National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1085 - 1016: Joint Cooperation

Chapter 1085: Chapter 1016: Joint Cooperation

"Next up..." Jiang Yuan chuckled at Qiao Shengli’s question, lowered his head, and said, "The next one is probably still Qingshi City. Since we’re already here, there must be some cold cases that need clearing."

"Aren’t you only supposed to tackle the most difficult cases?" Qiao Shengli asked out of curiosity, tilting her head.

Jiang Yuan smiled and replied, "It’s not like cases can compete with each other on their own. No one knows which one is the hardest. Some cases get solved because investigators choose the right direction, while others become harder and harder because they don’t."

"So choosing the right direction is the most important?"

"Maybe. But not necessarily." Jiang Yuan glanced at Qiao Shengli and said, "It’s kind of similar to your research work, isn’t it? Between the direction and practical execution, which one carries more weight?"

Qiao Shengli seemed to realize something and exclaimed, "Ah, so you’re the type of person who can turn any rubbish topic given by a professor into a top-tier publication?"

"Not exactly." At that moment, Jiang Yuan felt no need to be modest or worry about being politically correct. He casually said, "Some directions are so bad that they waste time. You still need to course-correct."

Qiao Shengli understood and looked up at Jiang Yuan admiringly, "If only I had your skills. Sometimes I wish I could help my professor adjust the research direction."

"Professor Su?"

"Don’t you dare tell him." Qiao Shengli shook Jiang Yuan’s arm.

"The Tai River project—did Professor Su assign it to you?" Jiang Yuan, after several years as a detective, developed a heavily ingrained habit of suspicion. Among the people of this world, detectives undoubtedly have the strongest skepticism.

Blushing, Qiao Shengli held onto Jiang Yuan’s arm and explained, "The professor barely conducts experiments himself, whether it’s general projects or collaborative ones. As for me, if the Tai River project gets confirmed, I’ll shift the entire direction of my research to focus on it."

In the biology department, project options aren’t abundant. Honestly, it wouldn’t even have to be the Tai River project; expanding the scope by another fifty kilometers would give Qiao Shengli enough material to write up a decent paper.

However, for her doctoral dissertation, merely scratching the surface wouldn’t suffice. The more data, the better.

Jiang Yuan decided not to meddle in the internal dynamics of Sulei’s project team. He simply said, "The Tai River project is confirmed, but you’ll need to coordinate with us, not the other way around."

"Of course." Qiao Shengli looked up at Jiang Yuan, her excitement gradually amplified. Jiang Yuan’s condition posed no difficulty—essentially, he hadn’t set any barriers. By comparison, the funding and scale of the project seemed far more restrictive.

...

Later in the evening.

The suspect, Xu Juan, ultimately gave up resisting and confessed entirely.

It was her first time killing someone, and she lacked any prior experience. She wasn’t professionally trained. The strategies she fantasized about in her mind sounded one way, but when laid out, they were laughable at best.

Whether it was the manner of murder, the motives, or the reasons for abandoning the body—Xu Juan always had something to say, but her statements were neither lawful nor credible. During police interrogations—which can sometimes be quite harsh—she broke down multiple times.

After shedding a few bouts of tears, Xu Juan tidied her hair under the gaze of prosecutors and started recounting her story again.

She tried her best to maintain an air of dignity, but when faced with the gruesome details of dismemberment and questions like "What did you use for the first blow? Where did you strike?" or "After you picked up the scissors, where did you use them?", any semblance of dignity instantly evaporated.

By this stage of the interrogation, the task force members were finally reassured.

Veteran detectives with steely nerves often called it a night at this point and went home. Younger detectives didn’t necessarily lack resilience but were left behind to handle the final cleanup—a task they could only keep working through.

Jiang Yuan was summoned to the bureau chief’s office.

Compared to Criminal Police Brigade Captain Fang Gang, the chief’s rank was significantly higher, which demonstrated how much Jiang Yuan was valued.

After hearing a torrent of compliments and sipping an extensive amount of good tea, the chief still didn’t let him go. Checking his watch, he smiled and said, "Everyone must be hungry by now. I’ve prepared hotpot for us. Jiang Yuan, I hear you enjoy hotpot, right?"

"Indeed, I quite like it." Jiang Yuan didn’t know how his fondness for hotpot had spread around, but for some reason, cops never bothered verifying trivial details like these.

The chief gestured to one side, prompting Fang Gang to step out and arrange things. Before long, a hotpot was brought into the office.

Several people gathered around the coffee table in the chief’s office and began cooking hotpot.

Huang Qiangmin looked around uneasily and said, "The smell of hotpot is strong—won’t it damage the calligraphy and paintings in this room?"

