Chapter 245: Discovery

Woof.

Woof, woof, woof.

Xishan, Fangjin Township.

In the mountains, patches of light dispelled the darkness, and the sound of people and dogs could be heard for miles.

Dazhuang stood on the side of the road, full of spirit, even though its hind legs were trembling slightly from motion sickness, its dog face was firm.

Looking down from its position, in the mountain hollow, at the top of the mountain, and all around, there were sounds of police dogs everywhere.

The police dogs that arrived earlier had already entered intense work.

Dazhuang was a bit excited, panting with its tongue out. Since graduating from the police dog school, Dazhuang hadn't seen so many police dogs.

At the same time, Li Li was also a bit excited, whispering to the colleague beside her: "So excited, since graduating from the police dog school, I haven't seen so many police dogs."

"Doesn't Ningtai have a pet market?" The colleague beside her soothed her police dog's emotions and responded casually.

Li Li curled her lips and said, "Those guys who don't work count as what kind of dogs."

Dazhuang also curled its lips and nodded.

"Comrades!" Xu Taining's voice came through the loudspeaker.

In the ranks, there were immediate low shouts of "Attention," "At ease"...

Li Li followed suit, and the police dogs also quieted down after a slight commotion.

Xu Taining had almost no pause and continued:

"It's quite late, I'll only say a few words. Liu Jinghui, Zhang Yu, and Jiao Peng have been missing for ten days."

"They are our colleagues, our comrades-in-arms, and also members of the people. They are the pillars of their families, the father of a 9-year-old boy, the son of a 68-year-old retired female teacher, and a newlywed husband who has just returned after seven years of guarding the border. Bringing them home is our responsibility, and it is also our promise to them."

"Everyone, every minute and every second we have fought for in our efforts over the past few days is to give the three of them one more hope of survival. I know everyone is very tired, and some comrades have been working continuously for thirty or forty hours without sleep, but at this time, I hope everyone can persist a little longer, to give Liu Jinghui, Zhang Yu, and Jiao Peng a little more hope of living..."

"Now, each team, set off according to the plan, and report any problems in time."

Xu Taining watched as teams of people set off in an orderly manner, and the four newly arrived police dogs also scattered to the surroundings according to the plan. Xu Taining himself couldn't stand still.

This was the fourth wave of search teams today, but the third wave with a large number of police dogs.

The first two waves of people mainly relied on manual searching, which was both the power Xu Taining could mobilize to the maximum extent and a bet he made.

If they were lucky and found the person immediately, it would be simple and easy, and the task would be completed.

And if the luck didn't hit, the pressure would return to Xu Taining.

He still trusted Jiang Yuan very much and basically adopted Jiang Yuan's suggestion. Therefore, the police dogs deployed from the whole province began to work based on various scent sources.

But only those who have used police dogs know how unstable the actual state of police dogs is.

High temperature, illness, psychological factors, environmental factors, etc., will all prevent police dogs from entering the best working state.

And scent sources are even more affected by the environment.

The reality is that as the first batch of police dogs arrived, the performance of the dogs was not satisfactory.

"Has the suspect confessed?" Xu Taining turned back and asked his subordinate.

"No." The subordinate answered very crisply.

"What does Old Zhou say?"

"Director Zhou said it's quite difficult, and didn't say anything else."

Xu Taining gave a disappointed "En" and had nothing to say.

The criminal suspect was determined not to speak, and the interrogation expert couldn't break their psychological defense line for a while. Xu Taining had no other good way to think of except waiting.

In the past, under the "three woods" (torture), perhaps something could be obtained, but in the current environment, the bigger the case, the less anyone dares to do so.

This is a case that will be fought all the way to the High Court. If the suspect says in the collegiate bench, "I was interrogated continuously for more than ten hours during detention," or "I couldn't drink water or go to the toilet during the interrogation," all the public officials on the entire line will have to be investigated countless times.

And in order to survive, in order to escape from under the death penalty, no criminal suspect will exonerate the police or the prosecutor.

Perhaps some say he has no evidence.

But for the evidence chain requirements of the death penalty, something like a broken camera absolutely cannot withstand scrutiny. Even if you look at this problem from a dark perspective, the suspect has no evidence, but doesn't the interrogator have enemies?

"Then now..." The subordinate tentatively looked at Xu Taining, wanting to know if he had further instructions.

Xu Taining shook his head slightly and said, "Wait. Next, it depends on everyone's performance, and whether Old Liu's life is tough enough."

