National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 637 - 581: Write an Article

Chapter 637: Chapter 581: Write an Article

"This stone lion is indeed quite beautiful, the carving is very delicate."

Jiang Yuan stood at the entrance of the small restaurant, stopping to admire it.

The stone lion had a slightly greenish exterior that wasn’t obvious in the video, but in the morning light, it seemed to emit a green-white luster, especially the part where the fur was exquisitely carved.

"It is very beautiful indeed," Mu Zhiyang said in agreement. He was holding a shield in his hand, his eyes fixed on the yard where his colleagues were pressing gambling guests who tried to scurry away, like foxes and rats, to the ground, his arms itching to join in.

Jiang Yuan himself was wearing a stab-resistant vest, but he didn’t go up.

This part was similar to busting prostitution rings; during the most chaotic moments, nobody listened to what you said, and the first instinct of the group consciousness was to run.

If you encountered a foolhardy youth, getting stabbed by a knife would be just your bad luck.

Wang Chuanxing didn’t go up either, standing to the side watching.

This time, Jiang Yuan’s Cold Case Squad had deployed a dozen or so officers, plus whomever they could scrounge up, so there were several dozen officers and auxiliary police on site. Only a few went inside to catch people; most were herding the crowd from the outside, then guarding the exits and windows, grabbing anyone who came out, and stuffing them into the police van like packing pigs into a pen.

The police van had also been brought over from Ningtai County; Huang Qiangmin had spent time cultivating resources all over the province, his equipment more comprehensive than that of a typical municipal bureau, which was proving useful now.

The smarter ones took advantage of their last moments of freedom to send a couple of messages, informing friends and relatives of their situation. The dumbest ones were those who jumped from the second floor; if they didn’t break their legs, they’d still be in so much pain that they’d be easily arrested, no different from the rest, but with the added suspicion of resisting arrest.

Once everyone was loaded into the vehicles, the inspector greeted Jiang Yuan with a smile and walked away.

Jiang Yuan said hello to Chief Tang Xiaobo before ducking into the small restaurant to start examining the scene.

Tang Xiaobo had been standing outside for a good while, helplessly shaking his head. He couldn’t keep up with Jiang Yuan’s pace. After another greeting, he returned to the police station.

Inside the station, the noise was deafening.

The two large detention rooms were overcrowded; when Tang Xiaobo went down to check, people were practically hanging from the iron bars spanning the center of the rooms. First timers looked like zombies, extending their arms through the bars.

With seven or eight people crammed into one room, there was no spare space left even for sitting; any more would only add to the trouble.

According to past practices, these gambling arrests were handled quickly, with most gamblers getting off with a fine. Even if administrative detention was warranted, the number had to be kept within manageable limits.

Tang Xiaobo was also concerned about potential issues during detention and called Jiang Yuan again.

Jiang Yuan, occupied with evidence gathering, thought for a moment: "Take the people from the Jin Family out and send them straight to the detention center. They are definitely guilty of operating a gambling den, and the pattern of family crime is clear; there won’t be any problems."

Tang Xiaobo immediately agreed and began to sift through the captives.

In such a situation, it was impossible to conceal one’s identity. Those from the Jin Family and those related to it were quickly identified—almost ten individuals.

Tang Xiaobo didn’t hide his intentions; it was clear he aimed to take down the Jin Family as a criminal syndicate.

Petty theft was a minor issue, but running a gambling operation with high stakes, various forms of betting, chips, and service staff was in essence the initial stage of a casino.

The Jin Family had recently come into wealth and had yet to shed their old bad habits. In a few more years, if this small restaurant were upgraded to a larger one with the casino as the heart of their business, the family’s future would be boundless. Eventually, however, several among them would need to be eliminated to bring their story to an end.

"Mr. Government, I have a report to make." A tall and thin suspect raised his hand to speak as he entered the interrogation room.

The detective in charge of the interrogation looked up and asked, "What do you want to report?"

"I know where the boss of the casino lives," the tall, thin man said with his head held high. "I know who the real leader is."

The interrogating officer frowned. Was there a hidden story here?

"That’s what I know." If it weren’t for his hands being restrained to the interrogation chair, the tall, thin man would be laughing triumphantly right now.

The interrogation officer looked at the tall, gaunt man with a cold face. He was just an ordinary police officer from the local station, and today it was his turn for this task—to conduct interrogations here, which was different from the expert interrogations Jiang Yuan usually employed.

What was also different was his temper. If he said he was unhappy, he could be unhappy; if he decided to scold you, he would scold you, without any need for reasoned analysis.

The tall, gaunt man let out a chuckle and said, "Those from the Jin family work as underlings, earning just a salary. It’s the mastermind behind the scenes who’s impressive, running these little gambling dens in several places."

Light began to gleam in the eyes of the interrogation officer, who asked, "Who is the owner of the gambling den?"

"I want a reduced sentence!"

...

At dawn.

The precinct chief, seeing Jiang Yuan busy all night, rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "Captain Jiang, we’ve gotten a hold of a big case."

"Oh? What case?" Jiang Yuan had inspected the scene last night, had the evidence sent back, and had then gone to rest in the dormitory. He had arrived a bit late this morning but was still fairly alert.

The precinct chief Tang Xiaobo smiled and said, "The gambling den case from yesterday. We found out the owner of the den wasn’t just running one gambling den!"

"So brazen?" Jiang Yuan was a bit surprised.

"It’s a man named Zhang Enfan. Years ago, he smuggled himself abroad, came back last year, and started organizing people to run this small diner. On the surface, it was catering, but it actually focused on mahjong. Gradually, it turned into what it is now. He’s opened three places, usually operates two, and keeps one in reserve to watch for any signs of trouble."

"What’s the connection between the Jin family and him?"

"They knew each other from before, just riff-raff, except Zhang Enfan made it abroad and has now come back."

Jiang Yuan let out an "oh" and laughed, saying, "Alright then, you handle it. I won’t run with you today. I’ll call over a couple from scene investigation and trace evidence to come here."

Jiang Yuan had gone to the raid last night to ensure no good person was wronged and no member of the Jin family was overlooked.

As for running a gambling den... since the culprit wasn’t a member of the Jin family, Jiang Yuan actually lost interest.

He had plenty of cases to deal with, just a simple case of running a gambling den...

Tang Xiaobo let out an "ah," finally understanding and couldn’t help but chuckle a few times, "True, you’ve been worked hard enough, and you were busy all last night."

"Hard work is not quite the word; I didn’t do much," Jiang Yuan paused and then said, "Today, I plan to go over some cases again since it was a pre-set plan..."

If there had been a homicide, he would have definitely changed his plans.

Tang Xiaobo suddenly realized the issue. He thought that busting gambling dens was much more high-profile than catching individual gamblers, but to Jiang Yuan there was no difference. Whether sentenced to three years or just a few months, the difference wasn’t significant.

Jiang Yuan remained enthusiastically flipping through those footprints.

Using footprints to directly identify cases seemed to him to be a pretty good approach. In just a few days, all five brothers and their wives from the Jin family, along with some of their relatives, had been arrested.

So many had been caught not by depending on testimony or by linking cases together, but by evidence like footprints.

Jiang Yuan felt he could write an article to be published.

Of course, before that, accumulating material was very important.

So Jiang Yuan didn’t have time to respond to Tang Xiaobo anymore.

Yet there wasn’t a hint of unhappiness on Tang Xiaobo’s face, nor did he dare to show it.