Chapter 307

When it came to specific cases, Jiang Yuan was somewhat interested.

Jiang Yuan put down the small trowel and said, "Go on."

"Good." Shen Yaoguo was already pleased that Jiang Yuan hadn't outright refused.

He instinctively took out a cigarette and offered it to Jiang Yuan, then added awkwardly, "Old smoker—I get the urge to smoke when talking about cases, uh…"

"No problem." Jiang Yuan lit a flame for him.

Shen Yaoguo cupped the flame with his hand, drew in a puff of smoke, exhaled, then said slowly: "This case, looking back now, is a bit embarrassing—about eight years ago, a warehouse on the city's outskirts caught fire. After the firefighters put it out, they found two bodies."

"After the firefighters investigated the ignition source and material, they suspected foul play, so the case was handed over to criminal investigation. At the time, I was the captain of the Second Battalion of the Criminal Investigation Brigade."

Jiang Yuan was slightly surprised—so this guy had been a detective too.

"The two victims were a man and a woman. The woman was the owner's wife; the man was the warehouse manager." Shen Yaoguo sighed. "We used elimination, and eventually narrowed our focus to the warehouse manager."

"The warehouse manager had a juvenile criminal record. In his rented room, we also found DNA traces belonging to his cousin. His cousin had a history of theft—multiple prior convictions—and this gave the case a major breakthrough."

Jiang Yuan frowned as he listened. If this were a normal case, it would clearly have been the turning point.

But Shen Yaoguo had come all the way here—clearly not just to boast about solving such a straightforward case.

Sure enough, after a brief pause, Shen Yaoguo continued: "The warehouse manager was already dead, so I immediately ordered the special task force to arrest his cousin. But it was too late—he had fled. The subsequent manhunt went poorly; after issuing a warrant for some time, the case was shelved."

That meant the murder remained unsolved. Still, cases like this—where the only remaining step was to track down the suspect—could reasonably be put on hold.

Especially with prior offenders: the killer might have run the moment he committed the crime, without waiting for police response or caring whether the case was solved—he just ran.

As long as he had money and connections, he could settle down in places like Hengpiezhou and live even more comfortably than back home. Unless he had family ties back home, police rarely caught such people.

"I never really took this case seriously before," Shen Yaoguo sighed again. "I thought I'd wait a while, then launch a special manhunt operation and catch him Shunbian. But I never succeeded—and this year, things got worse."

"What happened?" Jiang Yuan offered, having listened this long.

Shen Yaoguo nodded heavily. "A few days ago, this suspect—the warehouse manager's cousin, Wang Haiyong, the prime suspect in this case—was arrested elsewhere for theft. After fingerprint matching, we immediately requested his transfer and began interrogation."

"He denied it?"

"I participated in the interrogation. Most likely, Wang Haiyong didn't set the fire. His alibi is solid."

Shen Yaoguo fell silent here, staring at the winter melon seedlings.

The winter melon seedlings were thriving—lush, green, beautiful.

Jiang Yuan also looked at the seedlings, sensing Shen Yaoguo's growing agitation.

"Wang Haiyong's alibi means he was committing another crime elsewhere?" Jiang Yuan guessed. For a thief with a prior record to convince police of an alibi this far back, that would be the only plausible excuse.

Shen Yaoguo nodded: "He flew. There's a record. Proof he was stealing elsewhere at the time."

"A plane ticket? Thieves fly now?"

"Because he got lucky," Shen Yaoguo shook his head. "They spent over a month in West Lake—stealing and sightseeing—then came back when they were done."

"What about the DNA?"

"Wang Haiyong stayed in the warehouse manager's room for about a week. He'd considered robbing the warehouse, but never acted. After hearing what happened here, he immediately went into hiding."

Come.

"He's got a good nose."

Jiang Yuan could understand Shen Yaoguo's emotional shift.

If the prime suspect—the presumed killer, Wang Haiyong—wasn't the real killer, then Shen Yaoguo's entire case direction had collapsed.

After waiting so long for such a big case, only to get the exact opposite result—and still no resolution—it was, to some degree, a failure.

Of course, as part of the job, mistakes are normal. Detectives can't avoid going down wrong paths. No one's a god—no one solves every case they touch.

