Chapter 333

Song Jinyou knew Liu Wenkai, but not well, and couldn't handle his jokes: "Chief Liu, let's talk about the sheep instead."

Liu Wenkai had just been planning to tell some old stories to the young detectives, so he said: "Alright, have any of the sheep been recovered so far?"

Song Jinyou, cornered, glanced at the large group of people and admitted: "To be honest, we haven't paid enough attention to this case."

Song Jinyou admitted defeat and looked toward Jiang Yuan.

He was merely a police station chief; solving cases wasn't his main duty. As more such cases piled up, investigations were handed over to the criminal investigation team, leaving little for his station to do.

"Let's go to the scene?" Jiang Yuan stood up, ending the PPT presentation.

Song Jinyou nodded naturally, and immediately a rustling sound rose as everyone stood up.

"This… alright." Song Jinyou had seen groups of ten or twenty people inspecting crime scenes before, but those were for what kinds of cases…

Song Jinyou shook his head and decided not to dwell on it.

The nearest sheep theft scene to the police station was about five or six kilometers away—equivalent to a taxi's starting fare in a city, but in Wenshang, a tiny rural town, it meant fully entering the countryside.

Sima Village.

As the convoy arrived, the village head, the party secretary, the accountant, and others all rushed out—especially the elderly who constantly lingered at the village's central area, each one happier than if they'd just feasted on mutton.

Jiang Yuan looked around: the village was mostly populated by retirees and older folks. The village head and party secretary were around fifty, still in decent health, but far from young.

This was a stark contrast to Jiang Village.

The stolen sheep pen stood by the roadside, owned by the village's women's director and her husband. Most of the stolen sheep, dogs, and geese were clustered near the road—convenient for theft and transport. For the police, this meant fewer clues and shorter windows of opportunity.

The women's director of Sima Village was among the youngest villagers, around forty-something, yet when speaking of the sheep thieves, she sounded like she had eighty years of cursing experience.

As she explained the situation, she still found time to curse occasionally.

"One minute I was eating, the next the sheep were gone—not even a single bleat…," the women's director rambled, growing angrier by the second: "They picked the best sheep—I didn't even dare slaughter them when my son-in-law came; now these bastards stole them. If I'd known, I'd have fed them to the dogs instead!"

Wang Chuan said beside her: "From the other cases, the offender likely has experience raising or trading live sheep."

"Other cases show similar patterns."

Shen Yaowei said: "The stolen dogs were all black or yellow. They were taken to be eaten—black first, then yellow, then spotted. People have their preferences."

Tang Jia frowned: "If that's the case, shouldn't they only steal black dogs?"

"Have you seen any black dogs in this village?" Shen Yaowei countered.

Tang Jia froze. Recalling her walk into the village, she realized she hadn't seen a single black dog. "Why? Don't they raise black dogs?"

"Black dogs have too many taboos—many elders avoid raising them. Besides, the village population has shrunk, and dogs are all free-roaming. A black dog suddenly appearing at midnight? No one sees it until it scares someone into falling—could be deadly." Shen Yaowei explained, then added: "But I think the main reason is taste—they started eating black dogs, and over time, black dogs disappeared."

A few officers whispered among themselves. The women's director sensed hope and asked: "If you solve this case, can you return our sheep?"

"The sheep may have been eaten," Wang Chuan replied. "But if the offender is willing to compensate, you might receive some restitution."

"How much?"

"Hard to say. Maybe you'd get back the sheep's value." Wang Chuan paused. "But that's also uncertain."

"If you can compensate, that'd be best. Rural folks don't have much money." The women's director grew somber: "My husband's in poor health—he can't work, no one hires him. We've spent a year raising sheep, barely making over twenty thousand, under thirty thousand. Now over a thousand's gone—it breaks my heart…"

The pen held about thirty sheep—worth little in total. Several detectives from the big city stared in silence.

The criminal investigation detachment wasn't like the county's criminal investigation team. County detectives, after years on the job, had seen too many poor families. But detachment officers might spend three or five years handling only a few major cases.

