National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 793 - 736: The Small Probability

Chapter 793: Chapter 736: The Small Probability

"Guns? I’ve never even fired one!"

Ye Tang sat on the sofa, one hand resting on the armrest, yet still couldn’t help its trembling.

His wife, Xu Shuang, held his hand, her eyes equally filled with sorrow.

Their son had died, the 16-year-old in the throes of rebelliousness, who caused trouble everywhere, was obstinate and wouldn’t listen to advice or lectures, whose mediocre performance in school tended towards disdain for studies, who was tall and strong, with a courageous and gentle personality, loved pets, was patient and enthusiastic, liked to challenge himself, and was full of curiosity, had left this world without the slightest warning.

Liu Cheng sighed inwardly and said, "You can think carefully, and anyone who might have had access to firearms, you can mention them. It’s okay to guess; right now we are just compiling a list, and someone will verify this information later."

"But, this..." Ye Tang’s mind was in chaos, words that usually came easily to him now seemed difficult to speak.

"I’ll do it." Xu Shuang patted her husband’s hand and sat up straight, saying, "First is my cousin, the son of my father’s brother. He’s an officer in our Jingji Military Region, so he should have access to firearms..."

Liu Cheng nodded. He was now collecting such a list.

"And another. Do relatives who live abroad count? They should be able to access firearms overseas..." Xu Shuang tried her best to think.

Liu Cheng nodded again, saying, "We’ll start by making the list as comprehensive as possible, and then we can screen it carefully."

"That’s good." Ye Tang managed to say, and for him, this was a compliment to the policeman in front of him.

Liu Cheng didn’t mind much. Normally, he was not very willing to talk to these highbrow intellectuals fresh from their ivory towers, too pretentious, and exhausting to chat with.

However, facing a couple who had lost their only child, Liu Cheng could only feel deep melancholy.

For a long time to come, they would probably not feel any joy.

If they were unlucky, this period devoid of happiness might even outlast the killer’s joyless days.

...

On the outskirts.

Xu Taining looked at the satellite map projected by the projector with a serious expression.

In the dim light, the satellite map filled the entire 100-inch projection screen with its detailed and undulating terrain. It was dotted with various little flags, circles, triangles, and other markings.

The silhouette of Liu Jinghui appeared ahead.

Xu Taining immediately waved his hand: "Liu, I was wondering where you had gone off to?"

"There’s new information that came through." Liu Jinghui took a couple of sips from a bottle labeled "drinking water."

Xu Taining just nodded. He was constantly updating the information here, and said laughingly, "I just took a nap, got up, and saw that the progress is good. The detailed inspection within 5 kilometers is basically completed on schedule. Most importantly, it hardly affected the overall progress. Mainly, it’s the reserve team’s fatigue that has increased, and also, the expenses are slightly over budget..."

Theoretically, police officers don’t get overtime pay, or rather, their overtime is bought out monthly, so Xu Taining didn’t seem to have extra expenses in this area. However, in practice, when asking everyone to work late, there always needs to be some compensation. Non-listed auxiliary police, or those from brother units who come to assist, such as traffic police, as well as companies providing support and logistics, all require more spending.

Of course, this level of spending primarily concerns the city and county bureaus. For example, just for late-night snacks, to provide for ten thousand people for two meals, if it costs 20 yuan per person, that’s 200,000 yuan. Some places have such limited funds that they have to find ways to pinch every related expense, such as the transportation costs for delivering meals, the additional cost of bottled water, and even the money for breakfast the next day. Ideally, all of it could be accounted for.

And creating a budget for the Zhengguang Bureau meant a 20-dollar meal allowance was exactly that—food and drink for 20 dollars, with other expenses covered by the overall budget.

Xu Taining, therefore, spent money quite happily and was willing to spend a bit more.

Liu Jinghui quickly expressed his appreciation, "As long as it’s done on time, that’s what matters, not an easy feat..."

"Indeed, it’s not easy. I’m okay; I just snuck in a bit of sleep. The middle-level commanders below must be exhausted," Xu Taining shook his head, "pacifying and persuading them is no easy task. Moreover, the 5-kilometer thorough search didn’t turn up anything. This is hurtful for the new team. To mount such an effort again, we’d at least need some leads."

"A search is like looking for a needle in a haystack," Liu Jinghui said with a laugh, "Anyway, no clues in the five kilometers around means we have eliminated a major distraction, which is a huge boost to the case. It will also benefit the unfolding of later stages."

Xu Taining nodded and hummed in acknowledgment, "So next, we’ll investigate in the direction of legal yet accidental? Legally owned guns, in this area, there may be those with special identities..."

"Ahem..." Liu Jinghui tactfully took a sip of water, exhaling a breath of turbid air, glancing towards Cui Qishan who had come with him.

Cui Qishan scratched his head, slightly regretting delivering the message, but had no choice but to say, "Jiang Yuan found the bullet."

"Huh? That’s excellent news," Xu Taining was overjoyed; although the discovery was not made during his search, finding a bullet was naturally a breakthrough in a gun-related case.

Cui Qishan nodded, "The bullet is a 7.62mm intermediate-power round, initially suspected to have been fired from a Type 56 rifle. Additionally, the firing position has been located. It wasn’t a stray bullet; a more likely scenario is aimed shooting from 70 meters away from the victim."

Xu Taining started listening intently, expressing shock, but slowly fell silent.

The Type 56 is not a hunting rifle; even if it is legally owned, using it this way is illegal.

And aimed shooting overturns any accidental theories!

This damned act is illegal and intentional!

The 5-kilometers detailed search was, in essence, a waste!

Seeing Xu Taining’s expression, Liu Jinghui knew what he was thinking and hurriedly said, "It wasn’t for nothing. Like I said just before, the 5-kilometers search had to be done sooner or later. If we hadn’t done it before, we would still need to do it now. We just completed that part of the work ahead of time, don’t you think?"

Xu Taining exhaled through his nose, somewhat displeased and disappointed.

Of course, being upset and disappointed is normal for those doing searches. Xu Taining had nothing much to say, simply nodding, "Alright then, let’s continue with the original search plan..."

Liu Jinghui wore a silent, wry smile and kept quiet.

Xu Taining paused, easily seeing through him, and said annoyed, "Don’t tell me you’re about to jump ship?"

"What does this have to do with jumping ship!" Liu Jinghui protested, "There’s no role for me to play here anymore. Now that Jiang Yuan has a new lead, it’s all hands on deck. I’m just going over to take a look, it’s for the case."

"Isn’t that jumping ship?"

"This... this is for the greater good." Liu Jinghui took another sip of water.

"Go on, then." Xu Taining looked emotionally drained as Liu Jinghui turned to leave, finally saying, "Just don’t let me find something before you do."

"We’re just going to work on a subordinate case," Liu Jinghui, feeling a bit guilty, said as he quickly walked away...