Chapter 184 - 184 176 Seeking the Case

Words : 1513 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

184: Chapter 176: Seeking the Case 184: Chapter 176: Seeking the Case The waters of the Tai River, flowing endlessly onward. Riding a bike over the bridge, a refreshing breeze quickly blew over, invigorating one’s spirit. Jiang Yuan really liked autumn in Ningtai, when all things were flourishing and the river was at just the right level. The occasional floating corpse that drifted down was more likely the result of accidental deaths or natural disasters, so one didn’t always have to think of humanity’s depravity and sorrow. In the courtyard of the Criminal Police Department, there were faces brimming with enthusiasm and smiles. Particularly the old man who looked after the parking lot, who would always beam with joy whenever Jiang Yuan handed him a cigarette. Huang Qiangmin happened to be taking a walk downstairs when he caught sight of Jiang Yuan and, in an instant, seemed even more excited than Dazhuang. “You sure took your sweet time coming back,” Huang Qiangmin said as if he wanted to grab Jiang Yuan’s head to see if it was still in one piece. The main problem was that Jiang Yuan was so tall; it really wasn’t convenient for him. Jiang Yuan chuckled and replied, “I just happened upon a case of corpse burning... Who knows when we’ll ever have one in Ningtai County? I thought I’d take the opportunity to learn something.” “The folks in Ningtai County are simple and honest, and now even that has gone wrong?” Huang Qiangmin retorted grumpily, “Major crimes reflect the level of public security in a place. Our county has almost zero thefts this month; you don’t need to practice your corpse burning skills.” Jiang Yuan frowned, “There are still thefts?” “There’s always someone ready to snatch things if they can. An era of roads without lost property and houses without locked doors belonged to ancient times.” “Nowadays, it’s the era of surveillance cameras,” Jiang Yuan argued, then added, “The surveillance setup still isn’t quite right.” Surveillance cameras aren’t just about filming; they need to form a complete system to be effective. For instance, if you’re tracking a criminal suspect and there are frequent gaps in the coverage, forcing you to rely on less efficient methods like inference, the overall efficiency is just too low. Furthermore, the quality of the cameras, the software supporting the monitoring system, and the staffing of image investigation technicians all link together in a tight chain. Right now, Ningtai County was just managing to get by using such a system, still heavily reliant on good luck rather than good management to catch criminals. It was also because the small-time thieves in the county didn’t seek progress or strive for improvement. Otherwise, after a few stints in jail, they could easily test and find the blind spots in the surveillance. Then they could steal when they wanted to steal and sing and dance when they wanted to entertain themselves, rather than resorting to manual labor. Huang Qiangmin wasn’t interested in continuing the conversation about surveillance. With such a large-scale project requiring a long duration and substantial maintenance costs, it wasn’t something a Criminal Police Captain could decide about. Nor did he want to make decisions about such matters. Huang Qiangmin just smiled and, while walking with Jiang Yuan, said, “You’ve never stayed at a police station long enough to know. These days people are scared to commit murder, but they have plenty of guts to make trouble. I’d rather have fewer criminal cases so we can go around the counties and towns and enjoy more of life.” Being young, Jiang Yuan couldn’t quite understand Huang Qiangmin’s perspective and simply responded with a smile. Seeing that Jiang Yuan was full of energy with no outlet to spend it, Huang Qiangmin quickly suggested, “If there aren’t any active cases, why not review some cold cases? It’s just the right time to clear up some of Ningtai County’s debts.” When there’s no more land at home, then it’s time to break new ground. And this was what Huang Qiangmin was looking forward to the most. There was only so much to be gained from existing output, and breaking new ground had its benefits. “I’ll give it a try,” said Jiang Yuan. “If you’re going to look, focus on the homicide cases,” Huang Qiangmin emphasized. Investigating cases consumes resources, but extra expenses are understandable if the case involves