Chapter 1373

The case-related materials sent by the Guqi City Bureau came in four full boxes—it was clear they had put in considerable effort.

However, the arson committed by the killer genuinely increased the difficulty of solving the case, especially back then, when spontaneous firefighting teams formed by surrounding neighbors, though they successfully extinguished the fire, objectively caused the loss of evidence.

For a case from 16 years ago, with no surveillance and the scene evidence lost, the difficulty of solving it is extremely high.

But precisely because many neighbors were present at the scene, the criminal suspect was witnessed, and ultimately, a sketch was made.

"The killer is tall and somewhat heavyset, male, appears relatively young, with a fierce gaze, darker skin, short hair..." Xu Taining read the description from the file, then chuckled lightly: "This matches Jiang Yuan's judgment. However, the Guqi City Bureau ultimately found no one."

"He likely committed the crime while on the run. The killer probably fled immediately after the act, which should be the main reason he evaded multiple investigations." Liu Jinghui, after reviewing the related information from both the Guqi and Meyang City Bureaus, began to demonstrate his deductive abilities.

Xu Taining, who demands definitive answers, said: "Saying it was a mobile crime now still needs proof. Looking at this case, his habit was to set fires after committing the crime, so related arson cases are actually all suspicious. Additionally, the Guqi and Meyang cases were both home-invasion robberies and murders—could it be that some theft cases with no one present were also his work? He couldn't possibly only target occupied homes for theft, could he?"

"He might not have lock-picking skills." Liu Jinghui replied firmly: "The Meyang case isn't certain, but in the Guyang case, victims were often at home with doors open for cooling, since they lived in self-built unit buildings. Taxi robbery is similar—the killer chose targets requiring no skill, but high physical demand."

Xu Taining slowly nodded: "Tall and strong-built, prefers using violence to solve problems."

"This also matches the typical traits of suspects in taxi robbery cases. If they had burglary skills, they wouldn't need to rob taxis." Liu Jinghui stated a harsh truth: even in crime, those with skills gain higher returns at lower risk.

"So the killer first sought convenient opportunities, committed violent crimes against others—there was no need to start with murder, was there?" Xu Taining continued his questioning.

Liu Jinghui hummed: "You're asking me how the killer gradually grew into this—this is criminal profiling territory. What I can say is that after he began killing, he consciously chose to commit crimes while on the run; otherwise, given the transportation conditions of 15 or more years ago, intercity flight would be easy, but interprovincial or nationwide flight? If not intentional, it wouldn't be easy to explain."

Liu Jinghui, putting himself in the killer's shoes, said: "After each crime, his first identity is that of a fugitive; second, he must launder the loot. Being able to resist committing another crime immediately to launder everything at once, instead choosing to flee first, shows some cunning. By the time of the Li Huimin case, it can be seen as another criminal upgrade—he faced two victims, or coerced them into driving thousands of miles, a process hard to control. Of course... he might also have had accomplices. Taxi robbery-murder cases often involve teams."

Certain types of typical characteristics often have internal causes, just like distant prostitution and nearby gambling—taxi robbery is best done as a team effort, not just because taxi drivers were frequently robbed back then, making it easy to hide weapons and retaliate, but mainly to intimidate drivers; multiple robbers make it easier for the driver to surrender, and also reduce the cost for the perpetrators.

"Committing crimes while on the run was indeed a good idea back then. The team issue also needs consideration." For Xu Taining, mobile crime is also very troublesome. In fact, for any police officer, such cases are harder to handle, with breakthroughs often depending on luck and interrogation.

Speaking to this point, the two simultaneously turned their gaze toward Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan looked up at the right moment—he had been scanning photos on his pad, and now had Wang Chuanxing display the marked photos, saying: "I just checked a few other C-rated cases; one of the footprints found matches the suspect's features and can confirm they are the same."

"Let me see. Which one?" Xu Taining immediately asked.

"The Liyuan City case." Jiang Yuan had Wang Chuanxing print the materials, while explaining: "It's also a murder and body burning, but outdoors, using gasoline, the body burned severely, the scene had no vehicles, but footprints were left baked hard."

