Chapter 1237

The case files are piled high like snow, the battle armor still unremoved, a single body steeped in autumn.

Between the fingers, cigarette embers scorch old memories; on the screen, flight paths shatter the star stream.

Meetings always occur beside perilous towers; henceforth, each guards the mountain and sea gate.

Suddenly hearing the distant bark of tracking dogs, listening to the howling that shakes the heavy clouds.

——Departing the Capital: Sending Ning Taijiang Yuan on patrol of Shannan from Capital Airport (deepseek, co-created by author Zhi Niao Village)

Woof!

When Jiang Yuan walked into the boarding gate, the police-uniformed Sylvester Stallone couldn't help but shout loudly, drawing waves of attention.

Jiang Yuan also waved farewell with deep emotion; the police dog's feelings are the most sincere, and its expression is the purest.

Cui Qishan and others also waved desperately, only lowering their hands after seeing Jiang Yuan's back disappear.

"Ah, that little Miss came too conveniently—I even suspect she's a spy sent by Qinghe Municipal Bureau's Shiju Sect." Cui Qishan complained. He originally thought Jiang Yuan would stay a while longer, just like before—each visit should involve handling a few more cases before returning. Who would have thought a black-long-straight female PhD would just pull him back to Taihe?

Xiao Si couldn't comprehend Cui Qishan's feelings; his major cases had all been cleared, leaving him in a state of light-hearted joy. Glancing at Cui Qishan, he smiled: "Here, the ones most reluctant to see Captain Jiang go are Sylvester Stallone and Cui Da, you."

Cui Qishan smiled: "At times like this, Sylvester Stallone is indeed more useful than you, and his words sound better too."

Wang Chao and other teammates, rarely seeing Cui Da's verbal offensive, couldn't help but show appreciative smiles.

Xiao Si calmly smiled, glanced at his teammates nearby, and said: "Sylvester Stallone is after all professionally trained, unlike us—we're no different from stray dogs by the roadside."

Wang Chao hissed: "You're even scolding yourself."

Woof!

Sylvester Stallone heard his own name, turned his head, and softly called out once.

……

Ningtai County.

The cold case special team of Jiang Yuan was transported and immediately scattered east and west to attend meetings.

Especially Huang Qiongmin and Liu Jinghui—such people, with their daily accumulated meetings, inevitably need to make up for them.

Jiang Yuan thus relaxed, heading straight to the meeting room, assisted by Wang Chuanxing, and began reading case files on site.

Although the newly built Taijiang River Basin diatom database is only 20 kilometers long, for Ningtai County and Qinghe City, this basically means local drowning cases can be completely netted.

Even some downstream drowning cases—bodies possibly found in downstream Jianjiang City, etc. —if the drowning point lies within Qinghe City's range, and both sides match, this amounts to a breakthrough in a case.

Frankly, the backlog of drowning cases remains substantial; year after year of accumulation makes this number even more terrifying. Take one example: children raised in the countryside—what village lacks someone who drowned? What neighboring village lacks someone who drowned?

In cities, it's actually the same: riverside urban districts must issue various warnings every summer, yet still cannot stop frequent accidents.

Among these drowning cases, perhaps most are accidental deaths, but criminal cases may also exist.

In many cities, relying only on personal effects beside the deceased to determine identity makes investigating a drowning case as difficult as finding a needle in the ocean. Some well-funded cities, out of necessity, hire experts to help dredge, yet often come up empty. Moreover, some cases, lacking clear signs of homicide, may be judged as unnatural death rather than criminal cases.

Jiang Yuan had previously cleared a wave of backlog cases in Ningtai County; Qinghe City had cleared part of its backlog, which stimulated the Municipal Bureau to launch the "Backlog Crackdown Year." Of course, the "Backlog Crackdown Year" has already passed, but if Jiang Yuan is willing to continue clearing backlog, Qinghe Municipal Bureau will surely strongly support it.

However, this time, neither Jiang Yuan nor Huang Qiongmin dared to loudly proclaim it.

After all, with only a 20-kilometer diatom database, whether it's usable or not remains debatable. Given the style of criminal investigation teams across various municipal bureaus, if you dare to shout about clearing the Taijiang Line drowning cases, they'll dare to dump a pile of cases on you that very day—by then, who cares about your 20-kilometer demarcation?

