Chapter 422 - 422 389 Setting Up the Formation

Words : 1441 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

422: Chapter 389 Setting Up the Formation 422: Chapter 389 Setting Up the Formation The second route that Liu Jinghui had planned was a bit difficult. Between the discovery sites of Number One and Number Two, there was a distance of over 80 kilometers. If they were to run the entire national highway, it would take three to five search dogs and half a month to thoroughly cover the area. This was still under the assumption that they were not too far from the national highway. If they were to spread out a little further, the time needed for the search would be even longer. Of course, from the perspective of a murder investigation, both of Liu Jinghui’s plans were considered mid-tier in terms of cost, including the second one. For a homicide case, this level of financial cost was acceptable. The problem lay in who would bear the cost. Ningtai County definitely could not afford such a high expense, and for Luyang City, communication was still required. As for the communication, on one hand, it needed to be handled by Chai Tong, and on the other hand, the Luyang City Bureau needed to be agreeable to it. Jiang Yuan and his colleagues were not too anxious, as the case had just begun and needed some time for everyone to get familiar with the case details. As for the first plan proposed by Liu Jinghui, Jiang Yuan dispatched eight people, forming four teams, to go on a business trip to Luyang City. Of course, these eight people could not conduct an exhaustive search, but they should be able to help delineate a range and lay the foundation for the subsequent extensive search by the larger force. Otherwise, it would be a waste of manpower to rush there blindly without any clues. Liu Jinghui also returned to Changyang City to report. Case 805 was also a provincially registered case, and he was cautious not to pressure the Luyang City Bureau to its breaking point without supervision. Jiang Yuan continued to go over case files, repeatedly looking at the photographs. With no body and no crime scene, they could only rely on the case files to solve the case. One of the main reasons cold cases are difficult to crack is precisely this. Time is the greatest enemy of traces, as the foundational principle of forensic material evidence states: “Every contact leaves a trace,” but time alone can silently erase these traces into nothingness. Thankfully, the photographs preserved some basic information. After reviewing them for two days, Jiang Yuan shifted his attention to Number Two’s arm. Compared to the relatively abundant information on Number One, Number Two, with only an arm remaining, had an undetermined origin—if it could be identified, it would certainly be a significant push for the case. However, even though both Jiang Yuan and the authorities in Luyang believed that Number Two likely belonged to a prostitute, confirming the identity was not an easy task. On the third day. Six people arrived from Luyang City at once. Director Chai Tong personally went out to greet them, accompanied by several deputy directors. Jiang Yuan was also summoned to display their presence. The arrivals included Zheng Tianxin, the head of the Luyang City Criminal Police Brigade, Political Commissar Zhou Yuanqiang, a certain team leader, plainclothes police, and forensic doctor Mei Fang. Chai Tong and Zheng Tianxin shook hands with smiles that spoke of a long-awaited reunion. Jiang Yuan stood at the back, watching the display with boredom. Several days had passed, and the haggling with Luyang had not yet concluded. If the relationship were that good, why would it come to this? Mei Fang gave Jiang Yuan an apologetic smile. Being trapped by Political Commissar Zhou Yuanqiang, there was nothing Mei Fang could do but first apologize to Jiang Yuan. As the interaction came to an end, the group supported one another and entered the meeting room of Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team. Zheng Tianxin was already aware of Zhou Yuanqiang’s predicament. Even if Zhou Yuanqiang didn’t want to talk about it, Mei Fang wouldn’t suffer in silence. As a forensic doctor, it wasn’t appropriate to curse the brigade leadership, but it was reasonable to recount what happens without omission. Therefore, Zheng Tianxin altered his strategy and began to humbly seek advice from Jiang Yuan. Jiang Yuan went over topics such as the determination of the time of death once again. Zheng Tianxin seemed to listen attentively, as this meeting was slightly higher in level and intended to decide the direction to take moving forward. Soon, Jiang Yuan repeated the information he had previously described. Zheng Tianxin nodded, picked up his cup to take a sip of water, and prepared to speak. Just then, Jiang Yuan continued, “I studied the arm of the second body a bit, and there are some distinctive features as well.” Zheng Tianxin was taken aback, as he hadn’t heard about the condition of the second body before. He couldn’t help but look towards Zhou Yuanqiang, who also slightly shook his head. Everyone present was a police officer, and their facial expressions and interactions were as clear as if they were shouting. Jiang Yuan was even more direct, “The second body is one I’ve only studied in the past few days.” Zheng Tianxin uttered an “Oh” and hurriedly said, “Please, continue.” Jiang Yuan then said, “Judging from the arm, the second victim should be a female who weighed over 120 pounds and was taller than 165 centimeters, and based on the fat ratio typical for a woman, she should have been somewhat overweight.” Zheng Tianxin’s expression grew serious, and he turned to look at his forensic doctor, Mei Fang. Mei Fang looked composed; if he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t do it—after all, he wasn’t capable of estimating height and weight from an arm. Armed with his new LV4 in Forensic Material Evidence, Jiang Yuan, who had been examining the photograph of the arm for several days, confidently said, “The fingerprints on the second body’s arm were destroyed, but it seems she had a manicure. We can analyze the specific components later and see if we can find a similar nail salon.” This was a highly feasible lead, causing Zheng Tianxin to sit up straight and ask Mei Fang directly, “Had we checked that before?” “We collected trace evidence, but there were no results,” Mei Fang replied. “But you didn’t compare it with the nail polish,” observed Jiang Yuan, who had spotted the detail under a magnifying glass. Mei Fang was startled and quickly said, “No, we didn’t consider the manicure at the time...” “Now is not too late to compare,” Zheng Tianxin responded gravely. After four years and months of work on the case, they thought no more evidence could be found; unexpectedly, after just a few days, Jiang Yuan had come up with something new. Zheng Tianxin was quite eager. Jiang Yuan stated, “Even if we confirm the second victim’s identity, it won’t lead directly to solving the case. The killer is likely experienced and may have taken measures to avoid leaving evidence.” Zheng Tianxin merely uttered a thoughtful “Hmm,” for them, this was already an exciting new breakthrough, and they were determined to pursue it to the end. Looking at Jiang Yuan, Zheng Tianxin realized that his previous strategy had been too simple. This man was truly exceptional. It wasn’t just Mei Fang making things up. Chai Tong was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle. Though he had worked in community relations while in Luyang and hadn’t dealt much with case 805, seeing Zheng Tianxin at a disadvantage brought him great joy. Zheng Tianxin could no longer pay attention to Chai Tong; he asked Jiang Yuan humbly, “Captain Jiang, if we let you take charge, what would you do next?” “If I really were to take command...” Jiang Yuan pondered for two seconds before saying, “I would ask Xu Taining, Director Xu, to come over and conduct a large-scale search.” Xu Taining was the senior police chief known for not sparing any cost and leading the search efforts during Liu Jinghui’s disappearance; he was noted for his high investment and high yield approach. Zheng Tianxin clearly had heard of Xu Taining’s reputation and couldn’t help but shiver, “Is that necessary?” “Yes,” Jiang Yuan answered decisively. Liu Jinghui was focused on input-output ratios, while Xu Taining never cared about such things, yet his case-solving rate was high. And what Zheng Tianxin needed, obviously, was to solve the case.

Chapter 422 - 422 389 Setting Up the Formation

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