Chapter 163: Swarming Out

Early morning.

Dew lingered on the leaves, then vanished.

Time for work.

A senior police officer from the Ministry, several criminal police officers from Binhai City, Senior Police Officer Liu Jinghui from the Provincial Department, and two leaders from the Qinghe City Bureau arrived at the Ningtai County Bureau.

The entire County Bureau swarmed out, showing extreme importance.

For years, Ningtai County had not had a case supervised by the Ministry, so it had also been years since any high-ranking officials from the Ministry had visited.

Even Comrade Guan Xi, the Bureau Chief, had a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

Similarly, Comrade Zhang Zhihong from the Ministry was quite curious about the Ningtai County Bureau.

After a somewhat restrained meeting, Zhang Zhihong asked, "Which of you are the criminal police officers who solved the Haibin case?"

He was also an expert in the field. As a superior leader, if you make the subordinates push one person forward, it is both embarrassing for them and for yourself. You never know what you might end up with.

Foreigners don't understand this principle, which is why the Nobel Prize was awarded to Tu Youyou alone.

Ningtai County was very sharp. At the Bureau Chief's signal, the Deputy Bureau Chief in charge of criminal investigation, Criminal Police Brigade Captain Huang Qiangmin, Comrade Wu Junhao from the First Squadron, Comrade Liu Wenkai from the Second Squadron, and the young forensic doctor Jiang Yuan all stood forward together.

Zhang Zhihong spotted the tall, fair-skinned Jiang Yuan at a glance.

As everyone knows, on the podium for receiving honors, if there is one person whose qualifications are not as good as their colleagues, then it goes without saying: he did the work.

"Young comrade, come here and tell us about the situation of the case." Zhang Zhihong beckoned, calling Jiang Yuan over.

Jiang Yuan stepped forward as instructed, showing no signs of stage fright.

He had followed the case from start to finish; if he really had to talk about it, he could easily recount it from beginning to end.

"This is our forensic doctor, Jiang Yuan." Huang Qiangmin introduced him with a smile.

"Oh, I heard that the criminal suspect's shoes were identified by a police officer surnamed Jiang through footprints. Is it Wu Wu Fa Yi Jiang?" Zhang Zhihong asked, knowing the answer.

"I identified them." Jiang Yuan did not show the slightest bit of false modesty. Within the system, learning to give and take means you are basically one of their own.

Zhang Zhihong nodded in approval: "It's not easy. You're self-taught in footprint analysis, right? I've discovered that in our police system, many people are self-taught, and often, they are more adaptable than experts who graduated from professional schools..."

Zhang Zhihong was also

50 years old, wore glasses, his collar button was fastened meticulously, and he stood very straight.

Jiang Yuan listened attentively, thinking, *It wasn't self-taught; the System Dad force-fed the knowledge to me. *

"Tell us properly about the process of solving the case." Zhang Zhihong easily steered the conversation back.

At this moment, the criminal police from Binhai City also gathered around.

The Ministry supervises about 300 cases each year.

Similar to the Provincial Department, the Ministry does not handle cases directly.

They also have a staff of only a few hundred; it's obvious that handling 300 cases is impossible.

In reality, once a case enters the "supervised" list, there will be additional funding, corresponding technical support, and even guidance on solving the case.

These three are in descending order of importance.

Moreover, except for the case funding which the Ministry provides itself, the latter two are very likely coordinated from elsewhere.

Anyway, if there's something to use, use it; having funding is already incredibly lucky.

However, cases that are listed for supervision but remain unsolved are quite frustrating.

Just like the Haibin case.

Because the nature of the case was heinous, the methods cruel, and the bodies were dug up from a vacation beach, it caused a considerable degree of social panic. It was exactly within the scope of the Ministry's supervision.

But being supervised doesn't mean it will definitely be solved.

Criminal cases often have such situations; in the end, there are always cases that cannot be solved.

If a Ministry-supervised case cannot be solved, it naturally disappoints the victims' families and society even more. At the same time, it wastes the funding and manpower of the supervision. And trying to restart it later would only cost more.

Therefore, for Ministry-supervised cases, every locality basically does its utmost. This is also when a criminal police officer can do their best to handle a case.

From a certain perspective, it's also a case of having whatever support is needed.

But the more this is the case, the more frustrating it is if it cannot be solved.

Tang Yazhan, a criminal police officer from Binhai City, was the one among those present with the most complex emotions.

Tang Yazhan was 48 years old this year, his hair was a bit messy, he was still an ordinary criminal police officer, and he was the one with the lowest rank and the least authority among those present.

According to the well-known principle, he was the criminal police officer in charge of the Haibin case, from tracking the first body of the Haibin case, to the later merging of cases, then to the Provincial Department's supervision, the Ministry's supervision, and finally the withdrawal of the special task force. Tang Yazhan had always remained in the special task force, constantly tracking news of DNA comparisons from various places.

Looking at Jiang Yuan's young figure, Tang Yazhan felt very complex inside; it was a bit bitter, yet he felt a sense of relief.

He had always held a belief that the Haibin case would definitely be solved.

One of the reasons was that the suspect in the Haibin case had left a huge flaw. When committing the last case, he was bumped into by someone, and at the same time, he was scratched by the victim, thereby leaving DNA evidence.

Matching the DNA evidence would solve the Haibin case; this was the part Tang Yazhan felt was easy.

However, ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

Tang Yazhan was still waiting for news of a DNA match, but by this time, he was actually already very desperate.

The killer might be dead, might have changed his name, might have gone abroad directly...

