After a while, seeing that no one spoke, Jiang Ling began to give a hint.
“From a psychological perspective, an offender needs to be familiar with the environment to commit a crime, but at the same time fears being recognized by acquaintances. So, they tend to choose locations that are relatively convenient.”
Jiang Ling’s words were not difficult to understand. Li Zhenliang and the others all nodded.
“I get what you mean,” someone said. “Like the saying goes, ‘A rabbit won’t eat the grass near its burrow.’ Thieves usually don’t commit crimes near their homes.”
“But if it’s too far, a thief won’t dare to go—after all, it’s unfamiliar territory and risky.”
“Not too far, not too close… hmm…”
Jiang Ling offered another hint: “In that case, you can take their residence as the center and the furthest distance they can reach as the radius, forming a kind of psychological boundary.”
As soon as Liu Haoran heard this, he immediately stood up, picked up a pencil from the table, and drew a circle on the map. Except for one crime scene that was a bit too far to include, the remaining eleven locations all fit within the circle. “This circle—does it represent the offender’s psychological boundary?”
Jiang Ling nodded approvingly, took a triangle ruler to measure the circle’s diameter, then checked the scale in the lower right corner of the map. After calculating mentally, she said, “Yes, the diameter of this psychological map is about 500 meters. From my experience, the diameters of the centers of a series of crime locations usually range from 500 to 1,000 meters.”
Sure enough, the power of teamwork is limitless.
The circle Liu Haoran drew aligned exactly with the “center hypothesis” proposed by psychologists in country M: most offenders commit crimes around their residences, forming a “psychological safety boundary.”
One crime scene was not included within the circle. It was marked with the number “7,” indicating it was the seventh case.
Zhou Wei pointed to this lone location. “Why isn’t this one inside the psychological boundary?”
Li Zhenliang and Liu Haoran exchanged a glance, a thought flashing through both their minds. Simultaneously, they reached out to pick up the report for Case No. 7.
Liu Haoran was standing near the blackboard, farther from Jiang Ling’s desk, so Li Zhenliang was quicker and grabbed the report, pulling out a few photos of physical evidence. “Look, the scratches on the handle here are deeper and heavier than the other eleven. They’re different—probably made by a different tool.”
Liu Haoran retrieved photos of the other cases’ bike handles and laid them all out for comparison.
Zhou Wei’s eyes widened. Slapping his thigh, he exclaimed, “It really is different! The scratches on this one are not the same as the others.”
Jiang Ling hummed in agreement. “We can separate this case out. The physical evidence is different, so the offender is likely not the same person.”
Liu Haoran quickly set aside Case No. 7, leaving the other eleven cases to be investigated together.
Li Zhenliang sighed. “If only Captain Ying were here, the technical team could definitely identify the tool used from the scratches.”
Zhou Wei shook his head. “This case is too small. Who would bother the technical team for something like this? They’re swamped every day; they probably wouldn’t have time to help us.”
Zhou Wei’s words drained Li Zhenliang’s energy. True—such a small case wouldn’t be enough to call on the technical experts.
Jiang Ling, however, thought this was a good suggestion.
She was skilled at criminal profiling, but powerless when it came to physical evidence. If an expert could join the investigation of these eleven cases, it would be a huge help in solving them.
With that in mind, she didn’t hesitate and picked up the red phone on Wei Changfeng’s desk.
Whether they could come or not—why not just ask?
The call connected, and Ying Songmao’s deep voice came through: “Hello.”
Jiang Ling got straight to the point. “There’s a series of cases—eleven bike bell thefts. We’d like you to take a look at the physical evidence photos.”
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Zhou Wei tensed, clenching his fists and holding his breath, ears straining. Such a minor case—would the technical team really help?
“Sure. Fax the photos to me. I’ll take a look.”
Hearing Ying Songmao agree, Zhou Wei’s clenched fists shot up in the air in an empty punch. This was fantastic! With the technical team’s support, there was hope for solving the case.
“Great, thank you.” Jiang Ling gave Liu Haoran a look, and he immediately gestured “OK,” taking the coded photos toward the director’s office.
Ying Songmao politely replied, “You’re welcome.”
He didn’t hang up immediately, so Jiang Ling added, “Although this serial case isn’t a major case, with eleven incidents, we’re discussing how to use spatiotemporal analysis to pinpoint the offender’s living patterns…”
Before she finished, Ying Songmao quickly interrupted, “I’ll come over right away.”
Then the line went dead.
Jiang Ling held the still-buzzing phone, feeling pleased.
In her previous life, she’d never met Ying Songmao in person, but judging from his appraisal reports and signatures, he seemed focused and sincere—a person who would naturally be interested in new methods in forensic science.
Playing to his interests, it worked perfectly.
Jiang Ling hung up. “Captain Ying said he’ll join our discussion.”
