Chapter 358

After assigning personnel to various counties and towns, the brigade commander hurried off to report to his superiors.

While the attendees had not yet left, Liu Jinghui sighed and said, "We need to wrap up this case quickly."

Everyone turned to look at Liu Jinghui.

Liu Jinghui spoke as if to himself: "If you're the perpetrator of a family massacre, fleeing is the first choice. Of course, they'd likely have to stay together to dismantle the safe, so maybe they'd linger two more days—but now that the safe's been opened, most will run. So if we move fast, the manhunt afterward will be easier."

Everyone's expressions shifted slightly. Liu Jinghui had pointed out a real problem—no cop likes the manhunt phase, especially when the investigation isn't even complete.

"Director Liu has thought far ahead," Yuan Ben smiled, diffusing the tension.

Liu Jinghui smiled and said, "It's mainly because the case is so big. If all three flee, it's a failure. Even if just two escape, this case won't be fully solved—it drops from a Second-Class Merit to a Third-Class Merit. Of course, that's just how it is in Shannan."

Everyone's expressions changed again.

Once again, Comrade Liu Jinghui revealed a harsh reality: the reason the tangerines they eat every day are so sweet is because the director has extremely high expectations.

If we solve the case but don't catch all three…

No need to think further—every year during the New Year, someone will have to stand guard to catch this guy. Three years, five years, thirteen, fifteen—someone will always have to watch.

Demoting the merit award is minor; after all, only a few will ever qualify for even a Third-Class or Second-Class Merit. Most have no hope of that.

But overall, Liu Jinghui had shown everyone a burdensome future.

"It's not true that committing a crime means you must flee," the captain of the Second Detachment stepped forward to steady morale.

Liu Jinghui kept pressing: "If we find traces of these three during our search in the city, maybe they haven't fled. But if we find nothing in the city, it means they have some counter-investigation awareness—and in that case, the likelihood they've fled increases dramatically."

And that mindset will only grow stronger with time."

Liu Jinghui's logic was too coherent—too coherent to refute.

As a police officer, the captain of the Second Detachment had to admit: Liu Jinghui's deduction was highly plausible.

A fool who becomes a criminal is still a fool. But a slightly smarter fool will struggle more before and after the crime, wasting more police manpower and resources.

And when it comes to manhunt, the shorter the time gap, the easier it is to catch them.

Especially in recent years, fugitives are most vulnerable when they haven't yet settled in.

As time passes, once they obtain new ID cards or even residence permits, filtering them out becomes exponentially harder.

The captain of the Second Detachment asked, "Director Liu, any suggestions?"

Liu Jinghui said, "Mobilize the masses—make a big show of it. Ask informants, check in with people familiar with local police stations, especially when we go to the counties to investigate—first, ask the local power brokers."

"That'll scare them off."

"They've already run," Liu Jinghui smirked. "Like I said before—if we search the city carefully, we might still catch a clue.

Now that we've proven they didn't dismantle the safe in the city, hiding their actions is pointless. They've probably fled. We need to get leads fast."

Again, layer upon layer of logic—the captain of the Second Detachment finally understood.

He glanced at the others and muttered, "When the brigade commander was here…"

"We won't get involved in the arrests. Once we confirm the identities of the three, our job's done," Liu Jinghui quickly distanced himself.

Manhunts are too grueling. Even though there are moments of brilliance during pursuit, most of the time—

it's just a contest of who suffers more, who's harsher on themselves.

Real-life manhunts are like one person running, another chasing. If the chaser runs fast enough, he can catch the runner in the shortest distance.

Theoretically, yes—but in practice, if the chaser pushes hard, the runner pushes harder. Even if the chaser stops, the runner keeps running.

In the end, a manhunt doesn't end because the chaser ran too fast—it ends because the runner got tired, gave up, and quit.

Liu Jinghui prided himself as a Chinese practitioner of deductive reasoning, the "King of Shannan Reasoning"—why would he waste his days chasing after fools in Chi Yong?

A few people understood and gave bitter smiles.

Few cops actually want to do manhunts.

