Chapter 246: Weak and Powerless

Li Li didn't know that when she reported the discovery using the walkie-talkie, the white shirts were almost moved to tears.

It was too difficult.

The pressure was too great.

The difficult living conditions in the mining mountain and township, and the difficulty of investigative work were secondary; the hardest part was the psychological pressure.

Fantasizing about the scene of finding Liu Jinghui, everyone could imagine it as happily as possible, but the scene of not finding Liu Jinghui made everyone restless just thinking about it.

For a group of middle-aged and elderly cadres, if you let them imagine a happy ending, their thinking is rigid, but if you let them imagine a terrible, destructive, bad event, their thinking is as active as when they were young.

Li Li's report relieved many people.

Some police officers ran over directly. Those who were smarter knew to bring iron shovels, picks, and the like, but the quantity of these things was not large, and the empty space in front of the mine shaft was soon saturated.

Fortunately, an excavator and a backhoe drove over.

Construction machinery was readily available. They were the ones busy in front of the Zifeng Mountain mine shaft before, and now they were the ones coming to prepare for battle.

This was Xu Taining's habit. Regardless of whether the probability was high or low, or whether the cost-effectiveness was appropriate, as long as his superiors dared to give him resources, he dared to spend them.

In the past, the Provincial Department's most presentable resource was human resources, so Xu Taining learned a set of organizational and coordination skills. When he arrived at the local level, for a case where a few hundred people were enough for others, he insisted on using thousands, or even several thousand people, fully mobilizing the masses and engaging in various "human sea" tactics.

Sometimes, he would even be criticized by local cadres because of this.

But Xu Taining used many resources, and his ability to solve cases was also strong.

Just like this time. If it were a more frugal leader, they might not have sent construction machinery up immediately, because the situation up there wasn't clear yet, and construction machinery is charged by the day.

Similarly, normal senior police officers from the Provincial Department, even if they used dogs, would consider five or six to be a lot, and the Provincial Department's own police dog brigade could satisfy the need.

But Xu Taining was different. He felt that if it was necessary, he must use the resources to the fullest. As for spending a lot of money and causing waste, why would a First-Class Senior Police Officer like him, who doesn't manage people or money but only does things, worry about that?

Just solve the case.

By the time the excavator arrived, Xu Taining had also woken up.

The first to come was a normal medium-sized excavator. The master seemed quite experienced. After observing the situation, he said, "I'll clear a path first. I don't know what the mine entrance is like. You can find people from the coal mine to take a look. They have people specifically for this."

Xu Taining agreed immediately and called the leaders of the Zifeng Mountain Mining Bureau.

Most of the coal mines under the Zifeng Mountain Mining Bureau had already stopped production, but there were still coal mines in production, only the scale had been reduced, and the personnel had been reduced very little. The configurations that should be there were all there.

Even because the production tasks had become simpler, there were actually more people doing work like safety production and health discipline.

Xu Taining had become familiar with several leaders of the Mining Bureau in recent days. After a phone call, support soon arrived.

The first batch to arrive was the Mining Bureau's own mine rescue team.

The mine rescue team had the establishment of a fire brigade and the management mode of a fire brigade. Only, unlike ordinary firefighters, the mine rescue team carried items such as person-finding instruments, cutting saws, high-foam fire extinguishers, and positive-pressure oxygen respirators.

Moreover, because they were the Mining Bureau's own people, the mine rescue team could more easily obtain the mine's blueprints, could understand the blueprints, and were familiar with the local soil conditions, greatly enhancing safety.

However, for this mine shaft, so many professional skills were not needed.

Fangjin Township's coal mine resources were poor, mostly small coal kilns dug secretly in the early years. They were simple when they were mined back then, and now that they had collapsed... the difficulty wasn't high either.

The professional team worked busily, and the original large team of thousands of people took turns resting and helping, which also accelerated the progress significantly.

Now that it hadn't been confirmed that it was Liu Jinghui in the mine shaft, Xu Taining couldn't just disperse the team.

