National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 631 - 575: Fish in the Pond

Chapter 631: Chapter 575: Fish in the Pond

Litang Township.

The police station was built next to the provincial road, inside a large courtyard on the roadside.

The gray concrete walls and the big iron gate exuded a slightly imposing aura, not quite fitting with the modern trend. The shops in the alleys on both sides were all adorned with blue and red signs, joyously incongruent with the mood of the public when entering and leaving the police station.

The head of Litang Township Police Station, Tang Xiaobo, had received a phone call and came down with his staff to welcome the visitors. The welcoming ceremony was pretty high-end at the township level.

After all, Huang Qiangmin was a deputy director, and although he wasn’t a standing committee member and was new, his presence carried weight in the township.

Jiang Yuan fell to the back, looking around.

Entering through the main gate, directly ahead was the service hall: two stories high, facing south from the north, with a row of transparent glass, much like the service halls of telecom companies, flanked by waiting rooms, household registration offices, and other workspaces.

Behind the service hall, there were two other buildings: one was a three-story comprehensive logistics building with a row of six or seven offices, while the other was a slightly smaller dormitory building with a total of four floors that looked similar in size to the three-story logistics building.

"Captain Jiang, over here, over here... Let’s have a quick meal in the cafeteria first," the instructor warmly invited.

"Where is the interrogation center set up?" Jiang Yuan asked directly.

"Ah..." The instructor hesitated for a moment before responding with a smile, "In our township, we only have one interrogation room, on the first floor of the comprehensive building."

"Are the interrogation room and the interview room integrated?" Jiang Yuan had seen similar setups before.

The instructor affirmed with a sound.

"So, how many people can be detained? Both separately and together?"

The instructor had not expected to be asked such a question today; he coughed twice before smiling and saying, "We have two large cells, and one can hold five or six people. It’s rare for our township to detain criminals, and if any need to be held separately, they’re sent directly to the detention center in the county after interrogation."

"What the instructor means is that they mainly catch those involved in gambling, and if they catch someone more serious, they just send them to the county and that’s the end of it," commented Wei Zhenguo, the deputy leader of the sixth unit who had come along on the trip, who was also Mu Zhiyang’s master. Since training Mu Zhiyang, he seldom accompanied Jiang Yuan anymore, but this time he had come specifically to escort Wu Junhao.

With his seniority and years spent catching thieves, Wei Zhenguo was very familiar with all the neighboring township police stations.

The instructor smiled upon seeing him and shook his head, saying, "There’s no need to tear down the stage, especially not in front of Captain Jiang."

"Captain Jiang won’t give you trouble. Our Captain Jiang is mainly concerned about the matters of cases," Wei Zhenguo reassured the officers and assistants of Litang Township Police Station, putting them much at ease.

Everyone present was well aware of the manipulative tactics employed by Director Chai.

In terms of institutional paranoia, apart from secret agencies, the police department could rank first.

Especially criminal detectives, who had dealt extensively with the darker aspects of society, seemed to observe you from a four-dimensional space when speaking...

However, from another perspective, the career advancement opportunities for police were limited, and they possessed a collective simplicity.

It was like each could shepherd alone, but together, they were more suited for pulling carts.

The officers and auxiliary police of Litang Township Police Station welcomed Wu Junhao as warmly as they could and arranged a separate office for him, then dined together in the cafeteria.

Afterwards, Tang Xiaobo and the others were eagerly looking at Jiang Yuan and his team, ready to see them off.

With a cheerful smile, Huang Qiangmin left with Wei Zhenguo and others in one vehicle.

Left behind were Jiang Yuan, Mu Zhiyang, Wang Chuanxing, and Wu Junhao.

Tang Xiaobo looked towards his new subordinate, Wu Junhao, and suggested with a smile, "Old Wu, see how you’d like to arrange things for Captain Jiang..."

"Let’s use the conference room next to my office," Wu Junhao suggested straightforwardly.

Tang Xiaobo was stunned for a moment before saying, "For sleeping, we have dormitories..."

"Let’s arrange for three dorm rooms," Jiang Yuan took the initiative to say, "I’ll be staying for about a week."

