National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1249 - 1176: Not a Bit Off

Chapter 1249: Chapter 1176: Not a Bit Off

The security checks at airports and high-speed rail stations are thorough, with relatively independent precincts or police stations, and sufficient manpower available.

Jiang Yuan first called Wang Sheng, the captain of the Mei Yang City Criminal Police Brigade, and then contacted the command center to coordinate police forces and resources from both sides.

Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui also didn’t think Ren Kuangshan would choose these two places. The risk was too high. Someone who knew to prepare a motorcycle in advance to escape, why challenge such a high-risk move?

What’s left are ordinary train stations, bus stations, or car rental agencies and ride-sharing services; even buying a new car or stealing a car is much easier than using planes and high-speed rail.

However, investigating these places requires resources on a completely different scale.

On the command center side, the contact person for Jiang Yuan was Wang Chuanxing of the Changyang Detention Division. Hearing Jiang Yuan’s request, he was stunned. Anyone who coordinated related work for a few days knew how much workload and political resources Jiang Yuan’s request would require.

However, the good thing about just working and not being in charge is that you don’t need to be responsible for making requests everywhere, you just have to ask for it.

Moreover, because Jiang Yuan’s request was extremely reasonable, the command center had no choice but to dig deep to get him the money, even if it meant taking substantial financial risks.

Then, Yu Wenshu called back and asked, "You’ve already checked all the gas stations around, do you still need to check the cars? He needs fuel to drive, right?"

Jiang Yuan chuckled and said, "I also had that thought before, but... the area we investigated earlier is only within a three to four hundred kilometer range to the northeast based on the motorcycle’s fuel tank that he was riding. If he switches cars, that tank might cover more than three or four hundred kilometers, and there are many that run up to seven or eight hundred, even a thousand kilometers... Of course, if there’s no reaction at vehicle checkpoints, it’s hard for him to rent a car, but you never know, it’s better to check to be sure..."

"You’re right, you’re absolutely right." Yu Wenshu knocked on his head repeatedly and added, "Then I’ll ask around again the people Ren Kuangshan knows, like his family and friends, to avoid him borrowing or buying a car."

"That’s right, that’s very thorough of you." Jiang Yuan agreed. These are all investigative techniques that veteran detectives have used for decades, no need for him to teach them bit by bit. In fact, just using these old tactics to catch people would outperform him easily.

Seeing that Jiang Yuan was agreeable to following these suggestions, Yu Wenshu relaxed a bit and continued, "The vehicle situation is quite complicated, and although the probability is low... I think we could do this, the command center can organize a team specifically for investigation, especially the underground car market, used car dealers, including repair shops, and also ride-sharing services, cargo services, and nearby rest areas and truck parks. Ren Kuangshan seems to know a bit about cars, so considering that, he might buy a smuggled car, a scrapped car, or a car with false plates. One team might not be enough, but with the involvement of the Mei Yang City Bureau, we can start working and increase efforts as needed..."

A smuggled car is an illegally imported car, and a scrapped car is just past its expiration date, but not unusable. Using a fake license plate is even better to hide. These belong to illegal vehicles, which won’t go through formal channels, and the sellers and buyers would avoid public eyes, making it easier for escapees.

For an average person committing a crime, buying such a car temporarily is also very difficult. But if you prepare in advance, especially for someone like Ren Kuangshan, who’s an experienced driver, he won’t easily get scammed when buying a car. Even if there’s a problem with the car on the road, he can fix it temporarily without much worry.

This is exactly what ancient people meant by the saying "skills will never be a burden," especially practical skills. Even if not used, this is an advantage during a getaway. The police have to spend resources to guard against it.

Jiang Yuan repeatedly agreed, as these were the parts he hadn’t considered carefully and wasn’t good at. If he had to manage everything himself, perhaps at this point Xu Taining would have a big role to play.

However, the Changyang City Bureau has cast a wider net this time. Without a clear target, it’s impossible to conduct a nationwide search. After all, during the hunt for the two Wangs back then, more than 30,000 military and police, over 100,000 militiamen and locals, and even a helicopter was deployed. That was 1983, only three years after the Sino-Vietnamese War. Converted to today’s terms, it was equivalent to deploying a province’s mobile police force, an additional armored brigade, and a J-20 fighter jet.

"What’s your plan to check the bus and train stations, given their complexity?" Yu Wenshu asked Jiang Yuan again.

Jiang Yuan, however, smiled and said, "Our Cold Case Squad is just a few people... I plan to focus on a few stations."

"Do you really have a lead?" Yu Wenshu suddenly got excited. At this moment, any clue, no matter how small, could save a lot of manpower and funding. Under these circumstances, funding can be calculated later, but saving any bit of police force is immediately useful.

"When I was reviewing the surveillance, Ren Kuangshan left the Shipozi Gas Station and disappeared after passing just a few surveillance checkpoints. At the time, I thought the subsequent surveillance might have missed him, or he chose some remote route. Now considering if he abandoned the vehicle, connecting the lines reveals the nearest three counties, two train stations, and six bus stations."

It was easy for Jiang Yuan to say, but coming to this conclusion was not easy at all. As Liu Jinghui said, it was the conclusion derived from evidence, based on extensive surveillance review leading to the conclusion that the subsequent surveillance didn’t miss him, but rather he abandoned the vehicle, and then delineated the range based on his last known location.

Each layer of judgment within this was also probabilistic. With each added layer, the probability decreased significantly.

"Good, good, you have an idea." Connecting two points into a line, using it as a basis to search nearby train stations is indeed a method.

Although Yu Wenshu agreed with Jiang Yuan’s idea, his excitement quickly cooled because it was based on a series of layered assumptions.

