Chapter 163: The Nest Empties

Morning.

Dewdrops lingered on the leaves, then vanished.

Time for work.

A senior inspector from the ministry, several detectives from Haibin City, Senior Inspector Liu Jinghui from the provincial bureau, and two leaders from Qinghe City Public Security Bureau arrived at Ningtai County Bureau.

The entire bureau turned out en masse, treating it with great importance.

Over the years, Ningtai County had never had a case supervised by the ministry, so it had been many years since any high-ranking ministry official had visited.

Even Director Guan Xi's eyes held a hint of curiosity.

Similarly, Zhang Zhihong from the ministry was also quite curious about the Ningtai County Bureau.

After a somewhat awkward meeting, Zhang Zhihong asked: "Which of your detectives solved the Haibin case?"

This man understood the game—you, as a superior, shouldn't force a subordinate to step forward; that would embarrass both sides and yield no certainty of results.

Foreigners don't grasp this principle, which is why the Nobel Prize went solely to Tu Youyou.

Here in Ningtai County, the response was unmistakable: under Director's signal, Deputy Director Huang Qiangmin, Captain Wu Junhao of the First Squad, Officer Liu Wenkai of the Second Squad, and young forensic expert Jiang Yuan stepped forward together.

Zhang Zhihong immediately noticed Jiang Yuan—tall, fair, and clean-cut.

As everyone knows, on an award stage, if one person lacks the qualifications of his peers, it's obvious he did all the work.

"You, young comrade, come here and tell us about the case," Zhang Zhihong gestured, calling Jiang Yuan over.

Jiang Yuan stepped forward obediently, showing no sign of nervousness.

He had followed the case from start to finish; if he had to recount it, he could easily trace every detail.

"This is our forensic expert Jiang Yuan," Huang Qiangmin smiled and introduced him.

"Oh, I heard the suspect's shoe was identified by a Jiang officer through footprints—is that you, Expert Jiang?" Zhang Zhihong asked, feigning ignorance.

"Yes, I identified it," Jiang Yuan replied without modesty; within the system, mastering this give-and-take meant you were already one of them.

Zhang Zhihong nodded approvingly: "Not easy—did you learn footprint analysis on your own? I've noticed many in our police system are self-taught, and often adapt better than academy-trained experts…"

Zhang Zhihong was also

fifty years old, wore glasses, kept his collar button fastened perfectly, and stood rigidly upright.

Jiang Yuan listened attentively, thinking: wasn't it the System Dad who forced-feed me all this?

"Tell us in detail how you solved the case," Zhang Zhihong smoothly steered the conversation back.

At this point, the Haibin City detectives gathered around.

The ministry supervises roughly three hundred cases per year.

Like the provincial bureau, the ministry doesn't directly handle cases.

With a staff of several hundred, it's obvious they couldn't possibly manage three hundred cases themselves.

In practice, once a case is placed on the "supervised list," it receives extra funding, technical support, and even investigative guidance.

These three benefits decrease in value in that order.

Moreover, while the funding comes directly from the ministry, the latter two are often coordinated from outside regions.

In any case, if it's available, use it—having funding alone is already a luxury.

But cases listed for supervision yet unsolved are deeply frustrating.

Like the Haibin case.

Due to its heinous nature, brutal methods, and the fact that bodies were unearthed on a vacation beach, it triggered widespread public panic—perfectly within the ministry's supervision scope.

But supervision doesn't guarantee a solution.

Many criminal cases end this way—some simply remain unsolved.

If the ministry's supervision fails to solve it, it further disappoints victims' families and society, wastes supervision funds and manpower, and makes restarting the case later even more costly.

So, local authorities spare no effort on ministry-supervised cases—this is when a detective can truly give everything he's got.

In a sense, you get whatever support you need.

But the more support you get, the more frustrating it is when you still can't solve it.

Among those present, Tang Yazhan from Haibin City felt the most complex emotions.

Tang Yazhan was forty-eight, his hair disheveled, still a regular detective—the lowest-ranking and least authoritative person in the room.

By common understanding, he was the lead detective on the Haibin case: from the first body discovered, through case consolidation, provincial supervision, ministry supervision, to the eventual disbanding of the special task force, Tang Yazhan remained behind, continuously tracking DNA matches from across the country.

Looking at Jiang Yuan's young figure, Tang Yazhan felt a mix of bitterness and relief.

He had always believed the Haibin case would be solved.

One reason: the suspect left a massive flaw—he was caught in the act during his final crime, scratched by the victim, and left behind DNA evidence.

Matching that DNA would solve the Haibin case—that's what Tang Yazhan thought would be easy.

Yet ten years slipped by in a blink.

Tang Yazhan still waited for DNA matches, but by now, he was already nearly hopeless.

The killer might be dead, might have changed his identity, might have fled abroad…

Whichever it was, Tang Yazhan found no joy in it.

