Chapter 332: Fixed Evidence

Tang Jia finding a breakthrough clue somewhat stimulated her colleagues in the same group.

Everyone was following Jiang Yuan, and their work was actually quite serious and meticulous, but clues were a bit like treasure hunting. Only when the treasure was found was all the work cashed in, and the treasure hunter's experience was considered successful, and the process was considered hard work. Otherwise, it was all vanity.

Everyone hoped that their efforts would be recognized, especially those who had indeed put in great efforts.

Even Wang Zhong carried the camera and began to flip through the photos taken before, while more police officers shifted their interest to the delivery man.

The 50-year-old delivery driver was a bit overage in the big city, but in the village, he was even a bit young. If he had a car, he could often take on the business of many villages.

This time, a group of young people, in order to catch him, separately took on the business of many villages.

Jiang Yuan went directly back to the police station with Song Song Jinyou and others to wait.

The suspect hadn't been exposed, nor did he show any signs of fleeing, so arresting him wouldn't be too difficult. A few young men should be able to keep him easily.

After all, it was just stealing sheep.

Almost front and back, Wang Wang Chuanxing and Shen Shen Yaowei's group brought the criminal suspects back. The only surprise was that they brought back three people instead of one.

"One who ties the sheep, one who drives, and one who keeps watch and cooks meat." Wang Wang Chuanxing sent the people into the interrogation room and introduced them to Jiang Yuan.

"Were the stolen sheep all eaten?" Jiang Yuan wasn't too surprised, but still a bit surprised.

Nowadays, criminal motives are mostly emotional, with money coming second. It's very rare for people to commit crimes intentionally just for a bite to eat.

Of course, stealing sheep is also to obtain money or benefits illegally, but this direct consumption model is indeed old-fashioned enough.

Wang Wang Chuanxing nodded and said: "It's just standard sheep stealing. They even made a small space in the car, welded a 50-centimeter-wide place, just to hide sheep and dogs. At home, they also found large pots, fire guns for burning hair, etc..."

"Made it professional?" Song Song Jinyou's expression became serious. This was a criminal gang under his jurisdiction. Wang Wang Chuanxing said: "Don't know about others, but gluttony is real. It's also quite fragrant. When I went over, they were burning goose meat, and the smell was quite good..."

"Did you find the tools?" Jiang Yuan didn't follow the goose cooking method.

Wang Wang Chuanxing took out his mobile phone, opened the photo, and showed it to Jiang Yuan.

"The pliers can match, and the shoes can also match, so there's no problem." Jiang Yuan only looked at a few photos and felt at ease.

As long as the wrong person wasn't caught, the rest was normal procedural operation.

With Meng Meng Chengbiao responsible for interrogation and Wang Wang Chuanxing writing the PPT, Jiang Yuan didn't worry about any more changes.

Sitting steadily and drinking tea, in a short while, Meng Meng Chengbiao really came to report: "Confessed. These three people, when they were gluttonous, ran to steal a sheep, or a dog or a goose, and ate it to improve their food. They felt that they were just petty thieves and it didn't matter." 【332-23

"Take a look, are there any black dogs in this village?" Shen Shen Yaowei asked in return.

Tang Jia was taken aback. Recalling the time since entering the village, he really hadn't seen any black dogs, so he couldn't help but ask: "Why? Does no one raise black dogs?"

"There are many taboos regarding black dogs; many old people don't raise them. Furthermore, there are fewer people in the village now, and dogs are all free-roaming. If a black dog pops out in the middle of the night, you can't even see it. If it scares someone and makes them fall, wouldn't that be fatal?" Shen Shen Yaowei explained a bit, then continued: "However, I think the main reason is that they are delicious. Every time, they eat the black dogs first; after eating them, there are fewer black dogs."

Several police officers discussed in low voices. The women's director involved felt a glimmer of hope and couldn't help but ask: "Um, let me ask, if this case is solved, can our sheep be returned?"

"The sheep may have already been eaten." Wang Wang Chuanxing continued: "Of course, if the perpetrator is willing to provide restitution, you might be able to get a portion of the compensation."

"Then how much would that be?"

"It's hard to say specifically; you might get the money for the sheep back." Wang Wang Chuanxing paused and added: "This is also hard to say."

"It would be best if they could pay. People in the countryside don't have much money." Once the women's director reached this topic, she became sorrowful: "My old man's health isn't good either; he can't do heavy labor, and no one wants him if he goes out. All year round, the two of us raise sheep and only earn twenty thousand-plus yuan, not even thirty thousand. With over a thousand yuan gone just like that, my heart aches..."

There were about thirty sheep in the pen in total, which really didn't amount to much money when calculated. Several criminal police officers from the big city were a bit stunned.

The Criminal Police Detachment is not like a Criminal Police Brigade. The criminal police in the county-level brigade have seen and heard of too many poor people after working for a few years. The cases handled by the detachment are not necessarily the same; some people might work for three to five years and only handle a few major cases.