"They’re all my own works. If they get ruined, it’s fine—I still have plenty left to hang up." The chief, seemingly tickled by this topic, burst into laughter.

Huang Qiangmin quickly chimed in with supportive remarks.

The chief sobered up, waving his hand, and said, "Honestly, my calligraphy and paintings are just amateur stuff. When I was young and didn’t know what else to do, I dabbled in these arts. These days, I fully regret it. If only I had studied fingerprint analysis or some other forensic techniques back then—it would’ve been far more useful."

Huang Qiangmin thought to himself, You’ve finally touched upon this key point, and hurriedly said, "Actually, if Qingshi Municipal Bureau still needs our assistance with anything, you only need to give the word."

"Try this beef slice—it came from cattle slaughtered this afternoon. The meat was immediately cut and delivered straight here," the chief first introduced the beef on the table, then said to Huang Qiangmin, "We’re out of budget."

"Huh?" Huang Qiangmin froze, his jaw dropping at this unexpected response.

"Have some beef." The chief sighed and continued with a smile, "You should’ve anticipated this. Our Shan Nan Province isn’t wealthy, and funding has always been tight. Plus, it’s the end of the year, and we’re busy clearing cold cases, running the Taihe Working Group, and maintaining a high clearance rate for current cases. Funding never lasts."

Huang Qiangmin hesitated, poked a chopstick into the hotpot, picked up a piece of vegetable, placed it on his plate, and said, "I figured this might happen—I just didn’t think it’d come so soon."

"Exactly." The chief chuckled and added, "Social stability requires cracking down on criminal activities. Economic development, in turn, depends on social stability as its foundation. But increasing the criminal clearance rate from 90% to 95%, or solving 100% of homicide cases versus 99%, well—it might not be that significant."

Huang Qiangmin was unwilling to concede this point and immediately retorted, "You can’t look at it this way. The damages caused by criminal offenses are undeniable. Compared to the cost of solving a case, the protection it provides to the public is absolutely worthwhile. Moreover, successfully solving major cases means capturing highly dangerous or high-tech criminals, or professional perpetrators, thereby significantly improving the safety of everyday environments. It also promotes fair trade and is tremendously beneficial for the rule of law in society..."

"Commissioner Huang—now that’s a point of quality!" the chief laughed heartily.

Beside them, Fang Gang quickly chimed in, "We should learn from Commissioner Huang."

After the laughter subsided, the chief said, "Let’s just talk about ourselves here. This year, Shan Nan Province’s criminal investigation system has truly achieved outstanding results, largely thanks to Jiang Yuan and the Ningtai County Bureau’s support. But this year’s budget allocation was decided last year..."

With that, he left the statement hanging.

Qingshi Municipal Bureau’s rank is equivalent to Qinghe City Bureau. Ningtai County Bureau is ranked significantly lower than Qinghe City Bureau, and Huang Qiangmin isn’t even its top-ranking official. Throughout the conversation, he had been following the rhythm set by the chief.

But at this point, Huang Qiangmin felt he couldn’t continue accommodating blindly. Especially after eating a bite of vegetables, his appetite kicked in, prompting him to grin and say, "Even borrowing against the future can be reasonable."

The cheerful chief almost choked on a piece of beef upon hearing this remark: "Your words... hey, don’t be so aggressive."

Huang Qiangmin gave a faint smile.

"What about taking on some interprovincial cases?" The chief suggested. "Qingshi City borders Liang Zhou—they must have some leftover funds this year."

"These days, even landlords don’t have surplus grain," Huang Qiangmin countered.

The chief replied, "Sometimes borrowing forward is feasible."

Looking at the chief’s earnest expression, Huang Qiangmin asked, "What kind of case? Is it difficult?"

"Yes, very." The chief put down his chopsticks and became more serious, saying, "Child abduction. We’ve just linked a series of cases—there are already five across the two provinces, plus one attempt. All targeted children under five, and the incidents occurred in rural towns."

These types of cases unquestionably warrant attention at the municipal bureau level. They’re the kind that demand priority resolution.

Huang Qiangmin studied the chief: "No leads on these cases?"

With sufficient leads and resources dedicated, perhaps the cases could have decent odds of being solved. But since Jiang Yuan was being called in, it likely meant severe obstacles had arisen.

The chief picked up a slice of meat with his chopsticks and ate, saying, "In any case, let me know what you need, and I’ll reach out to Liang Zhou on your behalf. We’ll work together to get these five children back."

"Capturing the perpetrators won’t necessarily be hard; locating the kids—that’s far more challenging." Huang Qiangmin remarked, glancing over at Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan, with several pieces of beef cooling in his sauce bowl, looked up at the chief and Huang Qiangmin and said, "Now that it’s come up, let’s take it on."

As for Qiao Shengli and her matters, they would have to wait.