Chapter 146: All Villains!

Low risk, high reward.

All you have to do is provide information about the deceased, and you'll get a generous payment.

Have to say, conditions like these are very tempting.

The way the other party paid was exactly the same as when they paid the body movers — both were left in advance for someone to pick up.

The WeChat account was also a purchased burner number.

Although the lead went cold, it wasn't a total loss — at the very least, another black sheep was caught.

So far, the number of suspects in this case has exceeded ten.

The team investigating the two district funeral homes was the last to return.

The news they brought back was exactly what Yu Dazhang was most concerned about.

"Only four people at the Qingpu District Funeral Home have taken leave recently." One of the team members reported to Yu Dazhang:

"Three of them were personal leave, one was sick leave. I've already met the one on sick leave."

"On August 17th, he went to the hospital for a lipoma removal. I checked his medical records and the incision — it's legit."

You peeled back their bandage too? Yu Dazhang couldn't help but admire this guy's dedication to the job.

Just a little inhumane, though.

What if you infected the wound?

Still, this really does need to be taken seriously — any carelessness during an investigation could mean missing a crucial lead.

At this point, the Qingpu District Funeral Home can basically be ruled out.

"What about the Hongkou District Funeral Home?" Yu Dazhang asked.

That was what he cared about most.

The Criminal Investigation Brigade had already checked it once a few days ago. Although they hadn't found any problems, Yu Dazhang still felt something was off there.

Sure enough, the moment the Hongkou District Funeral Home was mentioned, that team member's expression immediately changed.

Like spending two yuan and winning five million — the whole person lit up with excitement.

"On August 18th, a total of six people at the Hongkou District Funeral Home took leave — four on personal leave, two on sick leave."

"We visited those two on sick leave one by one."

"Both are male, both presenting with severe cold symptoms. One of them had such bad throat inflammation that even talking was a struggle."

"Then we investigated the four who took personal leave."

"Two of the women behaved unusually — during the conversation, both coughed and had runny noses multiple times. Clearly cold symptoms."

"But both insisted they weren't sick and that their leave was because of family matters."

That fits… Yu Dazhang rejoiced inwardly.

All four had cold symptoms, and just happened to be two men and two women.

What kind of coincidence is that?

Especially since all four were staff at the Hongkou District Funeral Home.

"Right." Another team member added:

"We've already reported the situation to Captain Ji and had the team send people to place those four under residential surveillance."

That's an investigative measure reserved for criminal suspects — somewhat similar to a stakeout.

It can effectively prevent suspects from fleeing.

"Do you have full-body photos of them?" Yu Dazhang asked.

"Yes." That team member immediately pulled out his portable device:

"We went in with body cameras on."

Now that's solid work… Yu Dazhang stood up:

"Export the footage."

Criminal investigators rarely wear body cameras during the investigation phase — mainly to avoid exposing their identities.

But during specific law enforcement operations, they're required.

These two team members must have planned ahead of the investigation to record the subjects' physical features.

Gotta say, brains are a wonderful thing.

Some people only follow orders, while others can think through many problems down to the smallest detail. They arrived at the office, and the team member connected the body camera to the computer via a USB cable.

In no time at all, the footage was imported into the computer.

Yu Dazhang sat down in front of the computer, opened the imported video, and watched the screen.

After watching it carefully once, he opened the earlier morgue surveillance footage and mentally compared the two.

That's right — it's them!

Judging by physical features, the four people with colds at the funeral home and the two men and two women who loaded the bodies at the morgue were strikingly similar.

And that was with them wearing their own clothes.

If they put on the burial shrouds they wore that day in the morgue, it would be a perfect match.

"Arrest those four immediately." Yu Dazhang ordered.

"Yes!" came a crisp reply from behind him.

Please... bookmark... 6... 9... book... bar....!

The purpose of those two team members reporting to the team and requesting surveillance on them was for the subsequent arrest.

But the final decision still needed Yu Dazhang, the deputy team leader, to sign off.

Just as they were opening the door, Yu Dazhang spoke again:

"Bring the mortician from the funeral home back too."

"Understood." The two immediately nodded in acknowledgment.

He had just turned around when Yu Dazhang's voice came through again:

"Hold on!"

He stood up, paced back and forth across the room twice, then suddenly stopped:

"It's not enough."

Not enough what? The two team members stared blankly at the fatty in the room.

They had an inexplicable feeling: the fatty before them was about to cause trouble — and big trouble at that.

"Just snatching these few people we know about isn't enough." Yu Dazhang's voice was low, his tone icy:

"On August 19th, the Criminal Investigation Brigade conducted a full sweep of the Hongkou District Funeral Home. The result was that they didn't turn up a single problem."

"And the bodies were stolen on August 17th — exactly two days before the investigation."

"The fact that they used such a clumsy method to steal the bodies was very likely just to cope with the Criminal Investigation Brigade's sweep."

Then he paused briefly, took a deep breath, and continued:

"Patching the hole on the fly means they've been running some shady operation long-term — they're definitely not first-time offenders!"

"A funeral home's regular staff is usually around twenty people."

"At a unit of that size, nothing can usually be hidden internally for long. For it to stay concealed until now, there's only one possibility…"

"Everyone's in on it!"

After hearing him out, the two team members couldn't help but widen their eyes, blinking nonstop, looks of disbelief spreading across their faces.

The whole staff are bad guys~

Does it really need to be this big?

They're actually going to take down the entire funeral home in one sweep — that's a state-run unit.

But they could also tell.

If they only arrested the few people on the surface, it would be no different from stirring up the grass and scaring the snake.

Once the more deeply hidden culprits caught wind of any movement, they would surely do everything in their power to flee.

If that happened, carrying out another arrest operation would become exponentially harder.

Thinking of this, the two couldn't help exchanging a glance, each seeing the worry in the other's eyes.

If this case went wrong, forget about them — the entire Qingpu Branch couldn't bear the consequences.

"Let me check with Captain Ji first." Yu Dazhang gestured for them to hold steady.

After quickly sorting it through in his head and confirming there were no gaps, he dialed Ji Bin's number.

For an arrest operation of this scale, he had to get approval from Ji Bin, the team leader.

Once the call connected, Yu Dazhang gave a clear and concise rundown of the current situation, then added at the end:

"If we let other suspects slip through because we're afraid of taking responsibility, that's dereliction of duty too."

"My suggestion is to arrest every single person on the funeral home's staff and bring them all in!"

(End of Chapter)