freenovelworld Chapter 1472 Talking with Zhang Qiang Again
Chapter 1472 Talking with Zhang Qiang Again
Time ticked by, and Nancheng gradually fell asleep, except for the brightly lit offices of the Criminal Investigation Division and the laboratory of the Forensic Identification Center. A battle against the murderer continued quietly in the darkness, and the truth seemed to be still far away, waiting for the day it would be revealed.
The next morning, Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun found Zhang Qiang again. After a night's rest, Zhang Qiang's emotions had stabilized considerably, but when the case was mentioned, he still carried a hint of grievance and anger. "I really didn't kill anyone. That murderer must have framed me on purpose. I have no idea who did it."
“Zhang Qiang, we know you didn’t kill anyone. We’re here to ask you to recall if you know anyone who is about 1.78 meters tall, in their thirties, and works in mechanical repair. This person might have a grudge against you, or they might be active in your work or neighborhood,” Xiao Yang said, while showing Zhang Qiang a description of the murderer’s physical characteristics.
Zhang Qiang frowned and thought carefully, remaining silent for a long time: "I know a lot of people who work in mechanical repair, but there are too many who fit this description, and I can't think of anyone right now. Besides, I'm usually quite introverted and rarely make enemies, so I don't know who would deliberately frame me."
"Do you recall any strangers loitering near the machinery factory where you work or around your residence recently? Or anyone asking you about your work or life?" Xiao Sun asked.
Zhang Qiang shook his head: "No, I just go to work and go home every day, it's a very simple routine, I rarely come into contact with strangers. My neighborhood is full of neighbors, and I've never seen any strangers lingering around."
The two questioned Zhang Qiang further, but still couldn't get any valuable clues. Left with no other option, they told Zhang Qiang to go home first, instructing him to contact the police immediately if he remembered any suspicious persons or situations.
Back at the branch office, Li Ming convened a case analysis meeting with all investigators. At the meeting, everyone reported on the recent progress of the investigation, but none had yielded any substantial breakthroughs. "Currently, it seems the perpetrator has extremely strong counter-surveillance capabilities and is very familiar with the surrounding environment and relevant personnel, making it very difficult to quickly identify the suspect," Li Ming said gravely. "But we cannot give up. We must adjust our strategy, start with the details, re-examine all the clues, and not overlook any suspicious point."
He paused, then continued, “First, we will continue to expand the scope of the missing persons comparison, contacting public security organs in all provinces and cities across the country to assist in comparing the identity information of the deceased; second, we will conduct a thorough search of all rental houses, small hotels, internet cafes, and other places around urban villages, focusing on recently checked-in males whose identities are unknown; third, we will re-examine all the cooperative clients of the hardware processing plant in the suburbs, especially small repair shops, to verify the identity of each employee and the time of the crime; fourth, the technical department will continue to conduct in-depth testing of the evidence collected at the scene, including metal fragments, paint residue, thin iron wire, etc., to look for hidden clues.”
"In addition, we've deployed police officers to stake out the crime scene and the area around the small repair shop. The perpetrator might reappear or return to the scene to check on things," Li Ming added. "Although the chances are slim, we can't let any possibility slip by."
The investigators immediately sprang into action, launching a new round of investigations. However, several days passed, and the investigation still yielded no breakthroughs. The victim's identity remained unknown, no suspects were found, and the evidence collected from the scene yielded no new clues. The case once again reached a deeper dead end.
Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun sat in their office, staring at the thick stack of case files on their desks, their hearts filled with resentment. They had handled countless difficult cases, but never before had they encountered such obstacles and remained completely clueless as with this one. The murderer seemed to have vanished without a trace, leaving no crucial clues, and every investigation felt like a futile effort.
Just then, Zhang Lin suddenly called, his voice filled with excitement: "Captain Li, Officer Yang, Officer Yang, come to the forensic identification center quickly, we have made a new discovery!"
The three men were immediately invigorated and drove to the forensic identification center. They didn't know if this discovery could break the current deadlock and bring new hope to the case.
On the fifth day since the criminal investigation team's work stalled, Officer Wang, responsible for missing persons comparisons, had been working continuously in front of his computer for nearly forty hours. A thick stack of missing persons files lay before him, and his computer screen simultaneously ran comparison interfaces from the national missing persons information system, the household registration management system, and the DNA database. The blue light from the screen made his eyes bloodshot, and his cheeks were flushed from prolonged lack of sleep. As an officer in the team specializing in information verification and trajectory tracking, Officer Wang excelled at extracting key connections from massive amounts of fragmented information. Breakthroughs in many previous difficult cases had come from his repeated comparisons.
"Another batch compared, still no match." Xiao Wang rubbed his throbbing temples and gulped down several mouthfuls of water from his now-cold glass. As per Li Ming's instructions, he not only had to compare the basic information of missing men aged 40 to 45 across the country over the past three years, but also meticulously verify the police reports, physical characteristics of the deceased, DNA data, and activity patterns before their disappearances for each case—a massive workload. The dentin DNA and fingerprint information of the deceased, previously added by the technical department, had been compared dozens of times in the database without any matching results, adding a heavy weight to Xiao Wang's mind.
Looking at the mountain of files, auxiliary police officer Xiao Zhang sighed, "Brother Wang, we've already compared data up to three years ago. There are so many missing persons across the country. What if the deceased wasn't reported, or the reported information is incomplete? Wouldn't all our work be for nothing?" Xiao Wang put down his water glass and rapidly typed on the keyboard, pulling up another batch of missing persons information that hadn't been compared: "We can't give up. The identity of the deceased is the core of solving the case. As long as there's even the slightest possibility, we have to investigate to the end. Go and reorganize the missing persons files for the past three years in Nancheng and surrounding cities, focusing on men who had mechanical-related work experience before their disappearances and had average economic conditions. Let's narrow down the scope and compare again."
Xiao Zhang responded and left, while Xiao Wang refocused his attention on the computer screen. He adjusted the comparison parameters, refining the core information such as the deceased's height, weight, age range, and dental characteristics. He also checked supplementary conditions such as "missing across regions" and "no DNA report collected," initiating a new round of precise comparison. The system's progress bar slowly advanced, and with each tick, Xiao Wang's heart tightened. Time ticked by, and only the sound of keyboard typing and the slight hum of the computer tower remained in the office. Outside the window, the sky gradually turned from dusk to a pale light, and a new day quietly dawned.
At nine o'clock in the morning, as Li Ming, Xiao Yang, and Xiao Sun were holding a new case analysis meeting to discuss whether to expand the scope of the investigation again, Xiao Wang suddenly rushed into the meeting room with a stack of files and notebooks, his voice trembling slightly with excitement: "Captain Li, Brother Yang, Officer Yang, we've found something! The victim's identity has been confirmed!"