You're supposed to be a security officer, what case are you solving?

Chapter 175 Investigation!

Leaders at higher levels generally focus on the big picture, while criminal investigators on the front lines, in addition to following instructions from their superiors, also need to pay attention to the details.

Details are key to solving cases, and veteran detectives understand this principle.

Leaders don't care about your case-handling process; they only care about the result.

So, right after the county bureau's criminal investigation meeting ended, He Jinbo and Zhang Yong got together, along with half of the veterans who were on the front lines.

"Captain He, you are the deputy branch chief of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. We are familiar with all the cases solved by the Chengbei Branch in the past six months, and they were all solved perfectly. What are your thoughts on this current case?"

He Jinbo is itching to see Yang Jinwen's notes, even though he can't understand them.

But before that, he had to say a few words.

"What Director Wen said at the meeting just now makes sense; it is essential to investigate social relationships."

When they arrived at the scene, the residents of the family building reported that people often came to steal things from the staff building. These thefts were just scouting the area, so whether it was the staff building or the laid-off workers from the fertilizer plant, they all had to be investigated one by one.

In addition, the murderer came prepared and did not seem to be a novice, so when we investigate Wang Jian's social connections, the first people we screen are the employees of the fertilizer plant with criminal records. It is best not to let any of them go.

Wasn't it said that Fang Zhongtai, the gatekeeper, was missing? We need to find him first.

Secondly, we need to find eyewitnesses. Let's assume the murderer isn't from the fertilizer factory; then he must have scouted the area beforehand. I looked around the residential building.

Outside the alley is a main road, leading to several state-owned factories. I surmise that the murderer must have fled the scene after Wang Yu and He Xiao were killed—what time was it, I think?

Yang Jinwen replied, "Three o'clock in the morning, or after three-thirty in the morning."

He Jinbo nodded: "That's right, that's the time the murderer fled."

At this moment, Lao Bangcai Yao Weihua said, "Lingmeng County doesn't have a train station, but it does have a bus station. So, after the murderer killed the person, there are only two options: first, go home; second, escape by bus."

Cai Ting continued, "What if it wasn't a local from Lingmeng County who committed the crime?"

Zhang Yong said, "That makes it even easier to investigate. Lingmeng County only has a few streets and a few guesthouses. As long as it's an outsider who committed the crime, we can definitely find the person."

Yang Jinwen asked, "It's not that absolute."

When he said this, no one present understood and they all looked at him.

He Jinbo and Maozi, however, knew that Yang Jinwen must have something to say about it.

"First of all, how many people were involved in the crime?"

Zhang said, "Such a large crime scene, with four people killed, means there are at least two, or more, murderers."

Yang Jinwen glanced at his notes and replied, "Three people."

Yao Weihua raised an eyebrow: "How did you know?"

Have you checked the kitchen?

Zhang Yong countered, "What happened to the kitchen?"

"There were three dishes on the table: steamed fish, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a plate of kimchi. This should not have been eaten by the victim's family."

Besides these three dishes, the rice bowls and chopsticks were not on the table; they had been taken to the kitchen and washed clean, with the bowls and chopsticks placed in their proper places.

Therefore, this must not be food that the victim ate. Otherwise, there is no way to explain why the bowl and chopsticks were washed separately, but the plate used to serve the food was left untouched.

This group of criminals was probably trying to conceal their numbers. Whether it was washing dishes and chopsticks, wearing gloves while committing the crime, or mopping up footprints, it all made sense.

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped.

Cai Ting frowned and said, "They killed four people, and they still had the mood to cook and eat at the crime scene?"

Zhang Yong asked, "Captain Yang, are you sure?"

Yang Jinwen said, "We'll know when it's light. Forensic doctor Wen and the others are performing an autopsy overnight. If the victim ate the food on the table, there will definitely be food residue left in his stomach. If not, then it was eaten by the criminals."

He Jinbo grasped the key point: "How did you determine that there were three people?"

Yang Jinwen said, "The chopsticks are placed upside down."

There was a bamboo chopstick holder on the kitchen wall with ten pairs of chopsticks in it. Wang Jian's family of three didn't need that many chopsticks, so they must often invite relatives and friends over for meals.

Three pairs of chopsticks had their tips pointing downwards, while the remaining seven pairs had their tips pointing upwards.

If you hold chopsticks with the tips facing down, the end of the chopsticks used to pick up food will get moldy.

That's my judgment, though it might not be entirely accurate.

Secondly, we also need to analyze and consider how the murderer entered the room.

Zhang Yong said, "I have a guess about this issue. We have conducted interviews and investigations. The incident occurred on a Saturday morning. Early Saturday morning, Wang Jian went to the city with the deputy director of the fertilizer plant. This can be confirmed."

Wang Jian went home in the deputy factory director's car. The deputy factory director lived on the fifth floor. The two of them went upstairs together. It was after 10 p.m., which is consistent with the judgment of his time of death.

Therefore, I suspect that before this, Wang Jian hadn't returned home yet, and someone was knocking on the door. Li Xiumei may have thought it was her husband coming home, so she opened the door, and the murderer took the opportunity to break in.

He Jinbo said, "Also, the money, the passbook, and Wang Jian's personal seal are all gone. Could these thugs have gone to the bank to withdraw money?"

