Chapter 188 - 188 180

Words : 1763 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

188: 180 188: 180 The journey spanned 1600 kilometers, a round trip of over 3000 kilometers, with only a one-day stopover in between. Jiang Yuan arrived back in Ningtai County in a daze. If someone were to ask him now what Luo Jin City looked like, Jiang Yuan could only respond with a slow drawl, asking, “Luo what?” Even so, Jiang Yuan received special treatment. The other three drove while escorting Liu Yuquan. Likewise, deciding to dispatch three people instead of four for the escort was already a consideration for comfort during the long drive. Huang Qiangmin arrived at the forensic office with a constant 22.2-degree smile, and upon seeing Jiang Yuan’s fatigued appearance, couldn’t help but laugh, “Look at you, completely worn out. I said there was no need for you to go to the arrest, just let the others run around.” “I was thinking, maybe there would be a need to search for clues or evidence at the scene,” Jiang Yuan said, having rested the previous night but still not quite recovered. Out of respect for the team leader, he stood up anyway. Huang Qiangmin passed Jiang Yuan a cigarette and casually offered one to Wu Jun as well. After Wu Jun lit it and took a drag, Huang said, “Your thinking is good too, indeed, we should go all out when facing a backlog of murder cases. However...” At this point, Huang Qiangmin turned and closed the office door. Behind the door hung an image of Lord Guan, swaying slightly, with Phoenix eyes that seemed to look askance at people. Clearly, Comrade Wu Jun held some unconventional beliefs about how colleagues returning from other provinces should refresh and improve themselves. And the ritual was not yet complete. Huang Qiangmin’s mouth twitched twice, pretending not to see, and turned away. With the door closed, Huang Qiangmin spoke more freely, “Let’s speak some inappropriate truths. Jiang Yuan, evidence from the scene of the arrest is something anyone can handle. Even if we encounter something particularly difficult, if the evidence is collected and sent back, you can still analyze it later. And if it’s really necessary to be on site, a last-minute trip would still be feasible.” Wu Jun coughed twice and quickly added his own politically incorrect comment, “Jiang Yuan, the captain really does care about you. I agree too, you have the ability to solve cases, while the work of arrest and completing evidence can be left to others.” “Right, everyone has their expertise, teamwork is the key,” said Huang Qiangmin, believing he had made his point. The reason he felt such a strong urge to say these things was because of the astonishing capabilities Jiang Yuan had exhibited. A murder case from 13 years ago had been cracked as soon as he took it on, and with each arrest, the suspects were spot on. The criminals had confessed some details of their crimes during transportation, and Huang Qiangmin couldn’t wait to verify them, the outcomes needless to say. Such cases are typically kept confidential, especially certain details of the crime – where the clothing was torn, what items at the scene were moved, where the murder weapon was hidden, how the blood-stained clothes were handled, and so forth, all kept secret. Some details weren’t even documented in the case files. They were things only visible or audible at the crime scene or to those who had been there. Once these details were confirmed, the identity of the perpetrators was essentially confirmed as well. In current cases, not only murder cases but even thefts have a stage of crime scene recognition, effectively validating the power of their testimony from another angle. The 611 case of He Jingqin was one that Captain Huang had personally worked on since taking charge of the detective squad. Huang Qiangmin still felt emotional when he thought of how difficult it was to handle the case at that time. However, the direction of the criminal investigation at that time was misguided. Without evidence of rape, and considering that there had been burglaries in the vicinity of the victim’s apartment building within a few months, the main focus was on robbery leading to death. Later, they even considered whether the murder was motivated by hatred due to He Jingqin’s parents’ relationships, or was a failed kidnapping attempt. At the time, because the case occurred in the tallest building of the county, it attracted a lot of attention and caused widespread anxiety among the residents of the building and the nearby community. It also had a significant social impact, with the special investigation team working tirelessly, day and night. Huang Qiangmin, for two consecutive weeks, only slept four hours a day, and half of that was in the car. The other members of the special investigation team also demonstrated commendable enthusiasm and diligence. At its peak, the team had over a hundred members, with thirty to forty people dedicating three months to the case. But solving a case isn’t something that can be achieved with just enthusiasm and hard work. If we were to count the