National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1170 - 1100: Connect Them

Early morning.

Yilan Residence.

Yue Hongxu, the president of Lanyue City Film and Television City, was waiting downstairs with a few people in the courtyard.

A girl, dressed lightly and shivering with cold and sleepiness, yawned and then complained a little shyly, "Who hosts a breakfast meeting anyway? It’s really strange."

"The big boss said to have breakfast, so we came early, there aren’t many choices." Vice President Dong Xifeng stood up and pretended to be empathetic as he said, "Are you a bit cold? Ask your agent to bring you a shawl."

"Forget it. I applied some foundation cream, and a shawl would mess it up and not look good." Although the girl wasn’t satisfied, she was still very image-conscious.

Yue Hongxu chuckled and nodded, "You can stay in the lobby for now, and come out to greet the guests later. Chairman Li, is that alright?"

He was asking Li Yukuan, who was standing next to him. Li Yukuan, in his forties, was the son of Li Yaoji’s wife. Back in the day, he lost a lot of resources due to his father’s sudden death. This year, he had resurfaced triumphantly after the likes of Li Yujing got involved in a murder case.

However, Li Yukuan wasn’t one for pampering. He glanced at the girl with bare shoulders and said, "If you need to rest, go ahead, but the others will stay with me to greet the guests."

"Chairman Li, I’m here for you." As soon as the girl heard the boss wasn’t pleased, she flung herself into Li Yukuan’s arms, saying, "I’ll warm up by staying close to you then."

Li Yukuan laughed heartily, patting her bare shoulder, "Alright, alright, hang in there for a bit. Jiang Yuan is a young man, different from us middle-aged folks. We’re used to being sidelined, young people might not handle neglect well. If someone isn’t absolutely valued, they’re absolutely neglected."

"We’re the ones often sidelined, not you," the girl replied with a honeyed voice.

Laughing again, Li Yukuan pushed the girl away resolutely, "Today’s guest of honor is Jiang Yuan. I heard he’s now a high-ranking guest at Lanyue City Bureau. The bureau chief mentioned him yesterday."

Yue Hongxu nodded, "He solved a case at our film city and the old man’s case in one go. Not only in Lanyue City but nationwide, he’s become a police star. Because of the cases here, I made sure to learn a bit about him. Jiang Yuan as a forensic doctor is really quite the Sherlock, he can solve any case, dig into any mystery."

Li Yukuan’s expression turned serious, "I’m just afraid he’s too eager."

"Not necessarily so. His main focus is still on murder cases." Yue Hongxu could empathize with Li Yukuan, as he was also worried about Jiang Yuan’s eagerness.

Before Li Yujing was caught, he’d been thriving in the Changxi Group but ended up blowing the whistle on several people. Faced with the threat of a death sentence, he wanted to make contributions even with dim chances.

Yue Hongxu and others weren’t entirely sure if their business had any hidden merits either.

"Here they come." A subordinate guarding the entrance came to report, and everyone immediately tidied their clothes and stepped forward to welcome their guests.

Jiang Yuan, accompanied by Mu Zhiyang, followed by Dai Mingsheng and Huang Qiangmin, entered the courtyard together.

"Deputy Dai, Captain Jiang... Doctor Jiang..."

Everyone addressed them with various titles.

"Let’s start with breakfast," Dai Mingsheng replied somewhat stiffly, adding to both them and Jiang Yuan, "If we didn’t come, you’d overthink. If we did, you’d try to corrupt us. It’s tough. Alright, let’s just sit and chat over breakfast; there’s still a lot to do today."

He wasn’t as polite to Li Yukuan and others.

Li Yukuan and the others just laughed along, talking to Dai Mingsheng while praising Jiang Yuan as China’s detective, guarding peace...

Jiang Yuan had a good impression of Yilan Residence. During his time in Lanyue City, he’d visited Yilan Residence the most, and if Lanyue City weren’t so far, he would’ve considered buying a small apartment nearby.

"Brother, sit next to me." A girl swayed her "Chu King waist" and came to Jiang Yuan, trying to squeeze Mu Zhiyang out of his spot.

Mu Zhiyang blushed a little and pulled a stick out of his pocket.

He wasn’t sure how to respond, so he simply expressed himself with his body language.

The girl with the "Chu King waist" widened her eyes, probably seeing this type of situation for the first time.

Seeing the tension, Yue Hongxu quickly intervened, "Captain Jiang, let me toast you with tea instead of liquor, to thank you for solving Li Aiyuan’s murder case. It gave us at the film city a sigh of relief. Moreover, the police recently apprehended many thieves, which astonished everyone. Our company discussed if we could invite you to do a special interview for the TV station..."

"No special interviews." Jiang Yuan shook his head without hesitation, offering no explanations.

Huang Qiangmin coughed twice, saying, "A discussion about the case is fine. You can mention Jiang Yuan’s name."

"Alright, alright, no problem." Yue Hongxu’s mood lifted instantly.

Li Yukuan also breathed a sigh of relief, sidling up to Dai Mingsheng to discuss things in a low voice.

Changxi Group was a big company. If Qinghe City’s Jianyuan Group hadn’t fallen back then, it would’ve been a prominent guest in the city now.

Although matters at the film city were simpler yet more complicated, Dai Mingsheng and Li Yukuan chatted pleasantly. Aside from solving cases with average skill, Dai Mingsheng was quite adept in other conversational aspects.

Yue Hongxu and Li Yukuan gradually felt relieved. In any case, they managed to bring Dai Mingsheng and Jiang Yuan out, even if having breakfast felt a bit odd.

Noon.

The meeting room provided by the Lanyue City Criminal Police Team is spacious and bright, with large glass windows facing the artificial lake, creating a refreshing view. However, to prevent glare on the computers, the windows are completely covered with curtains.

