The Criminal Investigation Team's case analysis meeting involves serious discussions, but the meeting style is relatively relaxed.

All detectives participating in the analysis meeting can offer their suggestions or hypotheses.

Of course, offering hypotheses requires some basis.

This basis doesn't necessarily have to be evidence; it can be any reasoning that conforms to general logic.

In homicide case analysis meetings, it's usually the forensic doctor who speaks first.

But this time, since there is only a piece of human skin, the forensic doctor couldn't perform an autopsy.

Naturally, there are no autopsy reports.

The content of the report won't be much.

Furthermore, Wang Changjiang hasn't returned from vacation, leaving only Shen Yan at the forensic side.

Liu Guodong looked at the young girl beside him, coughed twice, and cleared his throat: "Let me say a few words first."

All eyes focused on Liu Guodong.

"The Crime Scene Investigation team has conducted a preliminary examination of the painting, extracting some fingerprint information from the frame, and Old Bai and Yang Sen are working on matching them."

"As for the DNA information in the human skin, we've extracted it, but haven't had a successful match in the system."

Qin Yong nodded.

Compared to fingerprint matching, or even footprint matching, blind DNA matching has a very low probability of success.

Unless there's a target individual.

Like the paternity test Lu Chuan and his team conducted.

Otherwise, with less than 5,000 profiles in Haizhou City Criminal Investigation Team's DNA database, achieving a match would require divine intervention.

In any homicide case, identifying the victim is the most crucial prerequisite.

Liu Guodong continued his report: "At this stage, we have completed collecting fingerprint information from the oil paint, and Lu Chuan is currently processing the skin."

"Shen, from a forensic perspective, what discoveries have you made?"

This was Shen Yan's first case analysis meeting, and her palms were sweaty from nerves: "The skin was soaked in formalin, making it very difficult to accurately determine the victim's time of death."

"But since DNA could still be extracted, the time of death should not exceed one month."

This was a speculative time range on the time of death that Shen Yan confirmed with Wang Changjiang over a phone call.

Due to the formalin soak, skin loses its viability in at most one month, making DNA extraction difficult.

The skin cells are virtually completely permeated by the preservative.

Ordinary extraction methods are ineffective.

Of course, this doesn't mean that DNA information can't be extracted; it just requires some special processing.

A single piece of skin provides very little useful information.

Qin Yong turned his gaze towards Sun Jun and Ren Qiang.

"The artist's signature on the oil painting is Liang Song, known as a grassroots artist from Haizhou City, and he's been preliminarily questioned."

Sun Jun began to report on the inquiry of Liang Song.

"He denied that the painting was his work, and from the questioning process, he didn't seem to be lying."

Ren Qiang from the second action group was responsible for the inquiries about the staff inside the exhibition hall: "I haven't gathered much valuable information either."

"The exhibition was completed on Thursday, and this painting was transported directly from Liang Song's studio by the movers."

"My team is reviewing the footage from that day, and we haven't found any possibility of the oil painting being swapped yet."

"As for being swapped inside the exhibition hall..."

Ren Qiang shared some of his speculations: "It's a remote possibility. The exhibition hall has surveillance, and although it doesn't directly cover the painting in question, swapping an oil painting nearly one square meter in size would be highly challenging."

The painting, able to contain a piece of human skin, is certainly not small.

"Anyone have other thoughts?"

Qin Yong scanned the room again, and the group knew that, at this point, anyone with reasonable speculation could freely express their opinions.

Zhang Hui glanced around and spoke first: "I believe the focus of the investigation should be on this grassroots artist, Liang Song."

"He claims he never painted this piece, so how does he explain its presence in his studio?"

"And when the movers came to transport the painting on Thursday, he didn't even take a look?"

"He handed a painting, not painted by himself, to the movers?"

"There's definitely something wrong with Liang Song; these things are completely inexplicable."

Zhang Hui's hypothesis received approval from many.

Qin Yong looked towards Sun Jun.

Since Sun Jun said Liang Song wasn't lying, such questions must have a logical explanation.

Sun Jun nodded: "Let me address Liang Song's situation."

"Firstly, he was officially invited to participate in the art exhibition, with a formal invitation letter."

"Liang Song also responded to the invitation, explicitly stating that the painting to be exhibited was 'The Withered Well by the Wheat Field.' "

"This has been verified with the acknowledgment received by the exhibition hall."

"And the timing? When did he send the acknowledgment?"

"Early August, specifically August 2nd."

It was evident that Sun Jun's team had done extensive work, with a photograph of the acknowledgment displayed on the conference room's projector: "Liang Song confirmed the exhibit painting two months ago, while the forensic conclusion was that the owner of the skin died less than a month ago."

"Secondly, in Liang Song's studio, besides his works, there were also his students' paintings."

"I've had people visit the site; his studio is a large warehouse in the South Suburb, with over two hundred oil paintings inside."

"Only fifty-six of them were actually painted by Liang Song."

"Third, when the painting in question was transported from the studio last Thursday, Liang Song was not present; he was on a sketching trip in the suburbs, with two students who can testify."

"Fourth, when the movers transported this painting, it was already packed up. I've discussed it with Old Ren; the movers did not verify the painting's title, and they weren't obligated to verify it."

"Their job was simply to transport it, and as for whether the painting was 'Girl in the Wheat Field' or 'The Withered Well by the Wheat,' they had no idea."

"What about the surveillance?"

Qin Yong frowned: "Does the studio have surveillance, and can we track who handled the packaging?"

Sun Jun shook his head: "There's no surveillance, and we're currently vetting Liang Song's students."

While Liu Guodong's team was conducting the case analysis meeting, Lu Chuan was reaching the most challenging stage of his work.

Fingerprint collection on the skin.

This differed from when Lu Chuan previously collected fingerprints from paper or from a painting frame; for skin, a reverse-thinking approach is used.

Due to the presence of sweat glands and sebaceous glands in the skin, collecting fingerprints from living skin is extremely challenging.

Because the natural materials on the surface of living skin assimilate and cover the fingerprints.

Inactivated skin, the situation Lu Chuan currently faces, is comparatively simpler.

As the murderer soaked the skin in formalin, the preservative permeates the cells and fixes the chemical substances of the fingerprints left on the skin.

Of course, if the perpetrator wore gloves at the time, that's another matter.

Lu Chuan already began working.

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