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墨書 Inktalez
"Let me think, what can I do? This case involves seventeen lives, and the main similarity is that all the victims are young women. Each of the deceased suffered from sexual assault during their lifetime, and every one of them bears multiple types of injuries. Some were even brutally dismembered, yet the ultimate cause of death for all was poisoning.
Moreover, according to records, all the victims, like the woman we just saw, show no signs of struggle before death; aside from post-mortem injuries, there are no signs of prior harm. This suggests that there was likely no fight involved, indicating that the perpetrator might have been someone familiar to them. But if it were a familiar person committing these crimes, they would have nearly wiped out all the young women they knew.
Thus, while reviewing the old case files, I paid special attention to the identities of these women. Aside from this unnamed corpse and three others whose identities remain unknown, the other victims come from various backgrounds: singers, shopkeepers, courtesans, ordinary citizens, and even daughters from wealthy families. Their residences are scattered across Suzhou City with no apparent connections among them.
This indicates that the perpetrator is not targeting specific individuals. If that’s the case, it’s highly likely that this murderer harbors a deep-seated hatred for young women.
As for the motive… I ventured my thoughts. "This murderer probably experienced some severe psychological trauma in the past that led to a growing hatred towards women. Eventually, they lost control and resorted to such brutal acts. Overall, I believe this person is likely a psychopath."
Otherwise, after poisoning someone, why would they go to such lengths to mutilate the body? It defies logic; it must be an abnormal emotional release.
"I agree," Nie Qiuyuan concurred with my viewpoint. "Such individuals need to be brought to justice quickly; otherwise, the public will inevitably panic." He then asked, "If that’s the motive, what should we do next?"
According to what I’ve learned, once we determine that this case is a series of premeditated murders stemming from psychological abnormalities, our next step should be to define the investigation scope and establish our investigative direction.
The investigation scope pertains to both investigation targets and areas; it includes people as well as geographical spaces. The need for delineating this scope is evident. The world is vast and populated; when an incident occurs, do we really want to search aimlessly? We cannot rely solely on luck to solve cases.
The first step in defining this scope is identifying potential suspects based on their interpersonal relationships with the victims—such as rivals or individuals with whom they recently had conflicts—as well as assessing the crime scene to deduce possible suspects' characteristics or classifications.
For instance, I read about a case from the 1990s involving a kidnapping that remained unsolved for years until a new scout took over and discovered an important clue in the old case files. It was a note left by the kidnapper containing nineteen Chinese characters and six punctuation marks:
"Cross the bridge, follow the wall's edge, turn right; at a pavilion, beside an overturned stool lies a letter."
The kidnapper attempted to compress this message into as few words as possible to minimize information exposure. However, he overlooked one crucial point: brevity often reveals one's literary skill.
The note indicated where to find hidden correspondence but did not use conventional directional terms like north or south; instead, it employed verbs for guidance. The four directional verbs—"cross," "follow," "turn," "see"—were precise and non-repetitive; rhetorically speaking, it was impeccable. Particularly noteworthy was the word "see"; only someone with strong classical literary knowledge could use it so effectively.
Even more impressive was how rhythmic and melodic this sentence sounded. After two repetitions of a "two-three" structure followed by a "five-four" structure, it flowed smoothly and was quite pleasing to hear.
In such a tense situation, leaving behind a note would hardly allow someone to intentionally flaunt their literary talent; it must have been an unconscious display of their education.
Little did this individual know that being well-educated could also lead to their downfall."
Scout narrowed down the list of suspects to those who had long engaged in literary and textual work, particularly individuals with a strong foundation in classical literature. Several previously overlooked Investigation Targets emerged. Ultimately, after the case was solved, it was proven that Scout's deduction was correct: the perpetrator was a professor of Chinese at a certain university.
This is a typical example of how to determine the scope of Investigation Targets, which defines the suspects' Scope of Investigation.
In addition to defining the range of suspects, the investigation process generally also requires delineating the geographical area of inquiry. This area refers to regions associated with the perpetrator, where they can only be discovered within these locations.
Typically, our defined Investigation Area may include the perpetrator's permanent or temporary residence, their place of upbringing or work, or even their hideouts. By gradually narrowing down this area during the investigation, it becomes increasingly likely to successfully pinpoint the perpetrator.
