Chapter 74 - 74 73 Obstacles

Words : 1903 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

74: Chapter 73: Obstacles 74: Chapter 73: Obstacles Xinfa Tobacco & Liquor Store. This place is located in the northern suburbs of Ningtai County, just a few kilometers away from Jiangcun Residential Area. The shop was not very large, with a total area of about 20 square meters, and inside it was still a complete mess. The shop owner, a woman in her forties or fifties, leaned against the rolling shutter door with glass shards under her feet, lamenting, “Damn it, they robbed me of several sacks of tobacco and carried off a lot of liquor. If we can’t get it back, our work for the past few years will have been for nothing.” “Did they use sacks for transport? One on the inside and one on the outside to hand over the goods?” Jiang Yuan stood outside the shutter door, surveying the surroundings while asking. “One was packing on the inside, and one was carrying on the outside; both of them had knives and made me stand in the corner,” the female shopkeeper pointed to the spot and whispered, “They robbed for a long time, and no one came to help.” “The one who was carrying things outside, did he ever come into the shop?” “He just stood at the entrance, didn’t come in, but he did gesture with that long knife,” the shopkeeper mimicked the action with the knife. Jiang Yuan nodded indicating he understood, then asked, “Did anyone else see this? It went on for a long time.” “It was pouring rain that day. I came over in the morning and couldn’t leave. I didn’t see anyone passing by.” “Who usually buys tobacco and liquor from your shop?” Jiang Yuan continued his line of questioning. “There are passersby from the street, people from the nearby residential buildings, and the barbecue and crayfish shops down the street. When their customers need cigarettes, they call me, and I have my husband deliver them, just to earn an extra buck or two for the trouble,” the shopkeeper continued, pausing for a moment before adding, “I often have cash on hand, and they robbed all the cash too.” While pondering, Jiang Yuan recorded the shopkeeper’s replies and asked another question, “Is there any surveillance?” “There is, but you can’t really make out anything. That day, in the rain, the three robbers all wore hooded sweatshirts with their mouths covered. They came in and started hauling away my best tobacco...” The shopkeeper’s emotions flared as she spoke. “Three people?” Wang Zhong sought confirmation. The shopkeeper nodded, saying, “Yes, three of them, one stayed in the car, and two did the carrying. Have you encountered any cases of robbery involving three people?” “Just making sure. Right, our colleagues have already copied the surveillance footage, haven’t they?” Wang Zhong quickly diverted the topic with a single sentence. Compared to an experienced detective, Wang Zhong was still a greenhorn, but he was aware of many of the basic questions. Jiang Yuan knew why he asked this. Typically, the amount that could be stolen from a tobacco shop was limited. Three people robbing, plus the need for a car, was not very cost-effective. Even robbers consider the cost-benefit ratio. Of course, this gang had hit the jackpot robbing Xinfa Tobacco & Liquor Store because the owner had just moved a large stock of goods from the warehouse. From this perspective, the trio’s collaboration in robbing Xinfa Tobacco & Liquor Store was very likely not a simple premeditated crime, and not the kind of robbery that goes “Let’s buy some hoodies and rob a tobacco shop.” They must have known some details about Xinfa Tobacco & Liquor Store in advance. If this line of reasoning were taken as the basis for finding clues to locate the suspects... that would be very troublesome. Xinfa Tobacco & Liquor Store was open for business, and the owner did not intend to hide the inventory information. Those who knew about it included not just people close to the owner, the owner’s family and friends, but also the regular customers in the neighborhood, meaning the barbecue shops, crayfish shops, and even their own regular customers... Furthermore, it’s possible that during a barbecue, a friend of a friend might have mentioned it offhand. Unless there are no clues to be found, the Criminal Police Brigade would definitely not want to pursue this lead. Carrying his crime scene investigation kit, Jiang Yuan began to sweep from the entrance. A few onlookers, who had been persuaded by Wang Zhong to keep their distance, came over afterward to assist Jiang Yuan. Wang Zhong had previously followed Jiang Yuan in sweeping a secondary crime scene and had uncovered key evidence that solved the case. With that experience, Wang Zhong not only did not doubt Jiang Yuan’s crime scene investigation skills, but had great admiration for them. Crime scene investigation could be said to be the foundation of forensic science. The forensic doctor needs to do crime scene investigation work, so does the Trace Evidence Laboratory, but not many are actually good at it. Facing the rapidly evolving technology of today, a professional crime scene investigator has a very limited knowledge. Not to mention the level of education in schools, even the length of education is not sufficient for most crime scenes. In the field of technology, experience is often overshadowed by new developments. A truly solid, reliable technician who can quickly master new technology is also unlikely to remain in the county bureau for long. The head of the Criminal Investigation Unit, Lu Jianfeng, did pull Jiang Yuan in