National Forensic Doctor

Chapter 1300: Chapter 1226: Traces

"Officer Xiao, Officer Xiao..."

A group returned to the Criminal Police Brigade, and a couple rose in the lobby, loudly calling out for Xiao Si.

Cui Qishan’s face darkened, whispering, "Are they the victim’s family? Why aren’t they taken to the interview room?"

"Let me talk to them." Xiao Si was accustomed to scolding, stepped forward and stopped the couple, saying, "You can call me if you have something, let’s go inside, there are too many people here, it affects others."

However, the couple did not move, the woman grasped Xiao Si’s hand and said, "Officer Xiao, we heard that a very capable detective took my daughter’s case, is that true?"

Xiao Si hesitated for a moment and asked back, "Where do you get such news day after day?"

The man opposite stepped forward, grabbed Xiao Si’s other hand, and said, "A friend took pity on me and sent any information and clues I have... Officer Xiao, I worked my entire life, don’t have much skill, but I am the backbone of the factory’s business, participated and organized many technical challenges, maybe not as good as many colleagues, but I used to work ninety-nine-six, even slept on an army cot, pulling all-nighters at the factory, I responded to the state’s call and had a child... my daughter just grew up, said she went missing and is missing... Officer Xiao, Officer Xiao..."

He apparently had a lot to say, but as he spoke, he choked up and couldn’t say anything further.

Xiao Si sighed softly, "I understand, we are also trying to find her."

"Officer Xiao, I want to see that very capable Officer Jiang." The woman tightened Xiao Si’s hand, saying, "We mean no harm, we just want to tell him about our daughter, our daughter is very lively, she absolutely couldn’t have run away secretly, nor possibly committed suicide secretly... and couldn’t have eloped with someone, I often talk with my daughter, often tell her if she has a boyfriend just tell me, any kind doesn’t matter, she called me the day before she disappeared, she must have been taken by someone, that’s why she’s missing..."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Si knew someone must have pointed them in the right direction.

In cases of this kind of disappearance, the police’s biggest fear is that after mobilizing forces, they find out the victim was just playing games. Outsiders might think it doesn’t matter as long as the person is fine, but the police leadership wouldn’t think so, at the very least they would determine the detective’s professional skills are subpar if they can’t distinguish between real and fake cases.

The victim’s mother expressed that the case was real.

Of course, Jiang Yuan’s involvement was actually confirming that the case was real, from another aspect, it showed that the couple’s information sources weren’t within the task force.

Without being in the task force, Xiao Si didn’t care; since ancient times, Beijing’s matters cannot be examined deeply.

"Come on, I’ll take you to the interview room and tell you in detail." Xiao Si surely couldn’t talk to them in the lobby.

But the two looked behind Xiao Si.

When the group entered, Xiao Si was at the tail with the status of Little Karami, while the person at the front was most likely the leader.

The victim’s mother watched Jiang Yuan’s height carefully, suddenly released Xiao Si’s hand, and ran towards Jiang Yuan. noveldrama

Xiao Si tried to stop them but was pulled by the victim’s father, and then saw the victim’s mother kneeling before Jiang Yuan without hesitation.

"Officer Jiang. My daughter is really missing!" The victim’s mother grabbed Jiang Yuan’s pants and started crying, the first couple of cries were forced, but soon, tears were uncontrollable and poured out.

A single daughter missing for over a week, life and death unknown, the police’s feedback is ambiguous, and surrounding relatives and friends only provide vague information, this feeling of powerlessness, sorrow, and fear had long crushed this woman. Grabbing Jiang Yuan’s pants now was like clutching at a lifeline, all emotions released, crying uncontrollably.

At this time, the passing officers in the lobby unconsciously looked over.

Cui Qishan worriedly stepped forward and said, "Director..."

He didn’t call Jiang Yuan by his last name, thinking to first lead the victim’s family away. Being detectives for a long time often leads to reluctance in interacting with victims’ families, emotionally speaking, the victim’s negative emotions are too strong, easily overwhelming the detectives’ defenses. From a practical viewpoint, the expected results for the victims may not be achievable, possibly implicating the detectives themselves.

