National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 623 - 567: Deadlock

Chapter 623: Chapter 567: Deadlock

Qingbai City meeting room.

Members of the special investigation team from the ministries, provincial departments, Changyang City Bureau, and Qingbai City Bureau were all in a heated debate. Previously, everyone got along amiably, inviting each other out for meals, chatting over drinks.

It was when the topic of budget came up that everyone was still very restrained, whether one party was contributing a bit more or a bit less, they could always come to an agreement.

That was until they heard the story of Xu Taining...

"Our budget has already reached its limit!"

"Ours is maxed out as well."

"Who can bear this."

To say that the scene was electrifying would be putting it mildly.

Liu Jinghui didn’t need to discuss the budget issue and sat distantly, whispering to Jiang Yuan beside him, "Honestly, with all the trouble it takes to request Xu’s assistance each time, if we can’t make use of him this time, let’s not bother inviting him."

"I have no idea now, do you?" Jiang Yuan retorted.

Liu Jinghui rubbed his face with his hand, "I have plenty of ideas, can you verify them?"

Jiang Yuan could only smile and shake his head. It was an old case from 20 years ago; indeed, there wasn’t much that could still be verified. The few leads they had now all required investigation, backtracking to people and items from 20 years prior.

Only after going through these investigations could the case continue to progress. Or, they would have to start looking for new clues.

Members of the special investigation team from various units also recognized this situation. So, despite the arguing and commotion, the focus remained on a budget amount and distribution issue, not on whether to call in Xu Taining.

The commotion in the meeting room didn’t subside even with the arrival of Xu Taining in Qingbai City.

After all, Xu Taining himself wasn’t asking for payment; their current discussions were mainly about the expenses during the investigation period, so very likely they would continue arguing until Xu Taining left.

"Director Xu, thank you for your hard work," Jiang Yuan and others greeted Xu Taining at the door.

Dressed in a white shirt, with slight traces of fitness on his body, Xu Taining stared intently at Jiang Yuan as soon as they met and seriously said, "It doesn’t matter whether I work hard or not, but you can’t keep trying to solve my cases."

"Unjust accusation. I came across the breakthrough clue while you were conducting investigations..." Jiang Yuan quickly explained.

Xu Taining huffed, "If you have a breakthrough clue, why not use it sooner? What’s the situation this time? Are you going to solve the case ahead of me!"

"If I could solve the Jingyang Line triple corpse case, I’d definitely crack it immediately," Jiang Yuan shrugged, "But at the moment, we’re a bit stuck. We need to find people from 20 years ago, not sure if they can still be tracked down."

"As long as the strategy is well-planned, people can always be found," Xu Taining shared his accumulated experience and paused before asking, "What made you decide to take on this case? It’s not an easy one."

"It’s quite difficult, we’ve exhausted every trick," said Jiang Yuan, starting to fill Xu Taining in on the details.

He began by discussing the unsuccessful investigation of the third body, including the search for witnesses, extensive footprint identification, the application of Image Enhancement Technology, and the combined efforts to search and inquire about these individuals. Then he moved on to describe the methods used after shifting focus to the second body, including Liu Jinghui and others’ conjectures, as well as the information obtained through Legal Botany, botanical garden circumstances...

Xu Taining listened intently as they walked and began to take the situation very seriously.

Upon entering the meeting room, Jiang Yuan continued briefing Xu Taining, who simply took out pen and paper to make notes.

Liu Jinghui and the rest sat on either side, faces all bearing solemn expressions.

"This case is quite challenging," Xu Taining said, lifting his head with a heavy tone.

Jiang Yuan was okay, but the leaders of Qingbai City felt a pang of anxiety first. They really wanted to solve this case, but their small local concerns couldn’t sustain such an ordeal.

Yet Xu Taining didn’t look at anyone, just scribbled a few strokes on the paper before saying, "Actually, it’s about what I expected before coming. The difficulty of the case is clear, and we can discuss the specifics of execution. However, the preparations that need to be made upfront can be roughly estimated right now."

This was also Xu’s working habit; he didn’t play the game of cutting flesh with dull knives, for most units simply couldn’t stand it.

When Xu worked, he valued cutting through the mess swiftly, carving the bone cleanly with a sharp blade. With one stroke, the scene would be a bloody mess, then the bloodletting would continue...

Xu pondered, "First off, we need to inquire with as many people as possible who worked in the market where the victim was, preferably 50 teams of two, each composed of a police officer and an assistant officer..."

