Film and Television World Life Record

After leaving the monitoring room, Zhao Jiwei said, "Brother Li, this case is a bit strange. They only found that the kitchen knife had moved from the kitchen to the coffee table in the living room. Nothing was stolen from the house, and there were no signs of forced entry. In addition, they ransacked everything and destroyed all the evidence. How are we supposed to investigate?"

"Besides, the community's surveillance footage didn't find any clues. Brother Li, do you think this might not be an isolated case? Maybe the family just misremembered."

Li Mu said, "Judging from their reactions, they don't seem to be lying; it should be true."

Zhao Jiwei hesitated and said, "Brother Li, we've had over eighty days of no burglaries in our 100-day campaign, and we'll be there in about ten more days. If a case comes up now, and we can't solve it in ten days, all our efforts over the past eighty days will have been for nothing."

“This family hasn’t suffered any losses, nor do they have any leads. Everything they’ve said is their own account, so it’s hard to say whether it’s actually a case. Can we discuss with them the possibility of not filing a case yet, and wait until the 100-day operation is over before we make sure to investigate it thoroughly?”

Li Mu reached out and tapped him on the forehead: "I know you're thinking of the institute, but it's not necessary. Just do things the way they should."

"Besides, I don't think this is a misunderstanding; it looks more like a theft."

Zhao Jiwei exclaimed, "No way! There aren't any clues at all. How can we make a judgment?"

Li Mu said, "When we get back to the station, we'll send letters to the surrounding police stations to ask if they have any similar cases. Even if we don't have any leads here, we can find some clues elsewhere."

Zhao Jiwei nodded silently: "Understood, Brother Li."

The two men returned to Ms. Sun's house. As soon as they entered, Ms. Sun looked at them expectantly: "Officer, did you find anything?"

Li Mu said, "We haven't found any clues from the surveillance footage or the security team. Don't worry, we'll continue our investigation."

Ms. Sun and Mr. Jia were somewhat disappointed.

Undeterred, Zhao Jiwei asked, "Are you sure someone came in?"

Ms. Sun said, "Of course. Otherwise, why would the kitchen knife end up in the living room?"

Zhao Jiwei said, "You can't say for sure. As the saying goes, a thief never leaves empty-handed. He finally managed to get in, so he'll probably steal something, right?"

Mr. Jia said, "Yes!"

Zhao Jiwei said, "But he didn't take anything. Even if your family isn't rich, you must have something of value, right? You could have sold a few bottles of wine from the cabinet. Why didn't you take anything?"

Mr. Jia was also stunned and began to wonder if his family had made a mistake.

Zhao Jiwei wanted to say something more, but Li Mu patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let's go back to the station and send an investigation letter."

Zhao Jiwei, unwilling to give up, followed Ms. Sun out of her house.

However, when Zhao Jiwei returned to the station and tentatively sent inquiry letters to several nearby police stations, he was surprised to find that the two neighboring police stations each had a similar case.

They were all burglaries; a kitchen knife was left in the living room.

After communicating with the two police stations, Li Mu and Zhao Jiwei drove over in a police car.

Led by local police officers, Li Mu and Zhao Jiwei went to the owner's home and inquired about the situation.

The woman involved still seemed shaken: "I discovered it this morning. I didn't notice it at first, but when I brought my child back, I found the kitchen knife on the coffee table in the living room. After checking the house, I found that the money I kept in the living room was gone. What's worse, the jewelry I kept in the bedside table was also gone, and two bottles of Moutai liquor were missing from the wine cabinet."

Li Mu asked, "Was the door pried open?"

The woman shook her head: "No. The scary part is here, the doors and windows are all fine."

……

After inquiring about the situation, just like with Ms. Sun's family, there were no clues.

The two went to the monitoring room to review the surveillance footage, copied the contents, and then rushed to the home of another victim.

Similar to the previous two cases, there was a kitchen knife on the coffee table in the living room. The doors and windows were intact, and there was no noise or clues during the night. It was only when I woke up in the morning that I suddenly discovered it.

Next, they went to the monitoring room, copied the content, and then returned to the Balihe Police Station.

Next, Li Mu called over Li Dawei and Yang Shu, and the four of them compared and searched the three surveillance videos together to look for clues.

More than an hour later, Li Mu pointed to a surveillance camera and said, "This car is a bit strange."

Zhao Jiwei, Li Dawei, and Yang Shu simultaneously gathered around: "Chief Li, we've found something..."

Li Mu said, "This model and color of car has appeared at all three crime scenes. It seems that it is most likely the same car."

Li Dawei stared at it for a while and said, "There are quite a lot of cars of this model. Could it be a coincidence?"

Zhao Jiwei said, "Just compare the license plate numbers and you'll know."

Li Dawei looked at it more closely: "Why can't I see the license plate number? It's too blurry. Is it covered up?"

Zhao Jiwei said, "If they really try to cover it up on purpose, it'll be like trying to hide something obvious, and it'll really raise suspicion."

Yang Shu said, "Just guessing won't work. We need some real evidence, otherwise there are many such cars, and it will be difficult to investigate."

Li Mu said, "Look here, take a closer look, isn't there a line on the windshield of this car?"

Zhao Jiwei exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Li, how could you tell? We looked for a long time and didn't find anything unusual."

Li Mu said, "There's a trick to this. If there's a crack in the glass, when you pass a street lamp, there will be reflections on the windshield in different directions."

