Diary of a Criminal Investigator

Ren Qiang got into the car accident on his way back to Haizhou City from Liangzhou.

"The training over there isn’t finished yet. Brother Qiang came back because he needed to investigate a case."

Zhang Hui doesn’t know much about the situation for now. More than just Ren Qiang from the Haizhou City Public Security Bureau went to attend the site meeting; Ren Qiang returned alone ahead of time.

"What case?"

Recently, the team doesn’t seem to have any major cases. As the leader of Action Group Two, Ren Qiang is usually involved in the team’s big cases.

It’s precisely because there weren’t any challenging cases recently, and the team was relatively free, that Ren Qiang had the chance to go out for training.

"This is a long story; it’s an old case from five years ago, a longstanding case at Songbei Mining."

Zhang Hui isn’t particularly clear about this case either, just knows that Ren Qiang has always been personally keeping an eye on it.

Lu Chuan didn’t ask more. So it was an old case.

An old case, many details aren’t reflected in the files.

Lu Chuan scanned through the Criminal Investigation Team’s backlog of unsolved cases over the years but didn’t have much impression of the Songbei Mining case.

What can be confirmed is that it shouldn’t be a homicide case; otherwise, Lu Chuan would definitely remember it.

Haizhou City People’s Hospital.

When Lu Chuan and Zhang Hui arrived, Qin Yong was already there.

"Captain Qin, I’m fine; it’s just a broken arm, that’s all."

"Just that?"

"Let’s put this case aside first, either hand it over to someone else or wait until you recover to talk about it."

Before Lu Chuan and Zhang Hui entered the ward, they already heard Qin Yong’s roaring voice from inside.

"Captain Qin..."

"Alright, just like that, no need to say more."

...

"You two are here?"

At the ward door, Qin Yong saw Lu Chuan and Zhang Hui, his expression slightly improved.

"Zhang Hui, go in and persuade him, I have another meeting, have to go."

"Yes!"

In the ward, Ren Qiang was lying there, one leg already casted, and an arm was also put in a brace.

"Brother Qiang, you..."

"It’s nothing, just fractured a leg and broke an arm, it’ll be fine in a few days."

"Lu, have a seat, there are some oranges over there, Captain Qin just brought them, you guys have some."

Although Ren Qiang had one leg and an arm unable to move, his spirits were quite good, speaking with energy, seemingly without any particular big issues, but with a broken leg and arm, recovery takes time. During this period, he could forget about solving any cases.

"Is it serious?"

"It’s fine, doctor said it’s just a regular fracture, not a big problem."

Zhang Hui peeled an orange for Ren Qiang, "Brother Qiang... the Songbei Mining case..."

Speaking of Songbei Mining, Ren Qiang’s face suddenly turned unpleasant.

"Damn it, every time we investigate it, something happens, why is it so jinxed?"

Ren Qiang swore in dissatisfaction.

Lu Chuan was somewhat puzzled, Zhang Hui just said it was an old case: "Brother Qiang, is there any issue with this case?"

Issue?

"Not really, just that five years ago... a detective from Group Two went missing while investigating the Songbei Mining case."

Missing?

A detective missing?

"Couldn’t find him?"

Ren Qiang shook his head: "Couldn’t find, back then they turned all suspicious places upside down, found no valuable clues, he disappeared as if into thin air."

"That disappearance case back then alarmed the provincial department, but ultimately, there was no progress."

"It’s been five years in a blink."

"Back then I was still a rookie, Brother Wang was a really good person, sigh..."

Zhang Hui sighed, the case had a big impact back then, although it wasn’t a homicide case, a detective going missing is a huge deal.

The three of them chatted for a bit, since there was nothing major with Ren Qiang, Lu Chuan and Zhang Hui headed back first.

On the way back, Lu Chuan inquired about the disappearance case: "Brother Hui, the detective’s disappearance back then should have been a very serious case, right?"

"Of course, Brother Wang went missing while investigating a case, it’s definitely a big deal, just that the Songbei Mining case was quite unique back then, it wasn’t originally under our jurisdiction, and Brother Wang went to investigate without filing a report, it was quite complicated."

"Does the team have the files?"

"Yes, why, want to take a look?"

"Sure, I’m not busy anyway."

"Alright, let’s go to the records room later and find the paper files, the electronic ones just don’t feel right."

Technological advancements certainly made many aspects of the job much more convenient, like the digitization of files.

Electronic files are more conducive to long-term preservation and can be accessed anytime, anywhere, without spatial restrictions.

But most detectives just prefer looking at paper files.

It’s not about habits; some just find looking at electronic files on a computer screen a bit awkward.

Some things in the files need to be looked at in comparison, pondered, and analyzed carefully, and seeing them on a screen just doesn’t quite cut it.

An hour later, Lu Chuan got the file on the detective’s disappearance from five years ago.

The case wasn’t particularly complex.

The missing detective was called Wang Mingshan, aged 43 at the time, originally an officer at a grassroots police station. Because of his outstanding performance, the Criminal Investigation Team, which had a significant staffing shortage back then, drew a batch of elite talents from the stations below, and Wang Mingshan was among them.

According to the files, the case Wang Mingshan was investigating was another disappearance case.

The one missing was a police station officer, but the details of how he went missing weren’t recorded in the files.

Wang Mingshan disappeared in August five years ago. He drove to Songbei Mining Company, and on his way back, he went missing in the North Mountain area.

The police car he was driving was still there, but he was gone.

Back then, to find him, the City Public Security Bureau dispatched over two thousand people, combing through the entire North Mountain area, but still found nothing.

The case was left at that, and it remains so until now.

"How come you’re looking at Old Wang’s case?"

In the crime scene investigation office, Old Bai just returned from outside; seeing Lu Chuan poring over the files, he took a glance and recognized it as the case of Wang Mingshan’s disappearance five years ago.

"Brother Bai is back. It’s Brother Qiang, he got into a car accident returning from Liangzhou today, he said he was investigating the Songbei Mining case, I had nothing to do, so I looked through the old files."

Old Bai poured a cup of tea, sighed, "I’ve seen this file too, it’s not particularly detailed, especially about what exactly Wang Mingshan was investigating; it’s not mentioned in it, right?"

"Yes, it only mentioned he was also looking into another disappearance case, and that’s it."

"He was investigating a disappearance case from back at the Songbei Police Station, where Wang Mingshan originally came from to our Criminal Investigation Team."

"He and the missing officer were partners originally, they had a great relationship, and after the other disappeared, Wang Mingshan kept an eye on that case."

Old Bai spent his life in the Criminal Investigation Team, there was nothing in the past he didn’t know about.