No matter which one it was, Tang Yazhan didn't feel happy.

Ten years—how many ten years does a person have!

At this moment, a phone call from the Ministry reached Binhai City.

Tang Yazhan arrived at Ningtai County as fast as he could, but he didn't know what kind of mentality he should hold.

"Let's talk as we walk." The Bureau Chief led everyone toward the conference room, and at the same time, had the footage from the interrogation room transmitted to the projector in the conference room.

After everyone was in their places, the young forensic doctor Jiang Yuan began to give a report that wasn't really a report under the gaze of everyone.

"After discovering the possibility that the criminal suspect might return to the scene, we adjusted the direction of our investigation..."

"I searched the commercial street once, and luckily, I happened to find the pair of shoes the criminal suspect was wearing. Next, we did some work revolving around the footprints and the shoes..."

"After failing to find the person through the shoes, we started looking for the criminal suspect with hotels as our target..."

Jiang Yuan didn't follow the mode of giving a report, and Huang Qiangmin and the others didn't feel it was necessary either.

On one hand, the people from the Ministry arrived very quickly; a standard and brilliant report couldn't be written in a short time.

On the other hand, Jiang Yuan and the others catching the criminal of the Haibin case this time was truly a great achievement.

Rather than coming up with a mediocre, formulaic essay, it was better to let Jiang Yuan perform an "original" report. Let the superior leaders see, hear, and understand the immense effort the Ningtai County Criminal Police Brigade had put in.

Zhang Zhihong, Tang Yazhan, and the others listened very attentively, as expected.

Liu Jinghui even leaned back in his chair with an expression of "this is my own person," lying in a comfortable posture.

However, when they heard that the criminal had returned to the scene, several people couldn't help but shift their posture, and parts of their bodies became involuntarily tense.

Some killers, and even thieves, have cases of returning to the crime scene.

However, this situation appears quite often, but the frequency is not high.

Or rather, there aren't many who are caught returning to the crime scene—even if they become criminals, people won't actively describe all their criminal acts.

And Zhang Zhihong and Tang Yazhan, the two police officers who were familiar with the Haibin case and had tracked it for ten years, knew the killer's cruelty even better.

When they got to the "KPMG" shoes, the people present just let out a few chuckles and then fell into silence.

Many people have heard of finding shoes through the patterns on the soles, but few have seen it.

Zhang Zhihong couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation: "It has the charm of Detective Zhou."

The local media reporter from Qinghe City standing nearby hurriedly wrote down this sentence.

"Shall we go see the suspect?" The Bureau Chief didn't make any summary after Jiang Yuan finished his report.

This meeting wasn't very formal to begin with, and the purpose of Zhang Zhihong and the others was to take away the criminal, Li Jianye.

The Ningtai County Bureau didn't have much objection to this, but they weren't very happy either.

Jiang Yuan didn't need to worry about so much; he just followed along.

Along the way, Zhang Zhihong asked Jiang Yuan some questions in a low voice, and Jiang Yuan answered them fluently.

He himself had mastered several skills, and now he had the experience of multiple cases; he was in the stage of most rapid growth.

Li Jianye's state was even more "arrogant."

Seeing the criminal police from Binhai City, he had completely entered the state of "I am invincible."

The fact was also that a person cannot be killed twice; once human fear reaches its peak, there is no more fear.

And Li Jianye's most fearful and excited stage had ended ten years ago.

The several criminal police officers from Binhai City directly began to enter the process of handing over the suspect.

Zhang Zhihong from the Ministry was responsible for coordination, making phone calls from time to time.

Liu Jinghui strolled over slowly, followed Jiang Yuan for a few steps, and then whispered: "Don't listen to this guy's sweet talk; the Ministry isn't a good place to stay."

"He didn't try to sweet-talk me into the Ministry." Jiang Yuan glanced at Liu Jinghui. When it comes to sweet-talking, this guy is top-tier. Last time he was sweet-talked into the deep mountains to eat chicken, the owner of the farmhouse at the foot of the mountain almost turned into a chicken vendor; it was still fresh in his memory.

Liu Jinghui immediately breathed a sigh of relief, then said with disdain: "They can't take advantage of you anyway."

Before Jiang Yuan could speak, Liu Jinghui pressed on: "Jiang Yuan, I'll arrange for you to join the Provincial Department's expert group. You don't have to run around. When there's a case, I'll invite you. Can you do that?"

Jiang Yuan hesitated for two seconds and nodded: "That works too."

He was still willing to work on cases.

"Okay. At first, it might still be related to fingerprints, since you made a contribution in the fingerprint battle. Later, we'll add other types."

"Good."

Liu Jinghui said this with a kind smile, handed Jiang Yuan a small box, and said: "I brought you a wireless mini-earpiece; it's very convenient to hang on the ear. When working, you can answer calls without affecting the sound outside. You don't need to put it in the ear; it sticks to the ear."

Jiang Yuan:...

He looked at Director Liu with a very strange expression.

Last time he even gave him an eye mask.

"It's free; it's a reward from the unit. I thought you might find it useful. You helped me a lot last time, and I haven't thanked you yet. I'm not as rich as you, so here."

Jiang Yuan:... During the on-site survey, he did have a moment where he thought about getting a single-ear headset...

A terrifying old fox.

He still couldn't help but reach out and take it.

Liu Jinghui revealed a smile like a fox that had stolen a chicken, then handed Jiang Yuan a USB drive and said: "Since you're already here, there happens to be a case here; take a look." ===== CHAPTER 164 =====