The Plastic Bottle at the Criminal Scene

By Tong Menghou

At 8 pm on September 8,2010, a gold jewelry shop in the E-mart in Minhang District, Shanghai was robbed by three masked men.

The criminals in camo clothes smashed the glass counters of Jiujia Jewelry in the E-mart Mall,took away one million yuan worth of gold jewelry, and fled, all in three minutes.

The robbery shocked the authorities. Leaders from the government, Shanghai Public Security Bureau, and Shanghai World Expo all gathered onsite immediately. The effect on societal opinion was bad, since guns and explosives had been involved, but it was even worse that it happened during the World Expo.

Chen, chief engineer of the Criminal Investigation Corps, called upon Yan, the forensic doctor. “You must come here now.”

Why was Yan wanted? There weren’t any gun shots, nor were there deaths. It was only a roband-run.

He was called because the

experienced forensic doctor

had always been widely

recognized. Yan was not only famous for his forensic skills but also

2010年9月8日晚上8點，上海閔行“易買得”商場里的金店，遭到3名蒙面歹徒搶劫。

3名身穿迷彩服的持槍男子，到“易買得”商場里“九佳珠寶”柜臺，砸碎柜臺玻璃，搶走總價值100余萬元的金飾品，前后只有3分鐘，蹤影全無。

上海市委和市政府領導，上海市公安局局長和世博局局長趕到現場，因為罪犯手段極其惡劣，有槍有炸藥，它的影響更加惡劣——世博會正在舉行。

刑偵總隊陳總工程師通知閻法醫：立刻趕到現場。

為何要叫閻法醫？那里并沒有開槍兇殺，也沒有人死亡，只是搶劫，搶了就走。

因為領導一向看重這位功底深厚的老法醫，閻法醫不但是上海著名的法醫專家，還是刑偵專家。

閻法醫趕到“易買得”商場，立刻戴上專用手套開始勘查。

“九佳珠寶”柜臺附近的地上一片狼藉，碎玻璃撒了一地，帶著火藥味的泥土撒了一地。

閻法醫蹲在地上，拿起歹徒扔下的“娃哈哈”小塑料瓶。這可是一個不得了的小瓶子，歹徒手里的槍是玩具手槍（這是破案后才知道的），是用來嚇唬營業員的，但這個小瓶子，裝的不是牛奶或其他飲料，而是實實在在的爆炸物，已經爆炸過了。

罪犯使用爆炸物搶劫，罪孽是相當重的。

閻法醫觀察著小瓶子，腦海里有個神奇的“魔方”開始飛速轉動，一會兒上下轉，一會兒左右轉，有時候，上下左右立體轉，轉得人眼花繚亂，一個個疑點就像一個個小“色塊”，重新組合。

for being a criminal investigation expert.

Yan put on his special gloves and started inspection as soon as he arrived at the E-mart.

It was a mess around the counters of Jiujia Jewelry. Smashed glass and soil that smelled like explosive were everywhere.

Yan squatted and picked up a plastic soft drink bottle left at the site by one of the criminals. It wasn’t just a small bottle. The criminals had held toy guns(found out after the case was cracked) to intimidate the clerks. But the small bottle was filled with explosives rather than milk or other drinks, and it had actually exploded.

Using explosives for a robbery was a heavy offense.

Yan observed the small bottle. The Rubik’s Cube in his head started to spin, up and down, left and right,and all directions in such a dazzling way. The clues were like the blocks of colors of the cube waiting to be organized.

The first side of color spun into place: the explosives were not powerful.

Another side formed: the making was rough.

Then another color: the detonation cord wasn’t fixed at the opening of the bottle but from a hole cut out in the middle of its body. From the hole, the detonation cord had been pulled out.

With a snap, the Rubik’s Cube was finished in Yan’s head. All six colors were formed.

He told everyone his deduction: The three criminals were either from Sichuan or Guizhou Province. If suspects were from Zhejiang, Jiangsu, or Anhui Province, they could be released.

One leader asked, “Why? Why would you let them go? What are you talking about?”

