Diary of a Criminal Investigator

Considering the geological soil conditions under the Lion Mountain Bridge, Lu Chuan can still make a relatively accurate judgment on the approximate time of the skeletonization of the body.

This way, we can roughly lock down the time of the victim’s death, at least using years as a metric, without significant errors.

"Alright, once I’m done with this bone fragment, I’ll go check it out."

...

While Lu Chuan, Wang Changjiang, Shen Yan, and others were conducting numbering, identification, analysis, and organizing of the skeletons, other operational units were also busy.

Inside the meeting room, Sun Jun and Zhang Hui’s two action teams were having a meeting.

"The situation over in Liangzhou City is very pessimistic; the perpetrator is hidden deeply and controls the operation remotely through games."

Sun Jun had heard of this method during a provincial bureau training before; many suspects commit crimes through games or live streaming, but it’s his first encounter with such a case.

Zhang Hui is the same; previously, Haizhou City did not seem to have such high-level criminal methods.

"Actually, thinking the other way around, Brother Sun, the fact that the perpetrator is so secretive, thinking they’ve left no evidence..."

"In fact, that the perpetrator is able to be so hidden indicates that there is certainly not just one person behind this, but rather a tightly knit network."

"Do you think it’s still related to Songbei Mining?"

Zhang Hui nodded and shook his head: "I don’t know if it’s related to Songbei Mining, it’s just a guess, but regardless of whether it’s Songbei Mining or some other mining operation, the network behind them is definitely large."

"Think about it, since they can direct people in Liangzhou City to commit crimes from Haizhou City, can they not direct people in other places too?"

"And the tow truck driver who took away Brother Qiang’s police car, was he controlled by the black hand in Liangzhou City through the game?"

"I don’t think so; the guy should just be following orders, only responsible for the aftermath on this side of North Mountain."

"So I think the breakthrough point now is this tow truck driver, small eyes, hoarse voice, with a strong fishy smell on him."

"What are your thoughts on this?"

"I’ve started the investigation already. Small eyes and a hoarse voice are not easy to use to identify suspects, but the strong fishy smell on the guy is pretty significant, I think."

"Since yesterday, we’ve set up at all the fresh markets in the city."

"That seems like a lot of work, doesn’t it?"

The fresh markets in the entire Haizhou City, if not a hundred, certainly number in the dozens, and selling fish doesn’t only happen in fresh markets; some supermarkets and mobile stalls might also sell fresh products.

"I’ve considered that too, but we can’t just investigate that point right now."

Zhang Hui assigned all the people from their Criminal Investigation Team for this job and didn’t involve the local police stations for the search.

"On the morning of Brother Qiang’s car accident, he called the police, and then the traffic police and the paramedics arrived. How did the perpetrator know about Brother Qiang’s accident? From what you just said, it seems they didn’t have anyone tailing him, so could there be a mole inside?"

"That’s why I didn’t send out a joint investigation notice directly but let our own people check it first and then take a look at the situation."

Sun Jun agreed with Zhang Hui’s approach.

Once a wide-range joint investigation notice goes out, it would alert the target, making them harder to find if they hide again.

"Have you found that tow truck?"

"Not yet."

Sun Jun was puzzled: "That’s unlikely, right? The tow truck is such a big target, and even though the license plate is fake, we should be able to find some clues through the monitoring system. Finding them shouldn’t be hard."

"That’s what I thought too, but I personally sent someone to watch over the traffic police, and there’s been no progress."

"Could it be that on their end..."

Zhang Hui shook his head: "It shouldn’t be. We obtained all the surveillance footage of that tow truck, and we accessed it through the traffic police command system during the check."

"Even if they’re powerful, they couldn’t have tampered with that system directly, and nobody would dare to either. Also, during our check, we noticed that after the truck went into an alley on Qingguo Road’s North Second Lane, it disappeared."

"I’ve already sent people to investigate Qingguo Road’s North Second Lane, but there’s no surveillance there, and neither is there any monitoring at the exit going north out of the lane."

"So... the vehicle could possibly be hidden inside Qingguo Road’s North Second Lane, or it could have exited through there, leaving the surveillance range."

Sun Jun muttered to himself and suddenly had a realization: "Zhang Hui! Qingguo Road’s North Second Lane... isn’t there a No. 94 Market that sells all fresh products there?"

Hmm?

Zhang Hui was taken aback for a moment, but it seems there really is such a place.

"The fact that the vehicle drove into Qingguo Road’s North Second Lane wasn’t by chance?"

"Yes! It’s very likely that it’s actually one of their hideouts."

"Let’s go, Brother Sun, let’s check out No. 94 Market!"

When Sun Jun and Zhang Hui had some leads, Qin Yong received a call from Song Jiangguo.

"Qin Yong, I just came out of the office of a senior leader and confirmed the approach for handling this case."

"Director Song, please go ahead."

"First, the case will be handled by our Haizhou City Public Security Bureau and will not be reported to the provincial major crime team unless there are special circumstances. Your Criminal Investigation Team will be the main force in solving it."

"The instructions from the higher-ups are clear: no delays will be tolerated, proceed with all efforts, the case must be solved, and quickly."

"Yes, understood!"

"Second, I have already made a certain report to the senior leadership about the seriousness of the case and possible suspicions, with the directive that no matter who is involved, we will investigate to the end and show no leniency!"

"Yes!"

"Qin Yong, don’t have any burdens. Boldly and confidently handle it, give it your all, and keep it confidential. If there are issues or responsibilities, I will take them first."

"Yes!"

After hanging up the phone, Qin Yong felt reassured. As the captain of the Criminal Investigation Team, solving cases was his forte, but navigating other relationships could indeed be challenging for him sometimes.

Now, with Song Jiangguo backing him, he can focus wholeheartedly on solving the case.

Qin Yong had nothing to worry about, but Song Jiangguo sat in his office with a frown.

In his position, Song Jiangguo knew a lot more than Qin Yong.

Perhaps, this case was just a spark.

Or rather... the spark had already ignited long ago; it’s just that solving this case would confirm everything.

Why say the spark had ignited long ago? It was clear from the text message Ren Qiang received.