National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1245 - 1172: Aberration_2

Chapter 1245: Chapter 1172: Aberration_2

Here, he not only has to look in his own direction, but video materials that are given more importance by special task forces in other directions will also be sent to Jiang Yuan for review, which Jiang Yuan naturally also needs to see.

So far, this "Academician Murder Case" has two main objectives: first, to investigate and capture the mastermind behind the scenes, and second, to pursue the fleeing direct perpetrator, Ren Kuangshan.

Even though Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui believe the suspect most likely fled to the Northeast, there are too many variables in solving a case, and it’s possible that with a sudden impulse, police officers in other directions might make a discovery.

Jiang Yuan mainly covets the equipment of the Image Investigation. He only carries a laptop when he goes out, which is quite inefficient for watching video surveillance.

Jiang Yuan, accompanied by Huang Qiangmin, took the Beijing A-license Passat and quickly entered the yard of the Graphic Investigation Brigade.

The captain of the second brigade of Meiyang City’s Graphic Investigation Brigade, Jin Sijun, immediately called his brigade captain, who then gathered a group of people to come down and greet them.

Jiang Yuan quickly handed over Huang Qiangmin and said, "I’m going to watch the surveillance directly; can you assign someone technically skilled to help me with the equipment?"

"No problem!" Jin Sijun also left his own brigade captain behind, taking Jiang Yuan up the elevator, and said, "Our equipment is a bit old, Captain Jiang, please don’t mind..."

"Not at all..." Jiang Yuan politely replied for two minutes.

Upon entering the command room of the Image Investigation, Jiang Yuan immediately received a wall of screens.

"Captain Jiang, where should we look?" Wang Chuanxing was responsible for coordinating.

Jiang Yuan had already thought about it on the way and said, "Gas stations! Keep watching the gas stations; he has to refuel at some point. How many gas stations haven’t been checked yet?"

"There are too many." Wang Chuanxing slightly shook his head.

"Get a few people to roughly categorize them, see which gas stations have a higher probability of Ren Kuangshan showing up based on the distance, time, location choices, and whether a motorcycle can be refueled, etc. Use these standards to sort them first, then I’ll check each one gas station by gas station." Jiang Yuan glanced to both sides, noticing that Jin Sijun had prepared over twenty people, likely his entire brigade.

There was no need to be polite; Jiang Yuan immediately organized their work assignments.

When it comes to watching video surveillance, no number of people is ever enough, as one can view it in great detail or over an extensive range—it’s all up to the organizer’s arrangements.

Just as now, the special task force far away in Changyang City had already started organizing local image investigations to find relevant videos of Ren Kuangshan after he knew he had cancer in an attempt to figure out who he was in contact with.

Jiang Yuan couldn’t manage such distant matters and focused solely on pursuing Ren Kuangshan.

Theoretically, if they could capture Ren Kuangshan alive, his contacts with his handlers and so forth would at least have a more specific range.

Such a matter is very difficult in a purely remote mode, as there is too much trust to be established between both parties.

Wang Chuanxing responded affirmatively and began assigning tasks to the personnel.

Soon enough, the second brigade of the Meiyang City Graphic Investigation Brigade was in action.

Jiang Yuan continuously issued tasks, Wang Chuanxing decomposed them, and the police officers of the second brigade of the Image Investigation constantly completed them.

From time to time, other Image Investigation officers would come over to see Jiang Yuan or wander nearby glancing around.

The police from the other brigades in the Graphic Investigation Brigade had their jobs and tasks, but their curiosity about Jiang Yuan was overwhelming. Considering confidentiality issues, no one dared to come and look at Jiang Yuan’s screen, nor did they feel comfortable greeting him. Just watching was enough to satisfy many.

Jiang Yuan also watched for two hours straight, then stood up to leisurely stroll, have some tea, think for a bit, and stretch his muscles.

"Captain Jiang!"

"Captain Jiang, would you like to look at this?"

"Director Jiang, let me show you something interesting."

The police officers in the command room all greeted Jiang Yuan.

Being police officers, they all belong to the type that gets excited whether there’s a story behind it or not, and elevates they must when needed.

