National Forensic Doctor

Chapter 1330: Chapter 1256: Expected Value

Bringing all the dozen or so middle-aged men surnamed Fan from Fan Family Village into the police station did indeed cause some disturbance in the village.

Fortunately, with Wei Shikan’s reminder, the town had informed the village chief in advance and dispatched several village officials to assist and explain. It took the whole day to pacify everyone, mainly to prevent them from collectively going to the police station to wait.

Even so, the county leaders were very concerned. Whether criminal cases are solved is actually not too much of a concern for county-level leaders, but the disruption of stability is something higher-level leaders cannot accept.

Liu Wenkai also tried to deploy criminal police skilled in interrogation from various teams in the criminal investigation squad to simultaneously take statements from the dozens of people, to complete the task quickly and send them back.

In the village, most matters cannot be hidden. Many people live in the city and may not know how many people live next door after ten or eight years, but in the village, it’s inexplicably well-known if the neighbor’s aunt has an affair with someone else’s father-in-law.

The criminal police hoped to gather some information from the relatives of the suspects.

If that doesn’t work, then they would have to meticulously take notes and do the reconciliation, a step that is quite troublesome and also one of the pleasures of many detective novels — distinguishing who is telling the truth and who is lying, or which parts are true and which are false from everyone’s uncertain speech...

Even Liu Jinghui, who was attending a meeting in the provincial capital, made a phone call amidst his busy schedule to ask if he needed to help... noveldrama

The suspect and his accomplice didn’t give Liu Jinghui that chance.

Jiang Yuan received a call and told him in a tone of regret: "The suspect has confessed and has also disclosed that his father helped in transporting the body. Of course, he didn’t know at the time that his wife wasn’t dead. Moreover, the suspect’s father has also been interrogated and admitted to lending the vehicle and following through the entire process of disposing of the body."

Liu Jinghui’s interest was instantly piqued: "Did the father help his son transport the body? It makes sense, cousins aren’t as reliable as having a dad. However, eight years ago, the suspect’s father would have been quite old."

"About fifty-five years old," Jiang Yuan replied.

"If he frequently did farm work, a fifty-five-year-old would still be quite strong." Liu Jinghui sighed and said, "Alright, it seems that this case is nearly finished. There’s enough testimony."

"Yes, the two used his father’s tractor to transport the body that day. They encountered villagers along the way, and someone saw the tractor parked along the village road by the river. This is essentially how it is," Jiang Yuan explained as part of the evidence chain.

Purely relying on the suspect’s testimony would still be considered isolated evidence, but with the accomplice’s testimony forming part of an evidential chain, it’s good enough for submission.

Liu Jinghui asked a couple more questions, then said: "So, based on this, the suspect’s dad will be going in too. From fifty-five then to sixty-three now? Might get released before he dies. What a way to harm one’s dad!"

Jiang Yuan chuckled slightly and shook his head while holding his phone, saying, "The victim intended to divorce, which precisely was something the suspect couldn’t accept... If it had just ended like that, there wouldn’t be so much trouble. But he could accept his wife running away but couldn’t accept a divorce."

"If the wife ran away, it’s like she left with nothing, though there’s not much to divide; overall, it would save a lot of money. Furthermore, perhaps it’s about local customs and face. If the wife insists on running away, there’s no way to stop it, but if it’s a divorce, you wouldn’t know if you need to go through court — probably afraid of being ridiculed." Liu Jinghui speculated and added, "By the way, if it were a divorce, maybe the woman wanted to take the child with her, which her husband probably couldn’t accept?"

"There should be considerations in that aspect." Jiang Yuan shook his head, "The main issue with this case was the inability to determine the victim’s identity. The suspect’s side had many flaws..."

With modern criminal investigation technology, once a homicide has a suspect identified, gathering evidence becomes rather quick.

This is merely a cold case; back then, if the victim’s identity had been confirmed, and the suspicion had fallen on the victim’s husband, he wouldn’t have escaped either.

Jiang Yuan talked with Liu Jinghui a bit more, then ended the call. Looking back, everyone else in the conference room was busy with their heads down.

Handling a case, where the case is the foundation, the process primarily involves tedious paperwork.

Many police officers do not like this mountain of files, and Jiang Yuan is no exception, but he asks his subordinates to complete this part of the work as thoroughly as possible.

