Chapter 141 - 141 137 Search

Words : 2016 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

141: Chapter 137: Search 141: Chapter 137: Search Jiang Yuan had finished dissecting the body, cleaned everything up, and placed it into the refrigerated coffin, just as the three adults had almost finished their feast of pig intestines, pork belly, and chicken. Everyone pitched in to clean the instruments and the autopsy table. After soaking and scrubbing them with detergent and washing their hands thoroughly, they also tidied up the pots and pans that had been used for eating. The autopsy room was once again clean and tidy, brightly lit and, if used for sleeping, it would surely be much cleaner than a five-star hotel. In the end, Jiang Yuan held the casserole dish that had contained the pig intestines, pork belly, and chicken, and asked, “Where should I put this?” “Put it in the cupboard, we can use it later to collect stomach contents or something,” Doctor Ye casually decided to appropriate the casserole dish. The dish Jiang Yuan ordered was large and filled with about 10 jin of food, which would be enough to fit an ordinary person’s stomach contents without a problem. Wang Lan, a female forensic doctor, was quite disgusted by the other forensic doctors’ indifference to mixing meat and vegetarian dishes and fanned her nose with her hand, saying, “Stop messing around, the name of the dish is still on the casserole.” Doctor Ye laughed heartily: “What does that matter?” Wang Lan rolled her eyes: “This is supposed to be one of Longli County’s famous eateries, right? If county leaders come to visit, they might just decide to have a meal there. And then, afterward, they see your autopsy and realize that you’re presenting stomach contents in a casserole from that very restaurant...” Before Wang Lan could finish her sentence, everyone burst out laughing. “If only that could really happen,” Doctor Ye said with a tinge of regret. The group also imagined the scene for a moment, their minds wandering. If the leader were to vomit, they’d just clean it up. When it comes to which profession least fears getting their workplace dirty, forensic doctors would be the first, and probably no one would dare contest that. Wang Lan was also amused and relaxed her expression somewhat, saying, “So, let’s not put the casserole in the autopsy room.” “Won’t do it,” Doctor Ye sighed, “I didn’t think of that just now.” “Right?” Doctor Ye nodded: “The autopsy room is public property. It’s not right for me to put my personal casserole there. Once the leaders are done using the casseroles, I can take them and use them.” This time the laughter had all four of them rolling. Behind the deep green path of the funeral home, the four people’s laughter echoed, boundlessly happy. ... Back at the guesthouse they were staying in, Jiang Yuan bid his master Wu Jun good night and they each returned to their rooms to sleep. One advantage of the rundown guesthouse in the poor county was that it didn’t exceed standards, allowing each person to have a room to themselves, which was more amenable to the older men used to snoring, farting, and smoking. If they were to go on a business trip to a big city, the detectives would have to share a room, significantly lowering their quality of life. Only at times like this would you realize that your seemingly respectable leader and young colleagues, who appeared polished and dignified, snored and ground their teeth in their sleep, becoming more and more unattractive the more you watched. And it was also during these times that you could fully sympathize with women’s grievances. Jiang Yuan didn’t set an alarm and simply used mouthwash before falling into bed. A day and a night’s worth of onsite investigation was wearying, not just from the lack of sleep, but the focused judgement required was truly exhausting. Jiang Yuan was relying on his youth to behave willfully, but at this point, once he let his emotions go, he couldn’t hold on any longer. Meanwhile, Longde Village was in chaos. Longli County had organized a team of almost 300 people and had entered Longde Village to begin a complete DNA testing procedure. Testing clotted blood for DNA was the quickest way to get results, but when the results came back and there was no match, it rather puzzled them. Hou Lejia was decisive in this matter, immediately reporting to his superiors and then mustering the largest possible team to surround Longde Village, starting with the junkyard cottage, to conduct DNA testing. A small team wouldn’t suffice, as areas like Longde Village, straddling urban and rural zones, were not only filled with all sorts of people, but also home to numerous young adults and industrial workers. Historically, these somewhat organized groups, accustomed to disciplinary constraints and with highly aligned goals—yet without houses, cars, savings, or families—were easily incited. And as a policeman, Hou Lejia knew best the power of deterrence. In China, the police force is staffed at a ratio of either one per thousand or two per thousand, meaning that the number of police officers makes up approximately 0.02% of the population, and that includes one-third traffic police and one-third armed police. With such a deployment, they could only rely on the power of deterrence. Over 300 police officers, most of them concentrated together, did present quite an imposing sight. Hou Lejia personally commanded and led the team, checking meticulously, point by point, fearing any person might be overlooked. No matter how many perpetrators there were, only one left behind DNA evidence; missing this individual would render all their efforts in vain. Though this task sounded challenging, the execution was even more difficult. Fortunately, Hou Lejia was experienced and managed to secure some officers from local police stations, which allowed them to systematically undertake the verification, area by