523: Chapter 481 Target 523: Chapter 481 Target We had a hot pot for lunch.
The hot pot restaurant from Shiting County sent a Wuling Hongguang van with the pot base, seasonings, dishes and a chef to the funeral parlor, where the chef stir-fried on-site and personally served the dishes.
The funeral parlor arranged for a separate small courtyard, closing the door to the room used year-round for storing bodies.
Several forensic doctors sat in the courtyard, plugged in the electric pot, added water, and helped themselves to food and drink without reservation.
At the table, there was a large plate of pork belly, luncheon at, sliced beef and mutton, as well as a variety of vegetables.
Pork intestines, pig brain, duck blood, and tripe were all hidden inside a cart, not shown openly.
Bai Jian observed everyone closely and said with concern, “Everyone should be okay with the hot pot, right?
If you can’t eat the offal, just have so at, and if you feel uncomfortable, there’s fried rice and stuff.
I mostly wanted to give everyone a bit of a break after these stressful days, so we can relax for a few hours and also discuss the direction of the investigation.
Hot pot is more relaxing.”
Wu Jun looked at the others and chuckled, “We surely can.
I’m just worried the chef might vomit into the pot.”
Bai Jian turned his head and saw the chef, who was slicing lamb, frowning tightly with an expression of discomfort as if he were motion sick.
“Master, are you okay?” Bai Jian asked.
“I’ve never…
been here before…
didn’t know you guys also eat,” the chef replied, looking uncomfortable and even more nervous.
Wu Jun laughed, “We move bodies in and out; it’s no more effort than you handling beef and mutton.
Dissecting a body isn’t just about pulling things out, we also have to weigh them.
Moreover, our slicing is for pathology, which is way more troubleso than your chopping vegetables…”
“Uh…” the chef said in distress, “Stop talking, please…”
“If you can’t stand it, just go out and throw up,” Bai Jian said, looking even more uncomfortable.
“Don’t end up cutting your hand later.”
The chef replied, “I… don’t dare to go out.”
The funeral parlor was busy as usual, and upon hearing about their hot pot al, deliberately threw them into a rarely visited corner.
This area was originally intended for large-scale funerary events.
When it wasn’t booked, they would simply lock the external gate, making it the epito of quiet in the midst of silence.
The chef had been led here by soone, but the deeper he was brought in, the more scared he beca.
Then, when he ca to fry the ingredients and prepare the hot pot, occasionally overhearing snippets of conversation, it was impossible for him not to be afraid.
He had elderly parents back ho to care for, a rented room he hadn’t properly slept in, damp laundry from his girlfriend that hadn’t yet dried, a phone full of videos and browsing history not yet deleted, and although he could let go of the social security, he had hardly used his dical insurance…
Seeing him so timid, Mu Zhiyang quickly bridged the gap with bravery, “Enough, I’ll take you out.”
Bai Jian watched the chef’s staggering figure with a fleeting smile on his lips.
“I really do want to discuss the case,” Bai Jian added several slices of pork belly to the pot and said, “This is particularly delicious when just cooked.
Try it, it’s from our local Shitin pigs.”
“Sure,” everyone had been studying the body all morning and was hungry.
While talking, they all began to eat.
After taking a bite, Bai Jian continued, “As of now, it seems very likely that the incident took place in Changyang City.
Our Shiting County usually doesn’t have that many conflicts.
Travel here is diocre, it’s not a resource-rich county, and traditionally, the local customs aren’t considered fierce…”
Local customs are an important elent in criminal cases.
The difference between fierce and peaceful customs could an a tenfold difference in murder cases.
The number of murder cases in Changyang City is on a whole other level compared to the county town.
For a small county town, even one murder case a year feels like too many, while in a provincial capital, starting with triple-digit murder cases per year is normal.
A district bureau deals with several hundred cases of unnatural deaths in a year.
The bustling and prospering life in big cities starkly contrasts with that of small county towns.
Bai Jian didn’t envy the prosperity and high salaries of provincial capital cities; he simply didn’t want to use his county bureau’s ager funds to clean up Changyang City’s ss.
On the other hand, now that the investigation had co this far, and one of the victims’ identities had been established, if the case could be easily solved, he was reluctant to hand over the fruits of their labor to the mouths of the Changyang City Bureau.
Bai Jian had already been struggling with this and said, “After much thought, I still hope we can see this case through from start to finish, completed by us in Shiting County, rather than being intercepted halfway by Changyang City.
I hope you all can support .”
His gaze lingered on the faces of Jiang Yuan, Liu Jinghui, and Li Xiang.
As the saying goes, a person’s reputation precedes them, and when it cos to solving cases, the support of these people is the most reliable.
