Chapter 1366

Jiang Yuan repeatedly examined the crime scene photos; the clues in this case were few, which is why it remained unsolved 15 years ago. As for now, the clues have actually increased somewhat, especially after confirming the identity of one of the victims; theoretically, the investigative direction should expand, but the reality is that the Li Huimin case had also been thoroughly investigated...

"Communication settled, this case will be led by us; I'll go inform Director Wu and clarify jurisdiction." Huang Qingmin came over to tell Jiang Yuan, then left for the meeting room to find the chief of Anwan City Bureau.

Jurisdiction is crucial, communication is crucial, because the crime scene of this case is in Anwan City, the investigation will likely take place there, thus requiring close cooperation from the Anwan City Bureau; otherwise, they could simply refuse or even expel the Ningtai County Bureau personnel.

This situation is actually quite common—for example, a company selling goods elsewhere or having a dispute with someone from another region, the other party files a report locally, jurisdiction naturally falls to the local police there, but to come here and arrest the company's person in charge, normally one would need the consent of the local police. Previously, public opinion often viewed this model as backward, a manifestation of local protectionism, but with the large-scale emergence of deep-sea fishing, it highlights the model's advancement.

Jiang Yuan didn't bother with all that and continued examining the evidence. Management-level matters were not his concern, and the system hadn't provided him with relevant skills, but criminal cases ultimately rely on evidence to support solving them; one can't just rely on political guidance...

Liu Jinghui also sat down, silently flipping through the case file; this case didn't even need to be looked at—he knew it was absolutely unsolvable, and after looking... it only strengthened that thought.

Liu Jinghui couldn't help glancing back at Jiang Yuan; if it were a few years ago, before he had this dragon, encountering a similar case, he would likely have said "PASS," in English because it doesn't conform to Chinese values, but an unsolvable case remains unsolvable no matter how correct the values.

Now with Jiang Yuan, Liu Jinghui has a glimmer of hope. He seriously flipped through the case file, believing the dragon would timely display its due authority.

After a long while, Huang Qingmin arrived with a solemn expression, accompanied by Zhang Liming, Wu Jingwei, and Liu Zhuangshi.

These three happen to be the provincial department, city bureau, and criminal police detachment assignments, and can to a considerable extent represent the opinions of the three levels.

Among them, Wu Jingwei, as bureau chief, holds the greatest power among the three; at this moment, he nodded solemnly and opened his mouth...

Interrupted by Zhang Liming.

Zhang Liming didn't bother with Wu Jingwei's many preparatory steps; seeing Jiang Yuan, he immediately said: "Police family member victimized, we have absolute zero tolerance for this case; I represent the provincial department and firmly support Director Jiang Yuan, firmly support the Ningtai County Bureau!"

Wu Jingwei let out a "hiss," couldn't help glancing sideways at Zhang Liming, thinking: No wonder he's a government official—picking sides is truly instinctive, right? His ability to read people and situations is even stronger than a con artist's, right?

Wu Jingwei coughed twice and said: "Our Anwan City Bureau will certainly provide support, guarantee logistics, charge forward..."

Zhang Liming let out a "hiss," turned his head to look at Wu Jingwei, thinking: What a good buddy, you with your thick brows and big eyes are willing to do anything.

Before he could process his thoughts, he heard Liu Zhuangshi softly say from beside him: "Our criminal police detachment also fully supports!"

Jiang Yuan stood up, looked at the three, nodded slightly, and said: "This case is not simple!"

"Full support!" Wu Jingwei this time spoke first.

"Full support!" Zhang Liming and Liu Zhuangshi also said without hesitation.

Huang Qingmin nodded with relief; the victim in this case is from Ningtai County, the crime scene is in Anwan City, Pingzhou Province; thus, obtaining support from Pingzhou Province and Anwan City is very important; Jiang Yuan could get provincial and municipal support with a single sentence—no matter what the sentence is, obtaining it is the goal.

As a frontline responsible person, Liu Zhuangshi actively said: "Director Jiang, how should we proceed? We'll execute immediately."

His two superiors also naturally nodded.

"Based solely on this case, our current clues are still somewhat scarce." Jiang Yuan said while looking at Wang Chuansheng, asking: "How is the family investigation going? Are there any records of abandoned vehicles in Ningtai County or Qinghe City?"

