Chapter 421 - 421 388 No Scene

Words : 2243 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

421: Chapter 388 No Scene 421: Chapter 388 No Scene Jiang Yuan acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to explain to Zhou Yuanqiang about the accelerated decomposition caused by the fertilizer, the speculation of kidnapping and murder, the account withdrawals from five months ago, and the uniqueness of the murder weapon... He really wasn’t bothered at all; being blunt might be tough on the listener, but he didn’t find it hard. If there was anything slightly bothersome, he had already vented it on the two forensic doctors just now. Zhou Yuanqiang, being a detective, was actually seen as a Muggle in the eyes of forensic doctors or criminal investigators, so there was no reason to get angry with him. However, Zhou Yuanqiang himself was feeling extremely uncomfortable, fidgeting restlessly on the sofa and twisting this way and that. In the past few years, like many other members of the detective team, Zhou Yuanqiang had invested a tremendous amount of time and energy into Case 805, and Jiang Yuan’s casual remark negated all their efforts—their direction had been wrong, and much of what they did had seemingly lost its significance. After an excruciating exchange, Zhou Yuanqiang slowly stood up, unable to even muster a smile on his face, and said, “I understand now, thank you for the explanation, Doctor Jiang. There’s been a substantial change in the situation, and we need to discuss it with the team.” “Let us know if there are any changes,” Huang Qiangmin said as he stood up first to remind him. “Certainly.” Only then did Zhou Yuanqiang shake hands with Jiang Yuan and left with his head down. Once he stepped outside, Zhou Yuanqiang’s tense face instantly collapsed. Qu Hao followed him carefully, afraid of being caught to vent his frustration. Zhou Yuanqiang directly left the Ningtai County Criminal Police Detachment and found a seated shop to settle in. Qu Hao, like a timid wife, carefully took a seat at the edge. “How could they get the time of death wrong!” complained Zhou Yuanqiang, his tone full of resentment. Qu Hao’s rear bounced up and then settled back down as he said quietly, “Maybe because it’s been too long!” “Too long my ass, we’ve handled cases that were two to three years old before, and the estimated time of death was never this far off!” Qu Hao inwardly disagreed with Zhou Yuanqiang’s point of view, thinking to himself that when dealing with bodies deceased for two or three years, forensic doctors usually just estimated the year, and discrepancies of two to three months, or even four to five months, were common. He wasn’t about to cross him now, so he whispered, “The environment where the body was found might indeed have been a bit unusual, wasn’t it the thing about the fertilizer?” “Fertilizer my ass!” swore Zhou Yuanqiang, indignantly saying, “What I can’t understand most is that originally Old Mei and the provincial deputy director Zhai were so confident, acting high and mighty, emphatically saying it had been six months. Now, when I call them, what’s going on? Have they all turned into shy young girls?” “This...” “What’s this, say something useful,” Zhou Yuanqiang glared at Qu Hao. In a moment of panic, Qu Hao braced himself and said, “We’ve been working on this for so long without solving it. Maybe there was indeed a problem with the estimated time of death. If we can correct the timing now, maybe there’ll be something to it.” “You think that...” Zhou Yuanqiang knew rationally that the case couldn’t possibly be that simple. The effort put in by everyone over the past two years could not be simply explained by a discrepancy of two months in the time of death. However, Zhou Yuanqiang’s emotional needs were somewhat fulfilled. If they could solve the case as a result, the embarrassment would be bearable. After all, it was he, the political commissar, who had gone out to seek help from experts. With these thoughts, Zhou Yuanqiang sighed deeply, “This case is nearly killing us. For these past years, there’s been no funding, no recognition, no honors, and every time there’s blame, we’re the ones standing at attention. I’m sick of this life!” Qu Hao didn’t dare to chime in. Being just a soldier, his actual losses weren’t that significant—after all, his salary and bonuses from the government were guaranteed. But any hopes for better or extra benefits were out of the question. For someone at Zhou Yuanqiang’s level, the pressure was much greater; they were the ones who had to face the music in the bureau, and they were the ones making apologies at the meetings... Qu Hao discreetly signaled the server to come over. The server, a young girl, came over with a smile, “What would you like to drink? We have milk tea, coffee... ” “Beer!” said Zhou Yuanqiang. “Alright, we have Yanjing and Budweiser, do you want room temperature or chilled?” Qu Hao, surprised, asked, “Why do you sell beer at a milk tea shop?” The server smiled and said, “Because we’re a milk tea shop right by the police station.” “Do you have barbecue then?” “Yes, we have grilled sausages, lamb skewers, and chicken wings. Do you eat spicy?” Qu Hao checked his pockets, “Your milk tea shop is not very pure, is it?” ... Jiang Yuan returned to the office, gave a couple of instructions, then announced it was time to call it a day and rest. The cold case was four years old, and there was no rush for a day or two, especially since there hadn’t been any breakthroughs in the case. It was like farming before the busy season, there was no need to work the large livestock to death. Jiang Yuan downloaded a few photos to his work phone from the backend, then headed home. A large group of people followed behind him. After spending a while in Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team, even the two members from Guqi City understood the concept of Jiang Village People, so occasionally they would have a meal at the Jiang Family’s home to improve their diet, and everyone was without psychological burden. Jiang Fuzhen was also very happy to have visitors. What he loved most was to simmer things in the kitchen. It wasn’t important if they were eaten or not, what mattered was the atmosphere of the home. Especially during the years when Jiang Yuan was away for school, Jiang Fuzhen’s stove never went out. If there was no steam in the kitchen, the big house would lose its sense of liveliness. And whenever Jiang Yuan brought