Chapter 27 - 27 27 The Stranger Case

Words : 1893 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

27: Chapter 27: The Stranger Case 27: Chapter 27: The Stranger Case “Are you really going back to rest?” Wang Zhong eyed Jiang Yuan packing his things, feeling a clear sense of heartburn. He occasionally arrived late or left early, but never because a leader told him to do so. And he envied that. Jiang Yuan rubbed his shoulders, justifying with confidence, “There’s nothing else to do here. Those army cots are too uncomfortable to sleep on, I need to go back and catch up on some sleep.” Wang Zhong’s envy was so intense he felt like his nose and neck would break. Everyone knows how uncomfortable army cots are, and that overworking and staying up late can ruin your health and shorten your life... With a sorrowful tone, Wang Zhong said, “Captain Huang offered you a dorm room, you turned it down—those dorm rooms are hard to come by...” Wu Jun cut off Wang Zhong’s words, “Jiang Yuan exerted himself all day yesterday climbing up and down, he really is tired. The case is solved anyway; there’s still a lot Jiang Yuan can learn in processing a case, there’s no need to rush.” Now that the case was cracked and the criminal suspect was apprehended, what followed was the case processing stage that the detectives greatly detested. Processing a case is extremely draining on one’s energy. If solving a case is akin to eating a meal, then processing a case is like cooking and combining it with washing the dishes and cleaning up the table. Wu Jun didn’t actually like the case processing either. His job as a forensic doctor mainly involved crime scene investigation, autopsies, and a bunch of toxicological analyses, etc. All in all, the total working hours could be covered in 20 hours; this time the work was smooth, and there wasn’t much left. A few days ago, Wu Jun would naturally have assigned most of this work to Jiang Yuan—the purpose of hiring new staff was exactly that. But now, seeing how the Criminal Police Team’s captain doted on Jiang Yuan, and considering Jiang Yuan’s proactive re-investigation that led to significant results, Wu Jun felt there was no need to use Jiang Yuan as a beast of burden. Letting Jiang Yuan take a little break before putting him to work again also followed Huang Qiangmin’s orders, and could be considered sustainable development. Wang Zhong really wanted to stress that he had also exhausted himself by climbing up and down all of yesterday—although he hadn’t achieved any tangible results, it was a question of capability, not a lack of effort... Watching Jiang Yuan quickly pack up his things and head out the door, Wang Zhong could only shout from behind, “When the interrogation results are out, I’ll let you know.” “Alright,” Jiang Yuan waved, disappearing at the staircase. The interrogation took much longer than Jiang Yuan anticipated. It wasn’t until the afternoon of the next day, around the time people were getting off work, that an update on the case came out. In front of Jiang Yuan instantly popped the task completion notification: Task Completed: From the Beginning Task Description: Perform a repeated investigation of the Xue Ming case scene to obtain clues and evidence. Reward Content: One skill expansion. Then, four skill options appeared in front of Jiang Yuan. 1. Chongqing Single Finger Fingerprint Analysis Method—Loop Pattern Identification (LV3) 2. Making Fried Rice (LV3) 3. Crime Scene Investigation (LV4) 4. Camping (LV2) Jiang Yuan’s eyes lingered on the third option for a while, but he chose the first option, the Chongqing Single Finger Fingerprint Analysis Method—Loop Pattern Identification (LV3). In an instant, this skill transformed into the Chongqing Single Finger Fingerprint Analysis Method (LV3). The dropping of the note on loop patterns meant that Jiang Yuan’s skill now covered all types of fingerprints. A sense of relief unconsciously washed over Jiang Yuan. Being adept only at identifying loop patterns does come with many inconveniences in practice, and that is precisely why he didn’t choose to expand Crime Scene Investigation (LV4). In his opinion, LV4 Crime Scene Investigation was obviously stronger than an LV3 skill, at the very least standing out from his colleagues in the Criminal Science Squad at LV4, reaching heights that might be unattainable for a regular technician even with their utmost effort. Jiang Yuan was confident in performing re-investigations precisely because of such a foundation. In contrast, an LV3 level skill didn’t seem as dramatically superior; it was roughly equivalent to the peak state a technician could achieve solely through experience. At this level, Jiang Yuan felt anything but relaxed when matching fingerprints—like with the “High-Speed Service Area Oil Theft Gang” case, where he had given up on matching two sets of prints. Of course, from a skill level perspective, expanding “Crime Scene Investigation (LV4)” could have been the more cost-effective choice, possibly leading to a qualitative leap when upgraded to LV5. However, the direct case-solving nature of fingerprint identification appealed to Jiang Yuan even more. On the other hand, crime scene investigations were more time-consuming and tended to focus on current cases. From a high perspective of maintaining social stability and showcasing social justice, Jiang Yuan felt it was okay to wait a bit longer—being the owner of the system, he thought his perspective should be elevated. Thump, thump. Wang Zhong knocked on the door and sauntered in, starting with, “Did you hear?” “You tell me,” Wu Jun replied, as if he had been waiting for this. “Heh