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点，上海闵行“易买得”商场里的金店，遭到3名蒙面歹徒抢劫。

3名身穿迷彩服的持枪男子，到“易买得”商场里“九佳珠宝”柜台，砸碎柜台玻璃，抢走总价值100余万元的金饰品，前后只有3分钟，踪影全无。

上海市委和市政府领导，上海市公安局局长和世博局局长赶到现场，因为罪犯手段极其恶劣，有枪有炸药，它的影响更加恶劣——世博会正在举行。

刑侦总队陈总工程师通知阎法医：立刻赶到现场。

为何要叫阎法医？那里并没有开枪凶杀，也没有人死亡，只是抢劫，抢了就走。

因为领导一向看重这位功底深厚的老法医，阎法医不但是上海著名的法医专家，还是刑侦专家。

阎法医赶到“易买得”商场，立刻戴上专用手套开始勘查。

“九佳珠宝”柜台附近的地上一片狼藉，碎玻璃撒了一地，带着火药味的泥土撒了一地。

阎法医蹲在地上，拿起歹徒扔下的“娃哈哈”小塑料瓶。这可是一个不得了的小瓶子，歹徒手里的枪是玩具手枪（这是破案后才知道的），是用来吓唬营业员的，但这个小瓶子，装的不是牛奶或其他饮料，而是实实在在的爆炸物，已经爆炸过了。

罪犯使用爆炸物抢劫，罪孽是相当重的。

阎法医观察着小瓶子，脑海里有个神奇的“魔方”开始飞速转动，一会儿上下转，一会儿左右转，有时候，上下左右立体转，转得人眼花缭乱，一个个疑点就像一个个小“色块”，重新组合。

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

在阎法医的脑海里，出现一个小的“色块”：这个“炸药包”威力是不大的。

还有一个小“色块”：它的制造工艺是蹩脚的。

还有一个小“色块”：它的引线不是装在“娃哈哈”的瓶口处，而是特地在瓶身的中间挖个洞，然后从洞口拉出火药线来。

猛然间，阎法医似乎听到轻轻的“啪”一声，脑子里的“魔方”顷刻间停转，6个色面都归位。

他当即向在场的领导报告他的推断：3个作案人，不是四川的就是贵州的，如果抓到浙江的、江苏的和安徽的犯罪嫌疑人，可以放了。

一位领导疑惑不解：为什么？为什么可以放了？你在说些什么呀？

阎法医从容地回答：通常，中国的老百姓使用这种炸药，都是用来抓鱼炸鱼的，不是用来炸人的。从装爆炸物的容器中间挖个洞，装入炸药，带有明显的地方特色，这是四川人和贵州人喜欢的制作方法。“娃哈哈”塑料瓶就是从中间挖洞的。

几个歹徒可以从已经打开的瓶口，直接拖一根引线出来，没有必要从瓶子的中间挖个洞，再拖出引线，多麻烦啊。这是没有办法的，这是生活习惯。每时每刻，人们都会不知不觉地按照生活习惯做事情，所谓习惯成自然，要改变一个人的习惯是很不容易的。他断定，这几个歹徒一定是四川籍的或者贵州籍的。

后来，侦察员抓到犯罪嫌疑人张德刚和他的两个同伙，果然都是重庆人（重庆以前属于四川省，他们确实是“四川人”）。

张德刚后来交代说：我把火药装在“娃哈哈”饮料瓶中，里面加了塑料和纸屑，并且把鞭炮的引线，加在瓶子中间的口子上……

让我们再回到“易买得”商场的现场。

阎法医继续在商场里勘查，他弯下腰，查看“九佳珠宝”被砸碎的柜台，查看碎玻璃。在一块玻璃碎片上，他观察到极小的一点血迹。这是歹徒用榔头砸开柜台玻璃以后，用手抓柜内黄金饰品时，不小心划破皮肤，留下的血迹。

阎法医把这滴血带回刑侦总队，做DNA鉴定。

这滴血经过鉴定，然后作比对，它和2009年7月25日，一个歹徒在贵阳劫持一辆出租车，刺伤女司机的背部和腿部，逃跑时，不小心留下的血迹是相同的。

可以更加确定，歹徒就是四川或贵州那边的人，至少这个流血的歹徒是那边的人。

后来，3个抢劫犯都被警察抓住，“9·8闵行黄金抢劫案”顺利告破。阎法医在这个大案的侦查过程中，起到关键作用。

如今已经接过师傅阎法医的班、担任法医室主任的马开军告诉笔者：我师傅看看那个“娃哈哈”瓶子，分析出犯罪嫌疑人是贵州或者四川的，侦察员追逃的范围缩小了，有了针对性。这得益于师傅平时对生活的细心观察和丰富的阅历。

（摘自《上海犯罪现场调查》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)