The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Upon hearing this, Mr. Qin nodded slightly and responded, ”You mean... there might be some problem with his right hand that prevents him from using it normally?”

As soon as he said this, both Director Hou and Political Commissioner Li, seated nearby, nodded in agreement, their expressions growing more focused.

Jiang An then proceeded to further elaborate on his reasoning, ”Exactly.”

”Therefore, I tend to believe that this suspect is essentially right-handed, but at the time of committing the crime, his right hand was incapacitated due to some sudden or inherent reason, which forced him to use his left hand to perform key actions—this has precisely misled our initial profiling direction.”

After this hypothesis was presented, a brief silence filled the conference room, with several people exchanging looks, all showing signs of approval.

Jiang An continued to delve deeper, ”As for why his right hand failed at such a crucial moment, there are actually many possibilities.”

”It could be an old injury flare-up, or perhaps his right hand was injured while committing the crime.”

”It could also be that he needed his right hand to hold other tools, or while controlling the victim, his right hand was temporarily restrained... ”

Then, Director Hou nodded slowly, tapping his knuckles twice on the table, and pondered, ”Mr. Jiang, your line of thought does make sense.”

”However, following the direction you just mentioned, the scope might still be quite large.”

”With a large number of potential individuals involved, the investigation period and resource input would become an issue.”

Jiang An leaned forward slightly, ”Director Hou is right. If we only start by isolating suspects from the ’unable to use right hand’ point, we indeed face a massive workload.”

”But if we analyze it in conjunction with the crime scene environment—the unique rural conditions—we might find more specific entry points.”

He paused briefly and surveyed his colleagues around him before continuing, ”In a rural area, an individual accustomed to using their right hand suddenly switching to the left hand is usually accompanied by some external visible or traceable change.”

”For example, common labor injuries: slicing while harvesting, muscle strains or tears from lifting heavy items, or accidental fractures while building houses or repairing farm tools.”

”These situations often require medical attention and medication, and may even affect daily labor, leaving a strong impression among villagers.”

Just as he finished speaking, Mr. Qin interjected thoughtfully, ”So we can prioritize investigating individuals with right-hand injuries during the time frame of the crime?”

”But such incidents are not uncommon in rural areas—could it be too coincidental?”

Jiang An nodded lightly, his gaze serene, ”I’ve considered the ’coincidence’ Mr. Qin mentioned.”

”Indeed, locking the suspect solely based on hand injuries sounds a bit tenuous.”

”But note, we are not drawing conclusions from this one point alone; rather, we’re considering ’temporarily forced to use left hand’ as a key behavioral characteristic, combined with other existing clues—such as crime timing, motive connections, social relations with the victim, etc.—for cross-checking.”

He paused slightly, emphasizing his tone, ”More importantly, the perpetrator relied entirely on his left hand during the suppression and control, with the right hand barely involved in the key actions.”

”This does not match the general habit of coordinated movement with both hands, more like a compensatory behavior when the right hand is functionally impaired.”

These words brought a brief silence to the conference room.

Political Commissioner Li and Director Hou exchanged glances, and saw affirmation in each other’s eyes.

Director Hou took a sip from his teacup before speaking solemnly, ”Jiang An’s previous analysis is insightful.”

”We have always equated ’left-handed crime’ to ’left-handed individual,’ an assumption that may need adjustment.”

”If the perpetrator is originally right-handed but was forced to use his left hand due to injury, our investigative direction should avoid being misled by this behavioral characteristic.”

He shifted his focus and frowned slightly, ”But if following this reasoning, the scope of investigation might expand instead—most people in rural areas habitually use their right hand, any individual with recent right-hand injuries needs to be watched.”