Coroner Coroner

"There is indeed only one human footprint on the cliff."

"We've confirmed that there are no traces of cover-up footprints."

Some murderers have a strong sense of anti-reconnaissance, and even know to clean up their footprints left at the scene after committing crimes.

This can indeed destroy the footprints, but while cleaning up those dirt footprints, it will inevitably leave more strange traces.

As long as you carefully inspect and see if the soil has been turned over or smeared, you can tell whether the site has been cleaned up.

"So, we can basically be sure:"

"There was only one person on the dirt slope by the cliff when the incident happened."

"And if these footprints are left by the dead..."

Hattori Heiji paused slightly, and looked at Lin Xinyi with an inquiring look.

Lin Xinyi immediately understood.

He took out the photos of the soles of the deceased's shoes that he took with his Polaroid camera at the bottom of the cliff.

Then I made a comparison with the footprints on the slope:

"The patterns on the soles are the same. It seems that these are indeed the footprints left by the deceased."

"Ah That's good!"

Hattori Heiji nodded.

Then, he pointed to the string of footprints extending from the dense forest all the way up the slope and leading to the cliff:

"Since it is determined that this string of footprints belongs to the deceased."

"The deceased should have jumped down while running."

"Running?" Lin Xinyi frowned slightly: "Who would run in a place like this?"

There are high mountains and dense forests here, and there are tree roots and stones on the ground in the forest. If you walk a little faster, you will easily trip your feet.

This is clearly not a good place to run.

"But the footprints show that it does..."

Echoing Hattori Heiji's words, Mao Lilan explained calmly:

"Mr. Lin, look:"

"This series of footprints has long steps, fast step frequency, narrow step width, and narrow step angles in many places."

"The footprint is a bit patchy, with more pressure on the forefoot and less pressure on the heel."

"There are more active gait features such as pedaling, digging, and lifting marks, and negative gait features such as picking, picking, and scratching marks disappear."

"Aren't these the characteristics of the footprints left by people when they run, what you taught us?"

"so…"

She paused for a moment and concluded:

"We don't think the deceased was a suicide."

"After all... all you need to do to commit suicide is to stand on the edge of the cliff and jump out. There shouldn't be any need to run and jump out, right?"

There is no running-up for suicide.

This is indeed unreasonable.

"We judged that the deceased ran towards the slope at high speed, but failed to stop at the top of the slope, slipped and fell off the cliff."

"After all, this slope is so high that it bulges the ground, and it will be visually misleading to look at."

"At first glance, it seems that there will be a road before turning over the slope."

"So the deceased did not slow down his running speed after he climbed the slope."

"She ran all the way, and when she reached the top of the slope, she realized that there was a cliff in front of her—"

"But by then it was too late, she had subconsciously stepped forward and jumped off the cliff."

Mao Lilan's narration made Lin Xinyi's eyes light up:

"I see…"

"Your inference is correct."

"If that's the case, everything can be explained."

Lin Xinyi based on the cliff protruding from the mountain, and the characteristics of the damage on the deceased's body...

It was judged that the deceased had a "horizontal acceleration" when she fell off the cliff, and it was judged that she had a "jumping" process.

Ideally, as usual, the deceased would leap when falling off a cliff, which would be an obvious suicide.

But now it seems that combined with the footprint characteristics discovered by Mori Ran and Hattori Heiji...

"The deceased was running towards the cliff before he was alive, so he had a 'horizontal' movement posture."

"And she ran towards the cliff but didn't slow down, because her sight was blocked by the uplifted slope, and she mistakenly thought that there would be a way to climb over the slope."

"So, it's very much an accident."

"only…"

Lin Xinyi now also knows why his two students said, "It looks like an accident, but it's also very strange".

"It's just, why did the deceased run in the woods?"

"And ran all the way from the woods to the slope."

"This is not a place suitable for running!"

He frowned tightly, thought for a while, and then asked Hattori Heiji and Morilan:

"Have you looked in the woods, and can you find footprints there?"

"If we can figure out the trajectory of the deceased before he ran out of the woods, maybe we can find such an important clue."

"This..." Hattori Heiji and Mori Ran shook their heads in embarrassment: "Sorry, Mr. Lin..."

"I'm afraid there will be no footprints in the woods."

The dense forest is full of deciduous trees.

These trees shed their leaves every year for the winter, and year after year, the fallen leaves have already accumulated a thick layer on the ground.

People stepping on it is like stepping on a soft cushion, leaving no footprints at all.

"Well..."

Lin Xinyi sighed helplessly:

He could only give up and go to the woods to find clues of the deceased's footprints, and then, while thinking deeply, he carefully observed the string of footprints left on the slope.

Although Hattori Heiji and Mao Lilan have already surveyed it.

But Lin Xinyi couldn't find any other breakthrough now, so he could only try to review the only trace available for investigation to see if his students missed anything.

And he looked at it like this...

"Wait, look at that footprint!"

Lin Xinyi suddenly discovered something.

Pointing to one of the long series of footprints, he said with a moving expression:

"This footprint is different from the others."

"It has a sort of 'horizontal' look to it."

"This..." Mao Lilan was a little puzzled: "Isn't this the mark caused by the soles of the feet slipping when running?"

"No." Lin Xinyi shook his head: "There are sparse grass blades growing on this slope, like a layer of anti-skid net."

"If you step on it, even if you are running, it will not slip so easily."

"So, this sign of 'horizontal' footprints should only indicate one point—"

Because of his lack of experience, his two students were still somewhat unable to react.

But Lin Xinyi is very familiar with the footprint characteristics of this "one-footed horizontal":

Because of this footprint feature, it often appears in the footprints left by the perpetrator when he fled the scene:

"The deceased was not running, but running away!"

"Because when people are running away, they often look back on the way."

"And when you stop and look back, you leave this 'horizontal' feature under your feet."

Lin Xinyi explained briefly, his eyes became deeper and deeper:

"That is to say:"

"The deceased was being chased by someone, otherwise she wouldn't have looked back."

"That's why she fled here in a panic."

"I didn't even have time to check the terrain, so I rushed up the slope in a hurry—"

"And this is the reason why the deceased couldn't stop his figure at the top of the slope, lost control and 'jumped out'!"

His speculation about the case changed again:

From an accidental slip, to being pushed off, to suicide, to an accidental fall while running.

Now, there is only one answer left:

The deceased stumbled and fell off the cliff while being chased by someone.

This answer is reasonable enough, but...

"Why do I still feel that something is wrong..."

Lin Xinyi frowned tightly.

When the two students were suddenly enlightened and admiring his discovery, he silently looked at the long running footprints extending from the woods.

It seems that there are more secrets hidden in this long string of footprints.