Chapter 1104

The two wool socks were covered in an unknown number of pollen grains and spores.

Plants are truly "a world in every tree" when it comes to reproduction. There is an old Chinese saying that once plants get rowdy, there's nothing for mammals to do.

Facing the traces left by plants, even Jiang Yuan could only choose to pick a few selectively.

This is another hurdle that tests botanical experience. Those without sufficient skill, facing such a battle-hardened pair of wool socks, might not even know which spores and pollen to pick, making it very easy to miss things.

In situations where experience is insufficient, students like Qiao Shengli can only carefully place the spores and pollen under a slide and observe them repeatedly to find the corresponding books. Of course, the reality is that while the quantity of spores and pollen is large, the total number of types will not be too many; with a little basic knowledge and learning on the fly, handling a pair of wool socks is not a problem.

Professor Su Lei brought several students, gave them a little training, and once they were familiar with the types of spores and pollen encountered this time, they each got busy.

Qiao Shengli shook her long, straight black hair, stared at Jiang Yuan for a good while, her sapiosexual brain stiffened, and she came to Jiang Yuan's side, whispering: "Brother Jiang, let me help you."

She wanted to call him "Brother Jiang" like the two actresses, but she was still a bit shy, stopping at "Brother Jiang."

"Sure." Jiang Yuan had no objections.

Qiao Shengli then pulled over a chair and sat gently beside Jiang Yuan, but because her chest was pushed too far forward, she had to move the chair back a bit.

Jiang Yuan could smell the scent of Qiao Shengli's hair; it was very fresh and smelled much better than a corpse.

Come to think of it, Jiang Yuan was actually truly accustomed to working in environments with odors.

The smell of rancid fat in the autopsy room, the beef tallow smell of a hot pot restaurant, the sandalwood scent in the office—all could stimulate Jiang Yuan's enthusiasm for work.

Jiang Yuan's movements were clearly much smoother, and his actions became more relaxed and natural.

"Jiang Yuan. Your apprentice is on the phone." Liu Jinghui entered the door and shouted.

"Is he calling your cell phone?" Jiang Yuan was a bit surprised.

"He couldn't get evidence for a few cases and asked me for a way," Liu Jinghui replied, then added: "Once these few cases are finished, his side will basically be done."

"Are they people involved with Zhang Lei?" Jiang Yuan had been buried in forensic botany for the past two days, and he had left the case follow-up to Liu Jinghui.

"Yes, they should have caught most of them by now," Liu Jinghui said, handing the phone to Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan took it: "I am Jiang Yuan, it's on speaker."

"Master." Captain Pang Jidong's voice was slightly surprised, and he laughed: "I wanted to report to you that all members of the organization Zhang Lei belonged to have been captured."

Jiang Yuan's brain turned for a moment before he understood, saying: "Zhang Lei is the victim... do you suspect that the homicide was caused by their internal fighting?"

The 50-something-year-old Captain Pang Jidong laughed: "Master, you're being too narrow-minded. This organization of theirs is called the Binren Gang. It's a typical 'energetic organization.' If we didn't know or weren't sure before, that's one thing, but now that we know, and it involves a homicide, we definitely have to take them all down in one go."

His logic, if viewed from a purely linguistic perspective, is certainly unreasonable, but if viewed from a higher dimension, it is very reasonable.

Chinese law emphasizes facts. Did they do it? Are they who they are? This is the key; matters outside the key content are all minor details.

Regarding the gang organization Zhang Lei belonged to, although looking purely at the homicide, Zhang Lei is the victim, but from a higher dimension, the criminal investigation detachment represented by Captain Pang Jidong doesn't care whether you are a victim or a perpetrator; as long as it is determined that you have criminal issues, you just get arrested.

"In that case, how many people were caught, and are there any clues?" Jiang Yuan asked.

Captain Pang Jidong laughed loudly again: "Caught 85 people, clues... none!"

Jiang Yuan couldn't help but look up at Liu Jinghui.

Liu Jinghui spread his hands helplessly: "I've been coordinating with Captain Pang Jidong for the past two days. Their interrogation side has been very meticulous. Currently, it looks like Zhang Lei just disappeared suddenly. Although there are people who didn't get along with him, no usable clues have been found yet."

"Did you review their confessions?"

"I've seen a portion, and I've seen everything related to Zhang Lei. Although many people are still talking nonsense, we can't find an obvious loophole."

"Zhang Lei was a mid-level cadre in that organization, right? When he was out, didn't he have any underlings following him?" Jiang Yuan began to think instinctively.

Liu Jinghui nodded and added: "Zhang Lei often liked to hang out alone. These 'energetic organizations' of theirs mainly rely on a few entertainment venues to survive, and their organization isn't that tight."

Jiang Yuan looked up: "Entertainment venues, relying on prostitution?"

"Places that still allow these 'energetic organizations' to make money nowadays are nothing more than these few types. Zhang Lei's Binren Gang initially opened edge-ball spas, later they just turned them into 'meat venues,' and then they opened bars and the like..." Captain Pang Jidong described it roughly, then added: "They are all relatively low-end venues; they don't get involved in high-end ones."

"Shouldn't high-end venues make more money?" Jiang Yuan was a bit surprised.

"That's not necessarily true. The renovation and investment for high-end venues are very large, and these people aren't very willing to invest money. Besides, high-end venues have high consumption, and the customer base doesn't overlap well with their business. People like Zhang Lei all come from bitter backgrounds and fought their way up. The last anti-gang campaign didn't wipe them out, and they themselves don't dare to stick their heads out now."

Jiang Yuan nodded slowly: "In that case, their business itself should have many contradictions, right? If nothing has been found in this regard..."

"A person's life is nothing more than work and life," Liu Jinghui took over the conversation: "Old Pang and their interrogation is indeed effective, but to say that we can exclude work factors now, I think it's too early."

Jiang Yuan nodded.

Captain Pang Jidong on the other end of the phone laughed heartily: "I'm just here to provide support. Master, you decide the investigation direction, and I will complete it with quality and quantity!"

Liu Jinghui smiled: "I have an idea. Jiang Yuan's forensic botany side is almost done; can it be used to compare with the primary scene?"

"Basically, yes." Jiang Yuan hadn't completely finished, but the completion rate was already very high.

As soon as Liu Jinghui saw Jiang Yuan nod, he continued: "Then my idea is, the environment a person is in is nothing more than two types: life scenes and work scenes. Zhang Lei's work scene is clear, right? Can we search through Zhang Lei's work scene? If we can't find anything, we'll search through the life scenes; that might be a bit more troublesome."

"Sure." After Captain Pang Jidong agreed, he added: "Zhang Lei was very cautious about using his phone, often changing phones and numbers. He had suffered losses in this regard and spent more than 3 years in prison."

This explained one reason why the suspect location couldn't be found. It was mainly explained for Jiang Yuan to hear.

Liu Jinghui had known this for a long time, and his tone shifted: "No matter how he uses his phone, or whether he carries one, both paths should be investigatable."

Jiang Yuan didn't waste any more words, turned around to get his notebook, and said: "The places you need to look for have poplar trees... Luojin City has quite a few poplar trees... um, I'll mention a few less common flower types, but you might need to identify them independently."

"That's no problem." After Captain Pang Jidong finished speaking, his voice suddenly changed: "Master... um, we are currently working for Lanyue City. The leadership's meaning is that the Lanyue Municipal Bureau must provide some sincerity in terms of compensation."