Once the women's director opened the floodgates, she began to pour out her heart: "We raise sheep at home and earn that little bit of money, but we still have to give some to the children, prepare for the New Year, handle weddings and funerals, fix things around the house, and buy oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar. We can't even save a few thousand yuan a year. To be honest, I can't even bear to slaughter this sheep to eat myself, not even for the New Year..."

As she spoke, she began to wipe away tears and then started hitting her husband: "I married someone useless. All year round, there's endless work and endless suffering, and no pension. Even if I work for another twenty years and die of exhaustion, it doesn't matter, but my child won't even have anyone to help take care of their kids..."

"Auntie, let's look at the scene first, and I'll take your statement." Tang Jia took the initiative to step forward and lead the women's director to the side.

Jiang Yuan circled the sheep pen twice, effectively matching the scene in the photos with the scene in reality.

There were actually quite a few clues left behind at the time of the crime.

There was a set of footprints that Old Yan analyzed, but there was basically no effective analytical result; it was just recorded that there were tool marks from cutting open the sheep pen door, which Old Yan analyzed, but number two was useless.

There was some sheep wool from the lost sheep; theoretically, if the sheep were found, one could compare if it was the same one. But if the sheep had been eaten, this wool was useless number three.

For this kind of case, the normal investigation plan, besides watching surveillance, is to conduct visits and inquiries to find witnesses.

In the countryside of the past, for frequently occurring cases, one could always find some clues this way, but with the population reduced to the level of Sima Village, and consisting entirely of elderly people, the situation was completely different.

Everyone had almost similar daily routines, similar eyesight and hearing, and their range of activities had shrunk. Fewer people would hide in some corner for an affair and thus happen to see the perpetrator's appearance...

However, if all 20 cases were carefully investigated, it stands to reason that more clues would appear.

"Are all the villagers here?" Jiang Yuan asked the village head next to him after finishing his inspection of the scene.

The village head then looked around and began to count the people.

"Call everyone in the village out." Jiang Yuan looked at Meng Meng Chengbiao next to him.

Meng Meng Chengbiao immediately understood, pulled over a few people, and began to give instructions in a low voice.

After a while, all the villagers had gathered.

Jiang Yuan looked at their feet one by one and then announced the dismissal, which led to much discussion among the crowd.

Meng Meng Chengbiao approached and asked: "Do you think it's someone from the village committing an inside job?"

"It's not necessarily which village, but they should be quite familiar with the situation in the village. Looking at the traces at the scene, there were basically no unnecessary movements." Jiang Yuan paused and added: "Looking at the footprints, the perpetrator's age should be between 55 and 57, male, weighing about 150 jin, height under 1.7 meters, between 1.65 and 1.7 meters..."

Jiang Yuan could have reached a conclusion about the footprints earlier by looking at the photos. However, because the conclusion he reached was too ordinary, it wasn't very convenient to use.

Regardless of age, weight, or height, what Jiang Yuan saw through the footprints was basically the image of an ordinary rural male.

If he had concluded an age of 35 or 37, or a height of 1.8 meters, combined with the point of being familiar with the countryside, the case might have been solved directly.

Jiang Yuan also looked at the specific conditions such as the soil quality at the scene and found that he still couldn't get anything new, so he decided to look at their feet.

Meng Meng Chengbiao understood and simply called for people to take photos for the files, adding: "Why not send two people to each village to collect photos of everyone's feet."

"That's possible, but there's no rush. You aren't familiar with the situation, so how will you run around the villages?" Jiang Yuan pursed his lips. Now that the director of the Wenxiang Police Station was following along, if they scattered people to various villages, it would become a test.

With so many villages, all consisting of middle-aged and elderly people, even if the Ningtai County Criminal Police team members were sent out in pairs, it would be very easy to encounter trouble.

Moreover, looking at feet and looking at photos of feet are different. If Jiang Yuan encounters an uncertain situation while looking at the scene, he can also look at gait for analysis, but photos won't work.

Jiang Yuan didn't need to elaborate, only saying: "Let's talk after looking at the scene. Besides footprints, I also want to see other things."

Tool marks are actually another direction, but like footprints, they lack objects for comparison.

After walking through one village, they looked at another. By the time they ran to the third village, everyone seemed a bit exhausted.

Everyone followed the routine of looking at the scene, finding people, making records, taking photos, and so on.

Tang Jia was still taking statements from the victims. After a while, she ran over and whispered: "Team Leader Jiang, I have a discovery."

"Oh?"

"I asked them what they were doing at the time of the crime, and all three villages had delivery trucks come by." Tang Jia said: "Because they were delivering goods to the small shops at the village entrance or something similar, some people didn't pay much attention, and no one specifically asked. Moreover, these trucks all run on rural roads and don't necessarily take the national highway on the day."

In fact, the previous inquiry statements were too simple, and it was also because Tang Jia asked thoroughly and carefully enough.

This kind of clue belongs to having a breakthrough and progress. Jiang Yuan naturally nodded and said: "Find the delivery person."