Chapter 204: Unverified Rumors

Longli County.

At the highway exit.

The police car had its hazard lights on, parked neatly by the roadside.

Hou Xiaoyong waited anxiously until a familiar Skoda appeared, then immediately shouted for the person inside to get out.

The Skoda slowed to a stop, Jiang Yuan got out and greeted him.

"Brother Jiang, you've finally arrived." Hou Xiaoyong's tension eased considerably.

His greatest fear was that Jiang Yuan wouldn't come at all—or worse, that he'd delay, deliberately showing up only the next day, and the case would remain unsolved.

Jiang Yuan was slightly surprised and smiled: "You've gone to so much trouble coming all this way to meet me."

"You came all the way for us—waiting at the highway exit is nothing." Hou Xiaoyong shook his hand warmly.

Jiang Yuan had a clear memory of Hou Xiaoyong, the on-site investigator. An on-site investigation skill level of 0. was unusually low—hard to encounter in practice.

Later, when he saw the scene, he realized Hou Xiaoyong was the type who just occupied the toilet without using it, and that explained everything.

Yet even so, when others occupied the toilet and constipated, they usually learned how maggots wriggled through observation—Hou Xiaoyong's growth was so painfully slow, it stood out.

"Let's go straight to the scene," Jiang Yuan said. He had no desire to go into Longli County—receptions and farewells were too troublesome, and the food was terrible.

Though Ningtai County and Longli County were neighbors, Longli County was far worse. The last time, even the braised pork intestines with pig stomach and chicken had been the pinnacle of Longli County's cuisine—and it was opened by outsiders.

Hou Xiaoyong hesitated briefly, then agreed, got in the car, and led the way.

Another twenty minutes of driving brought the two vehicles to their destination: San'an Village.

San'an Village had flat terrain and was among the better-off villages in Longli County.

The village had external factories, mostly engaged in simple agricultural processing. The main factory was a canning plant, producing small quantities of fruit cans but primarily bean and mushroom cans for export.

The advantage was that young people in the village could find work, and willing elderly could run small businesses. The downside was deteriorating public order and shifting morals.

The victim this time was a left-behind woman and her young child from the village.

The scene was drenched in blood. From the photos, the victim had been lying on her back on the floor beside the bed, her blood seeping beneath it.

The small room had blood splattered across three of its four walls.

The child, two and a half years old, was now missing.

Several familiar faces waited at the crime scene, including Hou Lejia, the head of Longli County's Criminal Investigation Unit.

"Dr. Jiang, you've worked hard, you've worked hard," Hou Lejia wore a completely different expression, beaming with smiles.

Last time, he had underestimated Jiang Yuan. Now, faced with blood covering every wall, his first thought was Jiang Yuan.

Looking back, Hou Lejia admitted he still couldn't solve the case of the scavenger elder, and this case, too, had left his entire team baffled.

When the same thing happened twice, Hou Lejia knew exactly what to do.

Jiang Yuan exchanged a few polite words, then said: "May I examine the scene?"

Hou Lejia readily agreed.

Jiang Yuan seized the chance to exit the small talk and refocused entirely on the crime scene.

A familiar forensic doctor, Ye, walked over, yawned, then explained: "We arrived at the scene nearly 48 hours ago… uh, the estimated time of death is between 3 and 5 a. . on the 4th…"

"The reporter was the child's grandmother—the victim's mother-in-law. She came in the morning to check on the child and found blood everywhere. The child was gone."

"After receiving the report, the responding officers immediately sealed the scene. But relatives of the victim and nearby villagers had already entered—this was terrible and has complicated the investigation."

Ye the forensic doctor slightly distanced himself, then looked at Jiang Yuan: "After the Criminal Investigation Unit arrived, we first sealed off San'an Village. Then we collected physical evidence and DNA. Based on case analysis, we initially focused on the victim's husband…"

Jiang Yuan listened more intently. If a married woman was killed—even by an alien—he had to consider the possibility the husband was pretending to be an alien, or had hired one.

"The victim's husband works out of town and couldn't have made it back in time," Ye paused, then added: "But we later discovered another crucial detail that brought the husband back onto the suspect list."

Jiang Yuan nodded, listening.

"By analyzing DNA from the victim's young son's hair strands, we confirmed the child was not biologically the husband's," Ye spoke in detail, proud of his role: "So the Criminal Investigation Unit returned to Changyang City, investigated and verified the husband's alibi, ultimately confirming his innocence."

"What was it?" Jiang Yuan had to verify again.

Others might be trusted, but this forensic doctor, Ye, was famously careless.

Even Jiang Yuan, a newly hired forensic doctor, had heard of Ye's reputation—his notoriety was clearly immense.

So Ye's evidence always needed a second review to be reliable.

Ye, utterly unconcerned, shrugged: "Our officers found surveillance footage showing the husband entering the dormitory area around 1 a. . Also, he was eating skewers with coworkers around midnight—there are witness statements."

"There's a factory right here in the village—why go elsewhere to work?" Jiang Yuan asked.

"The village factory prefers hiring people in their fifties or sixties, and middle-aged women—they pay low wages," Ye said.

Hou Xiaoyong added: "Maybe it's out of sight, out of mind."

Jiang Yuan looked at the body and asked: "What about the child's biological father? Do we know who he is?"

"We do. He's from the same village, also working away, and he has an alibi."

Jiang Yuan frowned slightly: "Where's the child?"

The scene grew colder.

If the killer had been the husband or the biological father, the child would have been taken. Now that they were ruled out, the child's whereabouts became an extremely serious question.

Hou Lejia cleared his throat twice: "The child is missing. We've questioned many people—no leads. We must solve this case as quickly as possible."

Jiang Yuan's expression grew three times more serious.

After becoming a police officer, one learns human trafficking remains a grave problem. There was a news story as proof: a couple made a living by selling their own children—five children over six years. That meant five consecutive crimes spanning six years before they were caught.

Ye continued: "The door lock was intact, no signs of forced entry. The crime occurred around 3 a. . We preliminarily concluded the killer was someone familiar. Considering the victim's situation, we first investigated her lover…"

"Did you find one?" Jiang Yuan asked.

"No. There are rumors—unconfirmed."

"The victim lived with her mother-in-law—even if she had a lover, he wouldn't meet her at home," Jiang Yuan recalled the reporter was the mother-in-law.

Ye gave Jiang Yuan a look that said, "You're still young," and said: "We now lean toward no lover. In a place like San'an Village, an affair would be impossible to hide. But that makes the case even harder to solve."

Longli County was investigating along the victim's personal relationships.

First, they checked household registration records, then contact lists—the same order as debt collectors.

The outcome was the same too: if something worked, great; if nothing happened, they were helpless.

"If it's not someone familiar, then it's a stranger?" Jiang Yuan stated the obvious.

Hou Lejia shook his head: "The victim lived alone with her child, right next to her in-laws' house—how could a stranger get the chance at 3 a. .?"

"We found no useful evidence, no defensive wounds," Ye sighed.

Hou Lejia now spoke sincerely: "Dr. Jiang, we're counting on you for the on-site investigation."

He called Jiang Yuan here precisely because he hoped Jiang Yuan could redo the scene examination and uncover some useful clues.