Chapter 400 - Fingerprints
Xu Ke carefully picked up the domino with his gloved hand and examined it closely with a magnifying glass. Due to the material, dominoes often retained very clear fingerprints.
Under the magnifying glass, he indeed found that the fingerprints on the domino were very clear. He nodded with satisfaction.
Xu Ke opened a cabinet and took out his forensics kit—not one he had brought from the old world, but one made in Lingao.
Lifting fingerprints in the old world was a simple matter of using transparent tape, but in this time, it required some ingenuity. Xu Ke took out a small bottle of carbon powder and gently brushed it onto the domino.
The fingerprints appeared clearly on the domino. There were three fingerprints worth lifting. He took out a small glass plate wrapped in thin paper from his toolbox. This type of glass plate was made to a special specification, similar to the slides used on a microscope. He carefully unwrapped it, confirmed that the glass plate was clean and free of dirt, and then took a little adhesive liquid from a small bottle. The basic ingredients were beeswax and rosin, which could maintain viscosity while ensuring transparency. He used a cotton swab to apply it as evenly as possible to the glass plate. Then, he carefully used this glass plate to lift the fingerprints from the domino and stuck it onto a white card.
In this way, he quickly lifted three fingerprints. Although the fingerprints were all incomplete, they were sufficient for comparison.
The autopsy report included fingerprints. He compared them one by one with a magnifying glass and soon made a new discovery.
One of the three fingerprints was not the deceased’s!
This discovery greatly excited Xu Ke. The other person’s fingerprint on the domino was very likely left by the murderer’s accomplice!
Dr. Zhong had been watching from the side. Seeing Xu Ke’s happy expression, he knew there had been a breakthrough in the case and asked, “Well? Any progress?”
“I may have gotten the suspect’s fingerprint,” Xu Ke said excitedly. “This way, we can accurately find the murderer!”
Zhong Lishi looked at the domino with great interest. He remembered that Zhong Xiaoying sometimes played with dominoes by herself when she had nothing to do in the evening. Since she knew how to play, she might be able to see something else in it. He immediately suggested calling Zhong Xiaoying over to look at this piece of evidence.
Xu Ke was indifferent—although he didn’t think it was very meaningful, he didn’t want to refuse Dr. Zhong. He then called someone to ask Zhong Xiaoying to come over.
Zhong Xiaoying put on gloves and carefully examined the domino. She said to Xu Ke, “This is a gambling tile…”
Xu Ke thought, “Isn’t that obvious?” Zhong Xiaoying saw what he was thinking and added, “I mean, this is a tile used by gamblers.”
Xu Ke nodded and asked, “Do you have any special sayings about this kind of tile? For example, does it represent some kind of secret code?”
Zhong Xiaoying said, “If they used the dots on this tile as a secret code, I wouldn’t know. But—” she took the tile, examined it carefully, and said to Xu Ke, “this tile is used by gamblers to cheat. They often forge the casino’s tiles to cheat.”
“Look, there’s a mark on this tile…”
“A mark?”
“The casino people are not fools, of course. To prevent others from cheating, they put some kind of mark on their own tiles. They look identical, but in fact, each casino’s tiles are different. But skilled gamblers can often imitate even the marks, so in reality, this method can only prevent novices…”
A moment later, Zhong Xiaoying pointed to a corner of the tile and said to Xu Ke, “These few nicks are man-made. There must be a casino whose tiles have the same nicks. This person must be a regular at this casino…”
Xu Ke took out a magnifying glass and looked carefully. Sure enough, there were a few subtle scratches on a corner of the tile. If one didn’t look carefully, they would be completely unnoticeable.
“You’re really something,” Xu Ke praised. “If it weren’t for you, we really wouldn’t have known there was such a trick inside.”
“You flatter me, uncle,” Zhong Xiaoying said modestly. “There are many casinos. Just knowing it’s a casino but not knowing where is not very useful.”
“At least it’s another clue,” Xu Ke said nonchalantly. “I didn’t expect you to know so much!”
Zhong Xiaoying gave a bitter smile, “My eldest brother was a gambling addict—if it weren’t for that, perhaps my family wouldn’t have fallen into ruin so quickly…” She looked very sad as she spoke.
After seeing Dr. Zhong and his daughter off, Xu Ke considered for a long time and decided to conduct a comprehensive screening of all the foreign fishermen and sailors stranded in Kaohsiung, comparing their fingerprints one by one.
He reported his plan to Ming Qiu and Wei Bachi. Ming Qiu, of course, let him “act as he saw fit.” As for Wei Bachi, he was now even more enthusiastic, expressing his “full support.”
“Don’t worry, I will fully cooperate with you on this matter,” Wei Bachi said with a look of deep sorrow. “For such a thing to happen in Kaohsiung shows that our work has not been done well, and we have failed the trust of the Yuanlao Senate. I am deeply saddened.” He then put on a sorrowful expression.
