National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1066 - 999: Turning Point

Chapter 1066: Chapter 999: Turning Point

Noon.

More police cars began to return, and the previously cleared case handling center busied once again.

Most of the people brought back barely qualified as suspects; they were still considered civilians, so they were taken to inquiry rooms rather than interrogation rooms.

Compared to interrogation rooms, inquiry rooms are much cozier, generally equipped with a sofa to sit on, water to drink, and even the rare sight of an interrogating officer’s smile. Here, no handcuffs are placed on the wrists, nor is there a safety belt-like chain around one’s chest. In short, the basic dignity of a person is still maintained.

Most people entering the inquiry room would just share stories from the past and complete a written record, and that would be it. Those with unresolved questions would continue recording statements, repeatedly asked, and gradually it would lean closer to an interrogation.

Bringing people to the police station for inquiry is for the seriousness of the process.

When a person is at home, at work, or outdoors, they tend to spout nonsense as if lying comes at no cost.

In fact, it hardly does cost anything, but it’s different in a police station.

Every sentence spoken inside the police station is recorded, repeatedly questioned, further and more politely probed, before being sternly interrogated.

The few who have relocated to other places were also taken to local police stations for questioning, following the rule of calling for minor cases and visiting for major ones. The Jianmen Court case is a well-known serious case for the Beijing Bureau, and the officers responsible for bringing people in were extremely cautious, even on the phone, for fear of alerting the suspect.

The result was... hardly noticeable.

"Without any other leads, just the fact that the victim was a coworker, coupled with sudden advancement in status, the list we can narrow down to is just this," Wang Chuanxing handed a thin list to Jiang Yuan.

The list had 6 people on it, simply described as colleagues of Zhang Xiaoming with significant unexplained wealth.

"What about the investigation results?" Jiang Yuan knew these 6 people must have been questioned.

"No clear evidence." Wang Chuanxing shook his head slightly, indicating another fruitless screening.

Jiang Yuan felt a tinge of disappointment. For his detective career, this was yet another not large, but not small failure.

Liu Jinghui noticed it at a glance and chuckled, "Finding clues and checking them out, it’s quite normal not to come to a conclusion. If this screening doesn’t yield results, we’ll just move on to another clue."

Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but glance at Liu Jinghui.

Liu Jinghui was taken aback for a moment but quickly understood: "Right, we’ve already run out of second leads. Haha, it seems rather uncommon to encounter this situation when I’m working a case with you."

"So you’re saying you often encounter similar situations?" Jiang Yuan caught on to the implication.

Liu Jinghui laughed: "I should say, about half of the cases I’m involved in are like this. Nowadays, the Criminal Police Brigade only comes to me when the case hits a dead-end, and the Criminal Science team is out of options."

"Is that so?"

"Everybody loves the Criminal Science team," Liu Jinghui said, glancing askance at Jiang Yuan.

In fact, as far as being favored is concerned, the Criminal Science team certainly isn’t among those well-loved. If detectives always have cases they can’t finish, then the technicians among them always have threads they can’t untangle.

In any case, they go wherever they are needed.

Of course, technical staff in Criminal Science are slightly more favored than those dealing with reasoning.

Jiang Yuan didn’t really have a chance to experience this kind of preferential treatment, or rather, as a forensic doctor in a county town, from the beginning of his career, apart from his work environment being dirty and disordered, interpersonal relationships have always been relatively easy to navigate. Leaders value them, and those they work with generally respect forensic doctors.

Jiang Yuan asked, "So, how do you usually handle this kind of situation, or how do other Criminal Police Brigades deal with it?"

"Well, it’s different for each Criminal Police Brigade. If you’re somewhat stingy like here in Longli County, then you smoke, right? Smoke together good or bad, quantity over quality. Smoke enough, and as your brain starts twitching, you might just come up with some idea," Liu Jinghui described with experience: "Personally, I prefer eating spicy hotpot; the spicier, the better."

"Eating spicy to clear your mind?" Wang Chuanxing cautiously learned the secret.

Liu Jinghui shook his head: "I just like eating hotpot."

Wang Chuanxing rolled his eyes.

"But..." Liu Jinghui chuckled, then added: "It’s always good to take a break, refresh your mind or something."

"Get something good to eat. Hotpot takes too much time, let’s go for a ’dry pot’ instead, stir-frying various things, and order plenty," Jiang Yuan chose one of the solutions.