The clues had all been exhausted. The team of thousands of people, as well as the complex logistics, had all switched to Xishan in Fangjin Township, and even all the dogs in the province had been mobilized by Xu Taining.

Having done this, Xu Taining felt he had no more tricks.

Just as he said, next, it depends on everyone's performance, and Old Liu's own life.

"I'll nap for a while. Call me when it's dawn." Xu Taining looked at the sky and went back to the command vehicle to sleep.

It was less than two hours until dawn. By then, as the visibility improved and the temperature rose, perhaps there could be new discoveries or new changes.

Xu Taining had only slept for about four hours in the last two days. At this moment, he couldn't hold on anymore, entered the command vehicle, sat in his seat, reclined the seat, and fell into a deep sleep.

Compared to the young people in the criminal police team, Xu Taining was much older.

At the Xishan service point of the power supply station, the on-site investigators and trace examiners had all withdrawn.

Police dogs and police officers were scattered around, measuring the land inch by inch with their feet.

Corpses, traces, vehicles, or any piece of evidence were what everyone needed.

But outside the service point, these things were like foam in the sea, seemingly should be there, but disappeared without a trace.

With the help of several investigation lights, Jiang Yuan only found some insignificant evidence. Turning back to look at the police dogs, one by one they were either spinning in place or running back and forth.

Including the meritorious dog Heizi, it was also lying at the trainer's feet, walking a few steps and stopping.

Police dogs search for targets based on scent sources, and the most critical step is to have a breakthrough at the starting point. If they can't break through, they have nowhere to track.

No matter how many police dogs are present, without a breakthrough, it's all in vain.

Li Li looked at the police dogs around her, especially seeing Heizi also working in vain, gritted her teeth, and simply took Dazhuang and headed all the way to the nearby mine mountain.

She had read the briefing and knew that the cliff and the mine shaft were the locations where Liu and the others were most likely to have fallen.

And the scent source assigned to Dazhuang was the suspect Fu Guangyun. Theoretically, following the road, it was possible to smell his scent, but perhaps Fu Guangyun hadn't come for too long, or everyone had looked in the wrong place. In short, the police dogs had no response.

Li Li knew Dazhuang's professional ability couldn't compete with Heizi, so she simply walked into the mountains.

Compared to meritorious dogs like Heizi, Dazhuang's advantage was its good physical strength and high obedience. For several small gentle slopes where Li Li couldn't climb up, Dazhuang reached them easily without hesitation.

Thus, upon arriving at an exposed old mine slope, Dazhuang suddenly began to sniff repeatedly.

This was a sign of "getting on the line," and Li Li's nerves immediately tightened.

The vegetation on both sides of the road was dense, perhaps interfering with the police dog's sense of smell, and here on the mine slope, because the soil was destroyed, only some small grass was growing, presumably with less cover.

Dazhuang lowered its head and searched in circles for a moment, then raised its head and decisively ran to the left.

Li Li let go of Dazhuang's leash and chased after it quickly.

Dazhuang ran all the way to the bottom of the mine slope before sniffing wildly at a small grass.

Li Li went over to take a look and saw that the grass had obvious signs of being plucked.

Looking around, there happened to be a mine shaft right in front, and in front of the grass, there was a rock half a person high blocking the view.

Li Li held Dazhuang and tried to half-kneel at a position slightly behind the grass, raising her head, she could just observe the situation of the mine shaft.

Walking a few more steps forward, arriving near the mine shaft, she could see many broken stones piled up at the entrance, but above it, there wasn't a single blade of grass, desolate to an extreme.

Li Li had also participated in many major cases. At this moment, without thinking, she picked up the walkie-talkie and reported: "I have searched a mine shaft, there are signs of collapse, requesting support..."

After receiving a response and reporting the specific location, Li Li tried to approach the mine shaft and shouted loudly: "Director Liu, Liu Jinghui!"

"Director Liu!"

"Liu Jinghui!"

Li Li shouted a few times repeatedly, then tilted her head to listen, but received no response, and stood up slightly disappointed.

At this moment, inside the mine shaft, suddenly came a rhythmic knocking sound.

Dong, dong, dong...

It was just the sound of metal knocking on metal, not very clear, but it was definitely someone knocking.

Li Li's palm tightly gripped Dazhuang's neck.

"Found him!" Li Li squeezed Dazhuang's skin in disbelief.

Dazhuang turned its head to look at Li Li, found that she was in a state of emotional explosion, and silently turned its head back, shrugging the skin on its neck.

The skin on a dog's neck is thick and loose, not worth barking for this. ===== CHAPTER 246 =====