National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1003 - 939: Tired of It

Chapter 1003: Chapter 939: Tired of It

Sizzle...

The mutton, filled with cumin and chili, emanated an alluring aroma.

Jiang Hao rotated the skewers and took a deep breath, saying to Jiang Yuan, "Cumin must have a grudge against sheep. Without its distinct flavor, we wouldn’t be able to eat so much mutton."

"Probably some wild sheep ate its whole family," Mu Zhiyang said as he moved a chair to sit by, alternating between sips of beer and bites of mutton, truly in a festive mood.

Jiang Hao really liked Mu Zhiyang’s style. He clinked his beer bottle against Mu’s, laughing: "Wild sheep ate the ancestors of cumin, then after years of relentless mutation, cumin has finally led domestic goats and sheep to prosperous days, tragically beautiful."

"Brother Hao is quite poetic. You could consider building a guesthouse here in the mountains. Those who eat plain steamed buns with pickles can stay for free and can also be treated to some roast mutton, finally becoming the Jiali Village’s timely hero," Mu Zhiyang joked.

"Song Jianghao, huh? Sounds quite nice actually," Jiang Hao laughed, "Song Jiang used to be an official in the county, right? Wonder what his rank was?"

Serious readers of Water Margin focus on the eight-hundred-thousand strong army’s drillmaster and his beautiful wife, good people don’t dwell on Song Jiang’s rank.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, the eldest Meng Chengbiao stepped in, saying, "Song Jiang was a head jailer, a rank below the deputy county chief but higher than the bureau leaders. Somewhat like a big secretary in the office."

"At least two ranks higher than Commissioner Huang," Mu Zhiyang summarized.

The people present chuckled, clinking their beer bottles together. Talking smack about company bosses in such a pleasant, remote wilderness was the true joy of team building.

Song Jianghao roasted another batch of mutton skewers and reclined, savoring them; usually, he brought an assistant for camping, otherwise he couldn’t handle two camping vehicles alone, not to mention the issue of driving after drinking. Grilling meat occasionally was joyful, but it’d become miserable if turned into a job.

Jiang Yuan also enjoyed two skewers of grilled meat with a glass of chilled light beer, fortunately without any cases today—the report from old man Fang Mingfeng, as Meng Chengbiao mentioned, was somewhat dubious. Mainly because the suspected victim was a young man passionate about budget traveling, which significantly decreased the urgency of the case.

Disappearances come in many forms, including unconscious, voluntary, and involuntary disappearances. Cases of elderly or ill individuals might involve unconscious disappearances and would generally be handled by the police officers from local stations, not qualifying as the "cases" discussed by criminal detectives.

Voluntary disappearance scenarios are more complex, ranging from adolescent runaways to disruptions due to family discord; like unconscious disappearances, these seldom end up with the detectives.

The detectives really needed to focus on cases of involuntary disappearances; however, as a backpacker, Liu Yang left the guesthouse and entered the mountains voluntarily, which doesn’t count as "involuntary" disappearance, at most there might have been some enticement.

If it were only Liu Yang missing, Jiang Yuan might not even have asked Wang Chuanxing to follow up. Wang Chuanxing’s time is valuable too, not to be wasted carelessly.

Investigations are only warranted when multiple people are involved in similar circumstances.

Yet that merely establishes a basis. Under normal circumstances, such cases wouldn’t reach Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team. With limited funding in Chang Le City, the focus is to use resources wisely, thus retaining Huang Qiangmin and continually negotiating costs.

Even if Liu Yang did disappear, bluntly put, the chance of his case receiving top-priority attention is almost zero, unless a body is found. Or more politely, given the doubtful nature of Liu Yang’s disappearance, the low likelihood of him being forcibly disappeared, and even if so, the lower chance of him being dead, his case would unlikely be promptly handled by Jiang Yuan.

If Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team were to invest thousands of work hours only to find Liu Yang confusedly wandering out of the woods with his backpack, that would truly be baffling.

"Try this grilled wing," Shen Yaowei offered, presenting his latest creation.

"Wow, nicely grilled," Jiang Yuan praised after seeing the crispy skin.

Shen Yaowei chuckled, saying, "I was quite the enthusiast too."

"That’s not really a compliment," Wang Chuanxing approached with a notebook, lowering his voice before Jiang Yuan, "The guesthouse owner provided several names and phone numbers, but all unreachable. We checked—names match the numbers, but the first two haven’t been used for a while, abandoned soon after they went missing. And no new numbers registered..."

This additional check by Wang Chuanxing drew Jiang Yuan’s attention.

In this era, especially common people, it’s impossible not to have a mobile number registered in one’s name. If old numbers are not used, one would at the very least get a new, active SIM. Even if traveling abroad, maintaining a local number is crucial, if only to receive verification codes.

