National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 789 - 732: Steadfast Heart

Chapter 789: Chapter 732: Steadfast Heart

Evening.

Xu Taining, wrapped in a quilt, had a good night’s sleep in the hotel.

In that sleep, Xu Taining even found a hint of religious feeling—since he started undertaking investigations, sleep during these periods had become a profound mystery.

What was profound wasn’t how long one slept, but whether one slept at all.

Think about it, when a unit has invested the next two or three years’ budget into something, how could the leaders sleep soundly?

If leaders can’t sleep, can the senior police officers in charge of the investigations just say "there’s nothing of concern here" and hide away in a hotel for a good snore?

This time, Xu Taining could, because an incidental dissection case encountered along the investigation route had been smoothly concluded, eliminating most of his anxieties.

It’s not that the investigation was deemed valuable because it resolved a homicide, or that the pressure of the investigation was alleviated, or that the series of tasks related to the investigation became any less onerous—though all these were indeed true—but more importantly, everyone’s spirit was bolstered.

An unsolved decapitation case, which no one had to investigate, where the source of the corpse had yet to be determined, without any surveillance footage, needing no door-to-door inquiries, was cracked in just a short day. Such a bizarre incident made everyone’s concerns about the investigation seem less grounded in reality.

The next morning.

Xu Taining returned to the scene refreshed and clear-headed.

In the sky, drones continued to dance; on the ground, pickups and off-road vehicles crawled; in the thickets, personnel worked like busy bees in difficult conditions.

Xu Taining enjoyed setting down his binoculars and fiercely bit into a croissant next to him, saying, "This is Beijing."

His subordinates who had come with him smiled knowingly and quickly devoured their bacon, cheese, and egg sandwiches. Eating such a Western breakfast was a first in his ten-year career of investigation.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford it, but whenever a large-scale investigation was organized, with Western-style breakfast of the same caloric content costing three to five times more than Chinese-style breakfast, dispensing it to everyone just once would cost so much, so in fact, they couldn’t afford it.

But in Beijing, such expenses didn’t matter to Zhengguang Bureau; they provided a variety of food at once. Besides that, all sorts of special vehicles were deployed in turns, dazzling Xu Taining who came from a smaller place.

In past investigations, it’s not that there were no special vehicles. Changyang City’s service vehicles weren’t necessarily fewer than Zhengguang Bureau’s, but those vehicles were poorly maintained, old, and prone to malfunctioning, especially on rural routes like this one; when they broke down, there probably wouldn’t be enough tow trucks available, which was hardly helpful for the work itself.

Ultimately, it was about being unable to afford them.

Even in places a little smaller, without reaching the level of Ningtai County, organizing a large-scale search in Qinghe City meant that Qinghe City Bureau had to be frugal with fuel.

An average of 15 liters of fuel per hundred cars meant driving 100 cars a kilometer would require 15 liters, and driving 1000 cars a kilometer would consume 150 liters. With these figures, just hearing the sound of vehicles would make a city bureau director frown.

The Beijing Division didn’t have these concerns, or at least Xu Taining didn’t see Director Chu showing any pained expressions. People from the administrative department also didn’t seem to show that county-level thriftiness, and Xu Taining wasn’t exactly a senior police officer considerate of others...

"Let’s do a shift check in the afternoon, run through the graphics starting from yesterday once more. Is the shift plan ready?" Xu Taining wasn’t trying to be wasteful, he simply wanted to be more meticulous.

Using drones for a little over a day, if the investigation personnel could cover seventy to eighty percent of the area, it was remarkable. The terrain structure of the Jingji region was still very complex. Not to mention the plains, the mountainous areas presented peaks from above, valleys and side peaks from the side, and the trees in the valleys were often especially lush, requiring a close flyby to confirm the presence of any buildings.

What appears as ridges from the front transforms into peaks from the side. Such a search was like looking for a money tree in a city of steel and concrete; if you’re lucky, one glance and you might spot it, but if luck wasn’t on your side, you’d have to circle around building by building, checking each perspective, because who knows, maybe the money tree is hidden on a balcony or even on an air conditioner unit.

Xu Taining’s approach was to first search the larger areas, that is, regions with relatively accessible transportation. His rationale was that even unconventional religious groups needed transportation, especially those that engage in nefarious activities. Whether it be the pursuit of food, clothing, pleasure, or behavior, transportation was crucial.

