National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1041 - 974: The Wise Choice

Chapter 1041: Chapter 974: The Wise Choice

Police cars drove out one after another, and returned just as frequently, hastening like homing pigeons and occasionally causing small congestions at the entrance of the Criminal Police Brigade.

Wu Zhisu stood in the office on the top floor, overlooking the flurry of movement below from the small and large vehicles, and his anxious mood suddenly eased substantially.

A significant breakthrough in the sudden drowning case emerged in just one day—what more could he ask for?

Especially seeing Jiang Yuan and Huang Qiangmin’s calm and collected demeanor, Wu Zhisu felt an extra sense of reassurance. So even though he was well aware of Huang Qiangmin’s little trick, he indulged him gladly.

After all, they were all veteran detectives—who could really fool whom? It’s like two big shots who’ve dominated the nightlife scene for over 20 years, having reeled in hundreds of fish, would they really get hooked by the other’s straightforward bait?

It’s simply a matter of willingness.

Wu Zhisu was still keen to join the Taihe Working Group. Even though this drowning case seemed to have been effortlessly cracked by Jiang Yuan, from the perspective of a Criminal Police Brigade chief, this actually demonstrated true strength.

If it were one of those heaven-sent, incredibly difficult unsolved cases, why should it be so unlucky to fall on Jianjiang City’s lap? Isn’t it like this time, where in the end, there’s still a 50% chance it will fall back into Qinghe City’s hands?

Besides, when you encounter cases of this caliber, why not ask for assistance from the superiors, otherwise, wouldn’t it be an underestimation of their support? Later on, what’s wrong with calling over to Huang Ya next door and saying, "Brother Min"?

For a case of this level, spending money? Budget? Manpower? There’s no need to even consider these factors.

If you prepare for this kind of case, it’s like buying a pension payable only after one turns 90 years old. Such a pension is meaningless, regardless of how generous it is, because beyond the age of 90, living well requires much more than just money.

On the other hand, for ordinary drowning cases, despite Jiang Yuan handling it with ease, Wu Zhisu understood that if he were purely responsible for such a case, an extensive special task force would have to be immediately established.

Drowning cases are the easiest to become unsolved mysteries. If the forensic doctor can provide reliable conclusions, and the investigation goes smoothly, that’s good. But even a slight interruption can suddenly skyrocket the cost.

Solving the case is possible, but it has nothing to do with being cheap or cost-effective.

Jiang Yuan can handle the case with ease, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the forensic doctors of the Jianjiang Municipal Bureau could do the same.

"Quite good," Wu Zhisu muttered to himself, then turned and offered a bright smile to Jiang Yuan and Huang Qiangmin, who were making tea; his weathered dark skin bloomed like a century-old medicinal herb’s bud—intense and vibrant: "Jiang Yuan has worked hard this time. I reckon the Director can’t wait until the case is over."

"Is the Director supportive?" Huang Qiangmin poured a cup of tea for Wu Zhisu. Of course, they were talking about the Taihe Working Group.

The establishment of the Taihe Working Group is inevitable, but the support from various cities is important. It also involves the amount of the membership fee and payment methods and other significant factors.

"The one who supports you the most is certainly me. The Director is in principle supportive. However, he also needs to consider the opinions of others in the Bureau," Wu Zhisu said with a smile: "Take Director Meng for instance—he is in charge of economic investigation and is quite against the form of annual payment, advocating the pay-per-case model."

"That’s economic investigation for you, understandable," Huang Qiangmin noted discreetly.

"As for the political commissar, regarding the amount you want, he definitely wouldn’t agree easily," Wu Zhisu paused before continuing, "Of course, if you can guarantee that Jiang Yuan leads the team every time and we have priority, then both the political commissar and the Director would surely be willing."

Huang Qiangmin laughed it off, "Priority is such a thing—even if I agree with you now, if other leaders intercede later on, it’s still useless. We’re a disciplined force, after all, and we have to obey commands."

"It’s different with other matters," Wu Zhisu was not disappointed, pondering, "Ultimately, the decision power still lies above. The Director can only make suggestions, after all, we’re not dealing with a one-time expense. Actually, if it is possible to budget from the regular expenditures, everyone in the Bureau would only approve."

Wu Zhisu, having reached this point in the conversation, no longer held back. While sipping tea, he began to elaborate for Huang Qiangmin in detail.

Huang Qiangmin listened attentively, and Jiang Yuan, feeling a bit burdened after hearing bits and pieces, started toying with his phone, occasionally replying to WeChat messages.

Upon joining the 12 newly established working groups in Jianjiang City, red dots indicating updates flashed now and then, showing rapid progress.

Here, Jiang Yuan’s definition of the death location greatly reduced the difficulty of the work.

To some extent, this was also one of the advantages of becoming a well-known expert. Jiang Yuan made bold decisions because he had a high tolerance for errors—even not being afraid of making mistakes.

Of course, Jiang Yuan had a solid basis to make such judgments. But in reality, things often don’t turn out as one wishes, and there’s always a small chance for anomalies. For an ordinary forensic doctor facing similar cases, it’s neither necessary nor possible to take on such a heavy responsibility.

