby, and it was raining heavily. There were no fingerprints, footprints or other useful information at the scene."

"The time of death was between 9 pm and 10 pm the previous night. The cause of death was a blunt force trauma to the head, which caused intracranial hemorrhage. The murder weapon is suspected to be a stone."

"Luo Jiajia, 29 years old, was also single and lived with her sister. On the morning of August 28, she was also found in a haystack by a suburban road. The time of death was between 10 pm and 11 pm the previous night. The fatal injury was strangulation to the neck."

Wei Qingsong frowned and flipped through the documents again: "All four victims were sexually assaulted after death, but no semen was found in their bodies."

"Holy crap." This statement shocked Chen Jin, who was driving, and he immediately swore, "Murder and necrophilia? That's fucking disgusting!"

Bai Rushuang was shy after all, and lowered her head somewhat awkwardly.

Wei Qingsong remained expressionless, his tone calm and even: "Indeed, it is shocking."

Bai Rushuang bit her lip and said, "It's been raining a lot lately, making it very difficult to extract any useful traces from the scene. Moreover, the four bodies were all dumped on the outskirts of the city. Except for the section of road where the first case was discovered, where the surveillance cameras are currently under maintenance, the other three locations where the bodies were found do not have any surveillance equipment. This has brought great challenges to the investigation."

Wei Qingsong flipped through two pages of the document and read softly: "The first victim, Yu Fangfang, was 34 years old, single and living alone. Her body was found on the morning of February 7th this year by a suburban highway. The fatal injury was also a strangulation wound to the neck. The time of death was between 10 pm and 11 pm the previous night. Clothing fibers were extracted from her fingernails."

"The second victim, Ma Xiaolu, 26 years old, was single and lived alone. Her body was found in a secluded bush beside the national highway on the morning of April 6. The time of death was between 9 pm and 10 pm the previous night. The fatal injury was also a strangulation wound to the neck. In addition, there was an obvious blow to the back of the head."

"With just this information, it's really too difficult to solve the case. The murderer has strong counter-surveillance capabilities. There was no evidence left at the scene, and the murderer deliberately chose a sparsely populated highway in the suburbs to dump the body. It's clearly a high-IQ crime," Bai Rushuang said methodically.

Although she knew there was no possibility between her and Lu Jingming, she also had her own pride and wanted to prove that she was just as capable as Wei Qingsong.

Wei Qingsong was carefully reviewing the deceased's information, unaware of the unwavering determination in Bai Rushuang's eyes.

Therefore, she did not hesitate to refute: "Wrong, this is not a high-IQ crime. On the contrary, the murderer's intelligence level is not high."

Bai Rushuang's gaze faltered slightly, and she asked blankly, "Why? He didn't leave any evidence, and he killed four people and is still at large. Doesn't that prove he's very intelligent?"

Wei Qingsong closed the documents in his hand and said calmly, "The fact that there was no surveillance footage at any of the four body disposal locations can only mean that he was very familiar with the road conditions in Quyang County."

"No evidence was left at the scene. Firstly, the continuous heavy rain helped him, and secondly, he was well-prepared and had planned it in advance."

As for the fact that he killed four people in a row but was not caught for a long time, Wei Qingsong privately believed that this was because the Quyang branch was too incompetent.

However, there's no need to say such things to Bai Rushuang's face; it's enough to keep it to yourself.

Bai Rushuang's cheeks flushed slightly, and she asked, unwilling to give up, "Then why do you think his intelligence level is not high?"

"Because of the time interval between the first three cases."

After Wei Qingsong finished speaking, he looked up at Bai Shuang and noticed that she looked blank. He then patiently explained, "The first case happened in February, and there was a two-month gap between the first and second cases. The third case is even more outrageous, with a four-month gap between the first and second cases. Have you ever wondered why?"

Bai Rushuang was genuinely stumped by the question. She shook her head and asked, "Why?"

"Because he was afraid. Most serial killers commit their first crime by impulse or accident. Our serial killer, after committing his first crime, lived in fear for two months. When he found that the police could not track him down, he mustered up the courage to commit the second crime."

"This time, he was even more fearful and waited for four months to make sure he had not been exposed before committing the third crime."

"He was a very cowardly and timid person. He didn't even dare to violate the deceased while the deceased was still alive. Such a person cannot be called a high-IQ criminal."

"However, he found that he had hidden himself very well and gradually overcame his fear. Therefore, he became bolder in the fourth case, which also meant that he would be more arrogant."

Wei Qingsong's face was grim: "If we don't catch him soon, I'm afraid there will soon be a fifth victim."

Upon hearing this, Bai Rushuang turned pale.

Perhaps Wei Qingsong didn't mean anything by it, but Bai Rushuang always felt that these words implied that the Quyang County police had failed in their investigation, which led to the tragedy of the three victims.

This made her feel ashamed and embarrassed, and she even felt a little ashamed.

She tried her best to suppress the turmoil in her heart and stammered, "Then, shouldn't we start with the two most recent victims, Luo Jiajia and Jiang Keying?"

“You’re wrong again, Officer Bai.” Wei Qingsong said calmly, his eyes clear, “I just said that most serial killers commit their first crime because of accidents and impulses. So we can’t ignore the first victim. We might find more clues on her.”

Thank you to Qik, Chutian, Qiyue, Laoyao, fellow readers, and the person who gave up a city for their monthly votes.

Thank you? Really? That's all? Drunk Immortal's donation.

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(End of this chapter)