Liu Jinghui suddenly looked up, "That little? That doesn’t seem like Xu Taining’s style!"

Xu Taining noticed Liu Jinghui’s expression, haughtily lifted his neck, like a black truffle goose, and proudly said, "Making a delicate point, I can do that too."

Liu Jinghui smiled and nodded his head.

Xu Taining nodded in response and continued, "The botanical garden, this first crime scene, is very important. I saw that the tree species Jiang Yuan identified includes the ginkgo tree and such trees usually aren’t cut down, right? A tree from 20 years ago should still be there. Try to see if we can find any evidence left behind from that time, such as clothing buttons, or even hair ties, those should all be useful."

The officer sent from Huo City to liaise answered.

"Check through the botanical garden’s employees." Xu Taining rapped the table, "What else?"

Liu Jinghui helpfully added, "We can also check to see if there were any vehicle registration records from that time, if there was vehicular access, whether it was recorded or not. Generally speaking, the distance one is willing to walk to dispose of a body usually doesn’t exceed 100 meters. If no vehicle had entered the botanical garden, I think it’s more likely the perpetrator would choose to dispose of the body nearby."

"Unless making the body get hit by a train was meaningful in itself." Li Haochen filled in the blanks, "Why did the perpetrator need to place the body on the railway tracks?"

"Mainly for cover-up, I suppose. Turning a murder into an accidental death." Liu Jinghui said, "After the first case happened, the railway bureau didn’t disclose any specific details. To outsiders, doesn’t it seem like they managed to dodge the first case entirely?"

Xu Taining slightly nodded, "That’s a possibility, so we’ll have to search within the railway bureau as well. I think we can question all the employees from that time, to see if there are any leads..."

This single statement revealed Xu Taining’s true nature completely.

To investigate a part of a case, to look into an entire railway bureau from 20 years ago because they have employee records and can find the staff.

Even though it felt extravagant, no one raised any objections, because this clue could actually be useful. Even though the special case team had surely investigated here before, 20 years had passed—who knew?

For a case like the Three Corpses, the key point was to leave no stone unturned.

If one were to think about cost-effectiveness or play the odds, it would be best not to touch such cases, because the most likely outcome is that money and resources would be spent in vain, the case would remain unsolved, and it would just make things harder for those who follow.

"How do you plan to proceed with the other two victims?" Xu Taining abruptly changed the topic and circled back.

The leadership of Qingbai City Bureau tensed up instantly, fearing that a single word from Jiang Yuan would triple the expenses.

Fortunately, Jiang Yuan’s plan was to make steady progress, as he said, "For now, let’s focus our efforts and follow up on case number two."

"Aren’t you going to check for connections between the victims?" Xu Taining was somewhat surprised.

In a typical serial murder case, it is common to examine the relationships between the cases—like whether the three had any mutual friends, attended any mutual parties, or if they participated in any regular activities together, or shared interests; all of these could potentially lead to their deaths.

However, according to the analysis by Liu Jinghui and others, the connections between the three victims in the Three Corpses case were very minimal. Most importantly, the previous special case team had already followed this lead quite far, and Liu Jinghui’s group hadn’t yet found any holes. This wasn’t like tallying a list; going over it again was a completely different concept.

Liu Jinghui quietly offered some explanation, and Xu Taining sighed regretfully, his envisioned scale being somewhat smaller than he had hoped.

Of course, Xu Taining’s goal was not to pursue scale...

Xu Taining then said, "Then revisit the friends and relatives of the victims a bit more, see if we can still find them."

The detachment leader of Qingbai City Bureau quickly expressed agreement, as long as it wasn’t three directions at once, this was still acceptable... relatively speaking...

Xu Taining organized the manpower that very day.

For him, this scale of work was ordinary level, not only effortless but it even felt like a warm-up exercise.

It was the ordinary police officers who were really tired, as each was assigned several names; if they could find the corresponding individuals in the city, that would be good luck. If not, they would have to try to make video calls, and if that failed, they would have to travel by plane to find them.

Jiang Yuan had faced a similar situation when working on footprints, but the number of people that Xu Taining had listed this time was much larger.

So, despite the smaller total number of people, the overall expenses were climbing rapidly.

Before anyone could voice their concerns, a brand-new clue shattered the dull deadlock:

"It seems that victim number two was in a romantic relationship."

As the message came through, there was no need for Liu Jinghui to summarize; an emotional melodrama had already exploded in everyone’s minds.