heh,” Wang Zhong chuckled and said, “The murder weapon has been retrieved, it’s a solid case now.” “Really retrieved?” Jiang Yuan was surprised. Many of his family’s houses had views of the Tai River. Although the flow wasn’t fast, the river was so wide and several days had passed—it was unexpected to still recover the murder weapon. Wang Zhong curled his lip and said, “Frogmen and divers from out of town were brought in today. They pointed out where the weapon was thrown in while searching right there on the spot, and they just found it now. It cost more money than the car Captain Huang bought.” Huang Qiangmin drove a Pajero handed down from his unit. Jiang Yuan clicked his tongue twice, recognizing the significance. This was just a part of a case, and they were willing to spend so much money; it was evident how high the investigation costs for a homicide case could be. If Ningtai County had a few more such cases, the police station would directly face a famine. “Now that the murder weapon has been found, has the suspect fully confessed?” Jiang Yuan asked further, “It was earlier said that the suspect had a very poor psychological quality, I thought the case would be finished the same day.” “You’re thinking too much,” Wu Jun said. “This is a homicide case, likely to result in a death sentence, so everything must be done by the book. For instance, the criminal must be sent to the detention center; interrogation times must meet regulations, not exceeding the limit, no nighttime interrogations, no threats...” “So, it’s been done quite quickly this time,” Jiang Yuan realized. “It’s just so,” Wu Jun said while tapping his chopsticks, “Let me put it this way, of all the homicide cases I’ve encountered, the more premeditated the crime and the better prepared the criminal, the faster they confess once they’re in the interrogation room. Their preparations stem from a fear of getting caught.” “That seems quite reasonable,” Jiang Yuan followed Wu Jun’s logic and nodded, then turned to Wang Zhong and asked, “What was the murderer’s motive?” “This is where it gets interesting,” Wang Zhong had been waiting for this, he took pleasure for two seconds before seriously saying, “The murderer was the victim’s ‘simpering lackey.'” Wu Jun, in his fifties, knew what a ‘simpering lackey’ was but still couldn’t help but express surprise, “Even prostitutes have ‘simpering lackeys’?” “Unexpected, right?” Wang Zhong ate a few bites, swallowed, then continued, “The suspect had been trying to persuade the prostitute to quit and turn over a new leaf but was always brushed off and even scammed out of red packets. He confronted the victim because the victim had helped introduce business, including the prostitute’s trip to the provincial city to deliver takeout(prostitue) that afternoon, which was arranged by the victim.” “He himself paid 500 for a session, but the one he introduced paid 2000 per session? Did he take a kickback?” Wu Jun asked. Wang Zhong nodded, “Just that 500.” Wu Jun laughed, “A freeloader, huh?” “Yeah,” Wang Zhong shook his head and went on, “The suspect found out about this, confronted the man claiming he wanted to persuade him to stop, a verbal confrontation ensued, and reportedly, the victim was quite foul-mouthed, leading to the suspect getting agitated and pulling out a knife. And just like that, a fatal strike, how outrageous, right?” “Even more outrageous is taking a shower at the crime scene after a first-time murder. What was he thinking?” “He was trying to erase the evidence, of course. This man is an upright graduate of The Great Learning. After graduation, he stayed home preparing for postgraduate studies, took money from his parents, and sent red packets to the prostitute. He claimed he didn’t know the victim, just wanting to clean up the evidence, and after leaving the scene he kept hiding, hoping to evade punishment.” Wu Jun had heard even more absurd stories but couldn’t help shaking his head at this one, saying from a different perspective, “You know, today’s case was actually committed by a stranger.” Wang Zhong coughed twice and quickly said in a low voice, “Captain Huang had judged it to be an acquaintance crime...” “You were the one who pointed that out,” Wu Jun glanced at Wang Zhong. Wang Zhong gave a bitter smile. “All joking aside, if Xiao Jiang hadn’t revisited the scene, this case might have been up in the air,” Wu Jun said meaningfully. Wang Zhong was stunned for a moment then agreed, “Indeed, a crime by a stranger, without peeling off three layers, is very difficult to crack.” A stranger’s crime implies no direct link or even intersection between the murderer and the victim. In other words, the murderer is not in the victim’s relational network. Typically based on interpersonal relationships, the easiest cases for law enforcement to crack are those that follow this network. Once outside the relational network, whether the motive is for profit, a spur-of-the-moment thrill, or other reasons, the difficulty of solving the case increases significantly. Not only serial killer cases that turn into famous crimes pose a headache precisely for this reason—if there are no witnesses or direct evidence, both solving the crime and achieving a conviction face tremendous difficulty. For the Ningtai County Criminal Police Team, any case labeled with the words “stranger” was a major headache, let alone a homicide.” “Xiao Jiang’s got something,” Wu Jun felt quite moved, suddenly thinking that the life he dreamt of, one without handling corpses, seemed both nearer and further away.

Chapter 27 - 27 27 The Stranger Case

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