National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 489 - 489 449 That's it

489: Chapter 449 That’s it 489: Chapter 449 That’s it The kidnapping victim, Chen Cangyun, lived in a residential community not far from Hongmen Market.

Despite being a highly valuable businessman, Chen Cangyun maintained a low-profile lifestyle.

His residential requirements weren’t demanding; he and his wife lived in an apartment of just over 200 square meters, which they’d bought and furnished more than a decade ago.

Chen Cangyun’s parents, one brother, and one sister, along with their children, all resided in the same community and in the same building, in apartments of similar layout.

The Chen family also worked in their own frozen goods company, drawing salaries and bonuses.

Chen Cangyun’s abduction, therefore, sent shockwaves through the entire company.

Jiang Yuan led Wang Chuanxing, along with Huang Qiangmin and Li Ting, dressed in plain clothes, to Chen Cangyun’s home.

The four blended in naturally, as if they were just ordinary residents of the community.

As soon as they entered the door and closed the security door behind them, the Chen family members surrounded Jiang Yuan and his team impatiently.

“How is it?

Any clues?”

“Do we need to pay the ransom?”

“Can you find the person?”

Everyone had questions, and they even repeated the same questions.

Li Ting hurriedly stepped forward to explain.

She had some distant familial ties to the Chen family and was competent with logic.

In just a few words, she explained the identities of Jiang Yuan and the others.

Huang Qiangmin then stepped forward and said sternly, “One at a time, who’s in charge here?”

He was grave like a police officer, showing no sign of being there to help.

The Chen family immediately quieted down, and some glanced towards the back.

“I’ll speak.

My name is Chen Cangshan.

I am Chen Cangyun’s younger brother.

You can just call me Chen,” said Chen Cangshan softly as he handed over his business card to Huang Qiangmin and the others.

“I’ve always been in charge of external affairs at our company, while my brother managed internal affairs.

Logistics, communication with other companies, that’s what I handle.”

“If you’re called Chen, what about your brother?” Huang Qiangmin asked casually to establish conversation.

“People in the market usually call him Boss Chen,” replied Chen Cangshan.

“As for my brother, he mainly handles the sales within the market.

He’s familiar with every family and business there, and they all call him for goods.

We’ve been doing this business together for nearly 30 years, and it’s always been going well…”

“Tell us about the kidnapping.

Did anyone witness the actual abduction?” Huang Qiangmin inquired.

Chen Cangshan shook his head, saying, “We received a courier package, and when we couldn’t reach my brother’s phone, or the driver’s, we then realized he had been kidnapped.”

“Was the driver kidnapped too?” Huang Qiangmin frowned.

If that was the case, it suggested the kidnappers were not just one person, but likely more.

Chen Cangshan nodded, “The driver has been with my brother for over a decade, a man in his forties.

That’s his son there.”

Huang Qiangmin looked where Chen Cangshan was pointing.

It was a young man with a slightly immature face, his eyes swollen as if he had been crying, looking utterly distraught.

“The courier package?” asked Jiang Yuan.

Upon Chen Cangshan’s cue, another young man quickly ran to the study and brought out a large SF Express envelope.

“Can we find the person through the courier?” the young man asked in hope.

Huang Qiangmin interjected, “Don’t think the criminals are that simple-minded.

However, we will certainly investigate.”

The Chen family remained silent, as they had obviously discussed this issue before.

If the kidnappers used courier service, they would have considered ways to evade tracking; otherwise, if a single trace could lead to them, they might as well have made a phone call.

Jiang Yuan put on gloves and carefully opened the courier envelope.

Inside was only a note with printed words: “Exchange the person for 20 kilograms of gold, no police allowed, or we tear the ticket, you have 24 hours to prepare.”

The value of 20 kilograms of gold, about 8 million, might only be enough to buy two ordinary residential properties, but it was an amount that 20 average families might not be able to gather in cash.

