CHAPTER 220: CHAPTER 157: THE BLURRY FIGURE ON SURVEILLANCE!

He stubbed out his cigarette and opened his notebook.

"Last night, the criminal investigation team worked tirelessly and made significant progress."

"Next, let’s have each group briefly report on their investigation work."

"First, I’d like to invite Mr. Chen to report on the investigation situation."

Immediately, Mr. Chen began to speak: "Alright! Mr. Li."

"I’ll now give you a report on our group’s investigation situation."

"Yesterday, we interviewed many employees to reconstruct the victim Chen Minghao’s activities within the 24 hours prior to his death."

"According to his secretary Zhang Lu, the day before the incident, there was a dinner party between Minghao Clothing Factory and the raw material supply company, which ended around 10:00 PM."

"After the dinner party, Zhang Lu drove Chen Minghao and another department head home."

"According to Zhang Lu’s account, Chen Minghao got out of the car on Wuhu Road Pedestrian Street."

"Regarding where he went after getting out, Zhang Lu is unsure."

"However, Zhang Lu remembers that Chen Minghao seemed quite sober when he got off, with no issues in walking or speaking."

"Zhang Lu recalls that Chen Minghao got out to visit a friend, but we have not yet investigated who that friend is."

"Immediately after, we retrieved all surveillance from Wuhu Road Pedestrian Street."

"Based on the parking location Zhang Lu described, we’ve basically reconstructed Chen Minghao’s last activity path."

"After getting out, he moved along the lakeside of the pedestrian street."

"Along the way, there was no one accompanying or following him."

"Finally, he can be vaguely seen disappearing in front of a tavern, but the image is very blurry."

Then, Chen He said: "Since we discovered this clue, it was already nearing 5:00 AM, the tavern was closed."

"Therefore, we will continue to follow this lead today, delving deeper to focus on who Chen Minghao met after entering the tavern."

After listening, Li Jian said: "Your group has worked hard!"

"You have to interview personnel and also view surveillance videos."

Li Jian then changed the topic and asked: "Did Chen Minghao ever have conflicts with others at the company?"

Chen He replied: "According to Zhang Lu, Chen Minghao behaved improperly towards female subordinates."

"Two years ago, he groped two female employees at the company, whose husbands came to argue, almost leading to police involvement."

"What happened then?"

"Later, Chen Minghao used money to settle the matter."

"However, those two employees have since resigned and left."

Upon hearing this, Li Jian raised his eyebrows and noted down this important lead.

Any issue that might become a motive for crime can serve as a lead in solving the case.

He said: "This lead is very important! We must find those female employees from back then."

"Right! We will send another group to investigate today."

Li Jian instructed: "Not only should you investigate the female employees but also pay attention to the people around them, especially their husbands."

Chen He nodded and said: "No problem, I’ll follow up immediately."

"Is there anything else to add?"

Chen He said: "That’s the current situation of our group."

"Your group’s task is extremely important."

"You must thoroughly investigate those two female employees and also keep an eye on the surveillance video."

"You must figure out who Chen Minghao interacted with after entering the tavern, and how he eventually left."

Chen He nodded.

"Mr. Li, rest assured, we will spare no effort."

"Because the surveillance is quite far from the tavern, we’re trying to sort out other surveillance cameras."

"Good! I’m waiting for your good news."

Immediately, Li Jian turned to look at Jiang An.

"Mr. Jiang, please tell everyone about the corpse and the scene."

Jiang An said in a deep voice: "Yesterday, by screening burnt residues at the scene, we discovered a large number of skull fragments."

"Moreover, we managed to piece together a complete skull from the fragments."

"So, it’s not that the female victim didn’t have a skull, but rather the skull was blown apart."

"Upon finding the skull fragments, I carefully examined each piece and found no signs of blunt force or sharp instrument impacts."

"Furthermore, using skull reconstruction technology, we restored the deceased’s appearance."

"I believe this can serve as an important basis for the next phase of the investigation."

"Through genetic analysis of the two deceased, we discovered they share half their genes."

"Based on their age gap, we suspect they might be father and daughter."

Upon hearing this, the room burst into discussion.

Despite everyone’s involvement in criminal investigation work, encountering various types of people...

However, such a special relationship piques everyone’s curiosity.

How could such a situation occur?

Although many there have not been to the first scene themselves, only seen photos, they still have an understanding of the case’s basics.

Then, Li Jian said: "Please settle down, everyone."

Jiang An continued: "Of course! This father-daughter relationship is just speculation."

"In this world, nothing is absolute."

"So, we also have to investigate Chen Minghao’s ex-wife to determine if this woman is his daughter."

"Yesterday, during our search around the scene, we found the suspect had climbed over the north side window to enter the death scene."

"Moreover, when the suspect climbed over the window, they should have carried a metal object, leaving scratches on the wall."

"Based on the current clues, we highly suspect it might be a gasoline can."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Jian added: "If I may interject."

"Regarding the gasoline can Mr. Jiang mentioned, it’s based on the firefighting finding that gasoline was used as an accelerant at the scene."

Finally, Jiang An said: "Regarding the cause of death for the two victims, Chen Minghao died by burning."

"The other female victim presumably died from neck compression."

"Moreover, the two victims died at different times, with the female victim dying before the fire started."

"Mr. Li, Mr. Chen, that’s all I have to say."

After finishing, Li Jian nodded.

"Jiang An’s skull reconstruction technology is truly impressive."

"Last night, the facial photos of the victim you sent me looked incredibly lifelike."

"I was quite surprised, genuinely unexpected."

As he spoke, Li Jian took out his phone and opened the photos.

"If the female victim really looks like this, we are close to cracking the case."

"After all, with any case, once we identify the victim, we can delve deeper and find related suspects."

Finally, Li Jian turned to Wan.

"Please tell us about the investigation at the gasoline station."

Wan nodded and said: "Mr. Li, alright!"

"After our 20 groups visited all the gasoline stations in the city, we found 309 individuals made single gasoline purchases in the past two weeks."

"Regarding the purpose of purchasing gasoline, the registration management is not very thorough."

"Only one-third of the gasoline stations properly recorded the purpose of gasoline use, while two-thirds did not do strict registration."

"So, we don’t know what these people bought gasoline for."

While speaking, Wan’s face showed some bitterness, "Next, we plan to investigate these 309 individuals, but the investigation volume is quite large."

Li Jian nodded as well, saying deeply: "Indeed, this investigation is quite hefty."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang An said: "Actually, we can narrow the scope for priority investigation."

"Priority investigation? What’s that mean?"

Jiang An replied: "Through our analysis of the climbing marks at the scene, the suspect is likely a nimble young person with strong control capabilities."

"Thus, I think those who are either much older or much younger can be investigated later."

Upon hearing this, Li Jian nodded.

"What Jiang An said makes sense, let’s investigate based on prioritizing major targets first, then minor ones."