What if it was a monkey inside that just liked to knock on metal?

Jiang Yuan helped out near the mine shaft for a while and was soon replaced.

He didn't know how to handle these large machines, so he simply found the logistics camp and started helping in the kitchen.

He was good at cooking for people, and he didn't have much interest in it, but cooking for dogs—Dazhuang had made a contribution this time, so it had to have a good meal first.

Soon, the smell of lv5 dog food wafted through the camp.

Not only Li Li, but several police dog trainers were also lured over by their own dogs.

Including Heizi.

Of course, everyone was a dog with an establishment, with status and decency, and wouldn't bark wildly like dogs outside. They just each carried their own basins and sat in front of Jiang Yuan, watching him cook.

Jiang Yuan felt everyone's expectations and silently opened three more pots.

Several trainers also took the initiative to come forward to help, acting as Jiang Yuan's assistants.

The lv5 dog food skill also looked very fancy on the outside. Anyone who saw Jiang Yuan's operation could notice something different.

Dazhuang even twitched its sides from time to time with its dark eyes.

Among the police dogs that came to help this time, there were big dogs like Rottweilers and German Shepherds, as well as small dogs like Jack Russell Terriers.

The food intake of police dogs of different sizes was also very different, and theoretically, the types of food would also change.

Jiang Yuan distributed it evenly with ease.

The first one to receive food was Dazhuang.

In front of a group of seniors, juniors, and sisters, Dazhuang gently put down its food basin and received a full portion of dog food.

Dazhuang proudly raised its chin and kept it that way until Heizi put down two food basins.

"Umm..."

Dazhuang glanced away and didn't even look at Heizi.

Li Li also gave the order at the right time: "Eat."

Dazhuang buried its head in eating, and there were no other worries in the world.

When Liu Jinghui saw the starry sky again, his body was trembling with weakness, but looking at the people around him, his heart was full of nostalgia and exclamation for the beautiful world.

And, a little bit of trouble.

"Inside... there are human bones. The killer... killed and buried the bodies here several years ago..."

Liu Jinghui didn't speak immediately when he saw the people in police uniforms, until a police chief he knew appeared, and only then did he solemnly explain.

Liu Jinghui had also long realized that among the personnel he deployed, there might be a mole, or someone tipping off.

But Liu Jinghui couldn't say this news now, especially not to his colleagues from the Provincial Department.

The reason was simple: the senior police officers from the Provincial Department were empty generals without soldiers under them, just like him, and they weren't good at solving problems that were too deep.

Instead, grassroots criminal police brigade captains like Huang Qiangmin were easier to deal with such problems decisively.

Liu Jinghui's gaze circled in the crowd. He believed that Jiang Yuan would participate in the rescue, and if Jiang Yuan came, Huang Qiangmin would likely come too.

Sure enough, Jiang Yuan's giraffe-like neck appeared from far away.

A smile couldn't help but burst onto Liu Jinghui's face.

When Jiang Yuan approached, Liu Jinghui immediately waved and said to the surrounding police officers: "Let Jiang Yuan come over."

The police officers, mine rescue team members, leaders, and mobilized masses who had formed a circle spread out layer by layer, allowing Jiang Yuan to squeeze in.

At this time, Liu Jinghui and the other two police officers were already lying on stretchers and had been carried to a position far away from the mine shaft.

The shape of the mine shaft was also gone. Under the siege of multiple construction machines, this small coal kiln had encountered unprecedented excavation, and it was free of charge.

The one who digs the hardest is the one who gets it for free—that's the truth.

"Director Liu." Jiang Yuan came to Liu Jinghui's side and squatted down beside him without being picky.

Director Liu was already rancid. This is a very objective statement. It's just like a rag wiped by a normal person, left in a closed mine shaft for more than a week, it could also emit a very thick smell.

It was only a forensic doctor like Jiang Yuan who could squat down without changing his expression.

