Era: Starting from the local police station

Jiang Zhenghua turned and walked toward the pile of parts.

At this moment, the parts that had been piled up were laid out.

Yang Shaogang fiddled with a part, examining it closely.

Hearing footsteps, I turned around and saw Jiang Zhenghua coming over, pointing to several parts and saying, "These are all from the braking system."

Jiang Zhenghua asked, "Is everything complete?"

Yang Shaogang nodded: "Everything that's missing is here."

Jiang Zhenghua asked, "Are those things all normal?"

Jin Hong and the others all looked at him.

Yang Shaogang said, "I took a look, and they were all scattered after the impact, with obvious signs of force."

As he spoke, he picked up the half-deformed iron rod: "This is a handbrake lever. You see, it's deformed here because it was hit by a rock, and the force caused it to break directly, along with the latch breaking and nearby parts scattering."

Jin Hong frowned and asked again, "Are there any signs of damage to these?"

Yang Shaogang nodded emphatically, then his expression showed some hesitation.

Jiang Zhenghua asked, "What's wrong?"

Yang Shaogang sighed, reached out and picked up a spring from the side, and said in a deep voice, "This is what I just found inside. If I'm not mistaken, it's a brake reset spring."

Zhang Chongguang pressed further, "Is there a problem?"

Yang Shaogang nodded: "It shouldn't be here."

Jiang Zhenghua asked, "Could you explain in more detail?"

Yang Shaogang pointed to the wrecked vehicle not far away and said, "This is a GAZ-69 manufactured by our older brother. It has two systems: a handbrake and a foot brake. It uses a purely manual hydraulic brake system. The master cylinder oil line is connected to four brake slave cylinders. When braking, you press the pedal to push the master cylinder piston. The pressure is transmitted to the slave cylinders through the brake fluid, which pushes open the brake shoes and makes them rub against the brake drums."

He held up the return spring: "When released, a return spring inside each wheel hub pulls the brake shoe back."

Yang Shaogang's expression turned serious: "This thing is installed inside the brake drum. It's a closed iron shell that completely covers the brake shoes and springs. The springs are hooked onto the brake shoes. Even if it breaks, it usually won't fall out."

Zhang Chongguang asked in a deep voice, "Could it be caused by a collision?"

Yang Shaogang shook his head and said, word by word, "No. For it to fall out, the brake drum would have to be broken. We just checked, and all four brake drums are intact. In this situation, the only possibility is that it was taken out not long ago, and when it was put back together, it wasn't installed properly, which is why it fell out through the gap."

Jin Hong and the others looked solemn and turned to Jiang Zhenghua.

Jiang Zhenghua reached out and took the dirty spring: "Master Yang, is there any sign of damage to this spring?"

Yang Shaogang shook his head: "There's a layer of grime on it, I can't see it yet."

At this moment, Fang Ya and her assistant walked over: "Deputy Director Jiang, where do we need to take pictures?"

Jiang Zhenghua placed the return spring on the canvas: "Take a few pictures of this first, from all angles."

Fang Ya nodded, stepped forward, and began adjusting her posture to take pictures.

She then said, "I took four pictures, and you can see them from every angle."

Jiang Zhenghua bent down, picked up the reset spring again, and instructed Liu Baojia, "Go find some rags."

Liu Baojia responded and strode away.

Jiang Zhenghua shouted towards the truck, "Comrade Guo, has the brake drum been removed yet?"

Guo Yong, who was busy at work, turned around and said, "The rear wheels have all been removed, and now we're preparing the front wheels. What's wrong?"

Jiang Zhenghua hurried over there, saying as he went, "Don't dismantle it yet, let Teacher Fang take some pictures. By the way, is everything alright inside?"

Guo Yong first spoke to Xiao Li and the other person beside him, then straightened up and replied, "The outer oil pipe ruptured, which should have been caused by the impact. Everything inside is normal."

"It seems the problem is with the front wheels."

The group quickly arrived at the car.

Guo Yong asked, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Zhenghua showed him the spring in his hand.

Guo Yong stared wide-eyed and said, "This is a brake return spring? Why is it outside?"

He quickly turned around to examine the remaining two front wheels closely: "The brake drum isn't broken. How... how did it fall out from the gap?"

Jiang Zhenghua said to Fang Ya, "Take a picture of the brake drum first."

Fang Ya responded and went to get to work.

Jiang Zhenghua said, "If the return spring malfunctions, won't the brake shoes fail to return to their original position, and won't the brakes lock up?"

"It depends on the extent of the damage. If it softens, the brake shoes won't be able to be pulled back, resulting in a semi-brake state. On flat roads, the speed won't pick up, and it will be very difficult to go uphill. On steep downhill slopes, you won't even notice the problem."

Guo Yong wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued, "If it breaks, it will just snap and die."

"If the wheels lock up, it's not so bad if it's the rear wheels; you can drag it for a while, but steering might become difficult; but if it's the front wheels..."

After Yang Shaogang finished speaking, he suddenly looked at the wrecked car and swallowed hard.

Everyone looked grim, staring intently at the truck's front wheels.

Jiang Zhenghua said in a deep voice, "The steering wheel can't be turned at all; the car is sliding straight forward."

