Chapter 374 - 374 341 Village BD

Words : 2038 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

374: Chapter 341 Village BD 374: Chapter 341 Village BD Song Jinyou knew Liu Wenkai, but they weren’t particularly close, and unable to withstand Liu Wenkai’s jokes, he said, “Captain Liu, let’s stick to the topic of sheep.” Liu Wenkai was actually looking forward to telling the newcomers from the criminal police brigade about the past, but seeing the situation, he said, “All right then, have you found any of the sheep so far?” Song Jinyou, feeling helpless by the question and seeing the large number of people who had come, said, “To tell the truth, we haven’t paid enough attention to this case.” Song Jinyou admitted defeat and looked at Jiang Yuan. He was just a police station chief, after all, and solving cases wasn’t his main duty. Besides, as more related cases cropped up, the investigation had been transferred to the criminal police team, which didn’t have much to do with his station. “Shall we go to the scene then?” Jiang Yuan stood up, signaling the end of the PPT presentation. Song Jinyou naturally nodded, followed by the rustling sound of many people getting to their feet. “Well... okay then.” Song Jinyou wasn’t unfamiliar with seeing a dozen or twenty people investigating a scene together, but what kind of cases were those... Song Jinyou shook his head, not wanting to dwell on the issue anymore. The nearest sheep theft site to the police station was about five or six kilometers away, which would just be a taxi’s starting fare in the city, but in a tiny township like Wen Township, it was already deep into the rural area. Sima Village. As the convoy arrived, the village head, party secretary, village accountant, and other officials all came pouring out, especially the elderly who were perennially stationed at the Sima Village CBD, each happier than if they had eaten sheep themselves. Jiang Yuan looked around and saw that the village was mostly occupied by elderly people of retirement age or older. The village head and party secretary seemed to be around 50 years old, appeared to be in good health, but were still not considered young. This was a completely different sight from Jiang Village. The stolen sheep pen was located by the roadside, run by the village’s women’s director and her husband. Most of the stolen sheep, dogs, and geese were not far from the road, probably to facilitate theft and transport. For the police, this meant less evidence and shorter crime execution time. The women’s director of Sima Village was among the youngest in the village, looking to be in her forties, but when she talked about the sheep thieves, she sounded as if she had 80 years of cursing experience. While she was explaining the situation, she still found time to curse a couple of times. “The sheep disappeared while we were having a meal, without even a bleat,” the women’s director rattled on, getting angrier as she spoke: “They pick the sheep carefully; when my son-in-law came over, I couldn’t bear to slaughter it for him, and it got stolen by these damned thieves. I should have known, I’d rather feed it to the dogs than let them have it...” Wang Chuanxing commented, “Looking at the other few cases, the criminals should have experience in raising sheep or trading live sheep. We’ve seen similar situations in other cases.” Shen Yaowei said, “The stolen dogs are all black and yellow. They must have been taken to be eaten. Eating black, then yellow, then mottled dogs, people are particular about this.” Tang Jia couldn’t bear to say, “If that’s the case, shouldn’t only black dogs be stolen?” “Do you see any black dogs in this village?” Shen Yaowei countered. Tang Jia paused, then recalling her observations since entering the village, she really hadn’t seen any black dogs and said, “Why is that? Don’t they keep black dogs here?” “Keeping black dogs comes with a lot of considerations, many old people don’t keep them. Moreover, now there are fewer people in the village, and dogs are free-roaming. A black dog popping out in the middle of the night, unseen, could scare someone into falling over, even killing them,” explained Shen Yaowei, before adding, “But, I think the main reason is that they taste good. Black dogs are always the first choice, and as you keep eating black dogs, there are fewer left.” A few officers whispered among themselves, and sensing hope, the women’s director couldn’t help but ask, “Well, I want to know, if this case is solved, can our sheep be returned?” “The sheep may have already been eaten,” Wang Chuanxing replied before adding, “Of course, if the criminals are willing to make restitution, you might be able to receive some compensation.” “How much would that be?” “It’s hard to say exactly, you might get the value of the sheep,” Wang Chuanxing paused, then said, “But that’s also uncertain.” “It would be best if we could get compensated. We villagers don’t have much money,” the women’s director said, becoming sorrowful: “My husband is not in good health and can’t do hard labor, and nobody would hire him outside. The two of us raising sheep all year only make just over twenty thousand, not even reaching thirty thousand. Now we’re missing over a thousand all of a sudden, it really breaks my heart...” The pen had about thirty sheep in total, which indeed weren’t worth much. The detectives from the big cities were somewhat stunned. The Criminal Police Brigade was not like the Criminal Police Detachment. The detectives from the county’s detachment, with years of work experience, had seen too many poor people. It’s not the same for the brigade; some detectives might only work on a few major cases in three to five years of their careers. Once the women’s director opened up, she began to pour out her heart: “We raise sheep at home for such a small amount of money, we have to give some to the kids, prepare for the New Year, and cover the cost of weddings and funerals, as well as home repairs and