Wang Chuansheng had already contacted home, immediately brought his notebook over, and said: "Our Ningtai County had no abandoned vehicle records that day. As for Qinghe City, there were two cases; one involved an abandoned SUV, the other simultaneously reported a missing driver, abandoning a black Xiaoli."

Upon hearing this, the room fell silent.

Using the phrase often favored in court, "high probability," ordinary people can guess: this is the stolen vehicle itself!

"Speak." Liu Jinghui also became energized; he needs clues to reason.

"Vehicle owner Shen Shun, at the time of the incident was 38 years old, height about 1.75 meters, weight around 140 jin, matching the footprint characteristics of the male victim." Wang Chuansheng deliberately glanced at Jiang Yuan, then continued: "Fifteen years ago, Shen Shun was a small car driver at Qinghe City Yinhai Agricultural Production Materials Co., Ltd., the vehicle belonged to the company; after communicating with the family, we learned that Shen Shun often drove the company's vehicle to other cities to operate as a black car."

"Is he a driver?" Huang Qingmin breathed a sigh of relief. This way, Wei Zhenguo's suspicion would be even smaller.

Liu Jinghui whispered: "A person from Qinghe City ran to Ningtai County to operate as a black car, picked up the victim Li Huimin? Why go to Anwan then? Would Li Huimin suggest going to Anwan?"

"Abducted to Anwan?" Liu Zhuangshi cooperatively said: "If it's a passenger-carrying vehicle, then it's a vehicle robbery case? If Shen Shun operated a black car for business, this would be equivalent to a taxi robbery case? By timing, 15 years ago was indeed a peak period for vehicle robbery cases."

Liu Jinghui thought for a moment and said: "If it's a vehicle robbery case, the perpetrator would be the passenger; was Li Huimin's companion in the vehicle a companion or someone else?"

"Based on our investigation of the Li Huimin case, she went missing after work, and the people around her also had no motive to murder Li Huimin..." Huang Qingmin was then the criminal brigade commander, very familiar with this case.

"If it's a standalone taxi robbery-type case, then this case would be troublesome." Liu Jinghui frowned.

"Indeed." Liu Zhuangshi, as criminal police detachment commander, also unconsciously scratched his head.

For taxi robbery-type cases, officers with longer experience are all too familiar; those who experienced the 1990s and early 2000s, even if not monthly, at least quarterly encounter taxi robbery cases, and yearly encounter taxi robbery cases involving murder.

The reason taxi robbery cases are prevalent is first because taxi drivers have stable income and are easy to approach.

Taxi robbery cases, fundamentally, are profit-motivated cases; and in the 1990s and early 2000s, taxi drivers were considered a high-income group, with stable daily operating income and considerable amounts; often, their income could exceed the monthly salary of an ordinary person in a small city; as long as robbers are willing to act, they can secure a sum of money.

Furthermore, taxi drivers and black car drivers have the "hail and stop" and designated destination factors, which reduce the difficulty of approach. Compared to robbing shop owners or similar individuals, robbing taxis is much more convenient—one can simply find a random vehicle on the roadside to commit the crime, and can even designate a remote location for the act.

Moreover, in many places, the vehicle itself can be sold for a sum of money; like in Pingzhou, Shen Shun's such part-time black car is very popular, even obviously marked taxis have buyers, and dismantled parts also fetch a price.

Thus, taxi robbery once became the preferred choice for many economically strained individuals lacking criminal skills; as long as one has "courage," an individual or a few people can easily commit taxi robbery; if one wants to earn more, finding a way to sell the vehicle might yield more profit than robbing an armored car.

At the same time, favored by criminals yet troubling for police, is the difficulty in solving such cases.

Taxi robbery essentially involves random attacks, non-specific vehicles and non-specific victims, making it very difficult to investigate. Perpetrators often still require drivers to take the vehicle to a designated remote location.

Lastly, in taxi robbery-type cases, the first scene is often inside the vehicle; and when involving a homicide, the vehicle is either burned or sold, causing the first scene to disappear...

For police, the conventional approach to such cases is case linkage. Because information from a single case is often insufficient, and after success, perpetrators usually find it hard to abandon this profitable method, especially for those lacking criminal skills, as pure violence-based money-making methods are also not many.

Liu Jinghui also immediately thought of this point and looked toward Jiang Yuan, asking: "Can we link cases?"

He still rather anticipates this possibility.

Jiang Yuan unexpectedly yet reasonably gave a firm answer: "Yes!"

Such a firm answer inevitably drew everyone's gaze.