Chapter 134: The Veteran's Charge Bugle

Chen Fan brought the documents and returned to the unit. Li Tian found Old Liu and said, "This time, we really need your help."

"Didn't you say the same thing last time? What's going on?"

"Kidnapping and trafficking—well, to be precise, the person who filed the report said it was kidnapping and trafficking, but from what we've actually learned, it doesn't really seem like kidnapping and trafficking."

Kidnapping and trafficking?

Now that's a very convenient excuse.

Here, Chen Fan said, "There's no surveillance footage?"

"No surveillance footage, but we've already contacted a few students, and these students—these students all said they don't know."

Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, then said, "In cases like this, how does a forensic doctor like me even proceed? Shouldn't this be your job?"

"The last place he appeared was inside an alley. We've basically locked down an old man's home. The old man lives pretty hard, all alone in the house. We're worried something might go wrong, and besides, we found some blood."

Then Chen Fan looked at the photo. The thing that caught his eye didn't need to be examined—it was blood.

"You've got the search warrant, right?"

Li Tian nodded.

Here, Old Liu said, "Chen Fan, you'll be in charge of leading the team. Take these new people over there. This time, all of them answer to you."

Chen Fan nodded and agreed.

He came to the alley with everyone.

The blood extraction was already finished. The nearby area was an urban village, and now there weren't many people left. With the development of the times, there would be fewer old people, and the young people of the new era wouldn't choose to live in a place like this either.

Everyone likes the feeling of those high-rises and grand buildings.

Chen Fan stood at the door, stunned for a long time. He didn't rush inside, but instead had the people beside him take samples around the doorway.

"Uh, take samples?"

"Right. Look for fingerprints—every clue you can find, go look for it."

Although the others didn't understand, they still did as they were told. Li Tian was stunned for a moment, then looked at the dust on the ground, and instantly understood.

He put away his smile and pushed open the door.

"Is anyone home?"

An old man's voice came through, saying, "Mm, someone's home. What is it?"

The old man, with his hands behind his back, bent at the waist, his head bandaged with a wound, looked at Chen Fan and Li Tian at the door.

Li Tian, seeing the old man's injured head, was startled and said, "Uh, sir, you're injured?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing. A stone fell and hit me."

Li Tian instantly thought of the blood at the mouth of the alley, and understood right away.

Damn it, damn it all—this isn't a kidnapping case at all. This is a straight-up assault case from the start.

Li Tian, calculating his words, said, "Sir, a child has gone missing recently. We were planning to come over here to learn about the situation. Someone saw that the child often came here to play."

"You mean that kid Zheng Xiao, right? Mm, I know him. He often comes here after school to play. The fruit trees in my yard—he really likes eating them."

Li Tian said, "Would it be convenient for us to investigate?"

The old man was stunned for a long time, then said, "You suspect I harmed Zheng Xiao?"

"No, no, we don't suspect you. We're just investigating a bit more. His parents, relatives, everyone—we've investigated them all. We hope you understand."

"Mm, that's fine, it's nothing. Go ahead and look around the house as you like."

The house was a very simple one, and the old man kept it fairly clean. Chen Fan, over here, held a brush and was carefully examining the place.

A forensic doctor inspecting the scene is something that needs to be done. The reason for examining fingerprints here was simply to see whether this child had actually lived here for a period of time.

The fingerprints were collected. Looking at the size of the fingerprints and comparing them with Zheng Xiao's fingerprints that had been given to him earlier, Chen Fan and Li Tian knew the child had indeed come here, and the areas he moved around in were all perfectly normal.

So the old man wasn't lying—the child really did often come here to play.

The old man sat on a chair. Although he was bent at the waist, the look in his eyes was very bright. Moreover, that bright look made Li Tian think of something.

After Chen Fan finished gathering evidence, he said, "Mm, that's enough. There's nowhere else to search."

The old man said, "That fast?"

"I'm a forensic doctor, so naturally it's fast."

"Forensic doctor—has something happened to Zheng Xiao?"

Chen Fan said, "Nothing's happened to him. It's just that this child has gone missing, and we're looking for him."

"If there's anything I can help with, just say it."

This was Li Tian's job now. Li Tian thought it over and said, "Do you know who Zheng Xiao usually played with?"

"There were a few kids."

Li Tian took out his phone and showed the photos. The old man recalled, and found the photos of these people.

Li Tian looked at them carefully, then took printed photos out of his pocket, placed them on the table, and compared them one by one.

Then, feeling something was off, he shuffled the order again, and finally placed Zheng Xiao at the very edge.

Information—Li Tian needed information.

Here, Chen Fan said, "Since we're investigating, let's go to every student's home. What do you think? Li Tian."

Li Tian said, "No rush. I think I've already caught a lead. I should already know what's going on. There's just one thing missing—just one thing."

Chen Fan pointed at the box on the old man's table and said, "Sir, can this box be opened?"

The old man opened the box. Inside was a very simple bugle.

The bugle was a little old.

At this moment, everything suddenly became clear to Li Tian. He found the documents, then pulled out the information about Zheng Xiao.

A clear line of reasoning rang out in his mind.

"Shit, damn it, you animal."

Chen Fan had his suspicions, but he didn't dare overthink it. Deduction wasn't his strong suit — he only cared about evidence.

"Mm, the bugle — did you wipe it down?"

"Uh, no, why?"

Chen Fan picked up the UV light and began shining it over the case, then put on white gloves and opened it.

He picked up the bugle.

He called the new recruit over and slowly took a rubbing of the fingerprints on it.

There were the old man's fingerprints, but most of the others were very fine and small.

Li Tian looked at the fingerprints one by one and felt his scalp go numb — he was about to bristle on the spot.

"Stop the livestream."

Chen Fan said, "No."

Li Tian stared at Chen Fan and said, "You… want them dead?"

"Yes. Let them die."

The cold Chen Fan's words now were like an incantation from King Yama himself — so chilling, so spine-tingling.

In the observation room, Sister Jing Tian quickly caught on and said, "That can't be right, can it? People nowadays shouldn't be like that."

Teacher He, sharp as he was, said, "Mm, I think I have a rough idea of what's going on."

Over here, Hu Ge said, "Mm, the moment I saw the bugle, I got it. I read that file — the name and ID were blocked out, but in the skills column, I saw that Zheng Xiao specialized in the trumpet, which is a variant of the bugle."

Over here, Liu Yan said, "Uh, I'm a bit slow — what are you guys talking about?"

Zhang Xinyu said, "I think I have a rough idea of what's going on, I'm just afraid it's not that."

Some viewers got it, some didn't — most of the audience was just curious.