In this regard, police and military are the same—even if Huang Qiongmin himself, he throws tantrums when it's time to throw tantrums; if everything followed rules rigidly, could that battle be won? Could one avoid loss?

Jiang Yuan had already reviewed some case files on the plane; now he again examined case file after case file, arranging them in order on the long table.

Since it involves the diatom database, Qiao Shengli naturally followed Jiang Yuan's side to help.

She originally wanted to help Jiang Yuan divide the cases, but after watching for a while, she became confused and couldn't help but ask: "What is the standard for this division?"

Jiang Yuan, having been a criminal investigator for so long, only smiled slightly, yet did not answer Qiao Shengli.

Jiang Yuan had considered this on the way over; his primary task now is still to test the database's accuracy.

One cannot handle a major case only to find the database biased, thereby dragging the entire team into trouble.

On the other hand, since backlog cases have become backlog, they often result from multiple factors. Jiang Yuan must decompose these factors.

For example, the backlog cases in neighboring Longli County might stem from the criminal investigation team captain being too foolish; similarly, the cases in Shiting County might stem from poverty; Changyang City's cases might stem from complex personnel……

Besides, unfamiliar places, places never visited—these should be slightly postponed later, so as to better control variables and also reduce one's own difficulty.

This is a very natural choice: seemingly emotion-related, but actually a completely rational decision. This is also why various regions actively contact Jiang Yuan, and because everyone understands how people act when facing choices.

Moreover, testing the diatom database requires having diatoms, after all.

The 20-kilometer diatom database is upstream of Ning Tai, so it must be applied to drowning cases in downstream cities and this county.

These naturally need no explanation to Qiao Shengli; in fact, the case files she can read are scarce—after a brief look, she obediently sat aside waiting.

"Having selected these cases, but whether they can be processed, and how many can be done, remains uncertain." Jiang Yuan looked at Huang Qiongmin returning, then handed him the first stack of organized cases—six in total.

"Are these all Old Wu's cases? Do we have any of our own?" Huang Qiongmin referred to Wu Zhisu, team leader of the Jianjiang Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment. Previously, he was still one rank below others, so upon meeting he had to call him "Team Leader Wu."

"The river flow here in Ning Tai is fast, not conducive to retaining bodies. Besides, we've already cleared most of them before." Jiang Yuan explained.

Huang Qiongmin instantly understood: "Exactly—I was just thinking about having something new, forgetting that our backlog cases have all been cleared."

The diatom database is like corporate enterprise databases—it serves an auxiliary purpose. For Jiang Yuan, without the diatom database, he could still use diatoms to solve cases; without diatoms, he could also use forensic anthropology or even cranial reconstruction techniques to confirm the victim's identity.

Of course, with the diatom database, at least in determining the water entry point, efficiency is extremely high.

Jiang Yuan further explained: "Jianjiang's water system is developed, and drowning cases are relatively numerous. Bodies flowing downstream from our county, if not in the main river channel, many would remain in Jianjiang. I propose we first compare Jianjiang's backlog cases; if matches appear in the database, we can directly proceed to the next step. However, if these six cases all fail to match, we'd better not persist."

"Understood—if no match, change location. This time we're just playing with diatoms." Huang Qiongmin, comprehending as a criminal investigator, pulled out his phone and smiled: "Wait a moment—I'll have a good chat with Old Wu."

Jiang Yuan stood up to pour himself a cup of tea, meanwhile resting a bit.

The tea was brought from home—spring new green tea, boiling water poured down without mercy; immediately, tea fragrance filled the backlog special team's office.

After two infusions, Huang Qiongmin returned, his face glowing red.

"Old Wu had people bring the diatom samples over and send them here; he himself will arrive shortly." Huang Qiongmin sat down, first sipped a cup of tea, slightly eased his dry mouth and tongue, then said: "This guy is sly—he's negotiating prices with me here, while over there he's already dispatched the cases to his subordinates, not wasting a single moment."

Hearing this, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but laugh: "With him like this, you'd easily see through him."

"I know he's willing, he knows I know he's willing, I know he wants to refuse yet welcome, he knows I know he wants to refuse yet welcome, he still wants to refuse yet welcome—people are just like this." Huang Qiongmin said, sighing emotionally.

(End of Chapter)