Even for the Chen family, pooling such a sum would likely be difficult.

Chen Cangshan warily said, “The package we received was from SF Express, and I also kept the courier’s phone number.

Why not call?

Afraid of getting tracked?”

“Possibly,” Huang Qiangmin didn’t give a direct answer.

The regulation of mobile SIM cards was getting stricter, and although there were still loopholes, they weren’t as secure as people might think.

Internet calls also posed a similar problem, especially in recent years with the prevalence of telecommunications fraud; the police investment in communication tracking was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

The news articles about “someone repeatedly warned by the police but still scammed” actually hid the fact that as soon as one received a scam call, the police were aware of it.

This involved systematic early warning, particularly on the server side, which was very comprehensive.

However, Huang Qiangmin couldn’t possibly explain all this in detail to Chen Cangshan, so he vaguely said, “Using a note has its advantages, such as allowing for a one-way conversation, which makes it hard for us to negotiate with them.”

A one-way conversation also meant they couldn’t demand to speak with Chen Cangyun.

From this perspective, the likelihood of Chen Cangyun being seriously harmed had greatly increased.

“Do you know where the person was kidnapped?” Huang Qiangmin queried.

Chen Cangshan shook his head blankly.

With such risks involved, the involvement of a driver in the crime would increase significantly.

To kidnap both the driver and Chen Cangyun together, it would require three to four people, or even more accomplices to pull it off; but as a result, the money would have to be split among more people.

On the other hand, if the driver was involved in the kidnapping, the situation would be much simpler.

It might only require one additional kidnapper or even just the driver himself to abduct Chen Cangyun.

Thinking this, Huang Qiangmin was somewhat scratching his head.

After all these years of leading the criminal police work in Ningtai County, there was no storm he hadn’t weathered.

But to be honest, aside from those cases that were particularly obvious and straightforward, Huang Qiangmin had never found solving cases to be easy.

He was like that student who barely managed to pass, only confidently and correctly answering the especially simple questions, like practice exercises or the giveaways on a test.

Anything beyond that, he might score forty to sixty percent.

But in the process of answering, for the standard questions, sometimes he might find a solution, and other times not, the only certainty was that none of them made Huang Qiangmin feel the questions were easy.

The more he questioned about today’s kidnapping case, the more formidable it seemed.

No eyewitnesses, no video footage, no basic information at all — the chances for a straightforward investigation were basically non-existent.

What was left was most likely to be carrying the ransom money and negotiating with the kidnappers.

If they could catch the criminals during the negotiation process, that would be perfect, but if not, they would have to wait until after the negotiation was completed to slowly solve the case.

After all, once the negotiation was over, either with Chen Cangyun’s testimony or his corpse, it would be more conducive to solving the case.

“Given the current situation, I suggest letting the police get involved,” Huang Qiangmin called Li Ting over, borrowing her identity in reverse, “We are both friends of yours, and I won’t hide from you.

From the current case, it’s clear that Mr.

Chen is in grave danger.

Passively waiting for the kidnappers’ arrangements is just as risky.

It would be better to take action and face it proactively…”

Huang Qiangmin wasn’t planning on solving the case privately, but after understanding the situation, he was firmly persuading Chen Cangshan.

The Chen family actually didn’t have any strong opinions and, after a few words, agreed to report the case.

In fact, even if they had disagreed, the report was already filed, but after such a discussion, the cooperation level from the Chen family would be higher.

And in a kidnapping case, the cooperation of the victim’s family was inevitable.

Once Huang Qiangmin stabilized Chen Cangshan and the others, he signaled Wang Chuanxing to watch over them, and then he pulled out his phone and called Yu Wenshu.

During this time, Jiang Yuan was constantly scrutinizing the note through a horseshoe mirror.

The LV3 Document Examination skill he possessed was obtained very early on, although he hadn’t had much use for it.

Now, this note was the most direct piece of evidence, so Jiang Yuan focused his attention here.

