"Camera crew, take comprehensive photos. Start from the doorway and move clockwise, establishing a shooting angle every two meters."
"Pay special attention to the blood spatter patterns, the distribution of footprints, and the locations of dropped items. Take close-up shots of every single drop of blood on the ground; do not miss anything."
Several men in black immediately took out professional cameras and began photographing methodically according to the instructions. Not only did they show no fear, but they were actually faintly excited.
This was all valuable experience!
Zhao Tianyi himself walked over to Zhao Biao's corpse and crouched down. He took a pair of gloves from the investigation kit he carried with him and put them on with practiced ease. His posture made him look less like a lawyer and more like an experienced forensic doctor.
Seeing that he even had this kind of professional equipment, Ma Da was absolutely stunned.
"Lawyer Zhao, when did you get your hands on this stuff?"
Zhao Tianyi: "I've been watching a lot of homicide TV shows lately. I thought it was pretty interesting, so I prepared a set. I didn't expect to actually use it today."
Ma Da: "..."
"Professional!"
Zhao Tianyi looked up at Ma Da. "Brother Ma, please have someone turn on all the lights in the courtyard. The brighter, the better. Also, find two clean white cloths and lay them out on the side; I need them to place the physical evidence."
Ma Da immediately gave the orders.
He even brought in two cars and turned on their high beams, shining them directly into the courtyard. In an instant, the entire yard was as bright as day.
The white cloths were also quickly found and laid out.
Zhao Tianyi first examined the fracture on Zhao Biao's wrist. He used a tape measure to carefully measure the distance from the fracture to the end of the palm, and then measured the wrist circumference.
"The width of the purlicue is 3.9 centimeters. Take a close-up."
One of the men in black responsible for photography immediately stepped forward and took a localized close-up.
"Zhang Tao, when you grabbed the knife, how did you hold it?" Zhao Tianyi turned his head and asked Zhang Tao.
Zhang Tao recalled, "At that time, I headbutted him in the bridge of his nose with the back of my head, took the opportunity to grab his wrist and twist it outward, and then used my other hand to grab the knife..."
He roughly described the process.
"When you grabbed the knife, how did your hand grip the handle?" Zhao Tianyi asked again.
"Just... gripped it directly like this." Zhang Tao gestured.
Zhao Tianyi shook his head. "No, if you gripped it directly, your fingerprints would cover Zhao Biao's fingerprints. But look here."
He shone a strong flashlight on the dagger's handle. At a certain angle, faint ridges could be seen. "There are at least two sets of overlapping fingerprints on the handle. One set is complete, and the other is incomplete."
Then he took out fingerprint powder and transparent tape from the kit, carefully processing the dagger's handle.
A few minutes later, he used the tape to lift the two sets of fingerprints and stuck them onto transparent cards.
"The first set of fingerprints is complete and covers the entire handle. This is characteristic of holding it for a long time."
Zhao Tianyi held up the card for Zhang Tao to see. "These are Zhao Biao's. The second set of fingerprints is only at the end of the handle, and there are sliding marks. These were left by your brief contact when you snatched the knife."
"Now, perform the action of snatching the knife again, exactly as I tell you."
Zhang Tao was a bit bewildered, but he did as told.
Zhao Tianyi carefully observed the details of his movements.
"Note that when you grab the knife, your thumb is here, and your index finger is here... Yes, exactly like that."
"This grip perfectly explains why your fingerprints are only at the end. Because you pulled the knife out of Zhao Biao's hand, rather than gripping it."
"What's the use of saying this?" Ma Da asked curiously.
"Details determine success or failure. A simple difference in movement can deduce whether the action was an active attack or passive defense. We have to be fully prepared. This way, when we go to court in the future, I will have a stronger basis for my defense," Zhao Tianyi explained.
Ma Da nodded, half-understanding. "Oh, so that's how it is!"
Zhao Tianyi could tell he was pretending to understand, but there was no time to explain in detail now. It was more important to hurry up and collect favorable evidence. Even if they had video evidence that could basically prove Zhang Tao acted in self-defense, once someone died, things were no longer that simple.