The women's director, once started, poured out her heart: "We raise sheep for a pittance, yet we still have to give some to the kids, save for New Year, pay for weddings and funerals, fix the house, buy oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar—after all that, we barely save a few thousand a year. One sheep? Honestly, I wouldn't even dare slaughter it for myself—not even for New Year…"

As she spoke, tears welled up. She pounded her husband's shoulder: "Married to a useless man—endless work, endless suffering, no pension. Even if I drop dead from exhaustion in twenty years, who'll help raise my child?"

"Auntie, let's first inspect the scene—I'll take your statement," Tang Jia stepped forward and led the woman aside.

Jiang Yuan circled the sheep pen twice, matching the photos to the real scene.

There were actually quite a few clues left at the scene.

A set of footprints—Old Yan's analysis yielded no useful results, only noting the tool marks used to cut open the pen gate. His analysis was useless, case #2.

Some wool from the missing sheep—ideally, if the sheep were found, one could compare. But if the sheep was eaten, this wool became useless, case #3.

For such cases, standard investigation methods were reviewing surveillance and interviewing witnesses.

In past rural areas, frequent crimes often yielded clues this way. But in Sima Village, where population had plummeted and everyone was elderly, the situation was entirely different.

Nearly everyone had similar routines, similar eyesight and hearing, limited mobility, and fewer people hid in corners for affairs—so no one happened to see the suspect's face…

Still, if all twenty cases were thoroughly reviewed, more clues should emerge.

"Are all villagers here?" Jiang Yuan asked the village head after inspecting the scene.

The village head looked around and began counting.

"Call out everyone in the village," Jiang Yuan said to Meng Chengbiao.

Meng Chengbiao immediately understood, pulled over a few people, and gave quiet instructions.

After a while, all villagers gathered.

Jiang Yuan examined each person's feet, then dismissed them, sparking murmurs.

Meng Chengbiao stepped closer: "Do you suspect someone in the village stole from themselves?"

"Not necessarily this village—but the offender must be familiar with village life. The scene shows no extra movements." Jiang Yuan paused. "Based on the footprints, the suspect is likely between 55 and 57, male, about 150 catties, under 1. meters tall—between 1. 5 and 1. meters…"

Jiang Yuan had deduced this from the photos earlier. But since his conclusions were too ordinary, they weren't immediately useful.

Whether age, weight, or height, what Jiang Yuan inferred from the footprints was just a typical rural male.

If he'd concluded a 35- or 37-year-old, or 1. meters tall, combined with familiarity with rural life, the case might've been solved outright.

Jiang Yuan only decided to examine feet after inspecting the soil and other details—and realizing he'd found nothing new.

Meng Chengbiao understood and shouted: "Let's have two people from each village submit foot photos for recording."

"Possible, but no rush. You don't know the area well—how will you run around villages?" Jiang Yuan gestured toward the Wenshang police station chief. If they scattered officers to every village, it'd become a test.

So many villages, all populated by middle-aged and elderly people—even Ningtai County's police, sent out in pairs, would easily run into trouble.

Besides, examining feet in person isn't the same as reviewing photos. Jiang Yuan could analyze gait on-site when uncertain; photos offered no such advantage.

Jiang Yuan didn't need to elaborate: "Let's see the scene first. Besides footprints, I want to examine other things."

Tool marks were another direction, but like footprints, they lacked comparison references.

After visiting one village, then another, by the third, everyone was visibly tired.

They followed the usual routine: inspect the scene, interview people, take notes, photograph.

Tang Jia still took statements from victims. Soon, she ran over and whispered: "Chief Jiang, I've found something."

"Hmm?"

"I asked what they were doing at the time of the theft—three villages all had delivery trucks coming in." Tang Jia said: "Since they delivered to roadside convenience stores, people didn't pay attention, and no one asked. These trucks travel rural roads—they don't necessarily use national highways."

The earlier interviews had been too superficial; Tang Jia's meticulous questioning had uncovered this.

This was a breakthrough. Jiang Yuan nodded: "Find the delivery drivers."