National Forensic Doctor

Chapter 1299: Chapter 1225: The Vanished Signal

"We have many construction teams in Ningtai County, I’ve never heard of having to add costs for installing equipment in Ningtai. Your labor costs in Beijing are very high, but here in Ningtai County, one-third of the wage is enough... If technicians are needed, just send a few. Honestly, you’re here to install one-way glass, not to produce it in Ningtai. If you want to add charges, we might as well hire someone else."

Huang Qiangmin’s voice carried a tone of righteousness and the reprimand typical of a client.

The man on the other side, wearing a suit and carrying a Japanese-style leather bag, nodded and bowed, offering a cigarette: "Yes, yes... Well, if we could find suitable construction workers in Ningtai County, it would indeed mean no extra charges..."

"Whether you find them or not, no extra charge. Spare me this talk, if you’re unwilling, I will find someone willing to do it..." Huang Qiangmin straightforwardly interrupted the other party.

"No... what I mean is..." The man hissed, lowered his voice further, and said, "Someone’s paying the bill here. Since someone is footing the bill, why don’t I do a better job for you at no extra cost? Isn’t that the best?"

"You’ve heard something, but not much." Huang Qiangmin glanced at the man with the Japanese leather bag: "We are the supporting units for Zhengguang Bureau. There is a total package amount over there with Zhengguang Bureau. Although you settle accounts with them, the settlement is still within this total budget, understand?" Huang Qiangmin’s voice lowered; once the price was agreed upon, he wasn’t too concerned about the attitude.

Knock, knock.

Liu Jinghui knocked on the door and walked in at that moment.

"Alright, if you can sign the contract, hurry to Ningtai County. If not today, I will find someone else." With a word, Huang Qiangmin dismissed the man with the Japanese leather bag, then turned to ask Liu Jinghui, "So? Do you need Jiang Yuan?"

"It might not be a homicide, but if we really want to solve it, using Jiang Yuan might be better." Liu Jinghui spoke thoughtfully.

Huang Qiangmin scoffed: "What’s ’better,’ either you handle this case alone, and I’ll discuss with Tao about another case when I’m back."

"That’s not going to work." Liu Jinghui decisively declined, "It’s not that I can’t handle this case independently, but if I’m working on one case and Jiang Yuan’s handling another, it wouldn’t be synchronized well; the one who finishes first can’t just wait around, right?"

Huang Qiangmin looked Liu Jinghui up and down: "Don’t you often wait around?"

Liu Jinghui flushed: "That’s called taking a break."

"Alright then, do you want to work on this case with Jiang Yuan? Or switch to a different case?" Huang Qiangmin pressed.

Liu Jinghui hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "Let’s stick with this. If it turns out to be a missing person case, bringing someone back is a good thing, even more valuable than solving a murder."

Huang Qiangmin’s eyes flickered, then he just nodded: "I’ll talk to Jiang Yuan."

With 30 years as a criminal investigator and 20 years as a detective squad leader, having seen many tragic events, Huang Qiangmin quickly picked up the phone, called Tao Lu, and changed his expression, saying: "Tao, about the missing college student on your end, we’ll take over. I’ve also finalized the interrogation room renovation with the contractor, just wanted to say thank you..."

...

In the meeting room.

When Xiao Si came over with a thin stack of files, the members of Jiang Yuan’s Cold Case Squad were nearly all present, with the table full of milk tea, and several familiar detectives were earnestly munching on duck necks.

"Captain Jiang." Xiao Si found the main party, put down the files, and said, "The information collected so far isn’t much. We paused a couple of days ago, and now there are no strong leads."

The pause was naturally because of the previous case at Avi’s Apartment. This was also a drawback of the special task force; Jiang Yuan and others initially planned to solve this on a smaller scale, but unable to solve it, they had to expand the task force. Involvement in special cases naturally meant postponing other cases piling up on the officers’ hands.

Tang Jia stepped forward to take the documents and spoke on behalf: "What was your previous thought process? Is it feasible to continue?"

"Initially, I checked the surveillance but found nothing. Then I tried contacting the victim’s phone, investigated with the school and students, talked to the victim’s family, and lastly checked the victim’s WeChat and commonly used apps—all not logged in—this is basically as far as it got." Xiao Si described what was done, neither adding nor omitting anything.