working hours, the police system of Ningtai County must have invested at least seventy to eighty thousand hours into the He Jingqin case thirteen years ago, and hundreds of hours were dedicated to clearing old cases in the years that followed. But how many hours did Jiang Yuan’s team use? Jiang Yuan reopened the case with perhaps just ten hours of actual work time, and the subsequent arrests took a few hundred hours at most. A hundredfold increase in work efficiency. Most crucially, the method used to solve the case was unlike any of Jiang Yuan’s previous use of fingerprints, DNA, or footprints. The technique of reconstructing the crime scene not only provides an investigative direction. It creates a platform. As long as Jiang Yuan reconstructs the crime scene, every member of the investigation team can understand the full picture of the scene. It’s like allowing everyone to witness a video recording of the bloodstains at the crime scene. And on this basis, solving cases is clearly more effective than merely relying on a single fingerprint or DNA and hoping for luck. This beast is truly made for breaking new ground! Huang Qiangmin didn’t urge Jiang Yuan, but patted him on the shoulder and, with a warmth, said a few words like “rest well,” then opened the office door and left. He didn’t even spare Lord Guan a second glance. Wu Jun stepped forward to put Lord Guan away, contemplating where to place it next time. Jiang Yuan was in poor shape, his work was feeble despite being willing; after reading a novel for a while, he left on time when his shift ended. The next day, Jiang Yuan arrived a bit later. Liu Yuquan had already been properly locked up in the detention center, and the procuratorate had become involved ahead of time. Lately, the string of solved cases by the Ningtai County Bureau had also created quite a bit of pressure for the units above and below them. However, solving homicide backlog cases was always a good thing after all. Some had already started to think about how they would draft their performance reports. Upon entering the office, Jiang Yuan saw Wu Jun writing fervently. That made Jiang Yuan somewhat emotional: Forget any talk of civil servants having it easy; look at Doctor Wu, with his cup of green tea, a cigarette, a water pen, writing all day without stopping. “Master, what are you writing? Can I help with some?” After his emotional moment, Jiang Yuan actively stepped forward, ready to work. Wu Jun glanced at him, sighed, and said, “Forget it, these are tasks I’m familiar with; if I pass them to you, Captain Huang would scold me for not knowing any better.” “How could that be...” “Old crocodiles are tough to handle,” Wu Jun shook his head and said, “The injury assessments from the past few days are done; if you’ve got free time, go work on the backlog cases.” “I can’t work on backlog cases every day,” Jiang Yuan laughed. Wu Jun didn’t laugh, looked up to give him a glance, and said, “Have you forgotten what Captain Huang told you yesterday?” “Uhm... more or less,” Jiang Yuan admitted. “Normally, working on a specialized case team for backlog cases, spending two or three months on one case is quite common. You’ve hardly spent any time on this, calling it working on backlog cases every day. Since you’ve started, at least you should produce some results,” Wu Jun lectured Jiang Yuan. Jiang Yuan chuckled and said, “Didn’t I just finish a backlog case?” “Time is also important,” Wu Jun said emphatically. “Yesterday, Captain Huang was already arranging for some teams to wrap up their cases quickly. Guess what he’s trying to accomplish?” Although Jiang Yuan didn’t understand, he followed the conversation and said, “Working on backlog cases?” “Right, so you see, do you think you really have that much time to waste? Get to it. Captain Huang is ready to support you, and here you are, spending half the day with me on paperwork... Captain Huang could skin me alive.” “That’s an exaggeration...” “Ever heard the story about making an example of a chicken to scare the monkeys?” “Am I the monkey?” Jiang Yuan pointed to his own nose. Wu Jun nodded. “Are you the chicken?” Wu Jun nodded again. Jiang Yuan quietly returned to his computer to work. It took a while for Wu Jun to realize what had transpired, and after smoking half a cigarette in one breath, he let Jiang Yuan off the hook, considering he used the respectful “you.” Jiang Yuan continued to sift through backlog cases from 13 years ago and then came across one from 17 years ago. A body found beside a rural path. Due to the cover of the trees, it wasn’t until the body began to decompose and emit a foul stench that a passing traveler called the police. The case... came to a halt. It caught Jiang Yuan’s attention because the officer examining the scene found a third of a bloody fingerprint on the victim’s leather jacket. Seeing this fingerprint, Jiang Yuan felt a strong urge to run a comparison. “I’ll choose you,” Jiang Yuan muttered to himself, shifted in his chair, and looked closely at the screen.

Chapter 188 - 188 180

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