Chapter 40

“All taken care of.”

By mid-afternoon, Wei Zhenguo came over with a cheerful smile to deliver good news.

Jiang Yuanzheng was reading a book; he stood up at once, astonished: “That fast?”

“He thought he’d gotten mixed up in some big case, so he blurted out the electric bike theft himself, terrified of being framed.” Wei Zhenguo laughed heartily. “When we pressed him for the exact number of cases, we had his fingerprints to back it up—he ended up confessing to six cases total. The fencing route was exposed too.”

“Commander Wei, you’re amazing. Looks like having more people really pays off.” Jiang Yuan immediately paid a compliment—after all, this case had come to him originally.

“More people definitely help. Most suspects, when they see us standing there in groups of three or four, barely resist at all. But if you show up with just two, they’ll think, ‘Maybe I should try running.’” Wei Zhenguo shared his experience, then added: “With this one, I was most afraid we’d walk into a den. These petty thieves are different from those who commit serious crimes—some love to gather friends. Their crimes are small, and they don’t have strong suspicions toward each other… I once handled a case where five men rented a room, slept in bunk beds, and together earned less than factory workers tightening screws—but when you asked them, each one felt incredibly happy, utterly content.”

“In college, a dorm of male students might spend less in living expenses than a screw-tightening worker earns.” Jiang Yuan said.

Xiao Wang, the forensic technician stationed in the forensic office, chuckled unkindly: “True enough.”

Wei Zhenguo said: “In any case, we’ve got to watch out for surprises. What if they throw a party or something…? Tough guys don’t matter, but if we hurt Jiang the forensic doctor, that’d be a real loss.”

Jiang Yuan hurried to say: “It’s not that bad…”

“Better safe than sorry.” Wei Zhenguo said seriously. “Honestly, as long as you find the clues, whether you hand them to me or someone else, we’ll make sure everything’s crystal clear. By the way, I haven’t finished telling you about the earlier case.”

“There’s more?”

“Of course—we sent out eleven people.” Wei Zhenguo chuckled twice, then continued: “First, Cai Bin’s girlfriend—the petty thief’s girlfriend—no major issues. She’s lazy and gluttonous, drawn to Cai Bin’s apartment, spends all day scrolling on her phone, occasionally goes shopping. When Cai Bin comes home after committing crimes, she expects him to buy groceries, cook, and serve her. Based on her personality and daily routine, she probably didn’t participate in the theft or fencing…”

Xiao Wang summarized: “So he steals electric bikes to support her?”

“Pretty much. Then, based on Cai Bin’s confession about the fencing route, we just arrested two more people, seized dozens of electric bikes, electric tricycles, and over a hundred batteries. Following this lead further, we’re likely to make more arrests. Once the case wraps up, we’ll probably be able to return stolen property to many victims.”

This time, Wu Jun couldn’t sit still anymore—he set down his teacup and looked over: “You’ve really shaken down a whole tree of jujubes.”

Wei Zhenguo smiled: “We just pulled the net early and cut in ahead.”

“Explain.”

“Didn’t we run similar special task forces in past years? Last year it was home burglaries, the year before that was pickpocketing on buses… This year, given the scale of what they’ve done, it might’ve been an electric bike task force. We struck first.”

“That’s hard to say—given current trends, they might be setting up a telecom fraud task force instead.” Wu Jun slurped his tea and offered a highly plausible conclusion. Telecom fraud cases now account for over 50% of all reports, with even higher financial losses. Compared to that, theft cases are child’s play.

Wei Zhenguo fell silent, forced to admit it was very likely.

Compared to telecom fraud cases involving thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of yuan, the outcry over stolen electric bikes was far quieter.

Wei Zhenguo shook his head: “Either way, solving the case is a good thing.”

“That’s true.”

“Actually, our old task force procedures were always like this: start with a petty thief to get the lay of the land, then follow the trail. Our county cases aren’t that convoluted… Oh!” Wei Zhenguo slapped his thigh. “Jiang the forensic doctor, the two guys who used hydraulic shears and a tricycle to steal electric bikes—Cai Bin said he knew them. We’re going to arrest them now.”

Jiang Yuan burst out laughing, then said with a touch of resignation: “Guess all that garbage-sorting was for nothing.”

“Nonsense. When it comes to conviction, having DNA evidence versus not having it makes a world of difference.” Wei Zhenguo tilted his chin. “Besides, once we catch these two, if we have DNA evidence, we’ll likely uncover even more cases—way easier than interrogating with nothing but empty words. If every case could have this kind of solid physical evidence, I’d be happy to sort through garbage every day.”

“Then just hire a cleaner—you’d be paying too much.” Xiao Wang, listening nearby, also laughed.

Wei Zhenguo let out a loud, hearty laugh, his face wrinkles deepening.

Turning back to Jiang Yuan, Wei Zhenguo smiled and asked: “Jiang the forensic doctor, any new leads today?”

“Today…” Jiang Yuan glanced at his computer screen, where the novel *The Great Physician Ling Ran* was open, and felt a twinge of shame—had he been too relaxed today?

Wu Jun cleared his throat twice to ease the tension: “Commander Wei, you just listed a whole string of cases—aren’t you going to be busy for a week or two? What more leads do you need?”

“No need for that long. At most ten days…” Wei Zhenguo knew Jiang Yuan had no new cases, so he turned serious. “Jiang the forensic doctor, if you’ve got time, could you help me with one case?”

“What case?”

“Case 326: Ding Lan’s disappearance.” Wei Zhenguo answered instantly.

Jiang Yuan searched the software; Wu Jun and Xiao Wang both leaned in.

“Jiang Yuan’s currently focused on loop fingerprints,” Xiao Wang felt obliged to explain for him, adding: “Forensic technicians tend to specialize…”

“Actually…” Jiang Yuan had to interrupt Xiao Wang. “I’ve been studying for a while now—I think I can handle other fingerprint types too.”

Jiang Yuan had previously upgraded his LV3 loop fingerprint identification to LV3 full fingerprint identification.

Loop fingerprints are relatively rare compared to other types—meaning, after acquiring the Chongqing-style single-fingerprint analysis method (LV3) for full fingerprints, Jiang Yuan’s scope had expanded dramatically.

Xiao Wang couldn’t believe it. He acknowledged Jiang Yuan’s skill, but to claim he’d mastered entirely new fingerprint types in just a few weeks? That exceeded his understanding.

Xiao Wang knew very few true experts, but he believed experts always had quirks. When Jiang Yuan said he specialized in loop fingerprints, he accepted it easily. Now, hearing Jiang Yuan say he’d removed that limitation, Xiao Wang felt uneasy.

Jiang Yuan offhandedly said: “I’ve been cramming lately. Commander Wei, tell me about your case.”