Chapter 356: Details

"Actually, just from Jiang Yuan's side—the recommendations from Shannan—I feel we're already ready to attempt a preliminary investigation."

Liu Zhengwei spoke mid-meeting, cutting off the lively discussion.

Anyone with eyes could see that the information Jiang Yuan had provided was already sufficient to meet the basic criteria for a probe.

But Jiang Yuan had only been here one day—starting a large-scale investigation now? "We need to define a scope," the brigade commander muttered, peeling a misshapen tangerine.

The tangerines had been sent by Xu, the deputy director in charge of criminal investigation; Xu hadn't come to the meeting, but for the past few days, he'd been sending fruit daily, and the value kept rising, making everyone's mouths bitter.

Several battalion commanders nearby each received a tangerine from the brigade commander.

The tangerines were sweet and juicy, steadily raising everyone's tolerance.

Indeed, compared to a little face-saving, the director was truly terrifying.

"I suggest we focus the investigation on two traits: those skilled with hammers, and those who are 1. meters tall. The victim, Ma Zhongli, was a high-end interior designer—he'd have interacted with many construction workers. Narrow it down by height; we might get something."

The battalion commander of the Fourth Battalion swallowed his tangerine and offered a relatively reasonable scope.

The brigade commander grunted. "Construction workers are highly mobile and have weak legal awareness. If they're physically strong, and this was a robbery, the motive fits. Skill with hammers is a good angle—but the pool of construction workers is too broad to define."

"Ma Zhongli mainly designed villas and large open-plan apartments—he earned design fees."

"He did visit sites, but he didn't interact with many workers. We've already questioned everyone who worked on recent sites and received wages."

The First Battalion commander shook his head.

"Since we didn't have these height and skill criteria before, we can re-investigate—more thoroughly."

The brigade commander still found this direction compelling and wasn't ready to abandon it.

The battalion commander nodded, scribbling a few notes in his work log.

Talking in meetings was easy; actually doing the work was complicated—even something as simple as investigating workers required flawless execution, which was no small feat.

The battalion commander said, "From what I know, Ma Zhongli often took on private jobs and occasionally traveled out of town. If the workers were from elsewhere, it'll be hard for us to track them down."

"Even if he's far away, we still have to track them—what else are we supposed to do? Should I find you police from other provinces to help?"

The brigade commander gave no excuses, forcefully assigning the task.

The battalion commander sighed, nodding as expected. At least, when it came time to approve travel forms, the brigade commander wouldn't back out.

"The killer might not have targeted Ma Zhongli specifically," another detective said once the topic settled. "Looking at recent home invasion murders, the most common motive in rural cases is emotion—or rather, personal grievance."

"The main reason? Family conflict. Jiang Yuan's judgment was home invasion for theft—motive was financial, not personal." Liu Zhengwei spoke. The detective remained calm. "I've studied several recent home invasion murders. In nearly every case, the suspect had a familial or kinship relationship with the victim, and the motive was almost always a family dispute." Everyone listened attentively.

Even the brigade commander, after the man finished speaking, praised: "Old Feng has clearly studied this. Indeed, killing four people in one go is too extreme for a simple theft motive—it doesn't fit common sense."

"Then, Old Feng, lead your team and dig deeper along the kinship line."

The Chiyong police faced a dilemma: many investigative directions had already been checked before, yielded no leads, and now re-examining them offered no guarantee of breakthrough.

But even if it was hard, work had to be assigned.

The brigade commander did everything he could to organize it. At this point, any action was difficult; the cost of solving the case was no longer a consideration.

Yet he still had little confidence in solving it.

Jiang Yuan, with Mu Zhiyang and others, requested a crime scene investigation vehicle and brought along two Chiyong forensic technicians to begin examining the scene.

Like autopsies, secondary scene examinations yielded far less information.

Many traces had already been collected; to grasp the full scene, they still had to rely on photos.

But Jiang Yuan's purpose was simply to experience the scene. He didn't bother wiping fingerprints—he focused entirely on the killers' movement patterns.

Jiang Yuan continuously simulated the killers' actions in his mind.

"These higher drawers were pulled open by the 1. -meter-tall one—he was strong; some drawers are even broken. The lower drawers are harder to attribute."

"The lockbox was smashed open with an octagonal hammer."

"These guys relied purely on brute force—no signs of lock-picking skills."

Jiang Yuan moved floor by floor, examining each, constantly refining his thoughts.

Level-4 crime scene investigation, like his forensic pathology, surpassed the level of ordinary technicians.

But extracting the killer from such a chaotic scene remained difficult.

Even Ministry experts had unsolved cases.

The key lay in the details.

If they could find one detail the killer missed—something linking him to his identity—the case would be 90% solved.

Of course, this was merely a technician's idealistic hope; in reality, cases solved this way were one in a hundred.

Most cases were solved in clumsy, inelegant ways.

Jiang Yuan reached the mistress's bedroom, where dust caught his attention.

"Something was here. It's been removed." Jiang Yuan stood before the wardrobe, flashlight in hand, seeing a layer of dust—except for one rectangular patch, untouched.

Liu Jinghui walked over immediately and nodded. "Pretty big... hmm... a small safe?"

This answer surprised Jiang Yuan. "Why?"

Liu Jinghui said, "First, the size fits. Second, this is the mistress's room—I noticed she had no dedicated jewelry box or drawer. So her jewelry was likely stored in this small safe."

"Second, this family had two children, and in a rural setting, keeping jewelry in a safe is safer than in a jewelry box."

"Mainly, it served as a decoy," Mu Zhiyang said. "So the robbers took the whole safe."

"These safes are designed to be simple and convenient, with just enough protection."

Mu Zhiyang asked, "Could the jewelry box have been taken too?"

"No. Think of movies where they rob jewelry stores—the thieves dump the jewelry out. Jewelry boxes are heavy and hold little. Robbers won't take them."

Mu Zhiyang nodded unconsciously.

Liu Jinghui added, "We can ask people who knew her. I don't think she hid anything—someone must know."

Jiang Yuan stayed silent, chin in hand, waiting until they finished, then said: "If it's a small safe, the opening method becomes interesting."

Liu Jinghui immediately turned to Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan said, "None of these three could pick locks—we already established that. So whoever got the safe had to break it open."

"Right. They wouldn't bring in someone just to pick the lock—wouldn't pay them, and risk exposure."

Liu Jinghui agreed. "So what brute-force method could they use?"

"You can find a cutting machine at any small construction site or scrap yard."

Jiang Yuan paused. "But they wouldn't dare let someone else operate it independently."

"So, like lock-picking, hiring someone means risking exposure."

Liu Jinghui understood. "So you mean they had to open it themselves—with what?"

"An oxy-acetylene cutter. Cheap ones cost just a few hundred yuan. But they wouldn't have waited for online delivery..."

"They bought an oxy-acetylene cutter locally?" Liu Jinghui nodded vigorously. "That's feasible! This clue would drastically reduce our workload!"