Guo Yong and the others nodded repeatedly.

Yang Shaogang said incredulously, "Could it be that the captain didn't fix the brakes properly after repairing them himself? Is that why this accident happened?"

The others remained silent.

Liu Baojia walked over with a tattered cloth in his hand and a water bottle in his other hand: "Deputy Director Jiang, I've brought the things."

Jiang Zhenghua took the rag: "Pour water on the spring, I'll clean it."

Soon, the dirt on the spring surface was cleaned, and Jiang Zhenghua picked up the spring to examine it carefully.

Everyone present watched his movements with bated breath.

He suddenly called out to Fang Ya, "Teacher Fang, come over and take another picture."

Jin Hong hurriedly asked, "Have you found anything?"

Jiang Zhenghua pointed to a spot on the spring: "Deputy Director Jin, you see, this part is noticeably thinner than the others, as if it has been polished by something."

Everyone craned their necks to look at that spot and, sure enough, discovered slight abrasion marks.

"This part is so finely polished that if you keep braking while going downhill for a long time, the spring could easily break."

"The person who did this is a meticulous person. Look, both of these rings have been polished, and the polishing was done gradually. If the spring hadn't popped out, who would have looked closely? They wouldn't have noticed the polishing marks, and nine times out of ten they would have thought it was due to long-term use of the spring and a quality problem, thus concluding that it was an accident."

"Could someone really be trying to harm the captain? But... but why?"

Jiang Zhenghua handed the spring to Fang Ya and said to Guo Yong, "Take a look at the wheel hub."

Guo Yong nodded, turned around, picked up a wrench, and started working. Xiao Li and Ma Qiang immediately stepped forward to help.

Jin Hong said in a deep voice, "It seems like it's murder now."

Cheng Mingli looked at Jiang Zhenghua, and tried to speak several times but no sound came out.

Jiang Zhenghua also frowned, staring intently at the car.

Zhang Chongguang said, "But there's something that doesn't make sense. If the spring is faulty, it should leave tire tracks, right? But there aren't any."

Jiang Zhenghua sighed, "That's what I can't understand either. Could my previous guess have been wrong?"

"Did we miss that area during our survey?"

Zhang Chongguang asked, "Should I take some more people to take a look?"

Jiang Zhenghua shook his head: "The accident site is such a small area, we examined it almost inch by inch, there's nothing we missed. And the vehicle's trajectory is also very clear. The truck was on the outside, making a wide turn, which means it was going fast, but it should still be under control at the time."

The group nodded.

Jiang Zhenghua continued, "But right after the sharp bend, there was just a large bend ahead, steep but not sharp. If the car hadn't suddenly accelerated, leaving the driver no time to react, it wouldn't have gone off the road."

Zhang Chongguang stroked his chin: "That analysis is correct. Could it be that he was sleepy and by the time he noticed, it was too late?"

Jin Hong wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Probably not. How could he dare to go on such a dangerous road? Unless he loses control of himself."

Fang Ya interjected, "I can confirm that the deceased had not been drinking, and even when he died, his hands should still be gripping the steering wheel, which is why he hit it head-on. Otherwise, the point of impact would have been off-center."

Cheng Mingli said, "In that case, this person must be conscious."

Yang Shaogang had recovered somewhat by this time: "The captain doesn't usually drink. He was in great spirits when he got off work yesterday, so he shouldn't be sleepy."

Jin Hong took out a cigarette case and handed it out to the group, saying, "This really is a ghost story."

Jiang Zhenghua took the cigarette: "Let's check what's going on when the brake drum is open."

Cheng Mingli nodded, then glanced at his watch: "Oh, it's almost midnight."

Jin Hong struck a match and said, "I don't think we'll finish this anytime soon. We need to find a way to get some food so our comrades can't work on an empty stomach."

Zhang Chongguang glanced around and saw some teenagers watching them from a distance: "There should be a village nearby, and they should have set up a large canteen. I'll take some men over there and talk to the team leader about getting us some food. I'll send someone to give them food coupons later."

Jin Hong nodded: "Okay, let's do it this way."

Cheng Mingli said, "I'll have Yuan Hua bring some men to go with you."

Zhang Chongguang nodded.

Jiang Zhenghua said to Liu Baojia, "Tell the comrades to load the things we've dismantled here onto the truck, then rest. There's nothing left to search in this area."

Liu Baojia responded and left.

The items that were previously discovered were quickly moved away.

Geng Jianwu took off his hat, held it in his hand, and fanned himself as he walked over: "Any takeaways?"

Liu Baojia then recounted the situation on this side.

Geng Jianwu picked up the reset spring that was placed aside and examined it carefully: "This was definitely done by an expert. If an ordinary person wanted to do this, they would just use pliers to clamp it and damage it a little. They wouldn't bother with this. Of course, the chances of being discovered are also much higher."

Jiang Zhenghua looked at him: "Old Geng, what are your thoughts on the current situation?"

Geng Jianwu looked at the spring, then at the wheel, and after a moment of contemplation, suddenly asked, "Under what circumstances would the spring fall off, yet the wheel still be turning normally?"

Jiang Zhenghua jumped to his feet, staring intently at the tire that had just been removed.