Chapter 959

The Taihe River rolled on, waves crashing, carrying corpses and propelling ferry boats.

Jiang Yuan and Huang Qiangmin were surrounded by a large crowd and brought to a large riverside food stall.

“Sorry for the poor hospitality, sorry for the poor hospitality… Recent inspections have been strict. I thought, since we’re forming the Taihe River task force, we should avoid giving anyone grounds to catch us out…” Wu Zhixu apologized as he walked.

“It’s fine.” Jiang Yuan’s work was nearly done, his emotional intelligence naturally on point; seeing the familiar Taihe River, he felt quite good and smiled: “I grew up by the Taihe River. As a kid, I used to love carrying my bowl down to the riverbank to eat. The adults would scold me, saying the wind blowing into your stomach would cause stomachaches.”

“There really is such a saying, hahaha…” Wu Zhixu’s emotional intelligence was fully maxed out.

The accompanying police officers also readily provided emotional value.

“Captain Jiang, sit here.” Wu Zhixu specifically guided Jiang Yuan to the seat facing the river. Once Jiang Yuan was seated, he pointed ahead and smiled: “Can you see the top of that artificial hill from here?”

Jiang Yuan focused his gaze and indeed saw the upper half of an artificial hill in the distance; he nodded.

Wu Zhixu grinned proudly and said: “That artificial hill is the same one where the murderer, Li Zhijun, killed Xie Peiqiong.”

“Oh, so this is Lanting Park?” Jiang Yuan recalled the report he had just reviewed.

“Yes, this is Lanting Park—the same one you inspected—but from a different angle and direction. I specifically found the best viewing spot. This place normally doesn’t open at this hour; it’s a late-night snack stall. I called the owner and asked him to come in early.” Wu Zhixu was proud of his careful arrangements.

With current domestic technology, once the victim’s identity and the murderer’s identity were confirmed, locating the crime scene became a straightforward task.

Just verify the phone number, trace the victim’s last mobile signal location, and you can basically pinpoint the primary crime scene—it won’t be far off.

If the murderer ran around with the victim’s phone, he’d only be walking straight into a trap; the farther he ran, the higher the chance he’d be caught on camera, and if he hadn’t properly disposed of the body, he’d already be in custody.

The only slightly more difficult part is aligning the murderer’s and victim’s phone locations—figure out where their paths crossed, and walking the entire route wouldn’t take long.

This was far easier than aimless searching.

Lanting Park was identified using the most basic method.

Investigators found uncleaned bloodstains near the artificial hill in the park’s center, collected multiple fingerprints and fibers, and located a scarf suspected to belong to the victim—later confirmed as such.

The murderer, Li Zhijun, was essentially confirmed; his killing method showed nothing unusual. The only problem was that he was still on the run and hadn’t been captured for interrogation.

But for Jiang Yuan, Wu Zhixu, and the others, the case was essentially closed. If a steak were seven-tenths done, this was nine-tenths done.

Jiang Yuan turned to look at the Taihe River, then the artificial hill, then the path from the hill to the river, and nodded: “From this perspective, the murderer likely carried the body out the back gate and followed the riverside path to dump it. If there were no tables or chairs here in the morning, the murderer might have passed right by this spot…”

“Exactly, exactly! That’s right!” Wu Zhixu laughed heartily. “It’s rare to eat right at the crime scene!”

“True,” Jiang Yuan agreed. Honestly, thinking about it like this felt oddly compelling.

Huang Qiangmin coughed twice and said: “Aren’t you going to cordon off this area?”

“It’s a murder case in the park, and even though it’s close, we can’t shut down the entire row of night market stalls—it’s unnecessary, isn’t it?” Wu Zhixu paused, then smiled: “Of course, if you think it’s necessary…”

Jiang Yuan didn’t hesitate: “No need. The case seems fairly straightforward, and so much time has passed. This place is crowded with people—there’s no evidentiary value left here.”