"The Li Huimin case was also outdoors." Liu Jinghui added, then slightly furrowed his brow: "This killer, back then, should have been experimenting."

"Experimenting with killing?" Xu Taining asked.

"Pretty much. Some killers prefer a fixed method of killing; others like to experiment."

"Experimenting also carries risks." Xu Taining didn't wait for the printout, had someone bring over a pad, and began flipping through it himself.

For a moment, the only sounds in the room were pages turning—whether on pads or paper documents.

"The Bajing body-burning case is that B-level similarity case—I believe during the investigation phase, it can tentatively be classified as part of the same series." Liu Jinghui spoke at this point, then began detailing subtle textual clues to argue the killer is the same.

Jiang Yuan and Xu Taining listened for a while, both expressed agreement, and thus the Li Huimin case was upgraded to a series case, involving locations Meyang, Guqi, Liyuan, Ningtai, and Bajing—five cases in total.

All five cases are homicides, but aside from the Ningtai County case, the other four did not involve burned vehicles. However, the Guqi and Meyang cases were home invasions, while the Liyuan and Bajing cases were outdoor body burnings—though the transportation method is uncertain, the possibility of car theft remains high.

Xu Taining thus arranged personnel to normally follow up on these cases, while also sending people to Liyuan and Bajing to investigate missing vehicle reports during the relevant time period.

At the same time, Xu Taining disseminated the information that the killer is 1.8 meters tall, weighs 180 jin, and is currently aged 42 to 46. This information has received multiple verifications; now it is another clue, and when compared with over a decade-old homicide cold cases, home-invasion thefts, and car robbery cases, it might yield new leads.

Easy to say, hard to do—unless there are many people.

Xu Taining's single order, when sent to any city or county, requires at least several people to screen; those with surplus energy and ideas might even be dispatched in dozens to search through old paper piles—roughly calculated, this amounts to the deployment of hundreds of police officers.

Converted to a regular task force of twenty to thirty officers, even with such leads, at most one or two people per city or county would be sent to follow up, and they'd have to beg for cooperation, preferably borrowing one or two more to accompany them—even then, nonstop digging, unless everyone is mobilized, it's normal for dozens of cities and counties to spend several months on this.

Some task forces, after pursuing these two leads to exhaustion, continue if they catch up, or wrap up if they don't.

But for Xu Taining, this is merely a leg of a ten-thousand-mile journey—he also extensively collected footprint clues, hoping Jiang Yuan could make a breakthrough, and on the other hand, specially assigned personnel to reorganize the timeline and study the killer's escape route.

Most importantly, Xu Taining directly reopened the four homicide cases in Meyang, Guqi, Liyuan, and Bajing.

The two cases in Liyuan and Bajing are both outdoor body burnings, with the main clue being the bodies; local investigations have been fairly thorough, but they lack corresponding suspect identity information. The Meyang and Guqi cases are both home-invasion robberies and murders, focusing on the disposal of stolen goods, and also using special intelligence and other information—but if one considers that these four cases are actually part of a series, it's easy to think the killer not only may have disposed of goods in another location, but possibly across provinces.

Under the conditions of that time, investigating this would be too difficult.

But for Xu Taining, these are all new leads.

The task force is like a large shield machine, tunneling through the dense mountain mass of the vast Dashan—seemingly unstoppable, able to go anywhere, but in reality, only achievable through meticulous planning and refined design; and the countless gears spinning rapidly inside ultimately manifest externally as merely a few meters per hour.

Leads rapidly gather, then are redistributed by Xu Taining, then gather again...

A few days later.

Jiang Yuan arrived early for work and saw a familiar figure standing at the entrance of the Anwan City Bureau.

"Director Jiang." Wei Zhen'guo saw Jiang Yuan, and before he could speak, hurriedly said: "I know I'm not suited to participate in the task force's operations, but I also hope the task force doesn't need to avoid me. I've rented a place to live nearby—if the task force has anything to ask, I'm available at any time."

After speaking, Wei Zhen'guo didn't wait for Jiang Yuan's reply, turned and left.