homicide. “I’ll have a look later,” Jiang Yuan replied with a hint of confidence. Indeed, he had a variety of skills at his disposal that worked well together, and by just reviewing case files, he’d previously solved a supervised case from the Provincial Department that Liu Jinghui brought in. He really was ready to show his hand. Thinking this over, Jiang Yuan returned to his office on the fourth floor, greeting people with smiles and sharing cigarettes all the way. The forensic doctor’s office. The floor was swept clean and had been sprinkled with water. Wu Jun sat with his legs crossed, humming a tune while smoking and filling out an identification report. Seeing Jiang Yuan enter, Wu Jun first showed a smile, then his eyes darted around, putting down his pen... “Master, Captain Huang is preparing to let me work on several cold cases,” Jiang Yuan said, offering a Zhonghua cigarette and then putting the rest of the small pack on his master’s desk. Wu Jun habitually accepted the Zhonghua, then sighed and said, “Alright. We don’t have much regular work anyway... By the way, did you work on a murder and corpse burning case this time?” “Yes.” “Then you should pay proper homage,” Wu Jun muttered, gesturing for Jiang Yuan to proceed on his own. Jiang Yuan hesitated for a moment, then got up to close the door, reached into the bottom drawer of the desk, and took out a statue of Guan Yu. He solemnly bowed three times and then lit a Zhonghua, placing it before Lord Guan. Wu Jun felt a pang of inexplicable sorrow and couldn’t help but stand up and said, “Lord Guan, I have worshipped you for many years, and you usually smoke my cigarettes.” He took out a pack of white Yunyan cigarettes from the drawer, respectfully lit one for Lord Guan, and retrieved the already burning Zhonghua. He himself usually smoked Yunyan as well, but he smoked the kind that was 23 yuan a pack. The pearl-white variety was also Yunyan, priced at 5.5 yuan, becoming increasingly scarce, but 20 sticks would be enough for Lord Guan for a year. Turning back, Wu Jun saw that Jiang Yuan’s expression was unchanged, so he lit another pearl-white cigarette, gently placed it on the ground, and said to Jiang Yuan, “Jump the flame to ward off bad luck.” The newly lit cigarette had a red glow at the tip, burning slowly yet steadfastly. Jiang Yuan stepped over the burning Yunyan, back and forth, three times. The ritual complete, both returned to their seats. Jiang Yuan turned on his computer, while Wu Jun picked up his fountain pen. Time passed peacefully. The internet was exceptionally fast. Jing Yuan flipped through the unsolved cases of Ningtai County, aimlessly searching at first and then beginning to look for crime scenes with a lot of blood. Among Jiang Yuan’s various skills, LV5 Bloodstain Analysis and his LV5 dedication were his strongest weapons. If it had been 20 years earlier, with the higher rate of violent crime, Jiang Yuan would have been overwhelmed with work. The number of murder cases in Ningtai County was showing a yearly downward trend. It was the same for most county towns across the country. One reason was the cliff-like drop in physical contact violent crimes, and another was the decrease in the youth population. At the end of the day, it was because today’s young people were different. Looking back ten years, the annual murder rate in Ningtai was double; even more so if you go further back. Scrolling through, Jiang Yuan came across a thirteen-year-old murder cold case. The case occurred in Ningtai County’s earliest “high-rise building.” A 22-story tower block where the body of a 16-year-old girl was found on the rooftop terrace. She had been missing for a day. Jiang Yuan chose this case because there was a lot of blood at the scene. From the terrace where the body was discovered, to the fire escape door, and into the stairwell, there were spatters and flows of blood, and numerous bloody footprints at the scene. But no fingerprints or blood traces of the murderer were found. When technological methods failed to yield results, the special investigation team also did extensive checks and interviews, but no significant leads were found. Jiang Yuan clicked on the photos and began to browse through them one by one. For such cases, Bloodstain Analysis and crime scene reconstruction was a very good approach, assuming the photos taken at the scene were suitable.

Chapter 184 - 184 176 Seeking the Case

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