Chapter 29: Chapter Twenty-Nine: Merging Cases

Police Dog Unit.

When Da Zhuang saw Jiang Yuan, he was too lazy to bark—just lifted his head slightly as a greeting.

Since the dog didn’t initiate, Jiang Yuan could; he stepped forward and called out: “Li Team, let me pet the dog.”

Li Li, scrolling on her phone in the kitchen, didn’t even look up, just shouted: “Da Zhuang, let him pet you.”

Da Zhuang bared his teeth, muttering something under his breath, but lowered his head anyway.

Jiang Yuan rubbed him vigorously.

Dogs handled by female officers were generally clean and hygienic—their fur felt smoother to the touch.

After he’d had his fill, Jiang Yuan went into the kitchen to fry rice, cracking eggs loudly, and explained to Li Li: “Yan Ge and Wang Zhong from trace evidence are coming, and so is Wei Team from the Sixth Unit.”

“I thought you’d finally let go. Fine, as long as they don’t pet the dog.” Li Li wasn’t upset—she was almost pleased. As a member of the force, her police dog unit had long been marginalized; hardly anyone ever came by. Quiet? Yes. Boring? Definitely.

Soon after, Wu Jun and Wang Zhong arrived right on time.

A moment later, a dark-skinned senior officer rounded the courtyard wall and entered; before he even spoke, Da Zhuang barked loudly.

“This dog…” the old officer chuckled, then waved at everyone.

“Old Wei.” Wu Jun greeted him, and as the man approached, introduced Jiang Yuan: “Wei Team is our deputy squad leader—very senior…”

“Deputy leader sounds nice, but it’s useless. Call me Old Wei, or Wei Zhenguo—it’s all the same.” Wei Zhenguo looked black-faced from afar, but up close his face was lined, his chin slightly pudgy—clearly someone who’d spent years on field duty and recently put on some weight.

“Wei Team.” Jiang Yuan stood politely.

In the county bureau, it was customary to give older officers the title of deputy squad leader—no real authority, not even a leadership post, and no extra pay, just a nicer-sounding title.

“Just call me Old Wei. I’ve been hearing your name, Dr. Jiang, every day lately.” Wei Zhenguo added politely, then continued: “Dr. Jiang, you’re looking into the greenhouse arson case in Wenshang?”

Wang Zhong quickly said: “We just want Old Wei’s insight.”

Wei Zhenguo half-opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Yuan. He’d spent half his life in the bureau—he knew exactly how skilled the tech staff were. But Jiang Yuan, though new, had made standout contributions in two consecutive cases, and that intrigued Wei Zhenguo.

Wang Zhong recounted the discussion from the previous day.

Wei Zhenguo’s expression grew serious, and he fell into thought.

“What do you think?” Jiang Yuan asked after a pause.

“I get what you’re thinking—you want to narrow down a suspect, then I bring him in and pressure him to confess?” Wei Zhenguo summarized.

Jiang Yuan and Wang Zhong exchanged a glance and nodded.

“Not easy,” Wei Zhenguo smiled, shaking his head. “Your idea isn’t wrong—the arsonist was likely someone nearby. We collected fingerprints back then. Now, if we scan them again, even if we can’t confirm, there’s a good chance we’ll find a suspect we can pressure.”

Jiang Yuan and Wang Zhong nodded again.

“We already did it. Found nothing.” Wei Zhenguo stated plainly.

Both froze. Wang Zhong blurted: “We didn’t see anything. The records don’t show it either…”

“If you go ahead with this today, will you document it?” Wei Zhenguo asked calmly.

“Ah… this… ah!” Wang Zhong’s disappointment was obvious. This strategy had been his idea for a long time—only to find it had already been tried and proven useless.

Wu Jun now turned to Wei Zhenguo: “Old Wei, you’re a seasoned investigator—speak up if you’ve got an idea.”

Wu Jun knew veteran detectives like Wei Zhenguo might not be brilliant tacticians, but they carried a wealth of accumulated case-solving methods.

Besides, Wei Zhenguo must have had an idea about this arson case—otherwise, why bother coming to the police dog unit for a meeting instead of just declining over the phone? Da Zhuang wasn’t even going to let him pet him.

Wei Zhenguo tapped Wu Jun’s finger and laughed: “Old Wu, you’re the one who thinks ahead. I do have an idea—might be worth trying.”

“Go ahead.”

“Arsonists rarely commit just one crime. In my experience, people who do this kind of thing are addicted. Even if they tell themselves they won’t do it again, once they light a fire, they can’t control where it spreads or how far it goes.” Wei Zhenguo paused, letting the others absorb it, then continued: “When we investigated the Wenshang greenhouse arson five years ago, I compiled several nearby cases involving arson or intentional burning, thinking we might merge them. But the conditions weren’t right then…”

Wu Jun interrupted: “If you couldn’t merge them five years ago, how can you now?”

“Back then, I wanted to merge them so we could send the fingerprints to provincial experts. But if Dr. Jiang can match fingerprints directly, we can arrest first, then consider merging cases.” Wei Zhenguo spoke seriously: “Before I came, I checked again. Before the Wenshang arson, there were three other small cases nearby—all minor, involving losses of a few hundred to a few thousand yuan, at most ten thousand. Some had partial fingerprints, others none at all. None matched anyone. But I noticed a pattern…”

Wei Zhenguo counted off on his fingers: “First, Wenshang is remote—few outsiders go there, and all the crime scenes were outside town. Likely the perpetrator is local—or at least familiar with the area. Second, Wenshang and surrounding areas had four arson cases in three years—significantly higher than any other township in our county. Third, after the Wenshang arson, no more occurred there. The suspect probably fled. That also explains why we couldn’t find him during the investigation.”

“So we solve the smaller arson cases and see if any connect to the Wenshang case?” Jiang Yuan translated Wei Zhenguo’s strategy.

Wei Zhenguo nodded: “My approach is similar to Xiao Wang’s—both indirect, both circling around. But investigating the small cases is simpler. Since there are actual cases, we can follow proper arrest and interrogation procedures. Once we catch someone, we have a real case to pressure him with. And if I’m wrong? At least we solved a crime, right?”

Everyone relaxed, nodding in agreement.

In fact, Wei Zhenguo’s plan was far superior to Wang Zhong’s by more than one level.

Veteran detectives’ strategies were indeed more mature.

“Let’s eat the fried rice first. Afterward, we go back and review the cases.” Jiang Yuan cheerfully served everyone the fried rice.

Wei Zhenguo took a bowl, stared at the orange-yellow grains, and murmured: “Not many people serve this to others.”