"Jiang Yuan. You're here." Liu Jinghui opened his mouth and there was a thick smell of urine, proving that there wasn't much water in the mine shaft.

"We searched near the mine shaft where the tire was punctured first, and didn't find anything, so we transferred here." Jiang Yuan directly explained the reason for being late, without even a preamble. He believed that with Liu Jinghui's reasoning ability, it was enough to understand.

Liu Jinghui sighed heavily and said with relief: "It's already quite good to be able to find this place. I was still thinking, can you identify the relationship between the various tire tracks in the parking lot."

"What tire tracks?" Jiang Yuan asked back.

Liu Jinghui was stunned for a moment and said: "Didn't you just say you searched near the mine shaft where the tire was punctured? Including the scene where I had the accident, there were motorcycle tire tracks, right?"

"Yes."

"Didn't you consider that the sources of these different tire tracks might mostly come from the killer?"

Jiang Yuan was stunned for a moment and whispered: "Director Liu, you said they were different tire tracks. Who would normally consider them to come from the same person?"

"That place is so remote, yet there were fresh tire tracks for several consecutive days. Isn't it because we went there? Such a high mountain, such a complex road surface, appearing frequently for several days, yet it was never reported to me, and it appeared at the car accident scene and the parking lot at the same time. The police dog's performance also hinted at the possibility of it being the same person, but it couldn't be verified yet..."

Liu Jinghui was probably suffocated. He had been thinking about this for the past few days. He said it all in one breath, and his face was flushed red and smelly.

Jiang Yuan digested the information he gave and asked: "Then... what is the relationship between the tire tracks and Fangjin Township?"

Liu Jinghui frowned at Jiang Yuan and said: "Is this already Fangjin Township?"

"Umm... yes." Jiang Yuan nodded.

"We followed the tire tracks. One tire track was particularly deep, it should have been a rainy day or something. We tracked it to an intersection and confirmed that he came from the mountain road here. And near the mountain road here, the most valuable place with the most likely clues is these mine shafts..."

Liu Jinghui didn't say it in such detail, but the direction of reasoning was basically certain.

Jiang Yuan looked at him blankly. Usually, when everyone communicates, they can understand each other, but this time the distance was a bit far.

Plus Liu Jinghui had just come out of the mine shaft, his voice was hoarse, he couldn't speak much, and he was smelly, making communication even more difficult.

Liu Jinghui was lifted up by several police officers.

Liu Jinghui still turned his head to look at Jiang Yuan and said: "I judge that the killer is eating the country's food (a public servant). Not necessarily a government worker, but possibly an employee of a public institution or a state-owned enterprise. Age is over forty, very likely over fifty, male, good physical strength, strong physical quality... Living in such a small township, and having to implement it covertly..."

"Director Liu." Jiang Yuan interrupted Liu Jinghui.

"The air outside is good, and my thinking is more active. Let me sort out my thoughts..." Liu Jinghui muttered: "I originally wanted to investigate along the line of Wang Guoshan, but later I found that they should have cut ties very early. This line doesn't work. In fact, the best way is to find the corpse. En, there should be several corpses in the mine shaft. We dug one out, it had already turned into bones..."

"Director Liu." Jiang Yuan took advantage of the time Liu Jinghui was talking, put on his gloves, held Liu Jinghui's hand, and said: "You rest assured..."

Liu Jinghui was anxious: "How can I rest? Don't worry about me. Just treat it as if I've been dieting and losing weight for more than a week. Now I have to seize the opportunity..."

"The killer has already been caught." Jiang Yuan patted the back of Liu Jinghui's hand, as if to soothe him, and said: "The killer is an employee of the nearby power supply station. Five years ago, he was stationed at a service point a few hundred meters away from the mine shaft just now. The motorcycle he used was provided by the repair shop, similar to a rental mode..."

Liu Jinghui listened to Jiang Yuan's description, the strength in his hand became weaker and weaker, and gradually became weak and powerless. ===== CHAPTER 247 =====