At the same time, being police officers, who doesn’t have a tricky unsolved case in their hands? So when they saw Jiang Yuan coming, each acted like they’d seen a rare treasure. They were afraid Jiang Yuan would avoid them, so they all had to take the initiative to invite him. Due to policy constraints, their invitations were limited between the Queen of the Women Land and the White Bone Demon.

"Later, later..." Jiang Yuan greeted them with a smile, not even glancing at their screens.

The Image Investigation was moving too slowly, and at this point, he had no time for other people’s cases.

After wandering and thinking for more than ten minutes, Jiang Yuan returned to his original position, gestured for Wang Chuanxing to come over, and said, "The ones we watched just now were surveillance videos from gas stations starting yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Haven’t seen Ren Kuangshan or his motorcycle."

Wang Chuanxing took it for granted and smiled, "It’s been three days, very difficult to determine the exact refueling time."

"From the first day’s video surveillance, there should have been some traces." Jiang Yuan referred to the road surveillance checkpoints. Given the current density of surveillance in the country, it’s nearly impossible to leave the city or province entirely free from vehicle checkpoints, even if riding a motorcycle.

In fact, as the investigation during the past two days deepened, traces of Ren Kuangshan on the first and second days’ video had gradually been found multiple times, but given the time elapsed, it’s of little use.

Wang Chuanxing somewhat understood Jiang Yuan’s reasoning and asked, "Do you suspect that the suspect didn’t ride a motorcycle?"

"Completely not finding his traces is indeed a bit surprising." Jiang Yuan paused, "Of course, he might have chosen a strange time and route; once we find him once, the remaining traces are easier to confirm. Hmm... ask the special task force if there were any reported discoveries today or yesterday?"

"Understood." Wang Chuanxing immediately responded, then asked, "Do we continue watching the surveillance?"

Jiang Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Still not sure where Ren Kuangshan refueled on the first day?"

"No," Wang Chuanxing shook his head, "The special task force explained that maybe he brought petrol in advance or buried it somewhere early on for self-service refueling later."

"That’s also a possibility." Jiang Yuan didn’t deny it, only said, "Whether he rode or not, if he wants to leave Changyang City, the easiest time to find him would still be the first day; by the second day, the range would be too vast."

Jiang Yuan paused and said, "The investigation on the day was too rushed, still requires revisiting."

The stage with the most information and most valuable evidence is also the first day, the so-called golden 24 hours. It’s not just about the investigation within those 24 hours; it also refers to the value of the evidence at that time.

There are too many gas stations around a city, and coupled with various vehicle checkpoints or other surveillance videos, it’s impossible to finish reviewing all the day’s surveillance on the day of the incident; time simply doesn’t allow it.

Even confined to gas stations in a single direction, it’s impossible for Jiang Yuan to finish watching a full day’s surveillance. A commonly understood fact that doesn’t need explanation—if a single person watches surveillance video on a single screen at normal speed, one person can only watch one surveillance feed a day.

Increasing screens or speed surely raises the possibility of oversight.

Hence, for most image investigation-related cases, the more precise the time and location, the better. With accurate time and location, solving an image investigation-related case might take just a dozen minutes, while a challenging image investigation case often requires 2,000 hours of labor.

Jiang Yuan directly opened an additional temporary +1, then began doing trajectory analysis on the computer map.

The three days of investigation weren’t without results; subsequently, some road checkpoints found surveillance footage of Ren Kuangshan; however, nearby gas stations failed to capture him, which was indeed surprising.

Some hence speculated that Ren Kuangshan prepared petrol in advance, and there was some rationale for that.

But from the suspect’s perspective, doing so offers very poor flexibility, essentially needing to reach a predetermined location and dig up. Petrol also has some volatility, can’t be stored too long in advance, and purchasing it comes with limitations...

Jiang Yuan thought while watching videos.

At this moment, in a wide-angle video, Jiang Yuan spotted a figure briskly passing by from the edge.

"There, replay it." Jiang Yuan immediately called out.

The nearby Image Investigation officer quickly turned the dial counterclockwise, causing the figure on the screen to retreat in response.

The figure on the screen had no visible face, not even a head, merely passing the edge of the wide-angle lens, with the figure slightly distorted.

Jiang Yuan, however, firmly said, "That’s him, retrieve all other videos from this gas station!"

He watched the video for gait, needing not to see faces at all.