Yu Wenshu secretly sighed, thinking, even for Jiang Yuan, reaching this point was very challenging.

Yu Wenshu looked up at the time again. More than 100 hours had passed since the case’s onset, and under such large-scale mobilization, in another two days, if no results were available, the task force’s resources would sharply decrease, while the pressure would only increase.

Jiang Yuan ended the call, but his excitement was slowly increasing.

"Chief Yu took over the part about the cars." Jiang Yuan turned to Liu Jinghui and said, "We’ll focus on checking the train and bus stations in these three counties."

"I’ll go find the surveillance!" It was Wang Chuanxing who responded.

"Wait a minute." Liu Jinghui stopped him, saying, "For the train and bus stations, we can’t only check inside. Ren Kuangshan has some counter-surveillance abilities and likely has knowledge of the inner workings of train and bus stations, so he might have found a way to get around inside. These small county train stations tend to lack strict management, especially bus stations with frequent boarding outside, which needs our attention."

The train attendants on the green trains spend all day selling tickets to passengers, showing just how many people sneak their way onto the train. These are just ordinary people looking to save money; slightly experienced criminals are even more aware of the loopholes in this area. In fact, the police on trains have always been strong contenders for capturing escapees, with some catching over a hundred people in a year, earning them second-class heroic models.

Wang Chuanxing waited for a moment and seeing Jiang Yuan had no other orders, immediately went to make phone calls.

He needed to first coordinate with the command center, then contact the criminal police teams of the three counties. He might even need to liaise with the local railway police or the station police station. As before, besides official surveillance, the local criminal police would have to collect surveillance videos from around the stations.

All the officers from Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team were dispatched. With two train stations and six bus stations, four people at each means 32 people. Four people aren’t really enough, just the gates at each station have several entrances. There’s a large area with many nooks and crannies, and at least the dispatched officers need to walk through them, otherwise, a grocery store leading directly inside the station or a break in the fence could render everyone’s effort pointless.

Jiang Yuan stayed at the Graphic Investigation Brigade, reviewing the surveillance footage to confirm his judgment.

After locating Ren Kuangshan at the Shipozi Gas Station, they could track him leaving the gas station and crossing two intersections on the video. However, after being last seen at an intersection a few kilometers away, Ren Kuangshan disappeared.

Clearly, he must have gone into the mountains after passing through this intersection. Given the surrounding environment, there are many paths for a dirt bike, and he could have descended and switched to regular routes at any time, making it difficult for surveillance to capture him.

But if we start from here and assume he was planning to abandon the bike and switch to another mode of transportation, the possible routes become more limited.

Theoretically, we could gather and investigate surveillance from these directions, but that’s just in theory. The volume is too large, with some routes crossing cities and provinces, and even if departments stepped in to coordinate, the myriad procedures would still consume a significant amount of time.

During the time spent reviewing, some surveillance footage from the nearest Zhu Yuan County has already been sent back.

Jiang Yuan opened his notebook, jotted down a few notes, then opened the software to watch the footage.

The work of video format conversion, sorting, etc., was handled by others.

Before he knew it, it was already late at night.

When Jiang Yuan felt his stomach growling, he looked up to find the computers in the room still half-lit.

"If you have nothing more to do, go get some rest." Jiang Yuan stood up and said, "We won’t finish it today anyway."

After a while, someone said, "I won’t go back; my wife is already asleep. Going back now would just mean getting scolded."

"No wife."

"No house."

Everyone gave their straightforward answers.

Jiang Yuan glanced at Liu Jinghui beside him: "You’re not going back either?"

"I’m thinking too." Liu Jinghui tapped the table with his pen.

Jiang Yuan rubbed his stomach, suddenly missing Wu Junhao. He went on a mission, and now there’s not even a meat bun to eat.

"Let’s get some hotpot." Jiang Yuan said to Wang Chuanxing before sitting down to continue watching the video.

"It’s ready, we can eat anytime." Wang Chuanxing, familiar with Jiang Yuan, touched him like he was petting a police dog.

"Then let’s eat." Jiang Yuan thought for a moment, then decided to have the hotpot brought in, setting it up in the hall of the Graphic Investigation Brigade, eating hotpot while watching the big screen.

Steam billowed from the hotpot, filling the thoughtfully maintained information analysis center of the Meiyang City Graphic Investigation Brigade, expressing the homesickness of all police officers.

Opposite the hotpot on the wall, several screens played videos at normal speed.

Jiang Yuan watched the screen while Wang Chuanxing handled the vegetables.

He first scalded some lettuce produced at the Jiang Family Ranch, then the beef from the same ranch, focusing on health.

Jiang Yuan ate and watched, his mind constantly working.

Liu Jinghui couldn’t help but comment, "Why not take a break, finish eating first."

"After eating, it’s time to sleep." Jiang Yuan glanced at Liu Jinghui: "You’re a bit ruthless."

Mu Zhiyang also advised, "We’re not in such a rush, how about we..."

"Pause for a moment." Jiang Yuan raised a hand and called out.

Wang Chuanxing paused his movements with the meat and asked, "No more beef platter?"

"I was talking about the video, the spot just now." Jiang Yuan got up and pointed at the big screen.

The officers eating hotpot froze momentarily, then sprang into chaos.

"This is the spot." Jiang Yuan pointed at a group of people crossing the street, watched it three times, and then tapped the screen with his finger: "The one in black clothes, black pants, sneakers, and a mask, that’s Ren Kuangshan. He took a train, check the train schedule."

Amidst everyone’s surprise, Mu Zhiyang was dumbfounded. Was it really that close? Have I missed many opportunities?