because there was no one else available, but it was also because he coveted Jiang Yuan’s skills. Both of them swept into the store and found mostly footprints. As for fingerprints, Jiang Yuan’s specialty, there were many found, but not a single usable one. Without even checking the surveillance, one could assume that the three robbers who knew to wear hoodies would surely be wearing gloves as well. As for trace evidence, in such cases, it still counts as a “slay small dragon” technique—too expensive, requiring assistance from the provincial office or Changyang City’s Trace Evidence Laboratory, and a need to queue up. Without a last resort, team leader Huang Qiangmin would definitely be reluctant to approve it. Therefore, only homicide cases could truly bring out all investigative measures. “Let’s ask the nearby merchants and collect more surveillance videos from around here,” Jiang Yuan naturally thought of video. The so-called three treasures of a detective are video, cell phones, and DNA. Even without Jiang Yuan’s image enhancement skills, in street-level cases like this, the first thing to collect would still be surveillance footage. However, videos vary in quality and proximity; generally, more is not always better. Typical detectives work with a few properly located and suitable videos, which is enough to solve the case. But given the location of Xinfa Tobacco & Liquor Store and the heavy rain during the incident, even these small requests were hard to meet. The first thing Jiang Yuan and Wang Zhong looked at was the surveillance video from across the parking lot. All it showed was the blurry rain, a white van arriving, and a white van leaving—practically no clues at all. “The only certainty is that the car headed north,” Wang Zhong sighed after watching. North of the suburbs, that’s the national highway. So, the only useful and available surveillance would be from the nearby area. Jiang Yuan paused the video several times but could only frown and ask, “Were the police from the local station the ones who arrived when the case happened? Did they look for surveillance footage? Did they see the license plate number?” Jiang Yuan was considering the possibility of image enhancement. Wang Zhong said, “Yes, they saw it, but it was a fake license plate.” “They thought of everything, didn’t they?” Jiang Yuan was quite surprised. “Yeah, there are many small and branching roads around the northern suburbs. They could easily change it somewhere and then switch it back. There’s no way to trace them,” Wang Zhong murmured in a low voice, slightly dejected, feeling like his crime scene investigation was in vain. Jiang Yuan’s mood was still okay. With his multitude of skills, he needed to think about how to flush out the three robbers cost-effectively. The rain had lessened a lot. Jiang Yuan readjusted his hat and said, “Let’s collect more videos first. I’ll process them slowly when I get back.” Wang Zhong followed his lead but couldn’t help muttering resentfully, “They sure picked a good time. It was pouring rain during the crime, and it happened just when the detective team was busiest. Any evidence that might have been left could have been washed away by the rain...” His perspective was that of a pure technician, which made him feel particularly helpless. An experienced detective might follow traditional patterns—like the method and style of the crime—to track down the perpetrators. But from Wang Zhong’s point of view, this rain had rendered ninety percent of his efforts useless. In his estimation, Jiang Yuan would probably be eighty percent useless as well. After copying nearly ten sets of data in one go and making a round trip, they saw the female store owner standing at the entrance of the tobacco and liquor store, eagerly waiting for them. As they approached, she quickly handed each a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of water, asking, “Did you find anything?” “We’ll try our best to find it for you,” Wang Zhong, who was wearing a law enforcement recorder, pushed the offerings away, “Don’t worry, we take robbery cases very seriously, and we all hope to solve them.” “I know, I know,” the shop owner nodded repeatedly, then continued, “We’re just a small family business. Don’t be fooled by the storefront and warehouse; all the money we’ve earned is invested here. My husband and I used to be workers, starting from our teens until we were 30. Moving from Changyang to Qinghe and then to Ningtai, we’ve finally settled down. Look at me, I’m fifty years old, and we only bought our home a few years ago, with a mortgage...” “Please don’t cry...” Wang Zhong was shaken by the shop owner and quickly handed over some tissues, asking, “Where’s your husband? Why isn’t he helping you with the store?” “My husband went to the stockroom for inventory. A lot of the liquor there was consigned to us, and now that they’ve heard we’re in trouble, they’re coming over to take their goods back. Some are even forcing us to settle the accounts. He couldn’t stand it and went to return the stock,” the shop owner said as she blew her nose, her emotions somewhat eased. Wang Zhong let out a sigh and managed a weak smile, “Alright, we’ll go back and check the surveillance. We’ll inform you if there’s any news.” “Can you recover the stolen goods?” the shop owner clung to a sliver of hope. “We’ll do our best,” Wang Zhong replied. Jiang Yuan added, “If we catch them quickly, there’s a chance they haven’t had time to dispose of the loot.”

Chapter 74 - 74 73 Obstacles

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