National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 782 - 725 Gathering People

Chapter 782: Chapter 725 Gathering People

Rain.

Heavy rain.

Continuous and unceasing.

Xu Taining got out of the car and glanced at the raindrops a few meters away, shaking his head involuntarily.

"Beijing’s weather is just like that; there’s rarely a light drizzle, and instead, it often pours heavily." Huang Qiangmin came forward to greet him, his face brimming with smiles, showing none of the embarrassment and unease he’d had when they met in Ningtai County.

This time, the funds used by Xu Taining would come from the Zhengguang Bureau and even the Beijing Bureau, so Political Commissar Huang was very happy, finding watching others spend money far more comfortable than spending his own. At most, everyone was simply engaged in healthy competition.

Xu Taining, dressed in a white shirt, stepped out of the car calmly and, after shaking hands with Huang Qiangmin with a smile, said, "A light rain is indeed easy to forget. But even if torrential downpours happen less often, they leave a lasting memory."

"Director Xu has quite the literary flair," Huang Qiangmin complimented casually.

Tao Lu stepped forward to shake hands with Xu Taining and exchanged a few pleasantries as well.

Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui followed suit, making the entire welcoming ceremony informal but very lively.

"I’ve heard about the several cases you’ve cracked here in Beijing. The provincial department even organized a discussion meeting, but there was not much understanding of your cases, and the discussion was rather superficial." Xu Taining was still happy to see Jiang Yuan and naturally began to talk about work.

Jiang Yuan followed Xu Taining’s lead, chatting for a bit until they entered the office, where Jiang Yuan began to discuss the specific details of the current case.

Xu Taining listened intently. This was a report from a frontline detective, the kind that best describes the situation on the frontlines.

When looking back at the case analysis meeting, even if the Zhengguang Bureau’s side was able to be a bit more practical, many details still wouldn’t compare to the meticulousness of a frontline detective.

Of course, case analysis meetings often provide high-level directives, explaining the case from another aspect, but Director Xu didn’t lack that kind of content with his abilities.

Most importantly, Jiang Yuan’s explanation held a value that was more thorough than that of an ordinary detective.

Even Tao Lu and others, who were already familiar with the case, were listening intently to Jiang Yuan’s explanation, standing by and paying close attention.

Jiang Yuan couldn’t possibly report every detail to Tao Lu and the others, but in front of Xu Taining, his explanation was evidently much more detailed.

Investigations were not just a matter of spending money; they also required the use of a significant amount of police force and resources. To put it bluntly, thousands of police officers working hard for three days could crack thousands of cases, and if they were minor ones like theft, it was possible to charge ten thousand people.

Now, everyone’s level of seriousness had increased a notch just for one part of a case, given the resources invested in it.

Xu Taining sat down in front of Jiang Yuan’s office desk and took an old leather notebook out of his jacket pocket to begin taking meticulous notes.

Liu Jinghui’s eyes narrowed; Director Xu’s notebook was somewhat famous in Shannan Province.

It was said that Xu Taining only used this battle-worn leather notebook when he was preparing to devote a significant amount of manpower and resources. The notebook’s inner shell could be replaced, but its leather cover remained the same. Xu Taining often liked to record names, times, and places on it, and most notably, he had been drawing mind maps on his notebook for many years.

In an era when major cases relied on investigations, Xu Taining had traveled throughout Shannan Province with this leather notebook, occasionally invited to work in other provinces, and he made a great name for himself with his generous style and high case-solving efficiency.

"So you’re saying that you’ve essentially obtained the information on the people involved in the case, but you just can’t find them, and you can’t even confirm whether these people are alive or dead?" Xu Taining, after listening to Jiang Yuan, tapped his pen on the desk twice and made a brief summary.

Jiang Yuan nodded and said, "Facial recognition, fingerprint, and DNA searches have yielded no results. We’ve identified over thirty suspects now, and apart from the deceased Zhang Lizhen, the others have had no record of using transportation or communication tools in the past year, no contact with family or friends, and no eyewitnesses or the like..."

"Vanished off the face of the earth?" Xu Taining said.

Jiang Yuan nodded slightly, "It’s hard to imagine, but that’s the situation we’re facing."

In the operation of modern society, the difficulty for an individual to disappear without a trace is exceedingly high. It is almost impossible to accomplish by oneself. As soon as one starts to acquire the resources necessary to vanish, they are already exposed.

