Chapter 244: Service Point

The staff of the power supply office all live in the staff housing compound there—it's not a bad location either…" The fat shopkeeper spoke slowly.

Wei Zhenguo interrupted him impatiently and asked: "What's Old Fu's name?"

"Fu… Fu Guangyun, I think." The fat shopkeeper tapped his forehead, thinking.

Wei Zhenguo immediately checked on his phone, then signaled Wen Ming to watch the shopkeeper, and went to a corner to call Huang Qiangmin.

Cops who rush to arrest suspects the moment they get a lead get sidelined after just two cases in this country.

A major case, organized by the provincial bureau, deploying over a dozen labs, mobilizing hundreds of vehicles, and assembling thousands of personnel for investigation—yet in the end, four detectives find the answer and go off on their own to make the arrest?

If they catch him, the boss might grit his teeth and accept it—but what if they fail, or end up in a standoff?

Why not try to mobilize the hundreds of officers from other units?

For Wei Zhenguo, who's spent years chasing criminals and seen it all, he knows better than anyone that more people is always better than fewer.

Forget all the rest—any mentally sound suspect might resist two or three officers, but when faced with a sea of uniforms, he'll give up right away.

Sure, he might flee, try every trick to evade capture—but eliminating violent resistance is already a major success.

Unlike in TV dramas, cops don't want themselves or their colleagues hurt, and they don't want suspects hurt either.

If a suspect gets injured, the detention center won't take him—they have to send two, even four people to the hospital for round-the-clock shifts… Any cop who tries to play the hero and guards a suspect in the hospital for half a month will nearly break down.

After reporting to Huang Qiangmin, Wei Zhenguo felt a bit lighter, turned back, and began questioning the fat shopkeeper in detail.

Wen Ming and Mu Zhiyang circled the shop three times, alert and cautious, confirmed both workers were outside, then returned to guard the entrance.

Inside the shop, Jiang Yuan was also rapidly gathering information.

The information obtained now wasn't just for capturing suspect Old Fu—it might also help rescue Liu Jinghui.

If it wasn't too late.

Jiang Yuan hadn't had time to think deeply about this before. For the past three days, he'd been in the autopsy room; before that, searching for bodies and sorting through garbage or evidence in the mine tunnels.

He'd deliberately avoided thinking about it.

From the very beginning, shifting from directly searching for Liu Jinghui to first solving the case, then searching for Liu Jinghui, was Jiang Yuan's best compromise after suppressing a great deal of emotion.

Xu Taining, Huang Qiangmin, and others ultimately accepted this plan. Of course, a large part of that was trust in Jiang Yuan—if they hadn't trusted his investigative ability, they likely wouldn't have chosen this indirect approach.

Jiang Yuan understood this. While relieved the case was progressing smoothly, he also had to bear this heavy pressure.

The pressure was always there, with no outlet for relief—only pushing forward with all one's strength.

It was still like this now; far from the time to celebrate.

Stories of choosing the wrong suspect due to various reasons were never in short supply…

At such times, verification was necessary—but that didn't mean everything had to stop.

Under Wei Zhenguo's detailed questioning, the fat shopkeeper grew a little more at ease and began to talk: "Old Fu used to drive an old Daqi. That car had lots of little problems—he'd come by every now and then for repairs. His unit also had a Foton pickup, which Old Fu occasionally brought in for maintenance. Later, once we got familiar, he'd often borrow a motorcycle, saying it was easier for mountain roads."

"How long would he borrow the motorcycle for?"

"Short trips, about a week; long ones, over a month. Sometimes when he came back, he'd just leave it, saying he'd need it again in a few days—it was just a phone call."

"How did you charge him?"

"We didn't really charge separately—it was all bundled into repair fees. This crappy secondhand bike only cost two or three thousand to buy. If he used it for a month, we'd charge him three or five hundred, mainly because he drove mountain roads and hauled cables and motors—he'd always need repairs when he came back. So I just added it all to the repair bill. Look, you'll notice I haven't written 'monthly settlement' since then…"

"Is borrowing the motorcycle this often normal?"

The fat shopkeeper sighed: "He could buy his own—it'd still come here every day. Old Fu drove his car so hard, the rear suspension on the motorcycle got loose. Their vehicles were worn out, overloaded, on terrible roads—every time they came back, I had to take everything apart, inspect, repair, replace parts."

He paused, then pointed to the few vehicles behind him: "It's much easier borrowing from me—he always picks the best-conditioned vehicle, and if he's not satisfied, I swap in a new part right away. If he bought his own motorcycle, he'd ruin it in a year—replacement parts would cost more than the bike itself."

Wei Zhenguo listened, amazed, and exchanged a glance with Jiang Yuan.

This was truly practical wisdom—no such service existed in big-city repair shops, and no one would casually rent out vehicles. Profit aside, operating without a license was trouble enough.