Maozi immediately said, "If we want to withdraw money, isn't that similar to the Zhang Xiaoying case we solved before? These criminals can only withdraw money from local banks, so we can just stake out and arrest them!"

He Jinbo glared at him: "That depends on whether Wang Jian's family has a passbook or a deposit slip. If it's a deposit slip, we can use this method to arrest people, but if it's a passbook, it's unlikely."

However, this is also a direction for the investigation. I'll discuss it with Director Wen in a bit. If these criminals really dare to withdraw the money, they might operate in An'nan City. Lingmeng County is too small; they definitely wouldn't have the guts.

Zhang Yong said, "Then let's do it this way. Our county criminal investigation team and patrol team will handle the investigation and locating of Fang Zhongtai. The rest will be handled by Captain He and you. Is that alright?"

He Jinbo nodded: "Okay."

"There's no time to lose, I'll make the arrangements right away." It was already past 10 p.m., but because it was a murder case, and a family annihilation case at that, Zhang Yong dared not rest.

After he left, He Jinbo began to arrange personnel for the Major Crimes Unit.

"Captain Yang, you, Maozi, and Qi Bin, follow the lead of the nylon belt to investigate."

"Old Yao, Xiao Ting, you two come with me. We'll go and check out the area around the apartment building again, and look for eyewitnesses, just like the murderer scouted the area beforehand."

"Okay." Everyone nodded.

As soon as they stepped out of the county bureau building, Yang Jinwen, Maozi, and Qi Bin felt the biting cold.

It was already December, and the temperature was frighteningly low. Moreover, Lingmeng County was located in the mountains, so it was naturally even colder.

Qi Bin asked, "Team Leader Yang, where are we going to find similar nylon straps in the middle of the night? The construction site isn't open yet, and the hardware stores are closed."

Cat sighed, "Everyone's busy. Even Director Wen rushed back to the city to find someone else. We can't just go back to sleep, can we?"

"Go to the crime scene."

"Huh? Didn't my master and the others go?"

"Let's go take another look."

Qi Bin said, "Then I'll go get the car."

Lingmeng County is a small place; you can drive around the town center in half an hour.

So, in less than fifteen minutes, Yang Jinwen and his group arrived at the fertilizer plant's residential building.

He Jinbo and his group's car was indeed parked in the carport, and there were lights on upstairs, indicating that they were visiting each household.

We already arranged for them to come in during the day, and the residents were quite cooperative, but it's the middle of the night, so there's bound to be some arguments.

He Jinbo has a very loud voice, so loud that even the cats downstairs can hear him clearly.

"Why did they all move away? Who gave them permission to move?"

Yang Jinwen noticed during the day that some residents had already moved out before nightfall, and there were probably only a few households left in the apartment building.

Outside the family quarters is an alley without streetlights, leading to a main road, which in turn leads to a deserted street. There are several privately owned township factories, such as a timber mill and a stone processing plant.

There were many township enterprises in the 1990s, and many of the later large enterprises were originally township enterprises.

It seems unlikely that the perpetrator would have fled from the main road outside the factory after committing the crime at 3 a.m., because there are factory gates along the roadside, and guardhouses are located next to them.

There are people on duty at the gatehouse in the early hours of the morning.

Inside the alley was a wasteland, and beyond that were farmlands on the outskirts of the city.

Yang Jinwen took the flashlight and stepped directly backward.

Qi Bin caught up and asked, "Captain Yang, what are you looking for?"

Yang Jinwen said, "Find the dog."

"what?"

Yang Jinwen asked, "I heard from forensic doctor Wen that our municipal bureau has a police dog, right?"

Qi Bin nodded quickly: "There is a sheepdog."

"Call them over."

"No, there's no way to call them over."

"What?"

"Captain Yang, you've never been to the police dog unit?"

"I've only been here for two days, how could I have time to go?"

"That dog is only six months old and is still in training. Six months ago, we didn't have any police dogs; it was Director Wen who brought them. If we want to borrow one, we can only go to the next city or the armed police."

"Then let's start looking."

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"Let's see if we can find the blood-stained clothes. Wang Jian's common carotid artery was punctured, and he lost more than 30% of his blood. The initial estimate is that he lost about 1500 milliliters of blood. The bloodstains at the scene have been wiped away."

Cat said, "I understand. The blood is spraying out, so the murderer will definitely be sprayed with blood!"

Yang Jinwen nodded and said, "The murderer was very meticulous, and they fled the scene after 3 a.m. At this time, there was no one around, so they may have taken the blood-stained clothes with them."

Qi Bin sighed: "So, in that case, we're just searching blindly?"

Yang Jinwen looked at him and said, "You can go back and rest first."

"Captain Yang, that's not what I meant."

Cat glanced at Qi Bin and said in the tone of an old man, "When we solve a case, we have to eliminate all possibilities. After eliminating all possibilities, the last one, even if it is wrong, should still be the answer. Learn from that, Qi."

Qi Bin rolled his eyes, then immediately smiled. In terms of years of service in the police force, both Maozi and Yang Jinwen had less than him.

Normally, both of them would have to address each other as "senior brother".

The three of them split up and headed toward the wasteland behind the alley.

On a winter night, there wasn't a single star in the sky; only the faint light from the three flashlights in their hands shone through.

(End of this chapter)