“If you look closely at the car in the other two videos, do you see cracks there as well?”

After a closer look, with Li Mu's hint, the group actually discovered the crack.

Zhao Jiwei exclaimed in surprise, "So, the car that appeared at all three crime scenes is really the same one, and the license plate seems to be covered up. It must have been this guy who did it."

Li Mu said, "Alright, the next key point is to check this vehicle. Don't worry if the license plate number is blurry; there are surveillance cameras at street intersections, so we'll be able to find it."

Chapter 404 Solving the case

I thought checking the surveillance footage would take a lot of time, but unexpectedly, a steady stream of clues came to light very quickly.

Soon, a clue was found in the surveillance footage of a roadside supermarket.

Zhao Jiwei excitedly pointed at the screen: "Look, this is surveillance footage from an hour ago, isn't this the car!"

As they were talking, in the video, an ordinary-looking man got out of a Volkswagen and walked into the supermarket.

The two stared intently.

Li Dawei asked, "Zoom in a bit, can you see the license plate number?"

Zhao Jiwei tried it: "I can't see clearly, it's blocked. But there are definitely grooves on the windshield, I can't be wrong."

The two continued to follow the clues, watching the surveillance footage and discussing it in hushed tones.

Zhao Jiwei said, "Dawei, I think this person should be the one who went into Mr. Jia's house."

Li Dawei asked, "Is it because of the kitchen knife?"

Zhao Jiwei nodded and said, "That's right. When we were in police academy, didn't our teacher talk about cases like this? Some criminals like to leave marks after committing crimes, and this might be one of his marks. He ransacked someone's bedside table, taking such a big risk, so he might have brought a weapon with him. Leaving the kitchen knife in the living room is just a habit."

Li Dawei said, "That makes sense. If we catch him, Mr. Jia's case will be solved."

Zhao Jiwei said, "However, these are all surveillance footage from an hour ago. We don't know where they've gone now. We need to follow this line and search carefully again."

As they were talking, Li Dawei suddenly said, "Found it! Look, this is his car. About half an hour ago, he got on the South Ring Expressway and drove south along the national highway... Where is this?"

Li Mu glanced at it and laughed: "This is Liuxing Town. It seems we'll have to make a trip to Liuxing Town."

Without delay, the group immediately took action. To prepare for the upcoming search and arrest operation, Li Mu also dispatched two more police officers and four auxiliary police officers to join the operation.

On the way to Liuhang Town, Cao Jianjun, one of the two newly joined police officers, lived up to his seniority and extensive knowledge, and began to give everyone a brief introduction to Liuhang Town.

“This Liuhang Town relies on the city for its livelihood. The hardworking and capable people in the town have gone to the city to work and have made a fortune in recent years. Those who are idle and do not do honest work often come to the city to steal. This guy must be one of them.”

"However, the brothers at Liuhang Police Station are also very capable. With their help, this guy won't be able to escape."

Upon arriving at Liuhang Town Police Station, Officer Li Ming greeted Li Mu and Cao Jianjun, shaking hands with them and saying with a smile, "Officer Li, Lao Cao, have our men caused you trouble again?"

Cao Jianjun laughed and said, "Not at all, it's your people who have given us a chance to make a name for ourselves."

Li Ming laughed and said, "Let's discuss this first: if we catch him, who's responsible?"

Cao Jianjun said, "He committed the crime in our area, and we were the first to discover him, so of course we're responsible."

Li Ming laughed: "Brother, we also have a mission to have 100 days without burglary. We'll help you find him, but there's one condition: if we catch him and he stays, it's on our side."

Cao Jianjun said, "Old Li, it's not good for you to take advantage of the situation like this."

Li Ming smiled and said, "Then what do you suggest? We'll help you catch them, so we can't just leave without any benefit, right?"

Li Mu said, "Here's what we'll do! This suspect committed crimes in multiple locations, and the offenses are not minor. We'll take him away, but this case can be considered a result of our joint investigation. Of course, we'll take the lead, but your contributions will be indispensable."

Li Ming hesitated for a moment, then readily agreed: "Okay!"

Next, Li Ming led the group to the monitoring room and began to check the surveillance footage from various locations in Liuxing Town. Zhao Jiwei said, "Look, this car went into a blind spot in the surveillance and never came out again."

Li Dawei asked, "Is his home in that area? What's in that area?"

Li Ming said, "That's a residential area. According to our information, most of the residents in this area work in the city, and the housing is quite diverse, so there aren't many petty thefts."

Cao Jianjun speculated, "Maybe he works in the city and, with the New Year approaching, he stole something on his way home."

Li Ming analyzed: "If he is as you described, this person should be an experienced criminal. Our police station basically knows all the experienced criminals, but I don't think we have any in that area."

Li Dawei said, "Maybe he's one of those who slipped through the net? Why don't we go look for him in that area?"

Li Ming stood up: "Okay, let's go take a look."

Upon arriving at the location, Li Ming said, "There are quite a few private cars around here. How do I find it? By the way, what are the license plate numbers? I don't think I saw them clearly!"

Zhao Jiwei said, "He covered up the license plate number, and there is a very high probability that it is a car with a fake license plate."

Li Ming said, "Then how do we check? This model of car is quite popular."

Li Mu said, "Don't worry about that. Our next task is to find this model of car and check its windshield for cracks. If there are cracks, then it's our target."