Chapter 164 - 164 159 This Person!

Words : 1695 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

164: Chapter 159 This Person! 164: Chapter 159 This Person! It was three in the morning. The wind outside the police station whistled through the large pine trees and the underbrush, sounding eerily like a host of ghosts knocking on doors. But today, the Criminal Investigation Department wasn’t asleep. Lit up as if standing vigil, as soon as the wind reached the yard, it hastily dispersed. On the fourth floor. The light in the forensic office was on, the door open, but no one was there. Wu Jun had gone down to help in the cafeteria, while Jiang Yuan squatted in the video surveillance office, his eyes nearly emitting a spectrum of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet light. There were only so many hotels in Ningtai County, yet the surveillance videos they had brought back were anything but few. Unlike some places where surveillance footage was often handled carelessly, hotel monitoring was multi-angled—an area by the bar might be covered by two cameras, making it seem as though watching was futile, and yet you couldn’t just not watch. Imbibing Goji berry tea, Jiang Yuan and several other technicians fixated on their screens, soon losing even the mood to chat. Now having determined that the suspect was there to collect a debt, this meant there was a high probability he was an outsider and the likelihood of him leaving immediately after committing the crime was quite high. Especially since witnessing the death would substantially increase his inclination to leave right away. Therefore, in order to reduce the difficulty of the manhunt as much as possible, it was best to identify the suspect as early as possible. Of course, this was predicated on the possibility of finding said suspect. Spread out in front of Jiang Yuan and the technicians were multiple sheets filled with information extracted from bills, listing cash transactions within specific timeframes. Naturally, they began their search by following these time frames. However, the prediction—a medium-built, middle-aged male between 45 and 49 years old, possibly wearing “KPMG” brand sneakers and single—didn’t appear in any of these timeframes. A few slightly suspicious targets later, even double or triple arrivals, as long as the age and physique matched, were pursued by detectives for questioning. Nowadays, hotel check-ins required ID registration and a phone number, which provided a firm basis for following up with inquiries among hotel guests, making it not too difficult a task. However, no exhilarating updates came back. Jiang Yuan himself was becoming increasingly anxious. “Take a break for a while, and if it’s really no good, we’ll think of another approach,” Wu Junhao said, bringing in a plate of roujiamo, and after observing for a while, called everyone to grab some late-night snacks. “Thanks, Captain Wu,” said Jiang Yuan, who was hungry, and quickly devoured a roujiamo. “Eat as many as you like, there’s plenty of pancakes. We’ll have mutton soup later,” Wu Junhao said generously as he had used public funds to buy the snacks. As they talked, two young men pushed in a cart with a stainless steel bucket brimming with mutton soup on top. “The cafeteria’s meal delivery equipment is pretty complete,” Jiang Yuan commented with approval. “The cafeteria usually has to deliver meals to the prisoners,” Wu Junhao said, tapping his ladle against the rim of the bucket, producing a clear sound that vaguely brought to mind iron bars and windows. Jiang Yuan smiled and said, “Used by prisoners during the day and by cops at night. Efficiency maxed out.” “That was back in the day. When I was an apprentice, catching criminals was so satisfying. It’s not like now, watching surveillance video for half the night and finding nothing,” Wu Junhao expressed his dissatisfaction. He had played bodyguard and babysitter and had ended up waiting aimlessly, which understandably left him restless. But his frustration only unsettled him for a moment before he quickly started apologizing, “I’m just ranting. Sometimes catching someone also requires a bit of luck. Maybe the guy didn’t even stay at a hotel.” Then, as if struck by a sudden idea, Wu Junhao speculated, “What if the guy went to a brothel instead? Maybe we should be checking places like Feng Lou or spots that offer overnight services...” “Captain Liu has already checked those out,” a detective nearby reminded him. Wu Junhao sighed in disappointment, “Still, Liu’s the one with the real experience!” Jiang Yuan didn’t feel like smiling, just kept gobbling down roujiamo and mutton soup. At three in the morning, quick carbs and fats were the undisputed kings. Michelin-starred establishments, intangible cultural heritage bearers stand no chance against street food vendors at this time. Or to put it another way, when people say that food from a street vendor tastes better than food from anywhere else, it’s because the body instinctively cheers for quick carbs and fats. The same food, if eaten at noon, wouldn’t taste nearly