Yan replied confidently, “Usually, people use such explosive to catch fish instead of bombing someone, but the trick of cutting a hole in a container and filling in explosives was very characteristic of Sichuan and Guizhou Provinces. Such is the case now

在閻法醫的腦海里，出現一個小的“色塊”：這個“炸藥包”威力是不大的。

還有一個小“色塊”：它的制造工藝是蹩腳的。

還有一個小“色塊”：它的引線不是裝在“娃哈哈”的瓶口處，而是特地在瓶身的中間挖個洞，然后從洞口拉出火藥線來。

猛然間，閻法醫似乎聽到輕輕的“啪”一聲，腦子里的“魔方”頃刻間停轉，6個色面都歸位。

他當即向在場的領導報告他的推斷：3個作案人，不是四川的就是貴州的，如果抓到浙江的、江蘇的和安徽的犯罪嫌疑人，可以放了。

一位領導疑惑不解：為什么？為什么可以放了？你在說些什么呀？

閻法醫從容地回答：通常，中國的老百姓使用這種炸藥，都是用來抓魚炸魚的，不是用來炸人的。從裝爆炸物的容器中間挖個洞，裝入炸藥，帶有明顯的地方特色，這是四川人和貴州人喜歡的制作方法。“娃哈哈”塑料瓶就是從中間挖洞的。

幾個歹徒可以從已經打開的瓶口，直接拖一根引線出來，沒有必要從瓶子的中間挖個洞，再拖出引線，多麻煩啊。這是沒有辦法的，這是生活習慣。每時每刻，人們都會不知不覺地按照生活習慣做事情，所謂習慣成自然，要改變一個人的習慣是很不容易的。他斷定，這幾個歹徒一定是四川籍的或者貴州籍的。

后來，偵察員抓到犯罪嫌疑人張德剛和他的兩個同伙，果然都是重慶人（重慶以前屬于四川省，他們確實是“四川人”）。

張德剛后來交代說：我把火藥裝在“娃哈哈”飲料瓶中，里面加了塑料和紙屑，并且把鞭炮的引線，加在瓶子中間的口子上……

讓我們再回到“易買得”商場的現場。

閻法醫繼續在商場里勘查，他彎下腰，查看“九佳珠寶”被砸碎的柜臺，查看碎玻璃。在一塊玻璃碎片上，他觀察到極小的一點血跡。這是歹徒用榔頭砸開柜臺玻璃以后，用手抓柜內黃金飾品時，不小心劃破皮膚，留下的血跡。

閻法醫把這滴血帶回刑偵總隊，做DNA鑒定。

這滴血經過鑒定，然后作比對，它和2009年7月25日，一個歹徒在貴陽劫持一輛出租車，刺傷女司機的背部和腿部，逃跑時，不小心留下的血跡是相同的。

可以更加確定，歹徒就是四川或貴州那邊的人，至少這個流血的歹徒是那邊的人。

后來，3個搶劫犯都被警察抓住，“9·8閔行黃金搶劫案”順利告破。閻法醫在這個大案的偵查過程中，起到關鍵作用。

如今已經接過師傅閻法醫的班、擔任法醫室主任的馬開軍告訴筆者：我師傅看看那個“娃哈哈”瓶子，分析出犯罪嫌疑人是貴州或者四川的，偵察員追逃的范圍縮小了，有了針對性。這得益于師傅平時對生活的細心觀察和豐富的閱歷。

（摘自《上海犯罪現場調查》上海科技教育出版社）

with the soft drink bottle.”

The criminals could have ran the detonation cord out of the bottle’s opening rather than making the effort to cut a hole in the middle. It would require more work, but it was a habit that people unconsciously followed.Human beings do things following their own habits every moment,and it’s very difficult to change them. So he deduced that these men were from Sichuan or Guizhou.

When suspect Zhang Degang was caught with his two accomplices, the police found out they were indeed from Chongqing(which used to be part of Sichuan Province).

Zhang Degang confessed, “I filled the explosives in the soft drink bottle and added plastics and shredded paper. I put the detonation cord of fireworks through the hole in the middle.”

Let’s come back to the E-mart criminal scene.

Yan was continuing his inspection and he bent down to check the smashed glass of Jiujia Jewelry. On one piece of glass, he found a blood stain. This was left by a criminal when he smashed the counter glass with a hammer and grabbed the gold jewelry through the broken glass. His skin was cut.

Yan brought the glass back to run a DNA comparison.

The DNA sample matched the record from another robbery case which took place in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou Province, on July 25, 2009. A man hijacked a taxi and stabbed the female driver in her back and leg. When he fled,he left some blood behind.

It further supported the deduction that at least one criminal was from Sichuan or Guizhou Province.

At last all three men were c a u g h t a n d t h e c a s e w a s successfully cracked. Yan played a key role in the investigation.

Now Ma Kaijun has taken over Yan’s job as the director of the forensic office. He told me that Yan deduced that the criminals were from Guizhou or Sichuan,which helped the police narrow down their investigation. Yan was able to do that because he had always observed details in daily life and learned from his rich life experiences.

(From Shanghai Criminal Scene Investigation, Shanghai Technology Education Publishing House. Translation: Zhang Lei)