Chapter 228

Criminal Investigation Unit.

A deep black pickup truck sat quietly in front of the main gate.

Huang Qiang smoked a cigarette, standing on the steps two or three meters away from the truck, gazing at it with deep appreciation.

The political instructor had bad luck and got caught, so he had to join Huang Qiang in admiring it.

Soon, he grew bored and said, "Captain Huang. You've seen enough. Let's go back."

Political Instructor Pei Xiang was a gentleman—cultured, educated, unflustered even under Huang Qiang's oppression, like a blade of grass stubbornly surviving.

Huang Qiang laughed and said, "Go back to do what? In a hurry to write reports? Forget about those for now. Look at this truck—this muscle, it's perfect!"

Pei Xiang ignored him, calmly replying, "Someone has to write the reports while you solve cases. And all those data requests from above—week after week—they still need to be compiled."

"Have the young ones help you with it."

"They don't have access to my computer."

"Anyway, first, look at the truck—I personally picked it out from Qinghe Bureau's parking lot…" Huang Qiang's hands floated in the air as if caressing it, like an old lecher, saying, "2. T power, diesel engine, brand new four years ago—perfect, right?"

Pei Xiang said "Oh," and asked, "So it's a used truck that's been driven for four years? How many kilometers?"

"Ten or twenty thousand."

"So over two hundred thousand kilometers? Twenty-something?"

"About two hundred and fifty thousand, just under two hundred and sixty." Huang Qiang paused and added, "I know this car's no good for your personal use—you'd never want it—but it's for the unit, and I've tested it on the road: even with the AC on, it overtakes without any problem."

Pei Xiang sighed: "Better than nothing."

"Better than nothing by a long shot. This truck can handle rough roads. When we load two corpses in the back and drive out into the wilderness, the atmosphere just clicks." Huang Qiang imagined that vast, desolate scene and felt a strange longing.

Pei Xiang said, "Two corpses a year? I already think that's too many. Are you planning to stop living altogether? This year's case budget's already been wiped out by you."

"How could that be? We've got Jiang Yuan now. When we run out of local cases, we just drive this truck somewhere, solve a couple cases, and we've got everything we need." Huang Qiang crossed his arms, picturing the possibilities.

Pei Xiang said flatly, "Criminals think the same way."

Huang Qiang laughed loudly—ha, ha, ha, ha—four times, then said, "They've added more funding this time."

"How much?" Pei Xiang finally showed some interest. For a purely expenditure-based unit like the Criminal Investigation Unit, funding was its lifeline.

A few years ago, to secure funding, everyone had to resort to busting gambling dens and brothels—wasting time and energy, and corrupting the team's morale.

Now it's different. There's a Public Order Unit now; the Criminal Investigation Unit has no authority to bust gambling or prostitution.

Huang Qiang glanced around, then whispered, "Sixty thousand added."

"Oh my!" Pei Xiang brightened: "You sold well—this time you really nailed it."

"What kind of talk is that…" Huang Qiang lifted his chin proudly.

Pei Xiang sighed, "I won't even mince words: before, every time you went out selling, you'd spend three or five thousand and bring back seven or eight. It looked like you doubled your money, but you didn't even count the staff salaries. This time, you actually made a profit."

Flattered, Huang Qiang stopped nitpicking and said, "This time we took the entire First Platoon with us."

"It's just a few thousand. Accommodation and meals were covered by the municipal bureau." Pei Xiang added again, "In short, you sold well—keep it up, keep selling brilliantly."

"Alright, alright." Huang Qiang waved his hand, dropping the matter.

Expenditure and funding are two different things. A major part of expenditure is staff salaries and benefits. With police officers' six insurances and two funds, annual per capita expenditure easily exceeds 200, 00, not to mention equipment maintenance, procurement, fuel, repairs, and other needs—the total expenditure of a Criminal Investigation Unit is extremely high.