“Got it, perfect.” Wu Zhixu smiled again and waved to the owner: “Bring the dishes! Serve the fish-head tofu soup first!”

Wu Zhixu turned to Jiang Yuan and the others: “The big-head fish here is caught from the neighboring lake—has nothing to do with the Taihe River. Just for atmosphere!”

…

A banquet without alcohol was like an exam without a proctor—progress flew by, and no one could take it seriously.

Wu Zhixu had no choice but to keep supplying emotional value before escorting Jiang Yuan and the others all the way back to Ningtai County.

Huang Qiangmin also returned with a pretense of aloofness.

The next day.

Jiang Yuan simply didn’t go to work—he invited Huang Qiangmin and others over for a home meal and drinks.

They had been on assignment in Jianjiang under the special task force; now that the case was solved, they were automatically on leave.

Technically, detectives had very flexible leave policies. If their superiors approved, they could easily take one or two weeks off, since overtime during active cases accumulated compensatory and annual leave.

But in practice, detectives who took long breaks barely existed—ordinary cases were too numerous to handle; if one officer was absent, the rest bore heavier loads.

The rare exceptions were major cases: after resolution, some unit leaders awarded extended leave as a reward.

In this regard, getting a long vacation as a reward was sometimes harder than receiving an official commendation.

Currently, Ningtai County had somewhat eased its manpower shortage. Criminal cases were solved quickly, and the incidence rate kept dropping. Detectives weren’t idle, but they weren’t overwhelmed either.

Jiang Yuan was no exception—he had cleared many cold cases across Shannan Province, and most current cases didn’t require his direct involvement.

Taking occasional leave was quite nice.

This was also Huang Qiangmin’s suggestion: once the Taihe River task force was formed, wouldn’t it be fitting to work overtime clearing old cases as a celebration?

Even when investigating, it wouldn’t take long to solve a single case.

Even though Jiang Yuan maintained extremely high efficiency and completion rates, Huang Qiangmin figured Jiang Yuan must be exhausted.

So Jiang Yuan rested until Monday before returning to the detective squad for roll call.

By then, Wang Chuan and Tang Jia had compiled several large boxes of case files for Jiang Yuan to choose from.

Jiang Yuan didn’t rush—he slowly went through each file one by one, occasionally replying to a few WeChat messages to help remote technicians with minor issues.

The next day, Jiang Yuan deliberately slept in, planning to arrive late at the squad—or skip the morning shift entirely.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he turned over, his phone buzzed violently.

Jiang Yuan picked it up, glanced at the screen, then answered, frowning: “Cui Da, is there a case?”

The caller was Cui Qi, captain of the Fourth Detachment of the Zhengguang Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Brigade—a mild-mannered man who frequently triggered nationwide police mobilizations by discovering corpses.

But to mobilize Jiang Yuan, Cui Qi had no authority.

Yet Cui Qi merely smiled politely and said: “Captain Jiang, I have a favor to ask—could you come over to our side? I’ll come pick you up?”

“Can’t you explain over the phone?” Jiang Yuan immediately knew what was up.

Cui Qi hummed, then added: “The situation is complicated. I’d really appreciate it if you could come in person.”

“Personal matter?”

“Not quite, but sort of,” Cui Qi replied vaguely.

Jiang Yuan thought for a moment, then said: “I’ll need to bring a few people with me.”

“Fine,” Cui Qi agreed immediately.

Five hours later.

As soon as Jiang Yuan spotted Cui Qi, he was led into a restroom.

Cui Qi slipped on shoe covers as he spoke: “This is the primary crime scene.”

“Someone dead?” Jiang Yuan wasn’t surprised—he was a forensic expert.

But Cui Qi shook his head: “Not certain.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember Xiao Si, one of my men?” Cui Qi didn’t answer Jiang Yuan’s question.

Jiang Yuan nodded: “The one whose voice is unbearable but who’s great at coordinating resources.”

Cui Qi nodded solemnly: “That guy is done for.”