buying things like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. We hardly save a few thousand yuan a year. Honestly, I can’t even bear to slaughter a sheep for our own consumption, let alone at the New Year...” As she spoke, she started wiping tears and then thumped her husband, “Marrying someone incapable, working all year round with endless labor, endless hardship, and no pension. If I keep working like this for another twenty years, I’ll die without any issues, but then my child will have no one to help take care of their kids...” “Auntie, let’s first look at the scene, I’ll take your statement,” Tang Jia offered proactively, leading the women’s director to one side. Jiang Yuan paced around the sheep pen twice, confirming that the situation he saw in the photos matched the scene before him. There were actually quite a few clues left at the time of the incident. There was a set of footprints, but the analysis done by Yan yielded no effective results, and were merely recorded in the case file. There were marks of the tool used to cut open the sheep pen gate, again analyzed by Yan, but it turned out to be useless number two. Some wool from the missing sheep was found, which in theory could be compared if the sheep were found to confirm whether it was the same one. But if that sheep had been eaten, then the wool would become useless number three. For a case like this, the normal investigative approach would be to check surveillance footage and interview people for eyewitness accounts. In the villages of the past, where similar incidents frequently occurred, this method could often provide some clues. However, in a village like Sima Village, where the population had sharply decreased and consisted mostly of elderly people, the situation was drastically different. Everyone had similar routines, sight, and hearing, with reduced areas of activity. Fewer people would hide in a corner for a tryst, and hence, coincidentally catch a glimpse of the suspect... However, if all 20 cases were carefully reviewed, logically, more clues would emerge. “Are all the villagers here?” Jiang Yuan, having surveyed the scene, asked the village chief beside him. The village chief looked around, beginning to count the people. “Call everyone from the village out,” Jiang Yuan requested Meng Chengbiao, who was standing nearby. Meng Chengbiao immediately understood and started whispering instructions after pulling a few people aside. After a while, all the villagers had gathered together. Jiang Yuan looked at everyone’s feet one by one before announcing their dismissal, prompting discussions among the crowd. Meng Chengbiao moved closer and asked, “Do you suspect an inside job by someone from the village?” “Not necessarily from this village, but it must be someone familiar with it. Judging by the scene, there weren’t any unnecessary movements,” Jiang Yuan paused before continuing, “Looking at the footprints, the culprit should be between 55 to 57 years old, male, weighing around 150 pounds, and no taller than 1.7 meters, somewhere between 1.65 to 1.7 meters...” Jiang Yuan had already come to these conclusions while looking at the photographs earlier. However, because his findings were too common, they weren’t very helpful. Whether it was age, weight, or height, the characteristics Jiang Yuan deduced from the footprints were those of a typical rural man. If he had concluded an age of 35 or 37 years, or a height of 1.8 meters, combined with the fact that the culprit was familiar with rural areas, the case might have been cracked right then and there. It was only after examining the specific conditions of the soil at the scene and realizing no new information could be gleaned from it that Jiang Yuan had decided to focus on the feet. Understanding this, Meng Chengbiao simply instructed people to take photos for the record, suggesting, “Why don’t we get two people from each village to collect photos of their feet?” “That’s possible, but there’s no rush. You all aren’t familiar with the situation, how can you run around the villages?” Jiang Yuan muttered. The chief from the Wen Township Police Station was accompanying them now, and sending people off to each village would turn into a challenge. With so many villages, all populated by middle-aged and elderly people, even the police officers from the Ningtai County Criminal Police Team, divided into pairs, could easily encounter trouble. Moreover, seeing feet and photos of feet were different things. Jiang Yuan, onsite, could analyze someone’s gait if uncertain, which wasn’t possible with just photos. Jiang Yuan did not elaborate further, simply stating, “Let’s discuss after viewing the scene. Besides the footprints, I want to investigate other things as well.” Tool marks were indeed another clue, but like the footprints, they lacked a comparison subject. After visiting one village and then another, by the time they had reached the third village, everybody was showing signs of fatigue. The routine was the same—examine the scene, find people, record notes, and take photos, etc. Tang Jia was still taking statements from the victims. After a while, she came over and whispered, “Captain Jiang, I’ve found something.” “Hmm?” “I asked them what they were doing at the time of the incident, and delivery trucks had come to all three villages,” Tang Jia explained. “Because they delivered to small stores at the entrance of the villages, some people didn’t pay much attention and nobody asked specifically. Moreover, these trucks usually travel on village roads and might not use the national road on the day of the incident.” The previous interviews had been too simplistic, and it was only because Tang Jia’s questioning was meticulous and careful that this clue emerged. This was a kind of clue that constituted a breakthrough and progress. Naturally, Jiang Yuan nodded and said, “Look for the delivery person.”

Chapter 374 - 374 341 Village BD

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