The original team at the police station exchanged glances. Even if our township is a bit remote, you could drive back to the county town in just over an hour. To stay in the dormitory, could it be that...

"Since I’m here, I’d like to work on a few cases with Bureau Wu. Is that alright?" Jiang Yuan asked politely.

The mystery was solved; there was no need for Tang Xiaobo and the others to speculate any further.

But after much thought, Tang Xiaobo said with difficulty, "Captain Jiang, Director Chai might have some thoughts about this."

"Director Chai doesn’t get to say where the detectives from the criminal investigation squad go to solve cases," Wu Junhao was not one to tolerate nonsense, and he was even less interested in making compromises now.

Tang Xiaobo could only sigh and say, "Actually, there are not many unfinished cases left in our station, and your Cold Case Squad has cleared almost all of them recently."

Since the establishment of Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team, dozens of people have been stationed in Ningtai County, and while they solve cases across the entire province, they would still sweep through Ningtai County’s cases when they had spare time.

Moreover, Jiang Yuan had specifically cleared several rounds of Ningtai County’s old cases, so over the course of more than a year, even for a small place like Litang Township, there were hardly any significant cases left.

Jiang Yuan, undeterred and straightforward, said, "This time I’m here to work on cases with Bureau Wu. No matter the size of the case, I am ready to handle it. Let’s start tonight, and we’ll begin by sorting out a batch of cases."

When it came to criminal cases, Tang Xiaobo had nothing much to say. The criminal investigation squad was responsible for solving all the criminal cases in the county, and even if Jiang Yuan didn’t come, if a document was sent demanding cases, they would have to cooperate and organize the files for submission.

With this in mind, Tang Xiaobo decided to call over a police officer to accompany Jiang Yuan and the others, then silently stepped back.

Tang Xiaobo felt he needed to seriously reflect on his life.

The next morning, Tang Xiaobo got up early and drove to Chen’s Fried Dough Twist Shop to buy fried dough sticks, soy milk, and tofu pudding. He then went to the station, ready to entertain Jiang Yuan.

As the saying goes, the key to giving gifts lies not just in the price, but also in the frequency.

Tang Xiaobo believed that by being diligent, he could at least warm the heart of a young person like Jiang Yuan, so that in the end, he wouldn’t end up being an innocent victim.

Thinking this, Tang Xiaobo couldn’t help but sigh. In fact, it was already a case of ’the city gate catches fire, and the disaster falls on the fish in the moat.’ As a station chief in a remote rural outpost, he should have been leading an idyllic life until retirement.

Yet, after one weekend, he found himself unexpectedly in the presence of a ’celestial being.’

Not to mention the past, just considering the Jingyang Line triple murder case that Jiang Yuan had just solved, that was a case of a significant level. If it had fallen into the hands of any officer at Litang Township Police Station, without even solving the case, just having any key part in achieving a breakthrough would start at a third-class merit, and with a bit of luck, it would be a second-class merit.

As for why Jiang Yuan and Wu Junhao only received commendations, that was another matter.

Leaving politics aside, speaking strictly in terms of criminal investigation and problem-solving, Tang Xiaobo knew he was eight lifetimes inferior to Jiang Yuan; but real life isn’t only about solving crimes.

"Has Captain Jiang arrived yet? Has he had breakfast?" Tang Xiaobo asked as he entered the station, and saw a clerk wandering in the yard.

"He’s up and has gone out," the clerk said.

"Where did he go? Which case did he look at?"

"He said he won’t look at any specific case for now but wants to check out the local plant distribution first, saying to be more precise about it," the clerk responded, confused.

Tang Xiaobo was even more puzzled. Being older, even if he paid attention to the cases Jiang Yuan worked on, he mainly focused on the famous major cases. Considering the sheer number of cases Jiang Yuan handled, he wasn’t very clear on the specific technical details.

In the end, Tang Xiaobo just nodded and said, "Anyway, take good care of him. The Ningtai Jiang Yuan has a daunting reputation. Just make sure it doesn’t burn us."

"Got it. He’s probably just accompanying Bureau Wu to get a sense of the situation," the clerk speculated wishfully.