National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 678 - 621 Achievements

Chapter 678: Chapter 621 Achievements

"There’s a problem here. I’ve posted it in the group."

Sulei didn’t have much time to introspect, as a bald patch in one of the images caught her attention.

As everyone knows, forests don’t just develop bald patches without reason, much like a kitten’s bald spots, there is always a cause.

Jiang Yuan and others immediately went to the group to look at the picture.

The image was large, the internet connection was good, and the bald patch was clear.

"Send someone over, with a dog," Jiang Yuan glanced at it twice and was certain there was a problem, and it didn’t look like the burial site from six years ago, but more like... six months ago.

A few police officers received the order, got ready, and prepared to leave. Jiang Yuan stepped outside and called over Liu Wenkai, saying, "Captain Liu, could you take a team to check out this place?"

"Okay." Liu Wenkai agreed first, then asked, "Do you feel like it’s here?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head, saying, "Ninety-nine percent it’s not here, but there’s a seventy percent chance it’s the site of a buried body."

Liu Wenkai was startled, his expression turned very serious, saying, "I understand then, I’ll go and protect the scene."

"Mhm, we’ll probably be a while longer here. I’ll have my master accompany you. I’ll also call downtown and ask for Dr. Wang and their team to come for support."

"That’ll work." Liu Wenkai nodded, then said again, "Though you said that, you could also bring a couple of apprentices along."

"There’s no need for that," Jiang Yuan laughed.

Liu Wenkai said, "You handle over a hundred murder cases a year, not counting the unnatural deaths. There are plenty of places where they could be of use."

"That’s true," Jiang Yuan conceded after a moment’s consideration, but there was no need to make any immediate decisions.

Watching Liu Wenkai lead the second squad out, Jiang Yuan then returned to the conference room.

Inside the room, several botanists seemed quite excited.

Someone was even clinging to the glass, looking out while saying, "So this is how you police operate? Pretty cool, geared up to the teeth like that. Doesn’t it get hot?"

"Can’t help it. It’s colder over in Pingzhou," Jiang Yuan replied with a smile.

Sulei curiously asked, "What does that have to do with Pingzhou?"

Jiang Yuan: "It’s a long story..."

"So, they went to look for the body? Could it be a homicide?" The oldest professor there, roughly 60 years old, still maintained a strong sense of curiosity.

Jiang Yuan nodded, "It’s possible, or it could be something else. We’ll only know once we’ve found it."

"What you said about finding... never mind, I don’t really want to see a dead body..." In the midst of speaking, the old professor’s curiosity faded.

Everyone continued to work on checking the images, and any questions were thrown into the group. It was similar to a panel of expert reviewers.

This wasn’t Jiang Yuan’s invention – current journals all use this peer-review method. Everyone was accustomed to it without the need for adaptation. Moreover, with everyone in the conference room, any issues could be communicated directly, which was very convenient.

The only thing causing a bit of anxiety was that the images were becoming fewer, and the burial site related to Zhang Yi’s case had yet to appear.

Six years might be too long, and trying to locate it by aerial observation of vegetation was proving to be quite difficult.

Xu Taining would have been useful in this situation; in such an environment, dogs weren’t as helpful as Director Xu.

"What will happen if we can’t find it?" Sulei finished her Line C, and with the remaining three lines there wasn’t much left; Sulei started to feel concern and curiosity.

Comparing it to their scientific projects, Jiang Yuan had not only brought in experts but mobilized hundreds of police officers. The expenses were definitely not small; could they really afford to have no results?

Jiang Yuan could only smile and say, "If we can’t find it, we’ll keep looking until we do."

"Keep looking forever if we never find it? There must be an end, right?"

Jiang Yuan spread his hands.

"It’s a bit inhumane." Sulei sighed.

Jiang Yuan turned his head to look at her and laughed, "You can’t just consider the issue from our perspective, try thinking about it from the criminal’s point of view. Suppose... you killed Professor Mu."

He saw other experts and professors looking over, so he followed the topic and made a hypothetical statement.

The most curious of them, Professor Mu, was indeed amused and laughed, "Why does it have to be me who gets killed?"

"Then we’re all killed. I’m dead too. Professor Su goes missing, in fact, has run away. The police pursue the murderer for a year or two without any success, but to then stop in order to save on budget and manpower, is that really the best option? To let Professor Su live worry-free from now on?" Jiang Yuan asked in return, then added, "By comparison, the police occasionally reopening cold cases, that’s the biggest deterrent to Professor Su, right?"

Sulei put herself in that situation for a moment and couldn’t help saying, "So it’s about keeping criminals living in fear all the time?"

"The living have already gained far more benefits than the dead, they can’t expect to have their cake and eat it too, right," said Jiang Yuan, pointing to the screen in front of him. "Take this case for example; I can’t reveal the specifics, but if we were to really weigh it based on cost-effectiveness, it definitely wouldn’t be worth it to bring in five experts for such a faint possibility. Yet, we still do it."

However, scholars are not going to have their thoughts shaped so easily. At this moment, Professor Mu adopted a serious expression and said, "But resources are limited. You can disregard cost-effectiveness, but there must be times when you run out of money, right?"

"Quite often, we’re short on funds."

"What happens when you cannot continue anymore?"

"Then it’s not just the police who can’t continue; it’s more likely that society itself has collapsed," Jiang Yuan said somewhat lightheartedly.

The others understood what Jiang Yuan meant and relaxed a bit themselves.

The progress bar advanced in the conference room, and outside, things were also happening.

Two more illegal graves had been discovered—these were not graves constructed in the wild for some particular reason but rather the kind of unmarked graves without a mound, a headstone, any sign of worship, or even a coffin, as if they were meant for hastily burying or discarding bodies.

What followed was indeed an actual corpse related to the case.

A corpse with its head separated. It didn’t fit the requirements of this case, and it was also clearly not a result of natural death.

Liu Wenkai, though he had brought a full team and was prepared, couldn’t help calling Jiang Yuan with a sense of helplessness: "The body has already skeletonized. This is tough."

"I’m on my way," Jiang Yuan could only say. At the very least, a murder with a body was always better than one without.

Mu Zhiyang knocked and entered right then, saying, "Captain Jiang."

"Yes, what is it?" Jiang Yuan looked over and noticed Mu Zhiyang’s expression was somewhat unnatural.

"Ahem." Mu Zhiyang curled up his hand, pretending to cough, and said, "Captain Jiang, this is the information on the electric tricycle I found."

"Electric tricycle?" Jiang Yuan was a bit surprised.

"Yes, because Director Liu had mentioned that the killer had to dispose of an electric tricycle, I was thinking about what means of disposal they could’ve used." Mu Zhiyang looked at Jiang Yuan, saw no displeasure from him, and went on to say, "I wasn’t busy earlier, so I decided to follow this clue to look into it, and I really found the vehicle involved in the case."

"You found it?" Jiang Yuan was greatly surprised. "How did you find it?"

Mu Zhiyang was a bit embarrassed, "Because I had dealt with electric tricycle cases when I was a junior officer. In our county, these electric tricycles were previously used to transport people and goods, you know, the kind that charges a few bucks per trip. In terms of numbers, there are only over 3000 electric tricycles in our county, and less than 1000 of them are capable of hauling goods."

Looking at Jiang Yuan, Mu Zhiyang continued, "I just thought, unless the killer threw the tricycle into the river, their best option would be to leave the keys on the tricycle and let someone steal it."

"So, even after six years, this tricycle might still be in the market."

"I asked for help from the traffic police and local police officers to look for it, and we actually found this tricycle!"