Without going into details, even when going out to pick up a delivery, there should be a delivery spot within an hour or two of travel distance, right?

Xu Taining hoped to meticulously search these broad areas. If they still couldn’t find anything, then they would change their approach and start searching more remote locations.

And by that time, what might also need to be considered is a shift in the overall approach.

"Details for the substitution plan haven’t been worked out yet," said a subordinate quietly.

"Work on it now," Xu Taining wasn’t upset, for he was fast in conducting searches and didn’t require finished products at hand at all times. If there was none, create it; if it couldn’t be done, add people and money—that had always been Xu Taining’s approach.

The subordinate quickly responded and then added, "Should we communicate with the Beijing Bureau about this? This is essentially repeating yesterday’s work."

"Who can guarantee that thousands, tens of thousands, are meticulous and dutiful?" Xu Taining was unconcerned and said, "The essence of a search is firstly to prevent omissions. A heavy workload isn’t scary as long as the direction is correct; the search will yield results. But if anything is missed, all the work will have been for nothing. We’re not here to rely on luck, nor is any bureau willing to spend so much funding on lottery tickets..."

Having stressed this point, Xu Taining pointed to someone and said, "Pi, go and communicate with them, say that today’s inspection is the most cost-effective solution. We start this afternoon. Although alternating inspections mean switching the teams’ positions and redoing the map, only the frontline troops will be mobilized. By tomorrow, support departments at all levels, logistics vehicles, will all need to move, and they’ll have to move twice. It’s not just about wasting money, it may even cause congestion..."

Pi had cooperated with Xu Taining for several years. He nodded and said, "I know how to put it, but ultimately, it comes down to their funding, doesn’t it? If they insist on not performing alternating inspections, should I give you a call then?"

Xu Taining made an affirming noise and said, "Alternating inspection is just a matter of timing; there’s no option of not doing it."

"They definitely hope to find the target in the first round of inspection," Pi said.

"I, too, wish for unlimited funding, always hoping for the best," Xu Taining remarked.

"Maybe they really will find it in the first round..." Pi also harbored hope.

"I’m here to conduct a search, not to gamble with them," Xu Taining paused before continuing, "Even if I were to bet, I would bet that the enemy has built their base in a remote location, not right at the corner of Jiahengele."

With the boss’s opinion made clear, Pi and the others had nothing more to say and got ready to pursue the matter.

Noon.

The ordered troops, like a giant abalone, slowly began to retract.

Having returned to the parking lot, Xu Taining saw Director Chu, Tao Lu, Huang Qiangmin, Jiang Yuan, Liu Jinghui, and many others under the canopy eating.

Most people appeared relaxed, an expression Xu Taining rarely encountered during routine inspections.

This darkened Xu Taining’s mood.

"You all seem pretty happy?" Xu Taining asked, displeased.

"The case from yesterday, the one where the husband killed his wife, Pei Yongsi, the tools he used to dismember the body have been found, and the motorcycle tracks have been identified as the same. The DNA from the body also matches, confirmed to be his wife, Wu Cuiyun," Liu Jinghui said with a smile, "The time and motive align, and the bathroom at home is a mess, it’s a solid case."

"I thought you ran into a new case," Xu Taining smiled, stood up, carrying a cup of tea, and said with a smile, "Just in time, since everyone’s here, I’ll substitute tea for wine and toast everyone. Searches are tough and thankless work, and it’s hard to achieve results. I appreciate everyone’s cooperation and help..."

After toasting together, Xu Taining proceeded to toast a few leaders specifically.

Turning around, Xu Taining toasts with Jiang Yuan and others, then approaches several team leaders from the Zhengguang Bureau and says with a smile, "You’ve all suffered these past few days, the search work is onerous... And Cui Da, when did you get back? You had a hard time in Zhanggang Village."

"Came back yesterday. Tao said there was a shortage of hands here, and back in Zhanggang Village, things are now familiar, leaving a couple of people there with the cooperation of the local police should be enough," Cui Qishan’s voice was hoarse. Yelling was basically part of the job and quite effective.

Xu Taining smiles as he clinks cups, casually asking, "What about your team? Are they resting today, or have they come out to work hard with you?"

"Well, work is important..." Cui Qishan was mid-sentence when his phone began to ring.

Cui Qishan excused himself with an "Excuse me" and took the call.

Xiao Si’s voice then came from the receiver, "Captain Cui, we just went into the woods to pee and came across a body, looks like the deceased was an adolescent."