Nie Qiuyuan listened intently to my explanation, nodding occasionally in agreement. "If we can narrow this range, it would indeed make the investigation much easier. Zhenzhen, how do you think we should narrow it down?"
This question left me feeling somewhat frustrated; I had no idea how to determine the direction of the investigation for this case.
All the Victim distribution areas were scattered and unrelated to each other. The perpetrator was very cautious; the locations where the bodies were found were not the crime scenes, and no murder weapon was left behind. Aside from suspecting that the perpetrator was a psychopath who enjoyed using Aconite to poison others, I couldn't think of any other way to define the Investigation Scope.
"I can't come up with anything right now; I need to think about it some more," I pouted.
Nie Qiuyuan smiled gently and reached out to touch my cheek.
"You're already doing great. So continue; aren't you following a three-step approach? There's still one step left."
Yes, there was one more step—the part I liked best: how to create a detailed Portrait of the perpetrator based on existing information.
Whether modern detectives or Tang Dynasty Constables, their most important mission in front of a homicide is to find the criminal among a sea of people and bring them to justice. However, this criminal is a complete stranger to us. How do we find them? It requires someone to draw a Portrait that captures as many characteristics as possible so that when people encounter him, they won't overlook him.
This Portrait is different from an ordinary character sketch or even from a wanted poster because we need to depict not only his physical traits but also his psychological and social characteristics. Creating a Portrait for a criminal is more akin to an author writing—a comprehensive portrayal from within outwards.
For instance, in many cases, based on traces left at the scene, witness testimonies, and information provided by surveillance footage, one can determine the criminal's gender, age, height, weight, body type, shoe size, stride length, and whether they have any physical disabilities—these are their physiological characteristics.
Additionally, in some cases, the methods and tactics used by the perpetrator may reveal their family background, upbringing environment, marital status, economic situation, and occupational habits—these are their social attributes.
Moreover, by understanding aspects such as the perpetrator's accent, dietary preferences, handling style, skin color and appearance, clothing choices, one can often infer their long-term living area—this reflects their regional attributes.
Thus, step by step collecting data and gradually adding details to the criminal's Portrait transforms them from a complete stranger into someone familiar in our hearts. If we happen to catch sight of them in a crowd one day, we would never let them slip away.
Waking up is a mysterious thing. However, even though I grasp the theory, when faced with a specific case, the image of this psychopathic killer remains quite vague in my heart. I secretly lament that if Zhang Yang had become my teacher a bit earlier, and if I could have learned from him for a few more years, perhaps I would be able to apply these theories effectively in practice.
Qiu lazily leaned against the bedside, pulling me into his embrace, allowing my head to rest on his arm as he unconsciously patted my shoulder lightly.
"Very good, extremely interesting," he said thoughtfully. "Over the years, first following the Dark One and then working independently, I've investigated numerous murder cases. Generally speaking, I've approached them in a similar manner. However, I've never thought about compiling these methods together. The people you know are truly insightful."
I thought to myself, you have no idea that we have professors like Old Liu back home; isn't that what scholars do? Moreover, people from the Public Security System often summarize their experiences based on investigative practices and publish books. Such books are particularly valuable for guiding case handling, and I have indeed read quite a few.
"Zhenzhen, should I also write a book compiling my insights from all these years for you? It might be useful in your world."
Hmm, it was amusing that he suddenly had such scholarly thoughts. Just imagine if Qiu wrote a book on investigative methods; I would certainly look forward to it because it would undoubtedly be quite remarkable. However, that simply wouldn't do.
I reached out and pinched his cheek, annoyed. "No, you mustn't write it. I don't want your book; I want you. In my world, I want you here with me. Now that you're here, there's no need for a book. Are you going to go back on your word?"
Upon hearing my words, Qiu suddenly broke into a joyful smile and pulled me closer, leaning down to kiss my lips. Just then, we heard a strange sound coming from outside.
It seemed like a man's soft shout followed by the crisp sound of weapons clashing. Oddly enough, it appeared that neither side was actually fighting because the sounds abruptly stopped at that moment.
The noise was very close to our bedroom, seemingly right at the door. Nie Qiuyuan's expression turned cold as he wrapped his arms around me protectively. Suddenly, we heard a soft gasp followed by a spray of warm blood splattering against the intricately carved white paper of our bedroom door and trickling down in an eerie shape.
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