Jiang Yuan was well protected by Huang Qiangmin and others, seldom encountering such situations. At the moment, he sighed deeply, helped the victim’s mother up, and said, "We have already set up a task force and formally investigated Yan Meixuan’s disappearance."

Yan Meixuan’s mother’s crying immediately stopped, hesitated a bit, and said, "Found... any clues?"

"We are still investigating. The currently discovered content can’t be disclosed to you..." Jiang Yuan patted the victim’s mother’s hand, then turned to Tang Jia and said, "Take the two to the interview room to rest, make a transcript, ask about Yan Meixuan’s situation, and record any clues and evidence they have."

The victim’s father hurried over at this point, saying, "Jiang... Director Jiang, we want to personally tell you."

"Well... okay." Jiang Yuan didn’t oppose. He grew up receiving meals from various families, seeing the victim’s mother crying like this, his heart could not help but feel.

The Zhengguang Bureau’s interview room consisted of a coffee table, a sofa set, and two armchairs, much like the layout of many people’s living rooms. This was the implicit aspect of the interview room to make the interviewee’s mood more relaxed, allowing the interview to proceed. This was entirely different from the strict atmosphere of an interrogation room.

Jiang Yuan poured water for the victim’s parents and then spoke a few words about the current situation, picking what could be said.

There was actually little that could be told, but upon confirming Jiang Yuan had officially started investigating the case, the victim’s parents became excited.

Jiang Yuan quickly shifted the conversation, starting to ask about their knowledge of the situation.

Yan Meixuan’s parents naturally held nothing back.

Wang Chuanxing had to frequently check his watch to remind the two to save time.

After a long time, Yan Meixuan’s parents reluctantly left.

Jiang Yuan rubbed his face, standing up and said, "Let’s go back to watch the surveillance."

Watching it led to nighttime.

When Jiang Yuan’s gaze finally left the screen, there were few people left in the conference room.

Liu Jinghui and Cui Qishan were still there. Liu Jinghui first said, "I let Wei Shikan and the others go rest first, call them back over when there’s work to be done."

Without clues, there is no direction for investigation, most of the Cold Case Squad officers have no tasks.

Jiang Yuan nodded, saying, "Wake up Shen Yaowei, call a few more people, and have them collect some surveillance videos tonight. I want to visit the scene again."

Jiang Yuan said this while drawing a few areas on the map.

Liu Jinghui looked and saw Jiang Yuan’s drawn circles perfectly encompassed the location where the victim disappeared and couldn’t help but ask, "Are you worried about overlooking something? Currently, it seems the probability of the victim leaving on her own is very low... Hey, you’re not thinking of checking all passing vehicles, are you? That workload is too huge, the traffic flow in Beijing..."

"You said if the victim didn’t leave on her own, was she held captive, or is she dead?" Jiang Yuan suddenly asked.

Liu Jinghui frowned slightly, "If speaking about motive, the victim’s family is ordinary, and didn’t offend anyone, so the possibility of being murdered is low. On the contrary, accidental or encountering robbery and rape is more likely."

"After robbery or rape, people wouldn’t go missing unless they died accidentally..." Jiang Yuan looked at Liu Jinghui.

Liu Jinghui’s three options all ultimately pointed in the same direction.

Jiang Yuan then asked, "Do you think the victim is dead?"

"Dying isn’t necessarily worse than living." Liu Jinghui didn’t give a direct answer, turned his head, and asked again, "Did you not see the person after looking so long?"

"No."

"Then it’s likely she’s dead." Liu Jinghui shook his head.

"I plan to check the scene once more, and tomorrow morning use dogs to sniff it over." Jiang Yuan had already considered.

Liu Jinghui was slightly surprised, reminded, "If she’s dead, the body might have been transported away. There’s also the possibility of being taken away alive..."

"I just checked within the area, the locations where surveillance is installed conducive for violent crimes are actually small. On both sides of the road, to prevent tourists from climbing the mountain, there are barriers, straight roads see substantial traffic, many places can be seen from afar, whether it’s robbery, rape, or kidnapping, there are just those few places that can hide." Jiang Yuan said here, already starting to circle spots on the map in another color, and said, "Ambush leaves traces, crimes of passion easily reveal the first crime scene. I will walk through the scene again to see if I can find any clues."