As for relying on himself…
so things, if not acquired upon leaving school, are never obtained in a lifeti.
Liu Jinghui dumped half a plate of hand-sliced lamb into the pot and laughed, “I’m fine with it.
Whatever the special case team decides works for ; I’m just an advisor.”
“I’m easy,” Li Xiang managed the cetery and didn’t want to bother with anything else for the ti being.
“I also support,” Jiang Yuan was in the business of selling his services, so naturally, he would listen to whoever paid him.
Bai Jian was imdiately delighted and nodded vigorously, “In that case, shall we continue investigating along the personal relationships of the fourth person?”
“Of course.
If we don’t have any breakthroughs, we might as well try to find the first cri scene.
If we still can’t make a breakthrough, then, we’ll have to look at the conditions of corpses one, two, and three.” Jiang Yuan thought further ahead.
The complexity of this case was still remarkably high, and although the ans of solving it might be very ordinary, the preparatory work would definitely have to be thorough.
Bai Jian replied with a smile, “I think there should be a breakthrough, since they’ve gone as far as burying the corpses, there must be a significant relationship between the parties involved.”
He was primarily considering it from a subjective standpoint.
An investigation into personal relationships was comparatively more cost-effective, and if it could be done in one step, the case would be considered solved, and the Shiting County Bureau wouldn’t have to go bankrupt.
Of course, his line of thought was sound in itself.
For a case involving corpse dumping or burial, identifying the source of the corpse was the biggest node in the investigation—whatever the action, there are consequences and rewards, and a criminal who takes the ti and effort to bury a body must devote a significant amount of ti and energy to the task.
For instance, the one who dug the grave this ti was quite clever, utilizing an existing grave to save a trendous amount of digging ti and mitigating risks such as wild animals digging it out or rain washing it away.
On the other hand, finding a suitable grave took ti, and the determination of a robbery tunnel and the digging required technical skill.
It was now virtually certain that the killer was a tomb robber, a descendant of a tomb robber, or an archaeologist with a hidden identity—if there were annotations in the relationship chart that is.
Ordinary people wouldn’t commonly know many tomb robbers.
Jiang Yuan and the others didn’t oppose the idea.
Once everyone confird they were on the sa page, the mood lightened.
Pig brains, beef tripe, and chicken feet were all tossed into the hot pot.
Chicken feet were Li Xiang’s choice; he spent half his ti eating those when he had hot pot.
It seed beneficial to his career.
The chef sent by the hot pot restaurant did his best to serve them, fearful they would not enjoy the al and leave him behind, and equally afraid they would enjoy it too much and not leave even as it got dark…
The next day.
Bai Jian led the team, moving mightily towards Changyang City.
Bai Jian didn’t bother himself with other police officers from different cities and counties who were raiding Shiting County; geographical boundaries didn’t matter in police work, and he pursued the case across regions.
Jiang Yuan took the second victim’s skull and a laptop and joined in.
His main task was skull reconstruction.
With the current technology, he could work on it anywhere he had the skull.
Choosing the second victim was because their burial site was also quite rough, perhaps indicating they were an earlier victim, which might be more beneficial in solving the case.
Of course, it would be best if the case could be solved through victim four…
Changyang City Criminal Police Detachnt.
Yu Wenshu lent an office to Bai Jian and his team and assigned a team of eight to help them, which was about as helpful as could be expected.
This was also done out of respect for Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui.
Bai Jian used to handle cases in Changyang City often, but he had never received such treatnt before.
Still, he was well aware that while he was soone of standing in Shiting County, in Changyang City, only a technical expert like Jiang Yuan would be noticed.
Were skilled leaders like criminal police detachnt heads in short supply in Changyang City?
“Bai Chief, everyone is here,” reminded one of his subordinates.
Bai Jian snapped back to reality, looked around at the table of people, adjusted his emotions, and said, “First, I’ll talk about our main target this ti, victim number four, Wang Xingzhai.”
“Wang Xingzhai, male, 27 years old, unemployed.
A native of Changyang City, both parents deceased, no contact with relatives or friends.”
“On the surface, Wang Xingzhai appears to be a marginal figure in society, jobless, virtually a vagrant.
Yet, he owned a second-hand BMW and rented a luxury apartnt in Changyang from Renheng for 15,000 yuan per month.”
“The main contacts in Wang Xingzhai’s phone were nightclub promoters, friends from nightclubs, and won he t at nightclubs…
His daily life revolved primarily around nightclubs.”
“He had no job, and yet every month, his bank account showed only expenditures and cash deposits.”
Everyone in the conference room sat up straighter, listening intently.
The Changyang City detectives looked at each other excitedly, “Could he be involved in drug trafficking?”
Their breathing sounded heavier with anticipation.
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