CHAPTER 60: CHAPTER 60: THE CASE HITS ANOTHER DEADLOCK

On the way back from the electronics factory, Li Jian replaced Chen He as the police car driver.

At the police station’s departure, Chen He was full of confidence.

At this moment, he sat in the passenger seat, listless, like a deflated balloon.

Chen He said, "Mr. Li, I feel that this case is becoming increasingly difficult."

"We’ve had our hopes raised several times, only to have them dashed each time."

Li Jian held the steering wheel, turned his head, and glanced at Chen He.

He said, "There’s no doubt that this case is extremely complicated."

"If it were simple, it wouldn’t have gone unsolved for so long."

Chen He sighed, "Since we restarted this case, the investigative direction has significantly shifted; I can’t help but feel that this new direction might also have a problem."

After a moment of silence, Li Jian said, "Originally, we determined this case was a home burglary that escalated into robbery and murder."

"Now, we have determined it to be intentional homicide."

"There is a very substantial difference between the two."

"Now, if you want me to say which direction is correct, I truly don’t have enough evidence."

"However, what is certain is that the previous investigative direction, after eight long years of investigation, still made no progress."

"Currently, this new direction has only been pursued for a few days, and the results are still unclear."

"Even though we haven’t made significant progress at present, I always feel we’re getting closer to the end."

"Every analysis by Jiang An impresses and surprises me."

Chen He said, "Indeed! Jiang An’s analysis and grasp of the entire case are very precise."

"However, each time our hopes are dashed, it’s hard to accept."

Li Jian said, "This killer is extremely cunning."

"Since the task force was initially formed, we haven’t made much progress."

"Restarting this case now is just as challenging as before; we need to be mentally prepared."

Meanwhile.

In the criminal investigation team’s conference room.

Zhang Yean was drinking coffee while looking at the crime scene reproduction drawn by Jiang An.

Jiang An depicted his understanding of the entire crime scene in this manner.

Particularly, the depiction of the perpetrator entering the scene, committing the murder, and then leaving was very clear.

After carefully examining it, she asked, "After the suspect entered the scene, they controlled the couple, then split into three directions."

"According to your analysis, could it be inferred that the three killers each had different motives?"

Jiang An replied, "I have the same thought right now."

"It’s possible that there were different motives."

Suddenly, Zhang Yean’s face showed a hint of terror.

She said, "I suddenly thought of the Oriental Express case from a foreign detective novelist."

"Could it be different people gathered to commit murder?"

Jiang An laughed, "The probability of that is very low."

"Besides, the Oriental Express case in that author’s words was about evading the law and seeking justice outside of it."

While the two were talking, the conference room door of the criminal investigation team was pushed open.

Wu You walked in.

He saw Zhang Yean and Jiang An and asked in surprise, "What are you two doing here?"

Jiang An replied, "Mr. Wu, we’re reviewing an old case."

Wu You nodded and said, "You’re both very dedicated!"

"I left my notebook here during the meeting yesterday, so I came to fetch it."

As Wu You passed by Jiang An, he suddenly noticed the crime scene diagram in Zhang Yean’s hand.

Immediately, he stopped.

"The diagram looks very vivid."

Zhang Yean handed the diagram over.

"Mr. Wu, this is a crime scene comic drawn by Jiang An."

Upon hearing this, Wu You’s eyes suddenly widened.

"A crime scene diagram?"

Zhang Yean said, "I just examined it closely, and the process is clear and comprehensible."

Wu You accepted the diagram and began flipping through from the first page.

Originally, he was just glancing casually.

However, when he turned to the second page, his hand stopped, and he was frozen in place.

The depiction in the images gave a strong sense of three-dimensionality.

The textual information was detailed, the reasoning was thorough.

Whether the logical deduction of the entire case or the basis for each step’s analysis was just right.

This was simply many times better than the task force’s analysis report from years ago.

At this moment.

Li Jian and Chen He drove back to the Jiangcheng City Bureau.

The first thing the two did after returning to the bureau was to find Mr. Ma.

Last night, Mr. Ma stayed up with them all night.

He is very invested in this case.

Moreover, he was aware of the investigation into Qin Hong this morning.

After concluding their work, it’s imperative to report back to Mr. Ma promptly.

Arriving at Mr. Ma’s office door, Li Jian knocked lightly.

"Please come in."

Subsequently, Li Jian and Chen He walked in.

Mr. Ma set down the file in his hand and said, "You’ve worked hard!"

"Back so soon?"

Both of them nodded.

However, their expressions clearly showed that the results were not ideal.

Li Jian said, "Mr. Ma, we just interviewed Zhang Qian’s college roommate, Qin Hong."

"After the interaction, both of us feel she probably isn’t the perpetrator."

Mr. Ma asked in astonishment, "You can rule out suspicion that quickly?"

Li Jian nodded, "She’s currently the general manager of an electronics company."

"At the time of the incident, she was already the deputy general manager."

"She admitted to having had conflicts with the deceased Zhang Qian."

"However, those were college issues, and she had come to terms with them after graduation."

"By the time they graduated, Qin Hong’s job was much better than Zhang Qian’s."

"From a weighing pros and cons perspective, I also think she wouldn’t risk her future on this."

"Key point, during the interaction with her, I didn’t detect any signs of nervousness."

After hearing this, Mr. Ma nodded.

Then he picked up cigarettes from the table, offering three, one to each of them.

Lighting one himself and taking a couple of puffs, he said, "If she is not a suspect either, does that mean the line of suspects is broken?"

Chen He added, "However, Qin Hong mentioned Zhang Qian was with her current husband during college, which Li Dong was unaware of at the time."

"Could this be Li Dong’s act of revenge?"

After a moment, Mr. Ma shook his head gently.

"Last night, during the interrogation of Li Dong, I was watching the entire time from outside."

"Personally, I don’t think Li Dong resembles the perpetrator."

After a long pause.

Mr. Ma said, "We have already reopened this case, and it has reached a dead end."

"We can gather everyone who was part of the task force back then to study it together again and see if there is any new breakthrough."

Finally, Mr. Ma suddenly asked, "Where is Wu You?"

"He was part of the forensic team of the task force back then."

Li Jian quickly dialed Wu You’s number.

"Mr. Wu, where are you? Can you review the forensic situation of the family murder case from eight years ago?"

Wu You said, "I’m in the criminal investigation team’s conference room."

"In the conference room?"

"There’s no meeting today."

Wu You, looking at the crime scene reproduction comic in his hand, said, "Mr. Li, I think you should come to the conference room."

"Because Jiang An has made a significant discovery."