Jiang Yuan spent the entire morning examining footprints and photos of burnt bone fragments, repeatedly comparing them in the meeting room.

Other members of the Cold Case Squad were either compiling information or continuing to provide materials for the previous two cases. In ordinary cases, the time spent handling a case often exceeds the investigation time, with a greater workload.

Huang Qiangmin now prefers to provide comprehensive solutions, and the work of Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team and the Ningtai Task Force continuously extends in all directions.

In fact, the public security situation in Qinghe City is visibly improving. The economic downturn caused by the disappearance of the Jianyuan Group, along with the ensuing deterioration in public safety, did not last long, as it was effectively suppressed by the Ningtai County Bureau, which in turn led to increased investments, providing Commissioner Huang with significant political capital.

After handling some administrative affairs from the Ningtai side, Huang Qiangmin began directing personnel to assist criminal police teams in other cities. Some of the previously solved cases are in the final stages of processing, while others have already gone through first and second trials or even death penalty reviews. However, regardless of the stage, there is rarely smooth sailing, and someone will invariably request certain materials or evidence.

Most of these matters are manageable by the local police departments, but there are also cases where local handling is difficult, and they are passed onto Huang Qiangmin for resolution. Some even directly consult Jiang Yuan.

In these matters, Huang Qiangmin always tries to cooperate as much as possible. Solving a case can be challenging, and so can the court trial. If a killer ends up surviving due to insufficient evidence, it would be a great pity.

In fact, when the police prosecute a suspect, they may not always cover all charges, especially those with multiple crimes. Despite committing numerous offenses, the prosecution will often only press charges for those with concrete evidence.

Jiang Yuan, often the forensic technician capable of uncovering more evidence, can ensure certain criminals remain off the streets longer.

This is also a skill many local criminal police teams need.

Huang Qiangmin usually organizes a batch and then sends it to Jiang Yuan when he is free. Occasionally, when Jiang Yuan needs a change of pace, he will actively request a batch as well.

Today was clearly not the right time. Seeing Jiang Yuan busy with his work, Huang Qiangmin specially arranged for someone to brew him coffee, calculating the time and considering whether to call a masseur to give Jiang Yuan a proper rest.

As he pondered this, Jian Louyuan entered with Wei Shikan.

"No results for now," Huang Qiangmin was stopped at the door.

"Commissioner Huang, have a cigarette." Wei Shikan extended a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes.

Huang Qiangmin hesitated for a moment, but out of powerful habit, he accepted the pack of Zhonghua.

"Brothers, have a cigarette." Wei Shikan took out Zhonghua from his jacket and pants pockets, distributing them to everyone.

The officers of Jiang Yuan’s Cold Case Squad exchanged looks, experiencing an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

Taking them by surprise, Wei Shikan quickly moved to Jiang Yuan’s side and asked, "Captain Jiang, is there anything we can assist with?"

"Hmm..." Jiang Yuan glanced at the computers in front of him, deep in thought.

After a moment, Wei Shikan quietly asked, "Are the footprints useless?"

"There are a few footprints that don’t correspond to any individual, but they’re not useful at the moment." Jiang Yuan, noticing the officer was from Lanyue City Bureau, explained.

Jian Louyuan also entered at this moment and said, "Captain Jiang, we’ve investigated the missing persons cases involving multiple individuals from the past year. Cases of simultaneous disappearances involving both men and women are rare, but we’ve only checked within the province. Do you think it’s necessary to expand the search?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head.

Liu Jinghui commented from the side, "This method of searching is ineffective. Cases where the man and woman were reported separately will be missed."

To conduct a nationwide search, they would need to visit two to three dozen provincial capitals, some of which might support an online investigation or assistance from local police departments, while others might require flying in, incurring significant travel expenses.

Jian Louyuan sighed with relief yet felt a sense of regret, saying, "We’ve identified bone fragments from two individuals in the burnt remains, but no leads have materialized, which is a bit disappointing." freēnovelkiss.com

"It’s not entirely without leads," Jiang Yuan took a breath and said, "Just not very accurate. You may have to do more legwork."

"Tell us, please," Jian Louyuan became spirited immediately.

"From what I’ve currently observed, the female’s age is approximately between 28 and 32 years, as some cranial bones were present. As for the male, the age range is broader, from 30 to 44 years. You can start by summarizing missing persons within this age range, and if there’s any relationship between them, like a romantic connection, that would be best." Jiang Yuan continued to sketch on his notebook and explained, "I initially wanted to narrow the age range further, but that would take an additional day or two, so this will have to suffice for now."

His expertise in forensic anthropology is Level 3, but it requires a temporary boost to +1 to make it sufficiently strong, though it’s still not to an unreasonable degree. He would need to conduct further analysis and wait for the temporary +1 skill to cool down.

Liu Jinghui commented, "There are fewer remaining bone fragments from the male, and the skull and teeth are entirely missing. This aspect is worth noting. Normally, if the burning conditions are similar, there would be more male bone fragments remaining. Therefore, it can be inferred that the perpetrator did something special with the male victim’s body and used burning as a means to destroy evidence, suggesting that the two victims are likely not social outliers."

Not being social outliers implies that they may have family or at least acquaintances, increasing the chances of a report being filed.

Understanding this, Jian Louyuan immediately said, "I’ll get someone to start the investigation right away."

"The basic investigation is doable," Liu Jinghui pursed his lips and then suggested, "I recommend applying for technical investigation and cyber security involvement. If the two victims knew each other, they might have called each other or been friends on WeChat. We can perform a connection check among the missing persons that meet the conditions and see if any results come up."