Hearing this, Liu Changshan’s whole body tensed up.
“Chief, we… we haven’t found anything yet,” he reported.
He quickly added, “This just goes to show that Jiang Chuan has an extremely high level of vigilance and very strong anti-surveillance skills. We did spot a few figures that looked like him, but they were all heavily disguised, so we couldn’t make a positive identification right away.”
Zhou Ran sighed, as if he had expected this outcome.
Knock, knock, knock!
Just then, there was a knock at the conference room door.
Everyone turned their heads in unison and looked toward the entrance.
The door swung open, and in walked a policewoman in a crisp uniform, wearing a police cap, with short hair and delicate, refined features.
Zhou Ran immediately stood up and walked over to greet her. “Everyone, let me introduce you to Jiang Zhuyu. I requested her from higher up to be transferred in and help us with the arrest of Jiang Chuan.”
“Hello, everyone,” Jiang Zhuyu said with a warm, friendly smile.
Liu Changshan and the others stared at the woman before them, their mouths opening and closing slightly, but no one spoke. They just nodded in acknowledgment, treating it as a simple greeting.
They had previously expected the chief to bring in extra personnel.
After all, Jiang Chuan was a dangerous individual—an arms dealer who carried a firearm. If they didn’t apprehend him quickly, there was a very real possibility that he would pull off a major crime at any moment.
An armed arms dealer who wasn’t afraid to threaten the police—no one could predict what he might do next.
But what caught them off guard was that the person sent to assist them was a woman.
It wasn’t that women were incapable, but mainly because in certain operations, physical mobility and split-second decision-making could sometimes be affected by emotions due to gender differences, which might cloud judgment and lead to undesirable consequences.
“Don’t let her gender fool you. Jiang Zhuyu is an expert in criminal psychology and forensic trace evidence. Every major and significant case cracked by the provincial bureau owes a debt to her contributions,” Zhou Ran praised without reservation.
Jiang Zhuyu smiled and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Chief Zhou, you’re too kind. The truth is, solving those big cases was a team effort. I just did my part, that’s all.”
“See how modest she is? You all could learn a thing or two from her,” Zhou Ran said, giving his team a look of disappointed expectation.
Then, turning back to Jiang Zhuyu with a bright smile, he added, “Come on, Officer Jiang, have a seat wherever you like.”
Jiang Zhuyu didn’t stand on ceremony and found an empty seat right away.
But the moment she sat down, her smile vanished, and she got straight to business. “Everyone, I’ve already read through the operation report on the previous attempt to capture the suspect, Jiang Chuan, on my way here.”
“I have to say, the operation was meticulously planned. On the surface, it seemed flawless, and all the necessary considerations were well accounted for.”
Hearing this, Liu Changshan’s expression softened a little.
But then she shifted gears. “However, this operation was only flawless on the surface. Otherwise, Jiang Chuan wouldn’t have gotten away.”
Liu Changshan hung his head again.
Jiang Zhuyu didn’t give anyone else a chance to interrupt and continued, “Based on the information in this report, the suspect, Jiang Chuan, actually detected your operation before it even began—or at the very least, the moment your team arrived downstairs at his place.”
“After all, I noticed that the report mentioned that when you returned to Jiang Chuan’s residence, his bedsheets were still warm.”
“But here’s what puzzles me: going downstairs and coming back up would have taken at least five minutes. And in five minutes, those sheets would have long gone cold. So, based on my deduction, when you were outside dealing with that burly man hiding in the unfinished unit next door to Jiang Chuan’s place, Jiang Chuan himself was still inside.”
“That was a major blunder. You were misled.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Hai, Gu Yuan, and the others sat up straight, frowning intently at the policewoman before them.
They had initially thought Chief Zhou was just being polite—that this policewoman might have some skills, but probably not many.
But after her sharp analysis, it was clear that she had serious chops.
Liu Changshan felt the same way. As he mulled over her words, even though he didn’t want to admit it, he had to acknowledge that she made a lot of sense.
“Now, according to Locard’s Exchange Principle, when a person performs a specific action, it’s a process of material exchange. In other words, during any action, a person inevitably comes into physical contact with various materials and creates trace evidence.”
“And this phenomenon cannot be altered by human will. No matter how hard someone tries to cover their tracks, it’s useless. That’s why I made a special trip to the scene, collected samples, and submitted them to the provincial bureau. They’ve decided to use the Locard Material Exchange Analyzer,” Jiang Zhuyu said calmly.
At these words, the officers in the room were all taken aback.
The Locard Material Exchange Analyzer was a professional-grade instrument specifically used to analyze on-scene traces and the physical contact between a suspect and the materials they interact with.
It wasn’t commonly used in ordinary cases—not because it wasn’t effective. On the contrary, it was incredibly effective. Once this device was employed, no amount of concealment on the suspect’s part would matter.
The only reason it wasn’t used more often was that running the analyzer even once came at a huge cost—one that even the police department couldn’t afford too many times.
So, it was only reserved for major, significant cases that couldn’t be cracked by any other means.
They never expected that Jiang Chuan’s case would actually prompt the higher-ups to authorize the use of this instrument.
Clearly, the superiors were taking this case very seriously.
Zhou Ran’s eyes went wide as he stared at Jiang Zhuyu. “Officer Jiang, have you gotten any results yet?”
Everyone in the room looked at her expectantly.
Jiang Zhuyu paused, then shook her head. “Based on the on-site conditions, there is no trace evidence showing that Jiang Chuan made any material exchanges. In other words, he left no trace evidence at the scene at all.”
A collective hiss of sharp intakes of breath filled the room.
To them, this seemed utterly impossible.
According to Locard’s Exchange Principle, as long as Jiang Chuan had been in that room, it was impossible for him not to leave some kind of trace. It just didn’t add up.
“Then… has the provincial bureau come back with anything?” Zhou Ran pressed.
Jiang Zhuyu pursed her lips tightly and nodded. “Just a short while ago, my mentor called me and said the results were in.”
“What were they?” Wang Hai asked impatiently.
He was dying of curiosity to know what the outcome was.
Meeting the barrage of stares directed at her, Jiang Zhuyu was silent for a long moment before taking a deep breath. “My mentor asked me just one question.”
“He asked… ‘Are you absolutely certain that the suspect was actually in that room?'”
