Chapter 37: He Is a Cautious Man

The scope is getting smaller… Logically, Yu Dazhang should be relieved, but he grew increasingly tense.

This is precisely when carelessness is most likely to creep in—he had experienced something similar in his past life.

Whenever a case nears its end, people naturally relax.

They subconsciously assume that if they just let things unfold, the case will solve itself.

But reality often contradicts expectation; the closer you get to the end, the more easily clues vanish.

Once broken, reconnecting them becomes nearly impossible.

So as long as the real killer remains at large, Yu Dazhang dare not slack for a single moment.

After a while, the Technical Division arrived at the scene.

After explaining to Zhang Yan’s mother, the investigation officially began.

Before this, Yu Dazhang had already instructed Qian Cheng to photograph the bed in sections and take separate close-ups of key areas.

Collecting traces, comparing and verifying them, reconstructing the scene—these tasks naturally fell to the professionals.

Qian Cheng, being from the Technical Division, naturally joined them.

Yu Dazhang and Lu Zhongxin went to the living room and sat on the sofa beside Zhang Yan’s mother.

“Auntie, is your husband at home?” Yu Dazhang asked.

“Inside,” Zhang Yan’s mother pointed to another room: “He’s bedridden.”

Yu Dazhang’s heart tightened slightly, and he asked with concern:

“Why didn’t you take him to the hospital?”

Sensing Yu Dazhang’s concern, Zhang Yan’s mother’s tone softened:

“We went, but it’s nothing serious—just a burst of anger. A community clinic nurse will come by tonight to give him an IV.”

Lu Zhongxin sat beside them, listening to their casual chatter, saying nothing.

After days working on this case, he noticed his apprentice never made unnecessary moves.

Whenever Yu Dazhang acted, he always gained something.

Even now, as the two chatted idly, Lu Zhongxin had a strange feeling—his apprentice had a purpose.

Sure enough, after a few more minutes, Yu Dazhang suddenly changed the subject:

“Have any outsiders come to the house these past few days?”

Perhaps the question came too abruptly—Zhang Yan’s mother paused before answering:

“Only my younger brother came once.”

“Your biological brother?” Yu Dazhang pressed.

“Yes,” Zhang Yan’s mother nodded instinctively:

“He only found out about the child’s incident when he came over.”

Hearing this, Lu Zhongxin’s heart sank slightly.

Could Zhang Yan’s uncle be the killer?

His apprentice wouldn’t ask this without reason—he must have deduced something.

But Yu Dazhang didn’t dwell on Zhang Yan’s uncle at all; he immediately switched topics:

“Has anyone called to ask about the case’s progress? Even if just out of concern?”

“Hmm…” Zhang Yan’s mother realized the fat policeman was probing for clues, so she strained to recall.

After a long silence, she shook her head:

“No one. Not a single call.”

This isn’t an ordinary criminal… Yu Dazhang was quietly astonished.

Since it’s someone familiar, they likely know Zhang Yan’s parents—but the killer somehow endured days without inquiring about the case.

He’s a cautious man.

After that, Yu Dazhang said nothing more, simply sat still, staring blankly at the coffee table before him.

After a while, he lightly tapped Lu Zhongxin’s thigh, then stood up and walked outside.

Lu Zhongxin knew his apprentice wanted to speak with him privately, so he rose and followed.

In the hallway, Yu Dazhang looked at him and spoke quickly:

“Check all vehicles that left the compound between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m. on the day Zhang Yan disappeared.”

“Record every private car’s license plate—don’t miss a single one.”

Lu Zhongxin immediately understood his apprentice’s intent.

The most direct, easiest way to evade surrounding surveillance was to drive out.

He focused on private cars because a taxi driver who saw a young girl unconscious being carried into a car would definitely report it.

After all, no one wants to become an unwitting accomplice. “Leave it to me.”

As Lu Zhongxin turned to leave, Yu Dazhang reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Wait—I’m not done.”

After a moment’s thought, Yu Dazhang continued:

“Then eliminate all vehicles that entered the compound before 1:00 p.m.—no, make it 1:30 p.m. Exclude everything before 1:30 p.m.”

“For the remaining vehicles, investigate the owners—exclude any residents of the compound, keep only information on outsiders.”

After confirming he hadn’t missed anything, Yu Dazhang released his grip and nodded for his master to go.

Why exclude residents of the compound?

The reason was simple: Yu Dazhang didn’t believe anyone with money would still live in such an old neighborhood.

A wealthy household might not buy luxury goods, but they’d definitely spend in four areas: clothing, food, housing, transportation.

After Lu Zhongxin left, Yu Dazhang pulled out his phone and called the two officers investigating Zhang Yan’s social background.

“Come to Zhang Yan’s house—I’ll wait here.”

Please… collect… 6…9…books…!

“We’ve just started uncovering something.”

“Come over—your assignment’s changing.”

Half an hour later, the three met downstairs.

The two officers glanced at the police cars parked below.

“The Technical Division’s vehicle—why are they here?”

“Investigating the crime scene,” Yu Dazhang replied.

“You mean the crime scene is at Zhang Yan’s house?”

“Yeah. I only realized it today.”

“… ”

The two stared at the fat man before them like he was a deity.

In just two days, he’d found the primary crime scene!

How efficient can you possibly be?

Don’t you realize how much pressure you’re putting on us?

“Tell me what you’ve found,” Yu Dazhang said, ignoring their stunned expressions as if they’d never seen anything unusual.

“Actually, we haven’t uncovered anything particularly crucial,” one replied.

It wasn’t modesty—they’d gathered some information these past two days.

But compared to the fat man before them, their efforts seemed like nothing.

“Then tell me the insignificant stuff,” Yu Dazhang suspected they’d been slacking.

“Uh… well…” One officer thought for a moment:

“We kept focusing on Zhang Yan’s classmates. You remember that boy from the next class, Zhou Yewei?”

“I remember,” Yu Dazhang’s memory was sharp, especially in this life—he spoke quickly:

“The one who had a vague romantic connection with Zhang Yan.”

“Right, him,” the officer continued:

“We dug up more about their relationship.”

“A few days before Zhang Yan disappeared, someone reported their affair to the teacher.”

“The teacher called both sets of parents and asked them to supervise their children.”

That teacher’s move was brutal… Yu Dazhang mentally grumbled.

It saved effort and solved the teenage romance problem—

but completely ignored the kids’ feelings. It was basically public execution.

You should’ve found out how far they’d gone first, then acted accordingly.

Seeing the officer pause, as if struggling to phrase the next part, Yu Dazhang prompted:

“Just tell me how this connects to Zhang Yan’s disappearance.”

“This incident isn’t directly related to Zhang Yan’s disappearance, but something else that followed is suspicious…” The officer stalled again, struggling for words.

(End of Chapter)