Chapter 1176

Huang Qiangmin and Yu Wenshu whispered to each other for a while. During this time, their expressions shifted multiple times, and in the end, they gripped each other's hands firmly in a partnership.

The police officers, who were usually quite adept at extracting information from the subtle cues of suspects, now acted as if they had collectively gone blind. They busied themselves with their own tasks, or others' tasks, or simply pretended to be busy, putting on a display of natural acting.

By the time Huang Qiangmin followed Yu Wenshu back to Jiang Yuan, the group of officers all looked completely oblivious.

"Jiang Yuan, this case is handed over to you." Yu Wenshu let go of Huang Qiangmin and gripped Jiang Yuan's hand tightly.

"You can rest assured," Jiang Yuan replied with considerable confidence.

Jiang Yuan's Cold Case Squad was currently at the peak of its strength, and the suspect who stole the hazardous chemicals likely had limited resources to invest in this particular crime.

Criminal investigation is adversarial. For cases that must be solved, when difficulties arise, one can always resort to a strategy of total war. By calculating the resources invested by both sides, the party with more resources will have a higher win rate. Of course, this win rate is like a 'Pinduoduo' win rate—no matter how much you stack, it only approaches 100% asymptotically, never truly reaching it.

"Handing it to you, I am naturally at ease." Yu Wenshu blinked and added, "This is a new case; I haven't let anyone else touch it yet. I won't talk about deadlines, but since hazardous chemicals are involved, everyone is certainly concerned. We must solve this as quickly as possible."

"Alright." Jiang Yuan agreed and added, "We are heading to the scene now."

"Good! I won't go. I wish you a swift success." Yu Wenshu encouraged the others briefly before hurrying back to resume his meeting.

Jiang Yuan didn't dawdle; he took a team and boarded a vehicle to head to the crime scene.

Wei Shiyan remained in the command center, sitting alone in a corner chair, staring at the test paper he had just received. His brain was boiling, bubbles constantly rising:

"What's going on?"

"What happened?"

"Why do I have to do math problems?"

"These symbols are so ugly."

The factory in question was located near the Changdong connecting line.

Along the line were various small mechanical processing plants, small chemical plants, and a cement factory, which kicked up plenty of dust. Accompanied by the constant flow of heavy trucks, it possessed a certain beauty of the old industrial era.

"In the same Changyang, some places are the 'Paris of the East,' while others are filled with PM10," Liu Wenkai remarked as he stepped out of the car, putting on a mask and sighing repeatedly.

"Jiang Team is here." Zhu Huanguang, a trace evidence expert from the Changyang Municipal Bureau, walked out of the factory wearing gloves.

Huang Qiangmin hissed, "I knew Old Yu wasn't that easygoing. He told me he hadn't sent anyone over and was handing the case directly to us, yet here you are, Old Zhu. This is really going too far!"

Zhu Huanguang chuckled, "When you're a cop, where can you find the truth in your words?"

Huang Qiangmin laughed, "You've just insulted yourself along with the rest of us."

"Not telling the truth doesn't count as an insult." Zhu Huanguang looked at Jiang Yuan and added, "I was the one who reported to Branch Chief Yu. The scene wasn't well-protected, and the investigation was difficult. I suppose Branch Chief Yu got anxious."

Zhu Huanguang had met Jiang Yuan during the fingerprint battle, and he knew Jiang Yuan well enough by now. For the past two years, Jiang Yuan and Zhu Huanguang had overlapped in many trace evidence groups, and they were well aware of each other's capabilities.

As a veteran in the field of trace evidence, Zhu Huanguang's fingerprint skills had reached the peak of LV3. In a good state and with a suitable environment, he could potentially break through to LV4 in a few specific areas.

In contrast, his other trace evidence skills weren't as prominent—some were at LV2, others perhaps high-level LV1. Therefore, Zhu Huanguang didn't often appear at crime scenes; he usually stayed in the trace evidence office working on finished products.

Seeing that it was Jiang Yuan who had come to reinforce them, Zhu Huanguang felt no embarrassment. He laid out the situation he had surveyed and then said, "Since Jiang Yuan is taking over, I can rest easy handing it off."

As a top-tier fingerprint expert in Shan'nan Province, Zhu Huanguang was busy as a bee. If it weren't for the fact that this case involved hazardous chemicals and fell within the jurisdiction of the Changyang Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment, he wouldn't have come either.

Jiang Yuan inspected the scene as a matter of routine, walking slowly inside.

