Outside the Platinum Han Hotel, the roaring police cars took Wang Dahua away.
The bride of the day was also taken away; with her husband suspected of murder, Song Yaoyao had to at least give a statement.
The originally grand wedding was in shambles, leaving only Lu Chuan and his three companions sitting in the venue.
Lu Chuan lit four cigarettes, gave three to Yang Lin and the others, and took a deep puff himself.
Damn it, it was his first time arresting someone, and his heart was still pounding like a drum in his chest, making his legs feel a bit weak.
"Old Lu... how did you recognize this guy?"
Yang Lin exhaled a smoke ring and voiced the question on all of their minds.
They certainly knew about the series of robbery and murder cases at the textile factory twenty-eight years ago; it was a major archived case at the Haizhou City Public Security Bureau.
Whenever there was a campaign to tackle old cases, this case was undoubtedly the first in line, and they had heard their professors talk about it many times during their university days.
Lu Chuan flicked the ash off his cigarette with his index finger. He couldn't mention the Eye of Truth matter; nobody would believe it anyway. "The blood mole, when Song Yaoyao was acting coy to get money, that old thug turned his head, just revealing the blood mole behind his left ear."
"You dared to nab him just because of that blood mole?"
Lu Chuan chuckled bitterly, "I wasn't sure it was him at the time either, after all, his face was completely different from the suspect back then."
The cigarette in Lu Chuan's hand burned out, and Yang Lin handed him another, "There's the blood mole, but the face was different. I guessed that this guy had probably undergone plastic surgery."
"I just bluffed him a bit, and the old thug looked flustered—there was definitely something wrong!"
This was also how Lu Chuan explained why the Eye of Truth initially indicated a seventy-six percent similarity.
Plastic surgery seemed the most likely possibility.
Then Lu Chuan tested the waters further by using the name of Chen Jianshe, a fugitive wanted back then, and Wang Dahua indeed slipped up.
"Damn, weren't you afraid of arresting the wrong person and not making the cut for full-time?"
Lu Chuan snorted, "Afraid of what? Even if we caught the wrong person, isn't it a fact that he has a blood mole behind his ear?"
"Having features similar to a wanted suspect, that's not called fighting, it's called law enforcement!"
"At most, it's considered excessive force—we won't get kicked off the force for that."
Yang Lin and the other two paused, exchanged glances, then each gave a thumbs-up. "Brother Lu, impressive!"
Despite Wang Dahua being plump and his appearance having changed, his fingerprints were unchanged, and combined with the blood mole, it was enough to convict him.
An hour later.
Wang Dahua's fingerprints matched those from the crime scene years ago, confirming he was the murderer.
Lu Chuan made a name for himself.
Newly employed, he managed to catch a red-listed fugitive who had been on the run for twenty-eight years while attending the wedding of a classmate's ex-girlfriend.
The key point was, this fugitive was the bridegroom of the said woman.
Even scripts wouldn't dare play out like this, and novels wouldn't be written this way, yet Lu Chuan pulled it off.
August 1, 3020, Thursday.
Half a month had passed since the incident where the bridegroom was arrested at the wedding site, and higher-ups issued a commendation notice.
Lu Chuan was awarded a third-class individual merit, and all his other classmates received commendations.
Since everyone was involved, they all shared the credit, and Lu Chuan wouldn't hog the credit owed to his dorm mates.
Besides this, Lu Chuan and Yang Lin were all promoted ahead of schedule, officially becoming police officers of the people.
Over the past half month, Lu Chuan had already adapted to the life after his rebirth, as this place had a world background and technological level similar to the 'past life'.
Haizhou City Public Security Bureau Criminal Investigation Team, Crime Scene Investigation Office.
Lu Chuan was watering a flamingo-lily by the window, as his profession now made him a Crime Scene Investigator in the Criminal Investigation Team.
A wonderful day starts with goofing off.
The Crime Scene Investigation Office had only four people: one person in charge, two workers; as for Lu Chuan, although now officially employed, he was still just doing odd jobs.
