CHAPTER 1401: CHAPTER 1325: TARGETING THE PERSON

Huang Qiangmin made several phone calls, confirmed there were no issues with the case background, and then looked at Yu Wenshu, saying, "You’re quite composed, not even anxious about a kidnapping case?"

"Honestly, I’m also waiting for them to make the final confirmation." Yu Wenshu picked a piece of fatty beef jerky, tore a small bit, chewing until his mouth was greasy, and said, "We’ve cooperated so many times, I know that Jiang Yuan handles cases needing control. You come with over thirty people, claiming to listen to them, but they can’t command, right? However, the victim’s family isn’t professional; if there’s an extra technical expert, they’d be grateful, but if they gain control of the case, they’d certainly hesitate more."

"I suppose they want to ask a few more people. Have they decided now?" Huang Qiangmin was not surprised; when it involves family, people find ways even when there aren’t any, let alone when there are.

"They asked around and confirmed. Of course, if Jiang Yuan doesn’t want to handle this case, they have alternatives. I could say other cases have already been handed to Jiang Yuan, which would be reasonable."

"If he doesn’t do it, you will, right." Huang Qiangmin snorted twice, looked at Jiang Yuan, and said, "I just gathered some information: the incident happened at noon today. The victim is a 13-year-old boy in the first year of middle school. On his way to school with the driver, three people forcibly hijacked the car. His father is a major local gold shop owner in Pingzhou, and the kidnappers’ demand is for gold equal to his weight; for every pound short, they’d cut off a pound of flesh."

Yu Wenshu continued, "The driver has been sent back; his right thumb was chopped off, packed in ice, and sent over as a show of attitude. The victim’s family intends to pay the ransom, but it’s too much, hard to gather, and they’re afraid to negotiate, very passive... The ransom delivery location and method have not yet been determined."

In kidnapping cases, police usually don’t let families choose the ransom delivery terms, but if families insist, the police often cooperate.

Correspondingly, the family also needs to prepare the ransom themselves, and it’s possible funds are spent yet the person doesn’t return.

Seeing that Huang Qiangmin had confirmed this far, Jiang Yuan didn’t say much more, stood up, and said, "Let’s take the case. Where is the other side in Pingzhou?"

"Anwan City in Pingzhou. Yin Feisong started in Anwan City, initially running gold mines until it was banned, then he focused on gold jewelry." Yu Wenshu briefly explained, then picked up his phone to reply to a few messages, soon receiving a message: "Yin Feisong chartered us a C909 business jet, called EMJ, with 48 seats. The flight route has been applied for, and it’s in queue. If we depart now, it takes a little over an hour to reach Changyang Airport, and another forty minutes by jet."

"Alright." Jiang Yuan responded, beginning to pack beef jerky.

Huang Qiangmin pressed his hand down, "Pingzhou produces beef."

"Most of their varieties aren’t good." Jiang Yuan continued packing beef jerky.

Liu Jinghui pulled the ready-to-persuade Huang Qiangmin, "We brought our own beef jerky, so they know to prepare cattle. Just like we brought our team, they know to grant control."

"Okay then." Huang Qiangmin recalled about chartered flight arrangements; since they began chartering flights regularly, whenever invitations came from different places, they considered business jet transportation, not necessarily chartering, but if not feasible, they’d inform ahead of time.

Huang Qiangmin couldn’t help but think along this line.

Wang Chuanxing gathered some people, starting to call team members who hadn’t returned to the squad yet.

Being a detective is like that—there’s extra leave during quiet times, but during busy times, even the Spring Festival can’t be spared. Of course, the reality is there’s almost never a quiet time.

The members of Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team, just on leave, some went home to rest and live life, others went traveling, now those who could be called back were and those who couldn’t, had to take public transport to Pingzhou.

During the car journey, the Cold Case Squad detectives began consolidating various materials, delivering corresponding documents to Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui, among others.

The information from Pingzhou was partial; by now, Jiang Yuan had standard methods to acquire information. They had to watch out not only for suspects setting traps but also for victims and others with ulterior motives.

Whether due to Jiang Yuan’s reputation or the nature of the cases he took, enough people would plan for it.

Once on the plane, in front of Jiang Yuan were two laptops and three extended screens, as he began updating numerous photos, videos, and texts.

Wang Chuanxing quickly sorted through the case details and updated Jiang Yuan and others:

"The school the victim attends is Haisui Middle School in Anwan City, an international school built in Huangjia Bay on the city outskirts, surrounded by upscale residential areas like villa communities. All intersections are monitored, but the three kidnappers wore masks early on, and the car—a Buick LaCrosse—was stolen a few days ago. Anwan police are checking related surveillance, no findings yet."

"The involved Buick LaCrosse was abandoned 12 kilometers from the incident site, where other tire tracks were visible, suggesting they switched to another vehicle to leave. The incident site is nearly outside the city, with no surveillance."

"The driver released back to us had already seen the suspects in face-covering masks, two empty-handed, one holding a shotgun. He has been sent for a full-anesthesia surgery to reattach his thumb. The driver is a Yin family relative, once a night-shift taxi driver, operated ride-hailing, served as a private driver for the Yin family for over three years, basically just driving; normally likes browsing his phone, enjoys some good food, financially stable without many unsuitable issues."

"Kidnappers currently contacted the victim twice, once by phone, once through the driver. Anwan police estimate they likely will contact for a third time tonight, probably deciding on transaction time, place, and method; they’re asking for our thoughts..."

With this, Wang Chuanxing paused to await discussion from Jiang Yuan and others.

Real case analysis doesn’t need many people; formally dressed in a clean, tidy meeting room is a performance. True case analysis only involves a few people, otherwise even if everyone spoke for two minutes, the time would be wasted.

As for determining fake analysis meetings from real ones, observe if participants smoke.

Just like now, Liu Jinghui already had a cigarette pinched between his fingers.

Jiang Yuan, however, swiftly skimmed through some photos and videos, and said, "Get the car over first. Have they checked the traces on the car?"

"Checked, currently comparing fingerprints and traces found, but the car was stolen," replied Wang Chuanxing.

"The car was stolen in advance; it can’t be just used this once. For scouting, what other car was used?" After saying this, Jiang Yuan added, "Regular trace analysis is slow, prone to missing; ask if they have a large-space fingerprint fuming system; if not, find one, fumigate the car first, check for traces before anything else."

The large-space fingerprint fuming system sounds impressive but is essentially a tent or canopy with a decent 502 fuming setup that can cover large items like vehicles for fuming, making all traces visible.

Ordinary trace analysis, though, involves guessing—guessing the suspect touched the trunk, the steering wheel, etc., before carefully dusting and brushing.

Dusting is quick, taking just seconds; brushing dozens of points isn’t time-consuming, but covering an entire car isn’t feasible.

Liu Jinghui instantly grasped Jiang Yuan’s idea. Though Jiang Yuan had no experience with kidnapping cases, nor face-to-face negotiation skills, directly going after people was most suitable for Jiang Yuan’s method.

This might also be Anwan City Bureau’s thought—otherwise, truly handing over 40-50 kilograms of gold? That’s over 30 million yuan, easily disappearing online. Buy some equipment for a couple of hundred bucks on Taobao, and these gold pieces vanish without a trace.

"Have them start fuming now; by the time we arrive, it’ll be done." Liu Jinghui snapped his lighter, enjoying the joys of chartered flights.