It can be said, even if one belongs to the budget traveling group, willing to explore the mysterious corners of the world, leaving behind parents, spouses, or children, one cannot detach from the embrace of their mobile network provider.

"Should we look into this case?" Meng Chengbiao strolled over with a beer, musing, "Not necessarily dead, but definitely not in a normal situation. Perhaps it’s a pyramid scheme, or maybe a cult, human trafficking, or drug trafficking; or say, could there be illegal mines in the mountain?"

"Organs?" Shen Yaowei intends to stir up a big issue.

Meng Chengbiao said based on experience, "It’s easier to obtain organs in big cities. In remote and dense forests, where access is difficult and it’s hard to hide things when something happens, it makes burying bodies slightly more convenient. But they are looking to make money, not to kill. Often, they just harvest a kidney or something... Moreover, it’s also hard to find doctors willing to come here..."

"Old Meng is a straightforward person." Shen Yaowei handed a skewer of lamb to Meng Chengbiao as he watched him seriously analyze.

"I’ll first report to Commissioner Huang and Director Lang," said Jiang Yuan without rushing to make a decision. Not to mention that they don’t have the authority to file a case in Chang Le City, even if it’s just a normal case, there’s no need to handle it immediately.

All the missing individuals were young males who backpacked into the mountains and traveled to Jiali Village using public transport. Given this basis, the case still has a lot of room for development.

Huang Qiangmin and Lang Heng were sitting together. Jiang Yuan made a call and briefed them on the situation.

Lang Heng laughed after listening and said, "I’ll let someone check it out, and if it’s a case, I’ll send someone to investigate. Jiang Yuan, you don’t need to handle this case. If you are well-rested, focus on the cases that ordinary police can’t handle."

"I’ll rest a few more days before returning to work." Jiang Yuan’s trip this time was undisturbed as he was accompanied by his EQ.

This case, let alone for Lang Heng, the head of the Chang Le City Criminal Police Brigade, even for the criminal police teams at the county level, may not be ranked high in priority. Normally, it would start with filing the case at the local police station, followed by an investigation to confirm if it’s case-worthy, and then decide what extent it is and whether it needs to be transferred to the criminal police.

If there were people trying to establish a new kingdom in the mountains, or using the pretext of time-traveling to recruit destitute followers, deceitfully asking for donations, and claiming the day of transitioning into a new world leadership, a few local police officers could dismantle it very easily, without needing specialty interventions from the criminal police, and still, by then, would require the local police to guide them.

Further discussing, just as Jiang Yuan was about to end the call, Liu Jinghui’s voice came through from the other end: "These three or four missing individuals, did they all stay in the same inn owned by the host who called the police? Is there anything special about his inn that all the missing persons stayed there?"

"Perhaps it’s relatively cheaper?" Jiang Yuan uncertainly responded: "128 per night, and it can even be bargained down to 100."

"That’s about the going rate in Jiali Village," said Lang Heng, who still knew a bit.

"In that case... could there be a general pattern?" Jiang Yuan also easily drew this conclusion.

Liu Jinghui said, "Consider it a direction for investigation. If there is a general pattern, then look into why and how these people came here. If there isn’t a general pattern, then you have to ask what’s special there."

Liu Jinghui, after speaking, added, "Checking where they went is not easy either, we’ve climbed Mount Wulong together, it’s not that level of case, and there’s no need to look into it directly unless other routes have been exhausted."

He was worried that Jiang Yuan might venture deeper into the mountains while camping. Not to mention how hard the investigation would be, there might be a criminal organization inside, and with twenty-something people without even a gun, it could likely turn into an easy target.

Jiang Yuan agreed, saying, "Then let’s leave the investigation to Director Lang first, and we will discuss further upon encountering any situation. Director Liu, are you with Commissioner Huang? Why don’t you join us for camping?"

The implication of Jiang Yuan’s latter sentence roughly meant "Blink if you are kidnapped."

Liu Jinghui coughed twice and said, "Your Commissioner Huang is handling organization, the provincial headquarters also has no objections, I will just listen in."

Jiang Yuan laughed heartily, happily ending the call.

The rest of the half day was unremarkable, just grilling skewers, drinking, lying down chatting, and browsing phones.

As everyone grew tired of playing and started to pack up to leave, the sky was already dimming.

Several cars formed a single file, driven shakily out of the mountain by a few sober unfortunate youths.

Jiang Yuan sat in the car and just dozed off.

"Captain Jiang." Mu Zhiyang softly called from beside.

"Hmm... Are we there yet?" Jiang Yuan sat up straight.

"Someone is following us," Mu Zhiyang whispered, clutching his empty belt.