Only after handling cold cases do you realize that what seems entirely clear and unnecessary to record today will surely leave you helpless and bewildered eight years later.

Documents and case files might not bring efficiency, but they ensure fairness.

Additionally, both scrutiny from higher-ups and public oversight ultimately depend on documents and files to be realized. Jiang Yuan naturally doesn’t like to work under a supervisor during the investigation, so he needs to make up for it with documents afterward. After all, he no longer has to fill out one form after another.

"Jiang Yuan." Wu Zhisu waved from the back door, half his body already inside the conference room while the other half stayed in the corridor, looking like a young immature student.

The criminal police who made eye contact with him quickly looked away, especially Tang Jia and other female officers, who, upon seeing Wu Zhisu, would instinctively turtle up like pangolins because Wu Zhisu often scolded fiercely while commanding daily, putting great pressure on those who worked with or cooperated with him.

After all, they are all adults, and opportunities to get scolded are fewer, and the tolerance for being scolded is also quite limited.

"Wu Zhi." Jiang Yuan approached the back door, politely speaking without Director Huang by his side.

"Let me show you something nice." Wu Zhisu pulled Jiang Yuan along.

Even Mu Zhiyang, standing nearby, instinctively reached for his back holster but quickly caught up with a few steps.

Wu Zhisu took Jiang Yuan downstairs and pointed at a large white vehicle ahead, "Do you like this? I’ll give it to you to drive."

"Land Cruiser?" Jiang Yuan was a bit surprised, "This car is a bit expensive."

"It has already been driven for tens of thousands of kilometers; a new one would cost a million or so, which we can’t afford. It just happened to fall into my hands, and after thinking it over, you’re often away on trips, so it’s most suitable for you." Wu Zhisu smiled as he explained.

Not only did Jiang Yuan not believe him, but even Mu Zhiyang nearby didn’t believe a word.

In some ways, the requirements for cars by the criminal police are similar to those of coal mine bosses and contractors — they need large vehicles that can handle rough roads, durable and rugged, and by domestic standards, the top choice fulfilling this requirement is the Land Cruiser.

Others may not necessarily be better in terms of durability, and the insurance and repair costs would be too high.

Jiang Yuan instinctively took out his mobile phone, saying, "I need to call Commissioner Huang."

"Huang is too persistent." Wu Zhisu grabbed Jiang Yuan’s hand, "There are many cases in the river we haven’t worked on yet; who cares which one to work on. You’re running all over, too tiring. Why not solve a few more in Jianjiang."

Jiang Yuan replied, "It’s not up to me..."

"If you are willing to work on Jianjiang’s cases, Director Huang absolutely wouldn’t say a word more." Wu Zhisu, albeit not good at other things, had long seen through the relationship between Huang Qiangmin and Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan pondered for two seconds but didn’t refute Wu Zhisu and instead said, "I also do not oppose solving Jianjiang cases, but I must first solve the drowning cases along the Tai River line, especially those within the database range."

"Since there’s a database, let the people below do it," Wu Zhisu did not follow Jiang Yuan’s thought process, instead presenting his idea.

Jiang Yuan’s interest was piqued because, indeed, if the database matched, handing those cases over to Liu Wenkai’s group would work, and for more troublesome ones, it could be assigned to Shen Yaowei — no need for his direct involvement.

Having the Cold Case Squad’s criminal police take over has another advantage, as matching the database means they can easily send it back if unmatched. If Jiang Yuan were involved, backing out would be difficult; the statement would bind him, forcing, if necessary, to solve it using the Skull Restoration Skill.

Huang Qiangmin previously used this point to press Wu Zhisu for compliance, mainly because Jianjiang City aligns best with the current database range. Going forward, and Jiang Yuan would need to compare databases, the cost-effectiveness wouldn’t be as good.

"What other cases do you have?" Jiang Yuan indeed showed some anticipation. Jianjiang City is also a place for major cases.

Wu Zhisu indeed met Jiang Yuan’s expectations, "How about a major smuggling case?"

"Smuggled cars?" Jiang Yuan exclaimed, "This should be under the jurisdiction of the anti-smuggling bureau, right?"

"Smuggled cars can be theirs, smuggled cars with human blood are ours," Wu Zhisu explained and specifically emphasized, "Arterial blood, with traces of gunshots."