Chapter 306: Clearing the Backlog

There's also the utilities issue.

Even if it's far from the city, using that much water and electricity would draw the attention of the relevant authorities.

Those people were never discovered, and they've been hiding for all these years.

No matter how you think about it, it doesn't add up.

It's not like the leaders of every department in the whole city have all been bought off by them.

Impossible... Yu Dazhang immediately dismissed the thought; nothing that absurd could be happening.

Corruption is only an isolated phenomenon, and besides, a lot of things can't be done just by throwing money around.

If they really had that kind of ability, they could accomplish anything, and they wouldn't need to break the law.

How did they manage it?

Yu Dazhang stared at the desk, his eyes gradually losing focus, as various thoughts flashed through his mind.

He had to sort out the leads Fang Peng provided clearly before reporting them up.

Just recording the content and handing it straight to the detachment would be passing along a message, not reporting up.

When the leaders raise questions about the testimony, you have to answer them fluently and present the results of your analysis—that's the professional competence a criminal investigator should have.

Let's run through a little scene...

"What do you make of this testimony?"

"Never thought about it. No idea."

"How was that so-called underground prison operated?"

"How would I know? I just passed it along as-is."

Feel it out—does the one answering the questions sound like a total idiot?

If he really answered like that, Yu Dazhang wouldn't have a future in the system.

So, before reporting up, he had to sort out every doubt clearly; even if he couldn't find the answer, he still needed corresponding inferences and analysis.

After Yu Dazhang knocked down one hypothesis after another in his mind, only two possibilities remained that fit reality.

1. A large estate.

In the country, some rich people are particularly fond of building large manor villas in places far from the city.

There's a saying that goes, poverty limits the imagination.

Some of those large manor villas cover over 6,000 square meters on their own.

Butlers, servants, drivers, security guards, and so on—added up, there might not be a hundred, but it's close.

If there's an estate like that on the surface serving as cover, it's very hard to find anything suspicious, and the police wouldn't casually come to check a place like that either.

2. A factory or a farm.

For example, manufacturing, livestock farming—industries like these all need to hire workers to operate.

If the underground prison were built near a site like this, that would also make for excellent cover.

Yu Dazhang leaned more toward the second possibility.

Because a large manor villa isn't something just anyone can own, and it's too flashy.

When a person's wealth exceeds the status of their position, they're bound to attract attention.

A single case of unexplained wealth is enough to make those with illegal income keep a low profile and be careful about how they conduct themselves.

He could only reason so far; anything more specific couldn't be reached by deduction alone.

He arrived at the detachment leader's office.

Yu Dazhang knocked twice on the door, heard no response from inside, tried the handle—the door was locked.

Just as he was about to take out his phone to call Captain Li, he suddenly saw Captain Li coming over from the stairwell.

"Looking for me?"

Li Jun said as he walked:

"Why didn't you give me a call?"

Earlier, Yu Dazhang had seen him coming down from upstairs, which meant he'd been at Director Wu's place.

"My place is closer to here, so I just came straight over," Yu Dazhang replied with a perfectly straight face.

Even though his relationship with Captain Li was very good, he still had to keep an appropriate distance.

Especially at work—Li Jun was, after all, his superior, and he still felt a certain reverence.

After they went inside, the two walked to the desk; once Li Jun had sat down in his own seat, Yu Dazhang walked over to the opposite side and sat down.

"We've officially merged the three cold cases for joint investigation."

Yu Dazhang got straight to the point:

"The corresponding testimony and evidence will be organized shortly. Based on the evidence we currently have, we can already corroborate each piece and form a complete chain of proof."

"Regarding the unidentified body case, we've retrieved the DNA sample left behind back then, and we've contacted Zhang Xinyue's family."

"Once her family arrives, we'll arrange the DNA identification right away, and the results can then serve as direct evidence."

Fang Peng had already given a detailed account of how Zhang Xinyue died, and the disposal site he mentioned matched exactly where the unidentified body had been found.

Not only that, Ru Yao and Shu Rujia could also corroborate everything Fang Peng had said.

But these were only statements, and statements alone couldn't fully serve as direct evidence.

To confirm the true identity of the unidentified body, DNA identification was undoubtedly the most critical and most convincing method.

Once it could be confirmed that the unidentified body was Zhang Xinyue, only then would this case truly be solid.

"Very good."

Li Jun looked at Yu Dazhang with satisfaction:

"I didn't expect you'd crack all three cold cases this quickly. Cases like these really do need you on the job."

He was now fully convinced that these three cold cases would definitely be solved successfully.

He had personally led the team to rescue the hostages before; in his view, this was catching the culprits red-handed, with no possibility of a reversal.

Although there was an element of luck this time, it was undeniable that luck was also part of one's strength.

If someone else had investigated the cold cases, they really might not have been able to connect them with the kidnapping case.

The more Li Jun looked at Yu Dazhang now, the more he liked him.

"Oh right, I just heard from Director Wu — you earned merit again this time."

He suddenly changed the subject and said with a smile:

"Province S reported the credit to the Ministry of Public Security, and you're getting the Primary credit for the serial finger-cutting case."

From his expression, one could tell he was genuinely happy for Yu Dazhang from the bottom of his heart; one could even see a proud look on his face.

Yu Dazhang quickly lowered his head and said modestly:

"This is thanks to the leadership's care, the organization's cultivation, and the masses' help…"

"All right, all right." Li Jun immediately raised his hand to cut him off:

"Stop being such a smart-ass."

As he spoke, he fished a cigarette out of his pocket.

Before he could take a cigarette out of the pack, Yu Dazhang swiftly pulled out a pack of Hetianxia, opened it, and offered him one:

"Have one of these."

When he was at the detention center, he had casually given the remaining half pack of Huazi to Liu Miao.

This pack of cigarettes was what he had taken from the car before going upstairs.

He was now increasingly feeling that what Qu Tuotuo had said before made sense — one still had to pay attention to social graces.

It didn't necessarily have to be clinking glasses and exchanging cups, or chipping in money for gifts; offering a colleague a cigarette was fine too.

Li Jun glanced at the Hetianxia Yu Dazhang offered, blinked twice:

"You — you switched cigarettes again?"

As he said this, he nudged the Ba Liqun he had just set on the table to the side.

A detachment commander's salary wasn't low, but if he treated Huazi as his daily smoke, it would definitely be a luxury for him.

With Li Jun's nicotine habit, two packs a day was the baseline; sometimes when pulling all-nighters, it would start at three packs.

Ba Liqun, this kind of cigarette costing just over ten yuan, not only packed a punch, the price was also just right for him.

But this fatty right in front of him clearly didn't smoke, yet carried Huazi around every day.

Now things had really come to this — even Huazi wasn't good enough to go in his pocket.

"My girlfriend gave it to me." Yu Dazhang said truthfully:

"She told me to carry it with me and hand one out whenever I meet a leader I find convincing."

(End of this chapter)