Diary of a Criminal Investigator

Having found a breakthrough, the more Lu Chuan analyzed, the more it made sense.

Wang Mingshan might have thought of this long ago; he knew that after his death, it might take a long time before he was discovered. If he left information on his flesh or clothes, it could be gone by the time it was found. Only by engraving on the bones could it be discovered later.

After figuring this out, Lu Chuan and others immediately ran out from the Crime Scene Investigation office.

Forensic doctor’s dissection room.

Wang Mingshan’s skeleton lay quietly on the dissection table.

Lu Chuan stood next to the table, looking at the scratches on the left tibia.

Wang Mingshan had the opportunity to do all this, which means his torment was not brief.

Carving lines of varying lengths on his own leg bone with a sharp tool... one can imagine the immense pain Wang Mingshan endured.

Yang Sen and Old Bai also understood what Lu Chuan meant. At this moment, seeing the scratches on Wang Mingshan’s left tibia, they involuntarily felt a surge of respect.

Unlike Lu Chuan, who didn’t know Wang Mingshan, Yang Sen and Old Bai did know him.

In fact, Yang Sen had a pretty good relationship with Wang Mingshan; they often dined and gathered together.

When Wang Mingshan suddenly disappeared, it really hit the entire Criminal Investigation Team hard.

When detectives handle cases, they face suspects who are strangers, and victims who are essentially strangers as well.

All are strangers, with no intersections, no familiar connections; during most investigations, the police can stay calm.

In such scenarios, handling cases is just a job for most detectives.

But Wang Mingshan was different; everyone in the Criminal Investigation Team knew him. His disappearance was like a friend among us disappearing. Detectives are also humans; a person who you often see, sharing laughs yesterday, a friend, a colleague—gone today, and searching for so long, even five years without a trace.

This emotional shock is intense.

Now, Wang Mingshan’s skeleton has been found, and knowing that he might have left a clue before dying, carving Morse code on his own leg bone, shocked Yang Sen and Old Bai much more than Lu Chuan.

"Let me do the rubbings."

Being closer to Wang Mingshan before, Yang Sen took the task of taking rubbings of the tibia scratches.

Lu Chuan assisted on the side; making these rubbings was quite simple, taking only a few minutes.

The full name of Morse code is Morse Code, and it’s binary encoding done through dots and lines of varying lengths.

Lu Chuan had just looked into some materials about Morse code. There are five types of Morse code symbols: four lines of varying lengths and one dot.

The relationship between dots and lines is binary encoding, with lines of varying lengths representing intervals between letters, words, and sentences.

Morse code can correspond to English letters, numbers, and some punctuation marks.

By printing specific codes, corresponding English letters can be translated, forming clear text by combining letters.

Plaintext is something everyone can see; for instance, the letters "sky" together mean the sky.

Besides plaintext, there are ciphertexts, usually displayed through numbers. For example, 2, 3, 4—can convey a cipher through a specific book.

If a specific book is a certain version of "Water Margin," then the 2nd page, 3rd line, and 4th character is the cipher conveyed by the counterpart.

Obviously, Wang Mingshan couldn’t convey a cipher, so the Morse code he left is plaintext.

After the rubbings were complete, the three returned to the Crime Scene Investigation office to cross-reference with an online Morse code chart.

"Bao Mountain 23"

This is the information left by Wang Mingshan, two words, two numbers.

"What does it mean?"

Yang Sen pondered, opened a map, and spread it on the table: "Wang Mingshan disappeared on his way back to the Criminal Investigation Team after exiting Songbei Mining."

"At that time, Wang Mingshan drove his police car from the Criminal Investigation Team to Songbei Mining, and we found his car... here!"

"Found the car on Bao Mountain Road... Bao Mountain... It should refer to Bao Mountain Road."

This analysis made sense.

"23... Could it be the house number, that he hid something at 23 Bao Mountain Road?"

"That must be it. ’Bao Mountain 23,’ the information Wang Mingshan wanted to convey surely wouldn’t be that complicated."

Old Bai touched his nose: "Let’s go, let’s head directly to 23 Bao Mountain Road to see what’s going on."

Liu Guodong is in a meeting, and since their speculation might not yield anything, they didn’t report but set off directly.

Bao Mountain Road got its name because it’s a mountain road surrounding a small hill called Bao Mountain.

"This area is full of self-built houses dating back ten to twenty years. Being far from the city center, there are no demolition plans. If Wang Mingshan did stash something at 23 Bao Mountain Road, it might still be there."

Old Bai, being older, was familiar with the place.

The three quickly drove to 23 Bao Mountain Road, finding a pawnshop.

Pawnshop?

The three exchanged glances—why a pawnshop?

They all knew what it was. Essentially, a pawnshop is like the small loan companies nowadays.

A few years back, pawnshops were thriving everywhere but now, due to strict regulations against small loans, many small loan companies have disappeared.

And, the people who run these businesses—everyone knows what goes behind them.

The pawnshop wasn’t open; the front door was locked.

"Just knock, there must be someone inside."

This small trick couldn’t fool Old Bai. He had taken down many such small companies during his Crime Scene Investigation days.

Didn’t see the security camera at the corner continually turning? Someone inside must be watching.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Police! Open up!"

No need for subtlety; the police car was parked right at the front. They would know they were police officers, so Lu Chuan knocked on the door directly.

"Coming, coming!"

A middle-aged man’s somewhat hoarse voice came from inside, and as the door opened, it revealed a balding, pockmarked face.

"Hello, officer. What can we do for you? We run a legitimate business here."

Legitimate business?

Running a legitimate business, with the doors locked in broad daylight?

Lu Chuan, although unfamiliar with such people, didn’t mind.

He wasn’t there to pawn anything. But before asking serious questions, Lu Chuan’s nose twitched slightly.

He suddenly stepped back, closely observing the man’s physique.

Over 1.7 meters, hoarse voice...

"Why do you reek of fish?"