This case was handed over, and Xiao Si was the officer responsible for proving it a genuine case before more resources could follow up. To some extent, Jiang Yuan was reckoned as an additional resource that Xiao Si secured for himself.

"The last confirmed location by surveillance was near Jin Mountain?" Jiang Yuan flipped through the file, which only had a few sheets and finished them quickly.

Xiao Si responded: "The victim first took the subway, then rode a shared bike to the foot of the mountain. There are few cameras around there, and we’ve lost track of her since."

"When did the phone signal disappear?" Liu Jinghui sat next to Jiang Yuan. noveldrama

"Four hours after the victim left the subway station," Xiao Si said.

"That’s quite a while." Liu Jinghui exhaled a breath and said: "It suggests the case might have developed gradually and not in a highly violent manner. This is good, indicating a higher survival probability for the victim—not an immediate fatal incident. Or could it be a traffic accident? Have you investigated from that angle?"

"I asked the traffic police. No dispatch records for that area on that day; they couldn’t offer more." Xiao Si replied swiftly, with a hint of recall.

Liu Jinghui hesitated, then continued: "The phone is a crucial clue. Have you searched the location where the phone signal disappeared?"

"I went there once. It’s by the roadside at the foot of the mountain, still a distance from Jin Mountain’s entrance. There’s a mountain path nearby, not easy to walk; we went up a bit, but found nothing significant."

"You’ve investigated very thoroughly." Liu Jinghui couldn’t help but compliment. This was also part of his field experience; a few kind words always help.

Sure enough, Xiao Si smiled and sat down.

After pondering for a moment, Liu Jinghui looked at Jiang Yuan, saying: "As it stands, surveillance remains the most crucial part, from the point the victim left the subway to the phone signal disappearance, as close as possible."

"I’ll give it a try. See how far we can investigate." Jiang Yuan had already seen the local surveillance layout; the area leaving the subway station had the most coverage, but it dwindled on the way to Jin Mountain, with more cameras before Jin Mountain’s gate. Such distribution is decidedly unfriendly for Image Investigation.

Moreover, for this case handled by Xiao Si, evidently, not many resources were dedicated to Image Investigation. Forget about examining all four hours of footage; the surveillance collection step was likely incomplete.

Learning from the previous case experience, handling smaller cases doesn’t necessarily mean less difficulty than larger ones; Jiang Yuan resolutely said, "I’ll first take people to the scene to check, then gather surveillance footage and review it?"

"Okay." Liu Jinghui originally intended for Jiang Yuan to deliver a ’giant dragon breath’ as ground-clearing measure. Only with scorched earth can one detect where the issues lie.

Having made a decision, Jiang Yuan didn’t delay further, gathered three cars of people, and headed to Jin Mountain.

Xiao Si, Cui Qishan, and others followed in another car.

The convoy sped down the road, lights flashing quickly.

Once at the location, without needing Jiang Yuan’s instruction, Wang Chuanxing and others directed each team to line things up and take photos as per protocol, then went searching the surroundings to record all kinds of cameras.

Jiang Yuan, referring to the previously organized information, rented a shared bike at the subway entrance, following the missing girl’s route on a ride.

The last image left by the missing girl was at a crossroad two kilometers out of the subway station, moving further east.

At this time, under the scorching sun, there were only a few small shops around. Along the way were Jin Mountain Electromechanical Parts Company, Changxing Pipe Industry Co., Ltd., Zhengke Cabinet Company, and Miaomiao Decoration Co., Ltd...

Someone had already gone into the companies along the route to gather surveillance footage. Should the missing girl be captured, perhaps new clues could emerge.

As Jiang Yuan rode and observed, he reached the main entrance of Jin Mountain at a slower speed, checking the time; it had only taken 20 minutes.

Xiao Si, responsible for driving, kept marveling: "It has to be Ningtai Jiangyuan’s touch. Three cars just to survey the scene—it truly looks like they can crack the case. When will we..."

"Four cars." Cui Qishan, aware of Xiao Si’s offbeat mouth, ignored his words.

Xiao Si, interrupted in mid-output, furrowed his eyebrows: "Right, counting our four cars, you said we are..."

"Including us, that’s five." Cui Qishan continued interrupting: "There’s also a survey vehicle from the technical center."

"Cui Da..." Xiao Si’s voice turned warmer: "Your math is excellent. If we were to talk numbers, after this case is resolved, I have..."