If this kidnapping case eventually evolved into a sequence of paying ransom, surveillance, stakeouts, and the subsequent chase to attempt an arrest and the suspect’s escape, Jiang Yuan wouldn’t have much to contribute.

But with the note…

even if it was printed, there was an abundance of information contained within it.

Soon, Huang Qiangmin finished his phone call, turned back with a reassuring smile, and said, “All right, no need to worry.

The Criminal Police Division has experience with kidnappings and will proceed as discreetly as possible.

Also, do you have the capability to pay the ransom?”

“Are we going to pay it?” Chen Cangshan asked.

“To tell you the truth, solving the case is one thing, but to bring the hostage back unharmed is a much greater challenge.

We don’t know what kind of person the criminal is, what his personality is like.

We can’t predict his next move either.

So, from the perspective of your family, I suggest you prepare as fully as possible,” Huang Qiangmin said as diplomatically as possible.

The Chen Family understood and briefly discussed among themselves before quickly deciding to send two people to raise the money and purchase the gold.

Huang Qiangmin nodded slightly without saying more.

As a policeman, he had seen many kidnapping cases, most of which were of a murderous nature, with some kidnappings resulting in death from the beginning.

Huang Qiangmin couldn’t predict how this case would progress, but with the Chen family’s assets, gathering 8 million yuan as a chance to buy Chen Cangyun’s life was necessary.

Likewise, regardless of the kidnapper’s choice, the ransom delivery process would inevitably reveal more flaws to the police.

“I’ll make a call.” Jiang Yuan said, after everyone else had finished speaking, taking out his phone and enabling the speakerphone right there.

After two rings, Meng Chengbiao’s voice came through the phone.

“Captain Jiang?” Meng Chengbiao was the only non-young member of Jiang Yuan’s Cold Case Squad and was the most steady.

“Yes, is there a case?

Is everyone there?” Jiang Yuan asked.

“Yes.”

“Then put it on speakerphone,” Jiang Yuan instructed.

“Yes, it’s on speaker,” Meng Chengbiao said, becoming serious.

“I’m on speaker as well.

There are family members of the victim present,” Jiang Yuan clarified, and then he briefly described the case situation before continuing, “There are a few things you need to do now.

First, the printer used by the criminal is an HP black and white laser printer, which can be seen from the appearance of the fonts, with the horizontal strokes and the shapes of the triangle peaks being very distinct.

“Second, the ink edges are frayed, with scattered dot-like toner, which means they’re likely using third-party toner.

Moreover, it’s a low-speed laser printer.”

“Third, the paper is a lower grade of 70g.

Send it to the lab for analysis later to see if we can identify the specific manufacturer and model.”

“Fourth, the degree of wear on the printer is quite high, suggesting it is not a personally purchased home printer but more likely a printer from a print shop or company.

The ransom note was only torn off a small part, which looks more like it was printed at a print shop.”

“Combining these four points, you start checking the printing shops in the city, taking Hongmen Market as the center and expanding outwards in your search, leaving no stone unturned.

Find printing shops that use HP black and white laser printers and use the same font and font size to print the same sentence out, take a photo, and send the original image to my email.

Also, make inquiries about their paper types.

If they use a variety of papers, print several samples.”

“If you confirm the print shop used by the criminal, maintain confidentiality, immediately request support, and check the surveillance, including in-store videos and take statements from in-store staff.

Also, don’t wear uniforms to avoid alarming the criminal.”

After Jiang Yuan had issued his orders, he looked back at Huang Qiangmin, “Can you let Chief Yu know?

Ask him to send some people to cooperate?”

“Sure,” Huang Qiangmin picked up the phone, connected with Yu Wenshu, and he really wanted to say: My folks are helping you solve another case.

But because the family members were right beside him, Huang Qiangmin spoke kindly, “Chief Yu, we have a bunch of leads for you here.”