Diary of a Criminal Investigator

The skeleton case under Lion Mountain Bridge came to an end, and the death of Wang Mingshan was finally declared to the public.

Beside Wang Fugui, not only Old Mo but also the mute, whose tongue was cut off, left evidence of his crimes.

Most of the criminal evidence against Wang Fugui, apart from the murder, was provided by the mute.

Based on the information given by the mute, many related individuals were uncovered.

The Criminal Investigation Team held a farewell ceremony for Wang Mingshan’s body. Such ceremonies are usually organized just after a policeman sacrifices their life.

However, when Wang Mingshan disappeared, there was no sight of him alive or dead, and even the nature of his death couldn’t be determined at that time, so the farewell ceremony couldn’t be held back then.

A report proposing to honor him as a martyr has been submitted to the city bureau by Qin Yong, and a decision is expected in the coming days.

Besides this, a considerable amount of consolation money will be given to Wang Mingshan’s wife and son.

Yang Sen said that Wang Mingshan’s son is an excellent and obedient student. When he was young, he often played by riding on his father’s shoulders. Five years passed in the blink of an eye, and the child transitioned from primary school to secondary school.

At the farewell ceremony, the child cried uncontrollably, and all the attendees were heavy-hearted.

Working in law enforcement is like this; you never know when you might sacrifice yourself and what you ultimately leave for your family.

Lu Chuan stood silently among the crowd, looking at Wang Mingshan’s coffin.

The national flag covered the urn, a solemn and respectful sight.

Not everyone can have a flag draped over their body or urn after death; only martyrs receive this honor.

Even though Wang Mingshan was murdered back then, he managed to leave evidence through special means.

This is fundamentally why the Songbei Mining Group and Wang Fugui’s criminal syndicate could be dismantled.

If Lu Chuan hadn’t discovered the Morse code on Wang Mingshan’s shinbone, or if Wang Mingshan hadn’t left evidence back then, could the case have been solved?

No one knows.

Perhaps it could have been solved, like the police finding the tow truck driver, Old Mo, who had evidence of being instructed by Wang Fugui to commit murders over the years.

With this evidence, they could pinpoint Wang Fugui and then unravel the entire crime syndicate.

However, Old Mo was hiding in Mine Shaft 98, only Song Junwu knew his whereabouts, and even Wang Fugui couldn’t reach him.

Zhang Hui and Sun Jun turned the 94 Fresh Market upside down but didn’t find any traces of Old Mo.

And even if they found traces, then what?

Even if Old Mo’s true identity was confirmed and he was put on the wanted list, then what?

If he couldn’t be captured, everything would be in vain.

Engraving Morse code on the shinbone only goes to show how determined and tormented Wang Mingshan was back then.

This is the sacred honor of a policeman, passing on clues even when facing death.

Five years... how many five years are there in a lifetime?

Placing a white chrysanthemum in front of Wang Mingshan’s martyr portrait, Lu Chuan walked out of the farewell ceremony site.

With Wang Mingshan’s status as a martyr, his widow and child will have a better life in the future.

When the child grows up, if he wants to make money and have a good life, Lu Chuan has promised to place him in Qiangsheng Group.

If he wishes to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the police force, his father’s service number will be reactivated for him to continue fulfilling the sacred duty of a policeman.

Crime Scene Investigation Office.

The case involving the Songbei Mining Group is not over yet, but it’s already being prepared for handover to other relevant departments.

Criminal cases related to Wang Fugui, Song Junwu, and others have been clarified, and what remains are some economic crime cases.

After this busy period, the Crime Scene Investigation Office will have some downtime, with little other work to do, so several people were chatting in the office.

"Heard the other day that Xiao Zhang from Action Group 4 bought a haunted house."

Old Bai has worked the longest in the Criminal Investigation Team, knows the most people, and is very familiar with most of them.

"Which Xiao Zhang? Was it the one who came two years ago?"

"No, it’s Zhang Fengzhi, the one who came four years ago."

"Oh," Yang Sen nodded, "I remember now, he was already balding when he first came, right?"

"Yes, yes, that’s him. Sun Jun introduced him to a girlfriend a few days ago, and it seems they’re getting along well, with marriage discussions underway. Now he’s preparing to buy a house, but you know how expensive the housing market is; somehow, he managed to find a haunted house at half the usual price."

"Someone died there?"

"It was many years ago. Someone died in the High-tech Zone, and the house was on the market for a long time without selling."

Speaking of this, in a city as large as Haizhou City, almost every district has these so-called haunted houses.

However, a haunted house isn’t strictly one where someone simply died; if someone died of natural causes, it’s not considered a haunted house.

A haunted house generally refers to one where criminal cases or homicides occurred; such houses are very hard to sell.

Moreover, if a house served as the primary crime scene, it might be sealed for a long time, especially if the case remains unsolved, leading to the house being sealed indefinitely.

"Isn’t he scared to live in there?"

"What’s there to be scared of? He’s a policeman, a detective; he deals with murder cases every day. Plus, the girlfriend Sun Jun introduced him to is said to work in a mortuary doing cosmetic work for the deceased."

"Would two people who deal with death care about whether a house is haunted or not? The price is the real deal."

"That’s true."

"Lu Chuan, have you finished your work?"

"Almost!"

While Yang Sen and Old Bai were chatting, Lu Chuan still had work to complete. He’d been busy with the case under Lion Mountain Bridge, accumulating fingerprint analysis tasks submitted from lower departments, and was catching up now.

Fingerprints that could be handled by the Crime Scene Investigation under the Criminal Investigation Team mostly belonged to major cases, like robbery and other type-eight major crimes.

But since Lu Chuan joined, the efficiency of fingerprint analysis conducted by the Criminal Investigation Team for grassroots cases has improved significantly, prompting many to submit fingerprints from minor cases.

Previously, submissions were made too, but there was no feedback, leading to fewer submissions over time; now, with feedback, everyone started submitting again.

The difficulty of processing fingerprint analysis doesn’t correlate with the case size. You can’t say it’s easier for petty theft but definitely harder for homicides.

Lu Chuan is currently matching fingerprints for an electric tricycle theft case.

It’s not a major case, but the tricycle owner is a disabled individual, a focus for support from the local Huaguang Street police station.

The tricycle’s loss made it difficult to recover, as there was no surveillance at the crime scene. The local station wanted to buy the elderly owner a new one, but he refused, saying it was a gift from his late spouse.

After joining the police, Yang Lin’s first task at the Huaguang Street station was to care for this elderly and disabled individual.

This morning, Yang Lin called Lu Chuan, asking for his help.

Tasks that are challenging for the lower levels might take Lu Chuan just an hour or two. Sure enough, after working for a while, the fingerprint match was successful.