area. By the time Jiang Yuan woke up, it was already noon the next day. When he arrived at Longde Village, the local DNA testing was nearly halfway complete. Jiang Yuan went straight to the crime scene, and as he approached the door, he heard Hou Lejia, the head of the local criminal police, on the phone: “It can be done in two days.” “If it’s not completed, I’ll bring my head to you.” “Old leader, look at the police in Beijing dealing with such cases, they start with more than a thousand people, even two to three thousand people is common. How can we compare to them?” “Yes, I’ll try my best to save on investigation expenses.” After hanging up the phone, Hou Lejia complained to the person next to him: “They don’t provide enough personnel or funds, and they just keep pressing for results. Where am I supposed to find these results!” Jiang Yuan briskly entered the courtyard, his mind still filled with the image of the Criminal Police Squad Leader’s bloodshot eyes. It was obvious that he hadn’t slept or eaten properly since he was woken up. Hou Lejia probably knew it would be like this, so he took the chance to sleep before any major action took place. For criminal police officers, staying awake for 72 hours during a murder case with an unknown perpetrator is not uncommon. Although the Squad Leader has the title and seems like a leader, he is still a criminal police officer. Seeing Hou Lejia in this state, Jiang Yuan had a higher opinion of him; it always sounds impressive to organize a major operation, but it’s difficult in practice. If it were a cultural event, one could use eloquent writing to describe it, and just wrap it up with a triumphant ending. Meanwhile, police operations are different; they are targeted from the outset, and without achieving the objective, how can there be any talk of success? The scavenger’s small courtyard. Almost no reduction in items was visible, but by number, probably more than a hundred items were already missing. Jiang Yuan didn’t say much, just quickly changed into his clothes, put on a mask and gloves, and silently joined the others. The day passed quickly. Hou Lejia’s pressure was mounting, his eyes visibly reddening. Fortunately, the DNA sampling was finally completed, and the team was able to withdraw without causing any accidents, giving him a slight sense of relief. But it only lasted a few hours. In the evening, Hou Lejia found Jiang Yuan and said, “The DNA didn’t match.” Wu Jun seemed to have expected this, as he had been waiting in the courtyard, and now stepped forward to say, “The DNA not matching could be because the target isn’t in the samples.” He spoke diplomatically, essentially suggesting that the murderer was not among the sampled population. If there was no oversight, it meant that the murderer did not live in Longde Village. This wasn’t surprising. Nowadays, people have a wide range of activities, and Longli County had clearly defined the area too late. But for Hou Lejia, this added immense psychological pressure. “Well, now we need to make some adjustments to the direction of the investigation,” said Hou Lejia, glancing at Jiang Yuan and Wu Jun. The Criminal Science Squad of Longli County couldn’t come up with any good strategies. Forensic Doctor Ye Xiaoqun seemed clueless, merely nodding along; crime scene investigation had yielded nothing, and departments like trace evidence were playing dead. Hou Lejia was now looking at Jiang Yuan, hoping he could provide some new leads. If not, the case might be in serious trouble. As Jiang Yuan recalled the bloodstain analysis, although he had no clear ideas, he was even more convinced that the bloodstain he found that day was very likely the murderer’s. “I noticed that the road leading to Longde Village has surveillance cameras,” said Jiang Yuan. “Can we check all the vehicles and individuals that entered and left Longde Village that day?” If they weren’t in the village, at least they had entered or left. Hou Lejia hesitated before saying, “We’ve discussed this. Longde Village is a fringe village with a lot of people coming and going by bus or taxi...” “The murderer likely had his own means of transport,” Jiang Yuan countered Hou Lejia’s words. “And it’s probably a private car.” “Why?” “Because the murder weapon hasn’t been found. If he isn’t from Longde Village, he would have to either discard it or take it away to destroy it.” Hou Lejia realized the point: “That’s true. The weapon would have blood on it and smell strongly; taking a taxi would attract attention. I’ll dispatch two people to follow up on this lead.” What he meant was using public transportation like buses and taxis, which would be noticed if there was a smell of blood. By asking a couple of people to inquire along the route, one could basically cover most possibilities without needing too much manpower. The rest of the manpower would naturally be directed toward the colorful process of searching vehicles for DNA. “Thank you, Doctor Jiang, for your hard work,” Hou Lejia thanked Jiang Yuan and rushed off with his phone in hand. Jiang Yuan just smiled. Deep down, he knew perfectly well that Hou Lejia’s emphasis on searching vehicles was more out of psychological concern. Since the search was based on the blood sample he had found, if that sample was mistaken, continuing to invest significant manpower and resources would turn it into a joke. Hence, when Hou Lejia asked Jiang Yuan, it was also to test his confidence. Jiang Yuan thus confidently gave him an answer. He himself was not afraid of such matters. Half of Longli County was turned upside down because of this. Just then, a private car driver, while undergoing DNA testing, provided a crucial clue. On the day of the incident, he had picked up his car from a parking lot not far from the crime scene and smelled a strong scent of blood nearby.

Chapter 141 - 141 137 Search

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