Chapter 618: A Familiar Feeling

"Alright. Since Liu Cheng and the others are so earnest, you lead the team over there to help them with this case. Can it be solved?" Huang Huang Qiangmin listened to Jiang Yuan's explanation, mused for a while, then remembered to ask about the case's difficulty.

On his way over, Jiang Yuan had already considered this case: "I don't know if it can be solved, but there's hope. If there's clothing, we can use forensic botany—pollen and spores are hard to wash out even if the blood isn't fully cleaned. The blood itself carries DNA, and there are usage traces; maybe we'll find the killer's DNA."

Jiang Yuan paused here, then added: "But I'm not familiar with Beijing's environment—it's densely populated. I don't know if we'll still be able to find anyone after narrowing the area."

Huang Huang Qiangmin clicked his tongue twice: "From what you say, this case actually has a good chance of breakthrough. Then it's settled—you lead the team over. This time, treat it as a trial. Don't overthink it: solve it if you can, admit if you can't. After all, you're just helping out for free."

"Helping out for free?" Jiang Yuan looked at Huang Huang Qiangmin's mouth with slight surprise.

"Yeah, our county bureau has handled many matters in Beijing. Building goodwill means our colleagues will have somewhere to stay when they go there later." Huang Huang Qiangmin never worried about the Beijing bureau's ability to pay.

Unlike what most people imagine, police operations involving physical entities almost always require travel. A few years ago, any matter involving Penguin required queuing at the South Pole's capital; any matter involving Alipay required queuing at West Lake.

Even ordinary residents couldn't be questioned about their privacy over the phone—you had to show up in person, present some form of identification. At the very least, you needed a uniform; they might even call 110 to verify you.

All kinds of foreign offices or large corporations operated the same way: if you wanted to investigate them, you had to bring official documents to their headquarters. On the other hand, the prosperity of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou attracted not just the young, but also all sorts of Lao Rongzhi types.

Jiang Yuan didn't waste time—he selected his team, booked the flight to Beijing, and had Wang Wang Chuan send the flight details to Liu Cheng.

That evening, both sides met at the airport.

Liu Cheng had even arranged three luxury vans, driving Jiang Yuan and his team straight to the hotel, proudly saying: "Can't compare to the Elgrand, but here we guarantee basic conditions—especially case-related expenses, which are quite generous."

Jiang Yuan ran his hand over the leather seats and nodded: "True. Our domestic business vehicles have more spacious interiors. Our county bureau couldn't compare—we two years ago had only Jetta Wagon and Santana. The Jetta Wagon had smoother gear shifts; the Santana had better brakes."

Mu Mu Zhiyang and the others in the car chuckled softly.

Compared to now, the county bureau's vehicles really did seem laughable.

Liu Cheng chuckled along, then sighed: "The Ningtai County Bureau is different now. From my view, even just in terms of vehicles, it's quite good."

"Director Huang has a real knack for this." Jiang Yuan smiled.

Liu Cheng now understood the situation and smiled back: "Political Commissar Huang also has your support…"

He no longer thought of luring Jiang Yuan—after all, they were childhood friends. His charm was limited; he couldn't lure him anyway, so he'd just make use of him when needed.

But in terms of sincerity, Liu Cheng showed ample effort. The dinner's taste aside, the individual serving style alone raised the price significantly, indirectly proving Liu Cheng's claims about leadership attention and sufficient funding weren't empty words.

Jiang Yuan ate happily. If Lin'an was a culinary desert, Beijing was at best an oasis in the northern desert—there were some good dishes, but not many. And you had to lower your standards.

But on the other hand, as the capital's core territory, conditions were still decent, so while flavor might be lacking, presentation could make up for it.

Pure individual serving was distinctive—it meant every dish was plated separately. The advantage was each dish received individual seasoning, but it was overly complex and exhausting for chefs during busy times. For diners, though, every dish was complete, with main and side components balanced.

Take a simple mackerel—a cheap ingredient. Lightly salted and grilled, it released a powerful aroma, then sliced into bite-sized pieces and artfully arranged, suddenly tasting three times better than street-market fare, fully showcasing Beijing's master chefs' skill.

After eating several dishes and feeling full, Jiang Yuan drank the tea served with the meal and asked: "Commandant Liu, is it convenient to discuss the case details here?"

"Don't you want to rest first? Start tomorrow?" Liu Cheng smiled.

"We've traveled this far. Better to finish early."

"Alright. If Jiang Yuan from Ningtai takes charge, no problem." Liu Cheng complimented once more, then fell silent, choosing his words carefully: "The main physical evidence in the blood-stained clothing case is the clothing from that day, especially the two most important blood-stained garments. In the early investigation, we traced the brands and sales channels—sales were huge, and distribution in Beijing was extensive, so we couldn't identify the target."

Liu Cheng paused, then continued: "We also did DNA comparisons on all garments in the same box. The clothing box was placed under the apartment building. This building has no gated community separation and connects directly to office towers, so the donor's identity remains uncertain. What we know now is that the blood belongs to a woman, and the sweat stains also belong to a woman—two different individuals."

Jiang Yuan nodded slightly: "So the killer and the victim are most likely both women."

"Yes." Liu Cheng nodded heavily: "The case has stalled here. The biggest problem: we can't find the body. We don't know how the killer disposed of it, or why she kept only the blood-stained clothes."

He left this open-ended question, and the detectives around the table grew interested.

Wang Wang Chuan put down his chopsticks and said: "Maybe she buried the body—perhaps in a nearby park. She couldn't bury the clothes and body together, and couldn't just discard the clothes. Women are weaker; she couldn't dig a second grave. Seeing the donation box, she just tossed the clothes in?"

"Then why not throw them in the trash?" Tang Jia responded after listening to his theory: "Besides, the clothes were roughly washed. Cutting them up and discarding them would be safer than putting them in a donation box."

"Burning them would be safer," Wang Wang Chuan said.

"Burning clothes produces thick smoke, and it's hard to burn them completely—especially jeans and synthetic fabrics," Tang Jia said seriously.

"The body was probably dismembered," Mu Mu Zhiyang suddenly interjected. "Otherwise, carrying a 100-plus-pound woman's corpse would be impossible."

He had actually carried corpses before—he knew their weight.

Jiang Yuan nodded. Mu Mu Zhiyang had worked many cases with him; his judgment was sound. Violent murder might produce blood-stained clothes, but since the killer was female, dismemberment was more likely.

After all, a body that large sitting there—too heavy to move, too risky to report—how else to handle it?

At this point, many criminals seeking to evade punishment choose dismemberment.

But dismemberment is extremely difficult. Forget the skill of Butcher Ding—anyone who's bought half a pig or half a lamb knows how arduous it is to break it down and fit it into the fridge.

The difficulty only increases with a larger corpse. Getting covered in blood is only natural.

Seeing Jiang Yuan's serious expression, Liu Cheng's tension eased slightly, and he added: "This case has stalled here because of some odd inconsistencies…"

"No problem. We'll examine the evidence tomorrow." Jiang Yuan's expression remained grave, but showed no hesitation or worry.

Liu Cheng's tension snapped back instantly—this feeling… so familiar…