But Jiang Yuan could. Firstly, he made a probable determination of the death area, and secondly, if a low-probability event occurred and a corpse was found beyond that range, he had the authority to explain. At worst, he could write a paper on it, which would still be regarded as a decent case study.

Lastly, with Jiang Yuan’s status, even if he made a mistake, he wouldn’t have to bear any substantial responsibility; to describe his situation as nonchalantly walking away might sound flippant, but that’s essentially the case.

Some experts treat themselves as imperial physicians, especially those older ones, who are nearing or have reached retirement. They tend to be cautious and value their reputation, ensuring stable outputs, but their reputation within the industry may not necessarily be better. As for their reputation outside the industry... when you’re a detective, the public’s opinion is not to say irrelevant, but it really is.

[The first round of patrol on our side is complete, and no discoveries have been made.] The message was sent by Wu Junhao in the "Riverbank Search" group. He was in charge of searching the Ningtai County area on the other side of the Tai River.

The captain of the Criminal Police Brigade in Jianjiang immediately replied in the work group: [Commander Wu, thank you for your hard work.]

[It’s nothing, we’re withdrawing for now. Let us know if you need anything.] Wu Junhao, newly promoted to commander, was quite happy on the other side of the phone. With a big wave of his hand, he ordered the assembly of all personnel and said, "Everyone is here. At ease. The search mission is over, run back to camp. The squad that arrives first gets a three-day holiday! The last squad returning will be on duty, and the other squads will have a regular holiday!"

The staff at the Ningtai County Bureau had expanded rapidly, with fewer cases to handle, making it an inflationary output-oriented police unit. Wu Junhao’s riot control and patrolling brigade was still in training, with even fewer tasks.

Upon his order, the team members ran off like excited rabbits. The newly established brigade, having the Bald Strike Team as the backbone from the time when they were a squad, and the rest were fresh blood with stiff short hair, firm jawlines, and looking forward to their career as much as they were to the three-day holiday.

Wu Junhao smiled, tightened his utility belt, and began to jog leisurely. His task was to kick the butts of those behind; he didn’t need to run too fast.

On the other side of the river, the team from the Jianjiang Municipal Bureau seemed undermanned. They had more tasks and could only allocate one brigade of the brigade, along with the riverbank police station, corresponding auxiliary police, cooperative police, and joint defense personnel. The total force was between a hundred and less than two hundred people. To cover the 60-plus kilometers of the south bank of the Tai River would take more than a day or two.

In reality, Lin Xiangji, who was in charge of the search, knew well that if they found clues during their search and visit, the mission would naturally end. Otherwise, they had no choice but to continue searching back and forth and extend the search area towards the bank.

After all, based on Jiang Yuan’s analysis, the cause of death for the victim was injury by rocks, which in this case might indicate the use of rocks from the immediate vicinity—either the perpetrator picked up a rock and smashed the victim to death, or pushed the victim against a rock. It was rare for someone to pick up a rock specifically to commit murder.

According to Jiang Yuan’s analysis, the latter was more likely. Therefore, the search team was in the process of looking for the primary crime scene and the weapon.

Fortunately, the Qinghe City Bureau’s riverbank station had two boats, carrying twenty to thirty people, which made the search mission a lot easier.

Buzz...

The hand-held radio began to sound.

Lin Xiangji picked up the call and after a short exchange, heard someone shouting from the other side, "Old Jin was bitten by a snake."

"A venomous snake?"

"Not sure, it seems small and something that shouldn’t be trifled with."

Lin Xiangji just frowned. While this was an emergency, it didn’t seem to be an extreme situation for the Criminal Police Brigade. After all, if you’ve been a detective for ten or eight years, who hasn’t been bitten a couple of times? It’s just a matter of what bit you.

Lin Xiangji thought for a moment and said, "Send two people to take him to the hospital, head directly to Changyang City, as there might not be any antivenom there. Your squad will temporarily withdraw from the search, and each person should carry a stick, make sure to capture the snake."

"Even if we catch the snake, we can’t sentence it. What if it’s a protected species?"

"Your brain hasn’t been bitten by a snake! If you take the snake to the doctor, they can treat you right away. If you can’t even describe the snake, how are they going to give you antivenom?" Lin Xiangji’s voice rose in irritation and he added, "Apart from the suspect snake, don’t hit other snakes, every snake is now a protected species, no ’what ifs’ about it."

"Ah... Got it."

Lin Xiangji ended the call, reported to the Brigade commander, and then waved his hand to continue urging the team to advance through the thatch at the foot of the hill.

Thirty minutes later...

The suspect snake was captured.

Three hours later...

No results.

Six hours later...

No results...

As they were about to walk out of the jurisdiction of the Jianjiang Municipal Bureau, several work groups lit up with red dots.

Lin Xiangji instinctively felt a change in the situation and hurriedly clicked to see.

He saw the pinned announcement: [The body has been confirmed as Xie Peiqiong, female, 36 years old, a financial specialist at the Minqi Yaji Company, separated from her husband and did not show up for work today. Her colleague reported her missing. By conducting a rapid blood test on the menstrual blood left at her home, her DNA has been matched. Currently, her husband Li Zhijun is missing and is a major suspect in the crime...]