Cleaning, serving tea and water were his main duties.
After sweeping the floors and wiping the desks, helping others make tea, Lu Chuan returned to his seat and opened his computer.
Lu Chuan enjoyed reading crime novels and recently found one titled "On the Day of the Hundredth Blind Date, Arresting the Date" to be quite interesting. Although the title was tacky, the protagonist was bold from the start, capturing the girl on his date.
This scenario bore a resemblance to how Lu Chuan had arrested the future husband of his classmate's ex-girlfriend at a wedding upon rebirth.
Bam!
The door of the office was violently pushed open, and Liu Guodong glanced at the clean and tidy office. "Yang Sen and Old Bai didn't come?"
Lu Chuan quickly stood up, checking the time, "Master, at this time they should be on the shuttle bus; there's still a bit to go before they arrive."
Liu Guodong, who was in charge of the crime scene room and also Lu Chuan's mentor, looked anxious, "There's no time for that; there's a crime scene, come with me."
Lu Chuan quickly stood up, marking the end of his idling: "Yes, Master!"
Picking up the crime scene investigation kit, Lu Chuan hurriedly followed Liu Guodong out of the office.
No. 38, Friendship Road.
The site had already been cordoned off by the local police, and the crime scene was in an old residential building with many residents gathered outside the perimeter watching the commotion.
Liu Guodong and Lu Chuan arrived with the main force of the Criminal Investigation Team and went straight to the scene.
"Old Liu, you guys go ahead with the crime scene investigation."
In the event of a homicide, the team immediately activated the homicide investigation mechanism, with the team leader Qin Yong being the first in command at the scene.
Liu Guodong was an experienced detective in the team who, ten years ago, transitioned from a regular detective to a crime scene investigator as part of the police specialization reform.
In reality, crime scene investigation differs from general detective work primarily in its specialization.
The main tasks include photographing the crime scene, gathering evidence, analyzing and preserving physical evidence, and various trace identifications.
Only larger Criminal Investigation Teams have dedicated crime scene investigators, who, apart from crime scene tasks, do not directly engage in fieldwork for questioning or arrests.
This role combines both an administrative and fieldwork aspect of policing.
Liu Guodong had been a crime scene investigator for ten years and was extremely experienced. He put on shoe covers, a mask, and gloves, then took the crime scene kit from Lu Chuan's hand: "Lu, start with the photography."
Photography is a basic skill for crime scene investigation.
In homicide scenes, crime scene investigation is conducted first, followed by the forensic doctor, their work differing significantly but also having overlaps.
In brief, crime scene investigation focuses more on examining trace physical evidence at the scene, such as footprints, fingerprints, and tiny attachments, while the forensic doctor pays attention to the time and cause of death of the corpse.
Following the order, Lu Chuan did not immediately pick up the camera to shoot, but instead started to survey the entire crime scene.
Crime scene photography is quite different from regular photography and is bound by rules with a dedicated process in forensic investigation.
Having already received the Basic Crime Scene Photography skill card, Lu Chuan was no longer relying on the theoretical and impractical teachings learned at school, as fused from his memories.
The system rewards skills at three levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced. A basic skill is equivalent to the skill level expected of a general senior detective, comparable to Liu Guodong's current proficiency in crime scene photography.
"Basic task issued: Complete an excellent crime scene photography at a murder site."
"Advanced task issued: Discover clues to solve the case through crime scene investigation and assist the task force in solving the case."
Tasks in the criminal investigation system are of two types; completing basic tasks is mandatory as it is part of the job, while completing advanced tasks earns system rewards.
The crime scene was a rectangular-shaped living room, about 40 square meters, and the deceased was a middle-aged male.
The body lay face-up on the sofa, eyes wide open, seemingly unready to die.
A dagger with half its blade buried was lodged into the left side of the chest, the deceased's right hand gripping the handle. Bright red blood had soaked his clothing and pooled at his feet, suggesting a possible suicide.