But in a small township like Fangjin, compliance didn't matter. Frequent visits for repairs and parts were normal; if he didn't maintain the motorcycle properly, carrying a hundred-kilogram corpse halfway up a mountain and breaking down? No one would hear him cry for help.

Meanwhile, a motorcycle carrying an adult and an adult corpse, traveling long distances on terrible mountain roads, needing regular maintenance—this was entirely reasonable.

From another angle, choosing this method of body disposal must have involved experience.

"Since what year did Old Fu start borrowing your motorcycles?" Jiang Yuan followed this line of thought.

The fat shopkeeper's mind stalled for a while, then said: "Since the year they pulled out from the mountain—five or six years ago."

"What do you mean 'pulled out'?"

"The power supply office used to have a station on Xishan, to supply electricity to nearby factories and mines. Later, those factories and mines shut down, so the power supply office shut down the Xishan station. Old Fu used to live on Xishan, then moved down here."

Jiang Yuan exchanged another glance with Wei Zhenguo…

Wei Zhenguo silently swore, immediately took his phone outside, and called Huang Qiangmin again.

Jiang Yuan asked the fat shopkeeper a few more questions; Wei Zhenguo returned and continued questioning.

In terms of interrogation skills, Jiang Yuan and Wei Zhenguo were still on different levels.

They took turns questioning for over half an hour, then took the shopkeeper into the car and headed to the police station.

This fat shopkeeper was a key witness—he absolutely needed to give a formal statement under camera.

Jiang Yuan and the others had just finished sorting things out here when an hour passed; they stepped out of the interrogation room to find chaos outside.

A man in a black hood and blue double-pocket work uniform was led in, surrounded by seven or eight officers.

The sheer ceremonial weight of the arrest alone confirmed his identity.

"Already caught?" Wei Zhenguo asked the officer who came in behind him.

The officer, recognizing Wei Zhenguo, grunted: "We went straight in and grabbed him. He didn't resist, didn't say a word—not even one question."

"Did he participate in our operation? I mean, in auxiliary roles?" Jiang Yuan didn't know who else to ask; seeing Wei Zhenguo knew this man, he hurried over.

The officer looked at Wei Zhenguo again; when he nodded, the officer said: "The power supply office had duty assignments, and as a public institution, they must have sent someone out—but whether it was him, I don't know."

He slapped his forehead: "You reminded me—I'll go confirm this. You're tall, kid—you're Jiang Yuan, right? Sharp mind."

The man, about Wei Zhenguo's age, smiled, complimented him, and went off to work.

Wei Zhenguo smiled, turned to Jiang Yuan, and whispered: "Li Ji. Former head of the plainclothes unit in Jianjiang City's Criminal Investigation Team. Now probably handling telecom fraud."

Jiang Yuan nodded.

The cops present seemed like spectators, but all had work to do; within moments, they scattered like autumn leaves in a gale, leaving only scattered chaos.

…

Not long after, Xu Taining arrived.

Huang Qiangmin and several other officers gathered spontaneously.

"Has Old Zhou gone in?" Xu Taining meant the interrogation expert Zhou Chuanwen.

Xu Taining had summoned him a few days ago, sensing the suspect was about to be uncovered.

He hadn't expected the suspect to be so hard to dig out—Zhou Chuanwen had been on standby for days.

His subordinates knew Xu Taining's intentions and immediately replied: "He's been inside for fifteen minutes—should have started interrogating."

"Let's go take a look. Walk and talk." Xu Taining called the local police station chief and headed to the surveillance room to watch the interrogation.

This was standard for police stations, but the township station's equipment was poorer, the setup messier, the surveillance room too small—several men in white shirts standing in the center left the blue-shirted officers crammed in the gaps.

Xu Taining glanced around, then waved: "Bring Jiang Yuan in too. The case isn't over yet."

Jiang Yuan was pulled in.

The group squeezed tighter, all focusing on the monitor screens…

From the speakers came the interrogator's voice:

"Fu Guangyun, I've been dispatched by the provincial bureau specifically to Fangjin to wait for you."

"Your silence won't hinder the case's progress…"

"Fu Guangyun, this is your last chance!"

The loudspeaker carried only the interrogator's voice.

Those standing in the surveillance room, straining to listen, could hear Xu Taining's breathing growing heavier.

A suspect refusing to speak, trying to resist with silence—nothing unusual. Xu Taining trusted Zhou Chuanwen's ability; he'd break the suspect's psychological defenses in no time.

He'd seen similar cases before.

What he wasn't sure of was whether Liu Jinghui could endure—and whether he was still alive.

The same anxiety spread through Jiang Yuan's mind.

After several minutes of silence, Jiang Yuan couldn't help whispering: "I have a suggestion."

The surveillance room was already suffocating; as soon as Jiang Yuan spoke, every eye turned to him.