colleagues back home, the villagers were even more willing to come to the Jiang Family home for a meal. Although it wasn’t out of any real need, seeing the police visit, people instinctively wanted to be closer. Today, Jiang Fuzhen prepared two more tables for guests. Having indulged in hearty meals over the Spring Festival for over ten days, the villagers were a bit tired of banquets, so in addition to well-prepared hand-held meat, there were some half-cold dishes like pork belly and marinated goose, supplemented by green vegetables gifted by a few families, which were more popular with everyone. The table where Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui sat received extra special treatment, with an additional fish and shrimp dish, pig’s feet, duck tongues, pork intestines, as well as a greater variety of wine. Jiang Village People usually only drank baijiu and beer, and at home, they drank homemade rice wine, but they seldom offered rice wine to guests. But when serving wine to Liu Jinghui and the others, they specifically offered red wine and yellow wine. Everyone was enjoying the big fish and meat, and quickly they grew tired of it. Soon after, with the cajoling of Shen Yaowei and a few others who knew their way around, everyone started to drink. Including the three female officers, once they actually started on the baijiu, they drank heartily without the slightest hesitation. With the atmosphere set, the conversation naturally turned back to its normal course. Liu Jinghui started off by saying, “According to Luyang’s attitude, if we want to see the scene or perform another autopsy, we’ll have to wait a bit. Your Director Chai’s handling seems a bit half-hearted.” “Actually, there’s not much need to see it,” Jiang Yuan clinked glasses with Liu Jinghui and drained his drink, grimacing at the spiciness, and said, “It’s a four-year-old corpse we’re dealing with. I don’t know how Luyang has preserved it. If it was kept in an ice coffin, the eyeballs are probably melted by now. Moreover, it has been autopsied at least two or three times, another autopsy is pointless. If I really want to do an examination, I’d rather cook the body and look directly at the bones. But I guess that’d mean more wrangling with Luyang.” There was actually very little information to gain from a second autopsy. Unlike treatment, an autopsy involves many destructive examinations. For example, stomach contents are examined by opening the stomach, and afterwards, it’s lucky if the stomach can be sliced for further study. By the time of a second autopsy, what you observe is completely different. As for a third or fourth autopsy, it gets even more difficult to determine which injuries were caused by the perpetrator and which by the previous autopsies. It’s more challenging and troublesome – not to mention that these later autopsies typically happen years after the body is found, usually when a case remains unsolved or there’s a dispute over it. So the information gathered from these autopsies is even less. On the other hand, boiling out the bones and utilizing Forensic Anthropology could yield a fresh wave of information. After all, previous autopsies focused on muscles, fascia, and internal organs, and there was no knowledge of diseases, damage, or subtle fractures on the white bones. However, quite evidently, cooking the body down to bones is another destructive examination and is irreversible. If the authorities at Luyang City Bureau have any doubts, they might not agree to it. The others at the table were all police officers and understood immediately. Shen Yaowei, feeling annoyed, said, “We’re helping them solve a case, and they’re giving us a hard time. If they’re going to be like this, we shouldn’t bother doing it for them!” “Rarely have you said something useful!” Gao Yuyan lifted her glass boldly and drank with Shen Yaowei. Liu Jinghui curled his lips and said, “You’re looking at it too superficially. This isn’t a case done for Luyang City Bureau. The 805 task force has been running for years and has a profile in the provincial office. As long as we can solve it, nobody’s going to miss out on merits and awards. What Luyang City Bureau thinks, that’s an issue for the leaders to worry about, not us. And as for cases like this, there aren’t many in Shan Nan Province. They’re all bound to be full of various difficulties. If they weren’t, they would have been solved long ago, and it wouldn’t be our turn.” Meng Chengbiao agreed, saying, “Director Liu is right. Every case has its difficulties. This kind of case is actually one of the better ones. If we encounter victims’ families making trouble, financial disputes, jurisdictional disagreements, or interference from outsiders, we can’t just back down at the first sign of trouble. Otherwise, our Cold Case Squad wouldn’t be able to handle many cases.” His comment implied much more. Liu Jinghui didn’t want to continue down this line of conversation. He laughed and said, “It’s not that I’m making sense; it’s just that I’ve been to many places and been involved in many cases over the years, and I’ve learned to take things in stride. Besides, Luyang City’s stance is not really the issue. Give them a few days to cool down. As long as we show results, they’ll have to come running to us. The 805 case is much more important to them than to us.” “But if we can’t look at the body and the scene, can we still go on?” Tang Jia’s voice was unconsciously tinged with worry. “It’s no use looking at the body, and the scene has long been gone. I can study it further, but...” Jiang Yuan exchanged a look with Liu Jinghui and said slowly, “Continuing down the path Luyang City Bureau has taken might not yield good results.” “What should we do, then?” Liu Jinghui suggested, “I have two suggestions. One is to reexamine the personal relationships of Victim No.1, Li Yuan, because the change in her time of death could mean changes in the clients she received and people she interacted with. Secondly, I recommend using cadaver dogs along the national highway between the locations where Victims No.1 and No.2 were found, it’d be even better if we could increase manpower for a thorough search.” “You’re looking for a third body.” Tang Jia’s voice changed. Liu Jinghui, with a calm demeanor, picked up a piece of pig’s head meat and said, “There’s definitely one. It’s just a matter of how the perpetrator handled it, whether they give us a chance or not.”

Chapter 421 - 421 388 No Scene

Comments (0)