Li Zhenliang immediately brightened and winked at Zhou Wei. “You said Captain Ying wouldn’t come. Looks like you were wrong, huh?”
Zhou Wei wasn’t reluctant to invite him; he just doubted they could get him to come.
Hearing Li Zhenliang, Zhou Wei nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, I was wrong. Captain Ying is our bureau’s top evidence expert. It’s fantastic that he can come.”
The two smiled at each other, then simultaneously slapped their foreheads. “Oh, quickly call Haoran back—no need to fax the photos!”
Li Zhenliang and Zhou Wei ran out of the office, shouting down the corridor: “Haoran, come back! Come back!” Their voices were loud enough to make all the office staff peek out to see what was happening.
Even Director Yao stepped out, carrying his large tea mug. “What’s going on? Stop making such a fuss.”
Just then, Liu Haoran dashed out of the director’s office. “What’s up? Don’t tell me Captain Ying backed out?”
Zhou Wei’s excited voice rang out, “Captain Ying said he’s coming right away!”
Li Zhenliang couldn’t hide his pride. “Right! Haoran, hurry back—no need to fax the photos, he’ll see them in person.”
Hearing this, Wei Changfeng ran up from the duty hall. “Captain Ying is coming? What’s he doing here?”
After Li Zhenliang explained, Wei Changfeng slapped his thigh. “I knew that girl, Jiang Ling, was bold. You should all learn from her. See—one phone call and technical support from the bureau is on its way. You go discuss the cases; I’ll wait for Captain Ying downstairs.”
Outside the case office it was bustling, but inside, it was quiet.
Jiang Ling began to think about Ying Songmao.
Ying Songmao had a professional background and, at just 26, was already the deputy captain of the Technical Division of the Municipal Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Team. His expertise in forensic analysis was outstanding. Logically, he should have remained fully focused in this field—so why had there been no reports or signatures from him after 2000?
Had he been transferred to another province?
Or had he changed careers?
Or…
At the thought of the last possibility, Jiang Ling felt a chill run through her and quickly pushed the thought aside.
When Liu Haoran returned, everyone resumed discussing the case.
Jiang Ling said, “Not too far, not too close, and no repetition—these are the ‘three no’s’ in a criminal’s psychology. If we follow this line of thinking, could we identify the possible residence of the perpetrator?”
“Our jurisdiction is huge. How do we even define this residence?” Liu Haoran, having just rushed back from the director’s office, still looked a little confused.
Zhou Wei stared at the map for a long time, then said uncertainly, “Well, if a thief doesn’t steal right outside their own home, then we can rule out the area where the crimes occurred.”
Jiang Ling nodded firmly. “Exactly. Keep going.”
Encouraged, Zhou Wei continued examining the map, trying to expand the red circles around each crime scene. When the 11 enlarged circles filled the map, everyone’s mouths dropped.
It was as if clusters of red flowers had bloomed densely across the jurisdiction of the Jinwu Road Police Station.
Only in the center of the flowers was there a patch of empty space.
Zhou Wei, excited as if he had discovered a new continent, pointed at the empty area and shouted, “Look! This empty space perfectly fits the ‘three no’s’ principle you mentioned!”
Everyone focused on this patch of emptiness at the center of the red flowers.
Li Zhenliang stood up in excitement, nearly tipping his chair. “The Mudan Towel Factory! That’s the Mudan Towel Factory!”
The other two shouted in agreement, “Yes, yes! That’s the towel factory!”
Zhou Wei had been at the police station for a long time and liked to ride his bike around, so he was very familiar with the local geography.
He pointed to the empty space and said, “Mudan Towel used to be a well-known brand in our city. The products were high-quality and cheap—stores nationwide scrambled to get them. But in recent years, the factory became inefficient; quality control slipped, and profits dropped. I heard they were planning to restructure. There are about a thousand employees, three main workshops, two boiler rooms, a large warehouse, and supporting facilities including an administrative building, a canteen, and a factory-run daycare.”
A thousand employees? While not as large as a textile factory, the Mudan Towel Factory was still fairly sizable.
Jiang Ling asked, “What about the dormitories?”
Zhou Wei, as if carrying a mental map of the area, answered precisely: “Four block-style dorms for ordinary workers; one cadre building for leaders and engineers; and a row of old bungalows for temporary workers and single employees.”
Liu Haoran slapped his thigh. “The factory workers could commit the crimes during commute times, which perfectly matches the crime schedule.”
Li Zhenliang stood and pointed at the first crime scene marked ‘1’. “Look, the first theft happened near the textile factory—that’s the farthest from the towel factory. Why would a towel factory worker go all the way to the textile factory to steal bells? I just don’t get it.”
Jiang Ling also found it strange. According to the ‘comfort principle,’ a criminal usually commits their first crime close to home.
But this criminal was different—the first crime scene was the farthest from the center. Why?
…
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