"What's the situation at the scene?" Jiang Yuan observed his surroundings.

"Mainly, the employees of this factory had no awareness of protecting the scene. After the warehouse manager discovered the items were missing, he first assumed they had been shipped out and made several calls. Then, several groups of people came to check the situation, followed by others asking questions, and then people who just came to watch the excitement... By the time we arrived, there were dozens of footprints at the warehouse entrance, especially near the broken window," Zhu Huanguang said, shaking his head.

After the fingerprint battle, Zhu Huanguang's understanding of Jiang Yuan was deep enough.

Zhu Huanguang handed over the scene to Jiang Yuan after Jiang Yuan had finished his inspection and put on his gear, then he withdrew without hesitation.

Jiang Yuan checked the warehouse inside and out.

"Judging from the traces at the scene, the perpetrators should have entered by breaking a first-floor window. After entering, they opened the warehouse door from the inside. They used a cart from the warehouse for transport. The lock on the main warehouse gate is missing; it's highly likely it was destroyed and then taken away by the perpetrators."

Jiang Yuan observed everything and stated his findings, then looked at Liu Jinghui beside him and added, "Judging by the actions, it was clean and efficient, but for a thief, it lacks technical skill—they didn't even know how to pick a lock."

For a seasoned thief with some skill, the factory's large padlock wouldn't be a challenge. For a thief with actual craft, picking a lock is simpler and smoother than smashing a window.

"They aren't seasoned thieves. A seasoned thief would just steal the copper bars; there's no need to steal hazardous chemicals—they have no market for them," Liu Jinghui added for the sake of rigor. "Unless someone placed an order. But that's unnecessary."

"An inside job?" Jiang Yuan confirmed with Liu Jinghui.

"It should be an inside job," Liu Jinghui said. "Ordinary thieves wouldn't even find this factory. Besides, the cost-effectiveness of stealing this is too low. Hundreds of kilograms of copper bars and several barrels of chemicals require a vehicle to transport. To enter and exit through the main gate, they must have known there was no security guard. Does this factory have no security guard?"

Because of Liu Jinghui's question, someone immediately brought over the factory manager who was waiting nearby.

The manager shook his head. "No. When work ends, it ends. Our site is in the off-season; we're lucky just to keep the workers fed. We used to have an old man guarding the gate, but he got too old to work, and we couldn't find a replacement, so it's been dragging on for two years."

"Do you have a list of current employees? And a list of former employees?" Liu Jinghui asked.

"We gave you a list earlier," the manager said, though he still had someone print another copy.

Upon receiving the list, Liu Jinghui immediately felt a bit of pressure and understood why Yu Wenshu had been so decisive.

Not counting current staff, there were over 100 people, but the list of employees who had left in the last two years exceeded 300.

"Why is your turnover rate so high?" Liu Jinghui frowned. Even if it were just those who left within the last year, there were over 100 people. Screening all of them wouldn't be difficult, but the time required would certainly exceed the limit. Especially since many former employees might have returned to their hometowns or gone to work in other cities, making investigation difficult.

The factory manager complained bitterly, "It's too hard to recruit workers now, especially since we're a small chemical plant. Many people come to work for a few days, feel dissatisfied, and leave immediately. Then there are various agencies that pay them to introduce people, but when we're busy, they turn around and poach them..."

Liu Jinghui grabbed the key point. "Then are there people not on this resignation list? The kind who come and go, working for just a few days?"

"Those who got paid are on the list. Some only work for a day or two, and some come in the morning and run off with their buckets by the afternoon. They didn't get paid, so we didn't have a name to put on the list."

"What about the people from the agencies? Are they all listed?"

"Basically, yes. Those sent over have records because we have to pay the agencies."

"Did the ones sent by agencies ever leave after one day? Do you pay for those?"

"No, we don't pay for those."

"Are they on the list?"

"Probably not."

Liu Jinghui was speechless. "Your management is too chaotic."

The factory manager was helpless. "It's just such a small plant; our capabilities are indeed limited."

Liu Jinghui thought for a moment. "These people aren't on the resignation list, but they must be on the entry list, right? Do you have a list of people on duty? Or a list of dormitory assignments? A cafeteria list?"

"We have... maybe." The manager was uncertain. "Some records are a mess. We have the recent ones, but for those from a year or two ago, we'll have to look for them..."

Liu Jinghui sent two people to help him find the records and turned to Jiang Yuan. "We need another approach."