as delicious. This scientific experiment supports multiple repeated trials for validation. Jiang Yuan was quite hungry, and watching the videos was a significant drain on his energy. After wolfing down a roujiamo, Jiang Yuan found a moment to drag the progress bar, preparing to watch the surveillance while eating pancakes. They had already watched the time segments in the record column two or three times over. This time, Jiang Yuan adjusted the timeline to the day of the incident, starting from the afternoon, and set the playback at double speed in the lobby of the largest Crown Holiday Hotel in Ningtai County. In doing so, he was actually still focusing on the shoes. The strategy they had determined before was to follow the money, looking for guests who had paid for their rooms with cash. In this day and age, guests who still conducted cash transactions were extremely rare. If someone’s age and build matched, they would be listed as a suspect and subjected to further screening. However, after screening back and forth, the suspect list now had no one on it at all. Searching a third or fourth time wouldn’t really make any qualitative change. Maybe everyone’s judgement of the criminal suspect was fundamentally wrong. Perhaps the suspect didn’t need to stay at a hotel, maybe they left Ningtai County immediately, or maybe they didn’t use cash to stay... Any possibility could exist, but deep down, Jiang Yuan believed that the criminal suspect would pursue a more comfortable lifestyle. Because a suspect who returns to the crime scene is bound to be arrogant and conceited. If he dared to return to the crime scene and even dared to watch Jiang Yuan wipe the evidence for so long, would he leave Ningtai County overnight? As Jiang Yuan was thinking this way, he took a sip of the mutton soup and fast-forwarded the progress bar to the evening. If his guess was correct, during the afternoon time, the suspect was watching Jiang Yuan clean the floor. So, if he was going to stay in a hotel, he could only arrive in the evening. Theoretically, he would not change his clothes either. Because it would be safer and more conceited to take away the clothes worn at the crime scene for disposal. Trying to guess the suspect’s mindset, Jiang Yuan chewed on the roujiamo, when a pair of grey and white sports shoes appeared among the crowd in the video. Jiang Yuan didn’t even see the face of the person in the video, but he recognized those shoes at a glance, without the need for a closeup. Bixby! A pair of unremarkable shoes. Unremarkable nomenclature, unremarkable design aesthetic... In recent days, the image of these shoes had been suspended in Jiang Yuan’s mind; now seeing them again— Jiang Yuan put down his roujiamo, hit pause on the video, and then played it back at normal speed to watch it. Noticing Jiang Yuan’s actions, the others gathered around as well. “A travel group? Right, travel groups handle registration procedures collectively.” In the video analysis office, Gao Jiansheng, who was watching the video with Jiang Yuan, slapped his thigh, excited and yet pained. “This person. Height, weight, age, they all fit. Looks like he’s traveling alone. He’s wearing Bixby shoes, and his clothes and pants also seem to be from that discount store,” Jiang Yuan pointed out the suspect in the video. This was an average-looking middle-aged man. His face appeared somewhat old, with small eyes, a small mouth, and short hair, giving the impression of a security uncle from an old residential district on his way home after a shift. His exterior seemed calm. After entering the hotel lobby with the travel group, he handed his ID card to the tour guide, and then stood among the crowd, listening to their conversations and even spoke up once. “He has been with the travel group all this way,” Wu Junhao said with a chill down his spine; this mode of entry and exit was something that no one had anticipated, and if it weren’t for Jiang Yuan identifying the man’s shoes, they wouldn’t have been able to identify him. “This is the video from the day of the crime. The travel group must have already left Ningtai County,” Wu Jun reminded solemnly. Ningtai County was not a tourist city, mainly serving as a transit spot on travel routes. Some travel groups would spend the day playing in Changyang City and then bring their members to stay overnight in Ningtai County to save on the huge accommodation costs between the two places. For this, Ningtai County had also developed a few artificial and semi-artificial attractions, occasionally catching the interest of some travel groups. But no matter how good the service was, no travel group would stay in Ningtai County for two days. They would definitely leave the next day, and perhaps go somewhere else the day after. “Jiang Yuan, call Captain Huang. Everyone else, secure the evidence, get the suspect’s ID out, check the travel group’s itinerary...” Wu Junhao ordered someone, directing the video analysis office to quickly spring into action.

Chapter 164 - 164 159 This Person!

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