Ten years—how many tens of years does a man have?

At this moment, a call from the ministry reached Haibin City.

Tang Yazhan rushed to Ningtai County at top speed, unsure what mindset to hold.

"Let's walk and talk," the director said, leading everyone toward the conference room while having the interrogation room footage streamed to the projector.

Once seated, the young forensic expert began his report—not as a formal presentation, but as a natural recounting.

"After we determined the suspect might return to the crime scene, we adjusted our investigation direction…"

"I searched the commercial street and, luckily, found the exact shoes the suspect wore. Then we focused our efforts on the footprints and the shoes…"

"After failing to identify the suspect through the shoes, we shifted our focus to hotels…"

Jiang Yuan didn't follow a formal report format, and Huang Qiangmin and others saw no need to force it.

On one hand, the ministry's delegation arrived quickly—there wasn't time to write a polished, formal report.

On the other hand, Jiang Yuan and his team had genuinely accomplished a major breakthrough in solving the Haibin case.

Rather than producing a bland, formulaic document, it was better to let Jiang Yuan deliver an authentic, unfiltered account—so the superiors could see, hear, and truly understand the immense effort the Ningtai County detective team had made.

Zhang Zhihong, Tang Yazhan, and others listened intently.

Liu Jinghui even wore a "this is my own man" expression, leaning back in his chair, head tilted upward, relaxed and satisfied.

But when they heard the suspect had returned to the crime scene, several people instinctively shifted their posture, their bodies tensing slightly.

Some killers, even thieves, return to crime scenes.

But while this happens often enough, it's not frequent.

Or rather, catching a suspect returning to the crime scene is rare—even criminals won't voluntarily confess all their crimes.

Zhang Zhihong and Tang Yazhan, both intimately familiar with the Haibin case after tracking it for a decade, knew the killer's cruelty all too well.

When they heard the name "Bimawei" shoes, the room erupted in a few light laughs, then fell silent.

Finding shoes by sole pattern was something many had heard of but never seen.

Zhang Zhihong couldn't help murmuring: "It has the spirit of Zhou Tan."

The local Qinghe City media reporter standing nearby quickly jotted it down.

"Let's go see the suspect?" the director said after Jiang Yuan finished, offering no summary.

This meeting wasn't meant to be formal; Zhang Zhihong and the others' goal was simply to take custody of the suspect, Li Jianye.

The Ningtai County Bureau had no strong objections, but wasn't particularly pleased either.

Jiang Yuan didn't need to worry about any of that—he just followed along.

Along the way, Zhang Zhihong quietly asked Jiang Yuan several questions, and Jiang Yuan answered smoothly.

He already possessed multiple skills and had experience with several cases—he was in his most rapid growth phase.

Li Jianye's demeanor had become even more "cocky as hell."

Seeing the Haibin City detectives, he fully slipped into his "I'm invincible" mode.

The truth was: a man can't be killed twice; once fear reaches its peak, there's no fear left.

And Li Jianye's most fearful and exhilarating phase had ended ten years ago.

The Haibin City detectives immediately began the suspect handover process.

Zhang Zhihong from the ministry coordinated in the middle, occasionally making phone calls.

Liu Jinghui strolled over slowly, fell in step beside Jiang Yuan, and whispered: "Don't listen to this guy—he's not worth staying with at the ministry."

"He didn't trick me into going to the ministry," Jiang Yuan glanced at Liu Jinghui; when it came to trickery, this man was top-tier. Last time he tricked me into eating chicken in the mountains—the owner of that rural inn nearly turned into a chicken trader, and I still remember it vividly.

Liu Jinghui immediately relaxed, then sneered: "They can't even grab the easy advantages."

Before Jiang Yuan could respond, Liu Jinghui pressed on: "Jiang Yuan, I'll get you assigned to the provincial bureau's expert team—you won't need to move. When cases come up, we'll invite you. Deal?"

Jiang Yuan hesitated two seconds, then nodded: "Fine."

He still enjoyed working on cases.

"Good. At first, it'll probably be fingerprint-related cases—you earned credit in the fingerprint campaign. Later, we'll add other types."

"Alright."

Liu Jinghui smiled warmly, handed Jiang Yuan a small box, and said: "I brought you an ultra-mini earpiece—it clips on easily, lets you take calls during work without blocking outside sounds, no need to insert it—just sticks to your ear."

Jiang Yuan: …

He gave Liu Jinghui a strange look.

Last time he gave me an eye mask.

"It's free—it's a unit reward. I thought you might find it useful. You helped me out big time last time, and I haven't thanked you yet. I'm not as rich as you, so take it."

Jiang Yuan:... During the on-site survey, I did briefly consider getting a single-ear microphone...

A terrifying old bastard.

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

Liu Jinghui's face broke into another fox-like grin as he handed Jiang Yuan a USB drive. "Since you're here anyway, there's a case here—take a look."