That evening, he personally went to the construction site at the customs house and had a long discussion with Dr. Zhong for more than an hour about the customs house’s clock tower and other projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology in Kaohsiung, fully expressing his admiration for Dr. Zhong. Of course, he did not forget to greatly praise Zhong Xiaoying for being “both intelligent and brave.”
The next morning, Xu Ke led a large, heavily armed contingent of soldiers to the docks. This was the entire force of the base service company.
The docks and the commercial street, like the rest of the area, had been completely sealed off since the incident, with no one allowed in or out. Wei Bachi had deployed a large number of Korean public security troops to guard all entrances and exits. Those who had already disembarked had to stay in the inns, and those who had not disembarked had to stay on their ships, with no one allowed to move around freely.
“Hurry up! First row, over there! Second row, block the intersection! Quick!” Following Xu Ke’s orders, the soldiers of the service company quickly took control of all the key points of the docks, surrounding it like an iron barrel. The people, who were already frightened, were at a loss when they saw this scene.
A naturalized citizen climbed onto a pile of goods, grabbed a tin megaphone, and shouted at the people on the fishing boats, “Don’t panic! Don’t panic! We are here to investigate a case under orders and will not harm your personal safety. Please disembark immediately and then line up in 20 rows in order to be inspected…”
He repeated this phrase over and over again. The public security troops, following the orders issued in advance, began to direct the crowd to disembark and line up with their big clubs. The people on the docks began to do as he said. Before long, 20 long lines gradually formed. The soldiers, following Xu Ke’s instructions, began to search the people on the docks one by one. At the same time, they had everyone leave a fingerprint of the same finger as the one they were collecting.
Suspects were constantly being pulled out for further screening. The people waiting to be searched couldn’t help but worry. Although no one dared to speak, the oppressive feeling in the air reached its peak.
The search lasted all morning, with more than two hundred people being searched and evidence collected, and more than a dozen suspects detained.
Xu Ke had someone interrogate the suspects first, while he personally compared the fingerprints.
Comparing fingerprints was a tedious and inaccurate task. Before the existence of computerized automatic fingerprint identification systems, the probability of finding a criminal through fingerprints was very small—even if the criminal had left fingerprints on file, it was very difficult for fingerprint comparison personnel to find a match from the vast sea of file cards. Therefore, fingerprint comparison was more often used to confirm a criminal’s identity in the past.
Fortunately, the number of people to be screened was limited, and only one fingerprint needed to be compared. Even so, comparing fingerprints was still a very arduous task.
His hard work paid off. When he compared the one hundred and eleventh person, he found a match.
“It’s him!” Xu Ke cried out. He immediately said to the police officer on standby, “Arrest No. 111 immediately! Take him to the police station!”
“He’s already been arrested…” the police officer said.
“What?”
“He had a set of Pai Gow tiles in his personal luggage—you instructed that anyone with Pai Gow tiles or similar hollow bamboo or wooden tubes like flutes should be detained for screening.”
“Excellent,” Xu Ke thought, “now there are even more things that match.” “Take him away immediately!” He remembered something and added, “Arrest the others on his boat as well.”
“Yes, Headman. What about the other suspects?”
“Take them away too,” Xu Ke decided not to let go of any suspicious clues.
Wei Bachi was discussing the progress of the investigation with Zhong Lishi at the police station when he heard a few shouts from outside. Two police officers brought a man, bound hand and foot, and pushed and shoved him into Nan-hai’s office.
Wei Bachi asked, “Have you found the person?”
“That’s right,” Xu Ke was very excited. With this breakthrough, solving the case was only a matter of time. “There are still a dozen or so suspects. It will take some effort to interrogate them all!”
But this person whose fingerprint matched was bound to be a key target. He ordered the person to be taken to the interrogation room immediately, preparing to question him personally.
Wei Bachi and Zhong Lishi, to show their contribution, hoped to participate in the interrogation. Xu Ke had to agree.
“I have also studied interrogation techniques. I can help you with the initial questioning,” Wei Bachi said very enthusiastically.
“Alright. You can ask him about his personal background and the origin of the dominoes he was carrying.”
Xu Ke still had a pile of things to deal with. In particular, he first had to investigate the people on the suspect’s fishing boat to get a grasp of the person’s background before starting the key interrogation. He knew that Wei Bachi was well-read and had some substance.
Wei Bachi had someone pour a glass of water for the suspect and then said to the man in a gentle tone, “Don’t be afraid. Our Great Song is a society ruled by law. We won’t do anything to you. We have some things to ask you. Please answer us truthfully…” Wei Bachi roughly asked the man’s name and occupation. He learned that the man’s name was Li Shun, from Fujian, and he was a handyman on a fishing boat. When asked about the origin of the tiles, Li Shun rambled on, refusing to reveal the true origin of the tiles, only saying that he carried them for entertainment.