Only a powerful organization, and only a powerful organization, has the capability to execute such a level of disappearance.

Considering that the spy case does not align well with this one, religion indeed becomes a highly probable option.

Ordinary brothels and the underworld operate on the very foundation of disregarding rules. They don’t even heed the words of their own parents and teachers, so to expect these people to adhere to prohibitions is simply too naive.

Xu Taining glanced at Liu Jinghui and then at Tao Lu, saying, "On my way here, I too considered how to conduct the investigation of this case... Investigating from the angle of living supplies seems unfeasible to me. Primarily because there are many different types of living supplies, and most are difficult to track. Moreover, there are many collective entities around Beijing, and with kitchen purchases, or even some people buying in bulk at once, it’s hard to trace. Furthermore, some units may not even allow us to track them. If we proceed timidly, the investigation would come to a halt."

"This is indeed a problem," Tao Lu said, not minding that his suggestion about tracking living supplies was rejected.

According to Xu Taining, it seemed that only upon finding additional bodies would they gain the extensive authority needed to conduct such an unreserved investigation.

But if multiple bodies were indeed found, the case would be more or less solved already.

Xu Taining flipped through his genuine leather notebook and continued, "I think we can simplify the case for a moment. Assuming this organization behaves consistently, what they need most and what is most conspicuous is not living supplies, but a place to live."

Liu Jinghui and the others involuntarily turned their attention to Xu Taining.

Xu Taining explained, "They couldn’t possibly live in a residential area, and it’s not very likely they’re in the urban district either; otherwise, facial recognition checkpoints and even neighborhood surveillance cameras would have picked up something. Therefore, I believe their most likely course of action would be living on the outskirts of the urban area, constructing an estate similar to the one on Qingling Mountain and then residing there collectively. We could start our search by looking for these isolated estates."

Seeing the spark in everyone’s eyes, Xu Taining poured cold water on their enthusiasm, "There are two issues here. The first is, the location they might have moved to is hard to pin down, they could be around Beijing or might have gone to another city... The second point is, if it’s the small probability event of total casualties, then this method of looking for houses would be ineffective."

"With so many people leaving Beijing, they would likely be captured on camera at the checkpoints. So, the likelihood of them dying within Beijing seems higher than the likelihood of them leaving," Liu Jinghui quickly supplemented Xu Taining’s partial and omitted points, and then said, "Total casualties are indeed a low probability event, which I think we can momentarily disregard. It’s rare that an organization loses most of its members yet doesn’t collapse. And if it weren’t an organization’s doing, killing dozens of people unscathed would be too difficult."

As is widely known, killing is an incredibly physically demanding task. Take, for example, the killing of chickens and pigs. To safely subdue a victim and then kill them requires the cooperation of several people, which is as difficult as slaughtering a pig. Even if the victim is as weak as a chick, a certain amount of strength and skill is still necessary.

From this perspective, killing over thirty people in one go is almost an insurmountable challenge, not to mention the subsequent cleanup.

And using a part of the people to kill another part, as Liu Jinghui had said, would mean the organization is already in collapse.

Xu Taining tied back to Liu Jinghui’s point and said, "Since both these issues have been avoided, I think we can start the investigation with the buildings. We’ll draw a perimeter, and then every isolated building within that area must be checked..."

Tao Lu frowned upon hearing this, "The area of Beijing is over 16,000 square kilometers!"

"And we have to add some of the surrounding areas as well," Xu Taining added, then continued, "We can exclude the urban area and focus on the remote places."

"Satellite?"

"Yes, we can use satellites in conjunction with drones. If any buildings arouse suspicion, then we send people to search."

"Would that include farmers’ self-built houses?"

"Yes, especially the ones rented out or sold, far from other homes. We must investigate them."

Tao Lu’s eyebrows twitched at the thought. This plan might not require too many personnel, but it demanded significant political resources. For the Jingji Criminal Police Brigade, gathering people is much easier than securing political resources.

"I’ll report this to the Director," Tao Lu replied, unable to decide on his own.

Xu Taining then said, "If we agree to this plan, I suggest we start in multiple locations simultaneously. Otherwise, if the other side gets wind and flees, it’ll be even more troublesome."

Starting at multiple points at once meant a significant increase in the number of personnel needed.

Tao Lu felt a headache brewing at the thought. Gathering people now seemed overwhelmingly complicated!