Chapter 1044: The Highly Skilled Killer

"There are actually quite a few leads available for the 303 Case."

Having taken over the 303 Case, Jiang Yuan immediately summoned Liu Jinghui.

Liu Jinghui had already settled in the provincial capital; although he didn't return home often, it was quite convenient for him to be transferred over.

Jiang Yuan was always fond of the cases Liu Jinghui took on.

Like the current Jiang Yuan, Liu Jinghui was relatively more willing to investigate difficult cases. However, for a case like the 303 Case, restarting it would be a massive undertaking; Liu Jinghui himself lacked the confidence to restart it, and his superiors were unwilling to bear such enormous costs.

Jiang Yuan, however, was different. Whether it was the case-solving rate or the conviction rate, the cases Jiang Yuan undertook were enough to provide peace of mind. To use a somewhat inappropriate metaphor, Jiang Yuan was like a high-cost combine harvester; as long as the high rent and operating expenses were paid, he could steadily harvest evil. Liu Jinghui was more like a strong, stubborn donkey—he was quite capable when times were good, but if his mood wasn't right or the environment wasn't suitable, he might make absolutely no progress.

For a detachment captain like Yu Wenshu, unless Liu Jinghui could produce an overwhelming amount of evidence to convince him, he would never restart the 303 Case for Liu Jinghui. Or, to put it another way, if someone like Cao Junxiang proposed restarting it, but his method involved Liu Jinghui, Yu Wenshu would certainly not agree.

However, with Jiang Yuan behind him, Liu Jinghui was much more flexible than a combine harvester when he stepped onto the stage.

Liu Jinghui spoke eloquently:

"In the 303 Case, the social relationships of the three victims were complex. From the perspective of the motive, we believe the victims' interpersonal relationships are likely closely linked to this case. Regrettably, although the task force mobilized a massive amount of manpower to trace the interpersonal relationships, they failed to find the perpetrator."

"From the perspective of the killer, the perpetrator was also very unique. The fact that the killer pried open the anti-theft window with their bare hands is something most petty thieves couldn't do. I looked at the tests the 303 task force conducted on that model of anti-theft window; at the time, out of nearly 60 members of the SWAT detachment, only four could pry it open, and only two could do so with relative ease—both of those SWAT officers weighed over 90 kilograms."

Liu Jinghui exhaled and continued, "On the other hand, the victims lived on the third floor. For the killer to climb up, they not only needed a certain level of skill, but their own physique couldn't be too clumsy. In short, the killer should be someone with experience, specific skills, and rigorous training."

Liu Jinghui: "Unfortunately, the task force's investigation into the killer's combat capability also ended in failure."

In the Changyang City Criminal Police Detachment conference room, in addition to the 30-plus officers Jiang Yuan had brought, a dozen more joined in, to the point where the task force hadn't even officially restarted before a team comparable to a full task force had already been assembled.

Some people lowered their heads to look at the data, some raised their heads to look at Jiang Yuan, and others whispered and discussed in low voices.

Soon, hearing that they were going to work on the 303 Case, Liu Wenkai, who had specifically come to support them from Ningtai County, spoke up: "Although the three victims might have played quite wildly, is it really impossible to clarify their interpersonal relationships in a criminal investigation? That seems unlikely. If they were going to meet up, they had to make calls or send messages; just checking their communications should have cleared up seven or eight out of ten things."

Liu Jinghui gave a "Hmm" and said, "This needs to be divided into two parts. First, it's not that their interpersonal relationships couldn't be clarified, but that their relationships were so tangled that further investigation would consume an immense amount of investigative resources. Second, there were indeed relationships that couldn't be clarified. For example, all three victims had one-night stands; some were met in places like bars and might not have even exchanged WeChat, let alone any contact information. They might have parted ways the next day, or perhaps they harbored lingering thoughts?"

Liu Wenkai listened and clicked his tongue: "As expected of the 303, the 'Flower of Changyang'."

"What kind of ghost name is that!" Cao Junxiang was getting on in years and couldn't stand such teasing.

Liu Wenkai shook his head and didn't continue the chat about the "flower," instead turning to say: "One-night stands shouldn't be enough to cause this level of slaughter, right? Who would kill three people over that?"

"Suppose the one-night stand partners of the two men were women. If the husbands of those women found out, wouldn't they be angry enough to grab a knife and head out?" Liu Jinghui's logic was very strong.

Liu Wenkai frowned as he listened, and unexpectedly supplemented Liu Jinghui's point: "Even if the one-night stand partners of the two men were men, if the husbands of those men found out, they would also have reason to grab a knife and kill."

"Hmm..." Liu Jinghui's meticulous train of thought was like a bicycle chain suddenly jammed by a dirty yellow stone on the side of the road.

Liu Wenkai continued: "At the crime scene, the three victims were two men and one woman. People who play like that definitely aren't playing in fixed teams. Especially these two men—if they were playing like that with other women, especially with 'decent' women, it wouldn't be strange if they got killed."

"This direction was investigated." Cao Junxiang stood up.

Liu Wenkai looked at Cao Junxiang and, this time, didn't hold back: "Captain Cao, I'll be honest, don't be angry—at your age, you might not understand how young people play these days."

"How do they play?" Cao Junxiang retorted.

"Three or four-person teams, even five-person teams. Besides someone bringing people out to play, temporary teams are also very common..." Liu Wenkai paused and said, "This female victim couldn't have just been playing, right? Did she have a partner she was serious about?"

"The female victim was married." Cao Junxiang shook his head.

Liu Wenkai also shook his head: "Captain Cao, some people these days—I'm not talking about men or women—besides having a husband or wife, they also have a partner they're serious about, a partner who can stir their emotions but has no future, and then there are the occasional handsome or beautiful partners who appear, and only then the temporary partners they meet..."

Cao Junxiang couldn't say he was shocked, because he was a criminal police officer who waded through the darkness of society every day, but he could only say that Cao Junxiang felt deeply puzzled: "Is there a need for that? No, I mean, although I know there might be very occasional cases, and such people do exist, this doesn't have much to do with our case."

"I think it has a lot to do with it. Our victims, and the people they were in contact with, might all be in this situation. Only by taking this situation into account can we perfect the investigation."

"There can't be such a high proportion." Cao Junxiang was certainly going to defend and maintain his judgment from back then.

Liu Wenkai smiled slightly: "They're already playing like that. It's not about how high the proportion of such cases is; the key is that we've poked into the nest."

Cao Junxiang muttered to himself: "That can't be right, that can't be right."

Liu Jinghui gave a "Hmm" and said, "Captain Cao, looking back at the 303 Case after these years, which breakthrough point do you think we should choose?"

Cao Junxiang had thought of the 303 Case and invited Jiang Yuan to join, so he naturally had his own thoughts.

As soon as Liu Jinghui finished speaking, Cao Junxiang immediately pulled his emotions away from the previous conversation and looked solemnly at Jiang Yuan and Yu Wenshu: "After thinking it over, I believe we can consider the drug issue. Traces of new types of drugs were detected in the blood of all three victims. If this lead can be traced, perhaps it can explain the problem of this highly skilled killer."