For example, a DNA lab alone spends at least three million a year.

Expenditure was beyond Huang Qiang's control, and he had no interest in controlling it.

What he truly cared about was the operational funding that could be directly applied to investigations—the cash in hand.

This amount varied greatly, with many calculation methods. A basic one was per capita allocation: in poorer counties, the standard was 15, 00 per officer, meaning each detective's annual case budget capped at 15, 00 yuan.

In wealthier cities like Changyang, per capita funding reached 30, 00 or even 40, 00 yuan—but Changyang's overall costs were also higher.

Ningtai County's Criminal Investigation Unit, on a per capita basis, averaged just over 20, 00 yuan annually, totaling around 3 million for the entire unit.

If all that money were used solely for theft cases, it could handle just over a hundred cases.

So whenever the county or municipal bureau launched operations or inspections, they often brought down extra funding as a subsidy to grassroots units.

A sudden 600, 00 yuan increase already made Huang Qiang very satisfied.

In addition, there was a brand-new Great Wall Cannon pickup from four years ago, two brand-new forensic kits, a collection of small tools, and an almost-new ninhydrin fingerprint development cabinet.

The last few items were all prepared for Jiang Yuan.

Huang Qiang pointed at the shiny second-hand pickup and declared with grandeur, "Once this funding hits, even if Qinghe City gets two more murders, I won't be afraid!"

If not for years of rigorous materialist training, Pei Xiang would have spat blood right onto Huang Qiang's face.

…

Jiang Yuan sat in his office for only half a day when people started showing up.

A technician with exceptional skills never has free time.

It's like a beautiful woman with outstanding looks—her downtime is always short; one job ends, another begins immediately.

Sometimes, when busy, a new task starts before the previous one is even finished.

The first two people who came to Jiang Yuan both brought fingerprints and footprints.

Jiang Yuan's most famous skills, so far, were fingerprints, footprints, bloodstains, and crime scene investigation.

Ordinary detectives were too embarrassed to ask Jiang Yuan to go to crime scenes.

That kind of work, lasting hours on end, was too much to burden a forensic pathologist with.

In comparison, fingerprints and footprints felt easier.

Jiang Yuan answered each request, saw them off, drank two sips of tea, and then saw Wei Zhenguo arrive.

"Wei Team Leader, long time no see." Jiang Yuan greeted him immediately and invited him to sit.

Wei Zhenguo's face was always dark and grim.

But his beard and hair were neatly groomed, making one wonder if he lived outdoors permanently.

Seeing Jiang Yuan, Wei Zhenguo was visibly pleased. He sat down, drank two cups of tea, chatted a bit, then said, "Our Sixth Team has been catching only petty thieves lately—electric scooter thieves, phone snatchers, one even stole from a shop…"

"Those aren't easy to catch either." Jiang Yuan himself had caught electric scooter thieves; though the methods were primitive, they were still hard to apprehend.

Wei Zhenguo nodded. "So I've been thinking lately—society has changed significantly."

"Mm."

"We should reorganize the surveillance system—update what needs updating, upgrade what needs upgrading, and form a video investigation platoon. Then catching thieves would be easier, and public order would improve." Wei Zhenguo glanced at Jiang Yuan and added, "You should bring this up with Captain Huang and the others."

"Surveillance systems are way too expensive. My opinion won't matter."

"Have Captain Huang push it up the chain. Maybe the higher-ups are just looking for places to spend money." Wei Zhenguo wasn't here solely for this—he shifted topics and said, "I have a case—I need your help."

"Oh? Go ahead."

"I have a friend…" Jiang Yuan gave him a strange look, and Wei Zhenguo quickly added, "Really, I have a friend."

"And this friend?"

"He's a zoologist. He has some blurry photos and video footage he wants processed. He'll pay, but regular companies can't handle it…"

"Sure, bring it over. I'll do it at home—office computers are still too old." Jiang Yuan agreed immediately.