Jiang Yuan was just too tall—it made the superiors uncomfortable.

"Go on," Xu Taining said, slightly expectant.

Jiang Yuan said: "During our questioning of the repair shop owner, Wei and I obtained this information: the Fangjin power supply office previously had a service point on Xishan, shut down five and a half years ago. It was dedicated to supplying electricity to nearby factories and mines. Further inquiry revealed the service point had a courtyard with three employees rotating shifts—including suspect Fu Guangyun."

He paused, then continued: "According to regulations, two people were required on duty—but the three employees privately swapped schedules to work two days, rest three, so only one employee was ever on duty. The service point was equipped with a motorcycle and water and electricity. Daily tasks involved traveling to various factories and mines for maintenance."

Jiang Yuan spoke objectively, but in reality, he was describing a secluded location suitable for dismemberment.

Everyone understood, and each began mentally piecing together the implications.

Xu Taining directly told Jiang Yuan: "Continue."

"Yes." Jiang Yuan glanced at Huang Qiangmin, then said: "When Director Liu went missing, he was accompanied by two officers. The suspect couldn't have had enough force to confront them directly, nor any reason to face three police officers head-on. The fact that Director Liu's tire was slashed shows part of the suspect's strategy…"

Jiang Yuan didn't continue speculating, but said: "The first tire slash likely occurred near the mine shaft where the bodies were dumped. We've deployed massive manpower to search the area around the mine shaft—no results. Given the new information, perhaps Director Liu reached the vicinity of the Xishan service point and encountered a similar situation."

"Do you think the Xishan service point was the suspect's early dumping site?" Xu Taining asked.

"Very likely. We've dug deep into the Zifengshan mine shafts; the earliest corpses date back just over four years. From the decomposition of the body parts, Body #4 is definitely not Victim #1." Jiang Yuan spoke with certainty: "Also, skulls from some bodies are still missing. It's reasonable to infer the killer had an earlier dumping site, closer to his home or workplace."

Zifengshan was still slightly farther from Fangjin.

Riding a motorcycle at under 30 km/h over dozens of kilometers of mountain roads would take nearly two hours—possibly longer.

Frankly, a killer without experience or poor psychological resilience wouldn't dare transport a corpse this far, even in the wilderness.

Experience and psychological resilience can be trained.

Someone like Fu Guangyun, in his early stages, might kill crudely and hastily dispose of the body near his residence or workplace—that's the most natural reaction.

But with experience, his options expand, his patterns become more concealed and safer.

For instance, borrowing a motorcycle—he may even have considered its cost-effectiveness.

Xu Taining's familiarity with Liu Jinghui ran deeper than Jiang Yuan's, and he instinctively accepted Jiang Yuan's reasoning.

Liu Jinghui was a detective genius who could find clues without evidence. To Xu Taining, a detective who preferred methodical work, Liu Jinghui possessed innate intuition.

He always made seemingly absurd assumptions—and ultimately proved them right.

Thus, Liu Jinghui's repeated loitering near the mine shaft, his repeated deployment of police dogs near the killer's dumping sites, and his allocation of manpower far exceeding normal levels undoubtedly provoked the killer.

It's easy to imagine that, had it not been for the imminent crisis, the killer would never have dared to slash a police tire.

This was also one reason Xu Taining agreed when Jiang Yuan proposed pumping water out of the filled-in mine shaft—he had ample resources and scarce leads, he trusted Jiang Yuan's judgment, and he also believed Liu Jinghui wouldn't have loitered so long near the mine shaft without reason.

Yet, despite searches near the mine shaft, Liu Jinghui was never found, leaving everyone deeply frustrated. The initial assumption might have been that the mine shaft was too complex, or the mountain paths too treacherous, causing him to fall—or be pushed.

Now it seemed possible that Liu Jinghui had separately located the killer's dumping sites—an unusual feat for a normal detective. A normal detective, after a car accident, would surely frantically search the scene for causes.

But for Liu Jinghui, even evidence drawn out through his own body was merely one part of the case.

He always solved cases with his own logic, effortlessly, like using four ounces to move a thousand pounds.

If Liu Jinghui had any fault, it might have been underestimating the killer's growth.

The killer's first tire-slashing, causing the car crash, allowed Liu Jinghui to escape. The second time, the killer had likely evolved.

"Get me a map of Fang Jinxiang and another of the area near Xishan," Xu Taining no longer hesitated.

His subordinate responded and left at once.

Jiang Yuan cleared his throat softly and said, "I suggest deploying police dogs—preferably several. They can try scenting for corpses, and also use Liu Chu's and the missing officer's personal items as scent sources. Ideally, the suspect should also be used as a scent source."

"Agreed. Also wake up the tech team and check the suspect's phone—see if you can narrow down a range." Xu Taining always fought with abundance, never sparing resources.