Compared to solving a case, this was obviously much easier.

Soon, the aroma of a simmering hotpot filled the building of the Criminal Police Brigade—as a member of the Jiang Village People, Jiang Yuan had no qualms about treating others with someone else’s money.

Clearly, Tao Lu could not be the villain, so the busy detectives, no longer pretending to have work on their hands, started to enjoy the dry pot boisterously in the restaurant.

At this moment, an Audi A6 quietly drove into the courtyard of the Criminal Police Brigade.

By the time Tao Lu received the news, the visitor had already entered the building.

"Leadership from the bureau is here. Director You." Tao Lu only had time to give Jiang Yuan a quick call.

The Criminal Police Brigade had its own office space, and as a unit engaged in operations, it rarely hosted visitors.

However, it could be somewhat nerve-wracking when a leader’s occasional visit coincided with everyone enjoying a lavish meal.

After exchanging a few words, Tao Lu quickly explained: "Everyone has been busy for several days, on 24-hour standby, and the morale is a bit low. We thought we’d get something good to eat."

"You guys have quite the feast here," Director You said with a chuckle, his thoughts unreadable, and simply asked, "How is the Jianmen Court case progressing?"

"We’re still investigating," Tao Lu certainly couldn’t admit that they were at a dead end and were actually using good food to restore their energy.

Director You gave an "Mm" and asked, "Is there any issue I need to resolve for you?"

Tao Lu hesitated for a moment before answering, "Not for the time being."

While it was rare for a leader to actively offer help, Tao Lu genuinely had no need for additional resources.

The progress on this case wasn’t stalled by a lack of resources.

Director You frowned upon hearing this. He could sense Tao Lu’s unease; if it were a team advancing triumphantly, they could have asked for better treatment.

"Where’s Jiang Yuan?" Director You immediately started to look for a more effective person to inquire from.

"He’ll be right here." Tao Lu gestured to his subordinates, who swiftly went to tip off others.

Shortly after, Jiang Yuan arrived with a few people, carrying PADs and dossiers with them.

Seeing this, Director You waved his hand with a smile and said, "I won’t inquire about the specifics of the case. I’ve been away from the front line for a long time. Just tell me if this case can continue. Whether to push forward, or to put the brakes on."

He stared at Jiang Yuan, exerting a strong pressure.

After feasting on the dry pot, Jiang Yuan patted his stomach and remained silent for a full minute before saying, "Since you’ve asked, actually, I have a hypothesis. I planned to discuss it after verifying other leads... Now, it seems we’ve already gone through other verifications..."

"Captain Jiang," Liu Jinghui, recalling their previous discussion, couldn’t help but want to remind Jiang Yuan about politics...

Jiang Yuan shook his head slightly at him and said, "We’ve had a speculation that the murderer might already be dead."

"Hmm?" Not only Director You, but Liu Jinghui and others were also taken aback; this answer was different from what they had discussed before.

Jiang Yuan had clearly thought this through for a while and spread his hands, saying, "The murderer could use a grappling hook, which is a high-level skill. It hasn’t been used since, which seems wasteful. Furthermore, we’ve been very meticulous in our screening, and having not found anyone could be because we have been only looking among the living..."

"Is there evidence?" Director You, quite sharp himself, knew well that his subordinates wouldn’t bring up purely speculative ideas.

Jiang Yuan nodded and had Wang Chuanxing present a photograph to Director You, saying, "While everyone was screening people these past few days, I’ve been looking at photos, specifically asking for many photos of the factory workers, especially those where the hands are visible... Additionally, I’ve been learning about the skills involved in using a grappling hook."

Jiang Yuan continued, "The practice of using a grappling hook is tough; certain parts of the hand develop calluses, and these calluses are hard to get rid of. It’s like students who study a lot tend to develop calluses on the first joint of their middle finger, and they don’t go away even after twenty or thirty years. It’s similar with the grappling hook."

Pointing to a young man in the photo, Jiang Yuan explained, "This photo isn’t very clear, but we don’t have any others. Chuanxing and his team are investigating this person, but it will take some time."

"How long?" Director You asked directly.

"About the time it takes to have a hotpot meal," Jiang Yuan did not promise too much.

"Serve up a hotpot, I’ll have some too." Director You sat down, suddenly exuding an approachable aura.