Even if it was ruled as self-defense, there was still a high probability that Zhang Tao would be convicted of excessive defense.
After all, someone had died, and there had never been a precedent where someone was completely exempted from criminal responsibility for causing death through self-defense.
Therefore, it was highly likely that Zhang Tao would still go to prison.
Of course, he was confident he could fight for probation, but he didn't want that result.
Self-defense was self-defense; the defender shouldn't be held responsible just because the aggressor died.
He wanted to use this opportunity to break history! He wanted to be a trailblazer!
He wanted to show the Eldest Miss the results of his long training. He wanted to achieve fame in a single battle and shake the entire legal world!
Now the opportunity was here!
Before the police arrived, he had to race against time, grasp all the details of the incident, and prepare for this unprecedented defense.
"The insertion angle of the dagger is about 25 degrees, slanting upward from below. The edges of the wound are neat, with no drag or cut marks."
"Zhang Tao, when you fell, the dagger was held horizontally across your chest, with the tip pointing outward, right?"
"When Zhao Biao crashed into you, if you had actively stabbed him, the wound should be horizontal or slightly downward. But this 25-degree upward angle could only mean that Zhao Biao pounced down from above and impaled himself on the blade."
"..."
After Zhao Tianyi had pretty much sorted things out, he ran to an empty space away from the crime scene, drew a few lines on the ground with chalk, and began to reconstruct the scene while muttering to himself.
"This is Zhang Tao's falling trajectory."
"This is Zhao Biao's impact trajectory. The two lines intersect here, which is exactly where Zhao Biao fell to the ground."
Then he casually had someone find two wine boxes and used them as character models.
"Let's assume this is Boss Zhang, and this is Zhao Biao."
When the two models collided, the prop dagger accurately inserted into Zhao Biao's chest, and the angle was exactly 25 degrees upward.
"See that?"
Zhao Tianyi said to Ma Da, "This angle, this position, is a one hundred percent match for the characteristics of an impact injury. If it were an active stab, the angle of the wound would be completely different."
Everyone at the scene was dumbfounded. Did he really need to be this detailed?!
Also, how the hell was this guy a lawyer? He was practically a criminal investigation expert!
Subsequently, Zhao Tianyi looked at the thugs who had been restrained and began his questioning.
"Now, I'm going to start asking questions."
"Separate these people so they can't hear each other. When I ask questions, you guys record audio and video on the side."
A group of thugs were taken to different corners. These were the true eyewitnesses selected by Zhao Tianyi, and he interrogated them one by one.
"Name?"
"Wang... Wang Ba."
"??? Are you messing with me?"
"I... My name really is Wang Ba! 'Ba' as in honest and simple! I'm not lying!" the questioned thug hurriedly explained.
"..."
"Nice name."
"Why did you come to the Zhou family's house tonight?"
"Brother Biao told us to come."
"To do what?"
"To... to crash the wedding night... No, to teach the bride and groom's family a lesson."
"..."
"How did Zhao Biao die?"
"He was... stabbed to death by him."
"The specific process?"
"Brother Biao ran into... no, Brother Biao tried to attack him, and then... then he died."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"..."
After Zhao Tianyi finished questioning everyone one by one, he had someone turn off the recording.
"Good, now we just wait for the police to arrive. My preliminary work here is basically done."
He had questioned more than twenty people in total, and every single response had been captured on video and audio.
Moreover, the testimonies of these thugs were largely consistent: Zhao Biao attacked Zhang Tao, tripped, and accidentally impaled himself on the dagger.
"Aren't you worried they'll change their statements later?" Ma Da asked curiously.
"Human memory has a way of correcting itself. When they saw Zhao Biao die, their instinct was to blame it on his own mistakes. It is a psychological defense mechanism. I used a specific technique during the questioning just now to subconsciously solidify this version of events in their minds. Even if a few of these guys try to change their stories later, the vast majority definitely won't do so easily. When the time comes, the testimonies of those dissenting few will be rendered invalid..."
Zhao Tianyi pushed up his glasses. "In short, I'm on the case, so you can all rest easy!"
