Diary of a Criminal Investigator

When Lu Chuan and the others arrived at the Lion Mountain Bridge, the sky was already dimming, and the sun was about to set.

Qin Yong was making work arrangements.

"Comrades, this morning we received information that Wang Mingshan, who disappeared five years ago, might have been murdered, and his body might be buried under the Lion Mountain Bridge."

Hmm?

"Old Wang?"

"Is Mingshan here?"

Wang Mingshan used to be part of Action Group Two. Everyone in the group, except for those who joined in the last two years, knew Wang Mingshan.

This is also why Qin Yong transferred Group Two over.

Lu Chuan and Zhang Hui exchanged glances; this clue must be the one Ren Qiang obtained.

"Everyone, quiet down. We’ve only received this one piece of information, but the source of the information hasn’t been verified yet."

"Whether Wang Mingshan was actually murdered and whether his body is truly buried under Lion Mountain Bridge, we aren’t entirely sure. Tonight’s task is to search underneath Lion Mountain Bridge and strive to find any clues."

"Captain Qin, it’s getting dark, and in a moment, it’ll be night. Could coming to search at this time cause us to miss something? If not, we can check again tomorrow morning when it’s light out, allowing for a more detailed examination."

"No."

Qin Yong shook his head, "Some things you aren’t aware of; time is extremely urgent, and we must investigate tonight. Alright, let’s begin the work now!"

Since Qin Yong had said so, no one had any complaints, and they began to patrol.

Of course, the main focus was still on crime scene investigation and the forensic team.

"Old Liu, any thoughts?"

Wang Changjiang looked at the situation under the bridge, frowning deeply.

Originally, Lion Mountain Bridge ran over the Lion River. However, thirty years ago, the flow diminished, and the river dried up.

But because the river once flowed here, the soil in the riverbed is very fertile, with dense weeds growing under the bridge.

At a glance, some areas are taller than a person.

Only some spots covered with sand and stones were like bald patches on a head, scattered throughout the riverbed.

"I suggest starting from the east side and moving westward."

Liu Guodong pointed under the bridge and explained his suggestion: "There’s a byway on the east side of the riverbed, but the west side has farmland, and the nearest byway there is a kilometer away."

"If the perpetrator really killed Wang Mingshan and buried the body under the Lion Mountain Bridge, how would they transport the body there?"

"Most likely by driving through the eastern byway, because the western side has farmland, so the suspect parking the car a kilometer away and then carrying the corpse through the farmland doesn’t seem likely."

"Also, when Wang Mingshan disappeared, it was August, and by then, the grass under the bridge was already very lush. Thus, if someone buried the body here, the chance to lie through the grass and penetrate inward is quite slim."

"After all, it isn’t just about the difficulty of passing through the grass; it would also easily create a path of bent grass that could be noticed and potentially discovered."

"So, I suggest starting from the east of the bridge and checking meter by meter."

Wang Changjiang nodded in agreement with Liu Guodong’s suggestion.

"Anyone else have thoughts?"

"I have one thing."

Lu Chuan had a variable frequency spectrometer in hand.

"If Wang Mingshan was buried under the bridge five years ago, the body would have decomposed and skeletalized by now."

"Human bones contain a large amount of phosphorus that, upon skeletalization, will naturally evaporate."

This fact is known; novels often mention people witnessing ghost fire at mass burial sites, which is true and not fictitious.

Scientifically speaking, it’s a phenomenon involving phosphorus evaporation from skeletons reacting with oxygen in the air.

The green flame produced from phosphorus and oxygen burning is the so-called ghost fire seen.

However, this typically occurs with a large number of bodies where bones are concentrated; individual bones typically have insufficient phosphorus evaporation to produce ghost fire.

"Individual bodies don’t usually generate the phosphorus self-combustion, or ghost fire, but by using a variable frequency spectrometer, we may observe some unique phenomena."

Here, Lu Chuan’s explanation wasn’t entirely clear; this method is called gas chromatography.

The principle is simple: any substance exhibits different affinities within a chromatogram and may respond with visible light under a specific laser light source.

Besides gas chromatography, there is liquid chromatography, which is more accurate and provides a more direct reaction than gas chromatography.

However, liquid chromatography requires the substance itself to be dissolved and tested.

Given this current situation of locating the body, with no bones to dissolve, this calls for gas chromatography.

Having determined the starting location and work methods, the action was set to begin.

The members of Action Group Two split, placing four people on lookout, while others joined the search effort.

Lu Chuan was adjusting the variable frequency laser spectrometer. To identify the presence of phosphorus, it’s crucial to find the corresponding laser frequency, and the specific frequencies may vary slightly due to different concentrations of phosphorus volatiles. Thus, continuous adjustment was necessary for Lu Chuan.

Besides Lu Chuan’s method, others had their own practical approaches.

Finding a body is a core task for criminal detectives, with past cases involving outdoor corpse searches.

From previous experience, if there are plants growing at an outdoor burial site, they tend to be more lush than surrounding vegetation.

This impact can be categorized into short-term and long-term.

Short-term effects stem from body decomposition, where flesh decomposes and creates ample organic fertilizer that’s absorbed by vegetation, promoting healthier growth.

However, this typically occurs if the burial depth isn’t deep enough for the plant roots to absorb decomposed organic material.

Most of the time, the burial depth is beyond the reach of herbaceous plant root systems.

This means short-term effects aren’t evident, but over time, organic material from the bones will slowly decompose and leach into the soil.

This will result in the plants around the burial site growing more lushly and enduring over time, lasting a year, three, even five or ten years.

"Everyone, head towards areas where the vegetation is unusually lush, and check for any signs left behind."

If the perpetrator was careless when burying the body, there might be items left behind, such as belts, clothes, or glasses.

Finding such items usually means the body is nearby, though such occurrences are rare.

Especially as Wang Mingshan disappeared five years ago. Even if the soil was initially disturbed, it’s likely become uniform over five years.