Chapter 340: Searching Old Cases

Searching old cases was something Jiang Yuan had done before.

Of course, in case work, there's no need to seek novelty or eccentricity—any method that solves the case is a good one; who cares if it was used before?

In fact, normal police officers always reuse proven methods; if you try flashy, strange, or untested tactics on major cases, succeeding might look impressive, but what if you fail? The leadership of the criminal investigation unit really can be brutal—cruel and filthy.

Jiang Yuan himself updates his skills quickly, but his team doesn't have such conditions.

People like Wang Chuanxing, even when searching old cases, tread carefully, terrified of making mistakes or overlooking something that could jeopardize this ministry-supervised case.

But after the first half of the night passed, by the early morning, Wang Chuanxing and the others grew calm—or rather, their anxiety had been exhausted, leaving only numbness and persistence.

Jiang Yuan also sat there, staring blankly at one case file after another.

The most exhausting part of criminal investigations is the physical toll—the endless walking, the endless reports, the endless case files.

Most cases can be handled mechanically, turning detectives into something like corporate salespeople, just running errands and writing paperwork every day.

But the rare cases that truly demand mental effort are excruciating.

For instance, this current case—finding a similar child abduction case remains extremely difficult.

What's the simplest standard for similarity?

No one can define it. Since offenders differ, investigators must guess on their own without prior knowledge of the criminal.

Child abduction in a vegetable market? That's definitely an A-level match. Too bad no identical case exists.

Child abduction in a busy public place, using non-violent methods? Roughly a C-level match. But the few cases found all had obvious differences.

Multiple child abductions over a short span of days? That should count as B-level. Too bad no similar case was found.

"No more cases." By the time dawn's first light appeared, the last file had been read.

Gao Changjiang also looked disappointed, sighing: "Looks like this path leads nowhere."

"Look through more provincial case files." Jiang Yuan showed no intention of giving up.

Gao Changjiang frowned. "Is it necessary?"

"You're welcome to try another approach—I'll lead my team in searching old cases." Jiang Yuan's confidence came from his comprehensive skill set. He'd reviewed every possible lead from the Guqi case—fingerprints, traces, footage—all of them had hit dead ends.

Considering Jiang Yuan possessed so many skills, including multiple Level 3, 4, and even 6 skills, persisting in chasing direct leads from this case was unwise.

In Jiang Yuan's own view, searching old cases was the smarter approach—not a clumsy one.

Or rather, when no smarter method exists, a clumsy one at least has a chance of working.

Gao Changjiang lacked Jiang Yuan's technical ability and still held out hope for the experts—though experts in other fields might have alternative breakthrough methods, that was beyond Jiang Yuan's reach.

With his own capabilities and skill range, Jiang Yuan believed he'd chosen the most appropriate approach—and he was still far from hitting a wall.

Seeing this, Gao Changjiang couldn't force Jiang Yuan to follow orders. He noted Jiang Yuan had brought eight people, so he assumed it was just Jiang Yuan's habitual independent style.

Thinking this, Gao Changjiang felt even more respect for Jiang Yuan—after all, he was at least an experienced team leader.

"Alright, you handle the files. As for us…" Gao Changjiang turned to the other experts.

"If all else fails, let's re-scan the surveillance footage from the time of the incident," suggested the video expert, naturally proposing a video-based solution.

"We could further analyze the footprints—track the gait—but it's too chaotic…" the footprint expert offered a footprint-based suggestion.

Jiang Yuan stayed silent. Honestly, he understood a bit about video and a bit about footprints; based on the photos and scene conditions, he felt neither approach had any hope.

The offender chose the simplest, most effective path: leave traces only on the children and the environment, then flee into areas hard to track, taking the children with him.

Such a mature criminal method requires not only extensive experience but also environmental adaptability and considerable skill. That's why Jiang Yuan limited his search to neighboring provinces and the past two years.

Based on Jiang Yuan's current experience, these two judgments were nearly spot-on.

Jiang Yuan rubbed his head and returned to his room to keep reading case files.

This time, he didn't read for long.

One old case from a neighboring province caught Jiang Yuan's attention.

The incident occurred at a rural market—somewhat similar to a vegetable market, but that alone meant little; the key was how the child was taken: the trafficker first approached a child separated from parental supervision, then claimed to be taking them to their mother.

The child, hearing they were going to find their mother, followed willingly. Then one walked ahead, the other behind—no need to carry or coax.

But this time, because the child was slightly older—a six-year-old—he started calling out for his mother while walking, drawing attention from bystanders. Still, the trafficker fled decisively.

Jiang Yuan recalled the four Guqi cases. Two mentioned children being separated from supervision and sight; the other two made no such mention.

Jiang Yuan immediately found Gao Changjiang: "Call the victims' families and ask if they've withheld any details."

"You want them to admit the children were first out of their control before going missing? That's difficult," Gao Changjiang said, immediately sensing the challenge.

Jiang Yuan replied: "This is critical to determining whether to link the cases. And it's not about legal definitions of 'loss of control'—if a child isn't holding hands and loses sight for a few seconds, even ten or fifteen seconds, that counts as separation."

Gao Changjiang thought for a moment, then sighed: "Fine, I'll ask them."

It has to be said that Jiang Yuan's approach had real merit—Gao Changjiang, despite fearing reprimand, contacted both families and obtained the results smoothly.

"They really all lost sight of their children," Gao Changjiang said after hanging up, sounding oddly puzzled: "So the trafficker is just picking up stray kids?"

"It's selecting the easiest targets," Jiang Yuan paused, then added: "If so, we can start by solving the old cases."

If you can't solve the new case, search old ones—that's a normal line of thinking.

The key is finding the old cases and linking them to the new ones.

At this point, Gao Changjiang began to realize Jiang Yuan's strength—he said not another word and simply followed Jiang Yuan's lead.