As for cold cases like this, unless something extraordinary pulls them back into the spotlight, most go unnoticed.

"So what's the problem now?" Jiang Yuan didn't play games with Shen Yaoguo. As the saying goes, if I don't want to be deputy section chief, I'm already section chief.

Besides, Jiang Yuan's master, Wu Jun, had devised his own side path to deputy section chief promotion—the "screaming and rolling" method, always ready for Jiang Yuan.

Shen Yaoguo nodded. "It now appears our original lead—the warehouse manager's line—may be wrong."

Jiang Yuan nodded. It was obvious: once the special task force was formed and focused on the warehouse manager, they'd thoroughly investigated him. And since the most suspicious person on that line—the cousin, Wang Haiyong—had fled, they'd naturally checked everyone else on that chain…

And if no other suspects emerged, that itself was telling.

"Another lead—the female victim. The warehouse owner's wife was also the mistress of Yuan Jiansheng, CEO of Jianyuan Pharmaceuticals in Qinghe City." With this, Shen Yaoguo's words made Jiang Yuan sit up straight.

"I know you handled the Jianyuan Pharmaceuticals case—you arrested one of Yuan Jiansheng's sons?" Shen Yaoguo asked.

Jiang Yuan frowned involuntarily. "His sons were fighting among themselves. The victim was killed by an outsider in a love triangle."

As he spoke, Jiang Yuan thought of Yuan Jiansheng's daughter, Yuan Yushan.

When he was about to leave, she'd thanked him with sincere emotion—showing neither grief over her brothers' infighting nor joy at becoming the primary beneficiary. She didn't act like a girl in her twenties at all.

Shen Yaoguo's mind was ruled by emotion. He sighed heavily: "When I heard about your case, my heart dropped. But I still held out hope—maybe this was just another accidental event, like yours?"

"And then?"

"Then… if the male victim's line is dead, the only path left is the female victim. If the mistress of Jianyuan's CEO was killed, and we still claim no connection to Jianyuan, that's self-deception." Shen Yaoguo shook his head.

Jianyuan Pharmaceuticals was the largest company in Qinghe City and among the top in the province. So if any case tied to Jianyuan was opened, every past scandal would inevitably be dug up.

Shen Yaoguo exhaled. "I've come to realize: rather than wait one or two years until someone else exposes this case during my next opportunity, I'd rather fix it now myself. Jiang Yuan, your special task force's current footprint is still small—could you please handle this case as quietly as possible?"

"I can take a look, but I can't guarantee a resolution. And all my cases require review by Yu Zhi." Jiang Yuan was genuinely interested, but he spoke the truth.

Opening cold murder cases followed rules—Jiang Yuan's final authorization always rested with Yu Wenshu.

Besides, if there were traps in the case, Yu Wenshu would likely spot them.

Shen Yaoguo wasn't surprised: "As long as you agree, I'll go to your Yu Zhi and request it."

Jiang Yuan looked at Shen Yaoguo. "I'll take this case—but I won't follow your instructions."

"Of course." Shen Yaoguo smiled, stood up, and patted his buttocks. "As long as we solve it, I'll fully cooperate."

Solving it was what he needed most now.

Jiang Yuan quickly stood to accompany him—he hadn't done anything yet; no need to act superior.

Jiang's father, Jiang Fuzhen, hearing the commotion, rushed out of the kitchen holding a cleaver. "Are you Jiang Yuan's colleague? Stay for a meal—I boiled lamb today, and there's also a roast goose. A tenant gave it to me—he runs a roast goose shop."

Shen Yaoguo stared at Jiang's father's cleaver. If he hadn't left his gun behind, he'd have pulled it out right then—this whole favor-seeking trip would've been wasted.

"No need to trouble yourself—we've already eaten," Shen Yaoguo said.

"Even if you've eaten, you can have a little more. Wait a moment—I'll get it." Jiang Fuzhen walked straight into the kitchen and brought out the roast goose.

The roast goose was deep red, its body sculpted with curves—full-breasted, rounded buttocks, fragrant and irresistible.

"Then… I won't refuse your kindness," Shen Yaoguo said. He wanted to build rapport with Jiang Yuan anyway.

"Then... I humbly accept your kindness." Shen Yaoguo also wanted to further cultivate his relationship with Jiang Yuan.