Even the toughest daily work still has fixed hours. But going on a manhunt? That's brutal. Younger cops might treat it like group camping, an experience. But middle-aged detectives in their thirties or forties? Just thinking about it makes their teeth ache.

Even in daily hardship, there was at least a schedule for coming and going. But chasing fugitives out in the field? That was true suffering. The younger ones could manage—it was like group living, an experience of life—but middle-aged detectives in their thirties or forties, when they thought of it, felt their teeth go weak.

After a quick consultation among the captains, someone pulled out their phone to report the latest developments to the brigade commander.

The captain of the Second Detachment walked over, shook Liu Jinghui's hand, and smiled: "Regardless, thank you all for your help. Hopefully this lead will help us lock down the three."

"Once you've confirmed the killer's identity and final location, protect the scene as much as possible—call me to assist with the forensic examination."

Jiang Yuan didn't care about the middle-aged men's professional posturing—he first revealed his own skills.

He didn't like manhunts either, and wasn't good at them—but manhunts could be turned into technical work.

Jiang Yuan had little experience in this area, but crime scene investigation had broad applications. He believed that as long as there was a scene, some information could always be extracted.

Liu Zhengwei now understood Jiang Yuan's technical ability and thanked him repeatedly.

Everyone dispersed, heading to their assigned areas for investigation.

Around Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui, the space immediately grew empty.

"Want to guess where the killer dismantled the safe?" Liu Jinghui suddenly felt playful.

Jiang Yuan waved his hand: "I'm going back to sleep."

"Sleeping is too boring," Liu Jinghui groaned.

"I'll do the crime scene examination after I wake up—if they've found the place."

Jiang Yuan gave Liu Jinghui a weary look.

Comrade Liu Jinghui suddenly felt provoked and snapped: "If they confirm the killer's identity and he's fled, I can help with the analysis too!"

Jiang Yuan: "Then sleep together. Only a clear head after sleep can think straight."

"Sleep, sleep, sleep!" Liu Jinghui gave up on the guessing game.

The news came back faster than expected.

In just three hours, an informant delivered precise information.

"Half a month ago, someone from Chi Yong came around asking where to find unregistered oxy-acetylene cutters. Later, he bought a set and left."

An informant is what the public calls a "snitch," or "erwu zai."

But very few informants actually have official files in the police bureau.

This one was among the rare genuine informants in Tonglin County—and the information he provided was timely indeed.

The criminal investigation brigade's officers didn't hesitate—they headed straight for the address the informant gave.

A self-built rural house. Inside, they saw two dismantled cars.

The two brothers busy dismantling them turned and ran—but didn't get more than a few steps before they were caught.

The police deployed here were prepared for the family massacre case; these two car thieves had no chance of escaping.

"What did the man who bought the oxy-acetylene cutter from you half a month ago look like?" Liu Zhengwei led the team, his aura now fierce.

The two brothers were stunned, staring at the courtyard full of police, and whispered: "Are you arresting us because of those guys?"

"Those guys?" Liu Zhengwei wouldn't answer his question.

"Three," the older brother sighed. "We didn't know them. But we did have one old cutter."

"What did the three look like?"

"One was tall and muscular, young. The other two were older. One had what looked like an injured foot," the older brother whispered.

Liu Zhengwei and the others exchanged glances—this matched perfectly.

Even more astonishing: Jiang Yuan had actually guessed the height characteristics of all three.

"You didn't know them—how did they find you?" Liu Zhengwei pressed.

The older brother glanced at the younger one and whispered: "A friend introduced them."

"What friend? What's his name?"

Liu Zhengwei demanded sharply.

The two whispered their answer.

Liu Zhengwei asked for the location, then handed the two brothers over to his colleagues for further questioning, and set off with his team immediately.

As the car started, Liu Zhengwei called Jiang Yuan and asked him to come assist.

At this stage of the case, Liu Zhengwei trusted Jiang Yuan more than his own wife.

As the car started, Political Commissar Liu called Jiang Yuan again, asking him to come assist.

At this stage of the case, Political Commissar Liu trusted Jiang Yuan more than his own wife!