The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Chapter 620: Chapter 345: Senior Brother, Senior Sister! We’ve Got Something!

As the work continued, the mud in front of them had piled up like a small mountain.

Nearby, a water truck was continuously using a high-pressure water gun to wash the mud clumps, breaking the large chunks into fine silt.

After a preliminary screening, they had already cleared out a lot of debris from the mud: conch shells, pebbles, broken branches...

By the time they reached the 18th basket, Wan looked back at the mountain-like pile of mud and sighed, ”My God, we’ve sorted through 18 baskets, and we’re exhausted, yet we’ve only completed a third?”

Jiang An wiped the sweat from his forehead and encouraged, ”Look at it this way, we’ve already finished a third.”

”Just hold on a bit more and we’ll be done. Keep it up!”

Wan shrugged helplessly, ”This job is killing me; when I go back, my girlfriend will definitely give me a piece of her mind.”

Zhang Yean interjected, ”If you really break up, I can introduce you to a few junior girls. There are quite a few single ones among my friends.”

”Really?”

Wan’s eyes lit up, but then he deflated, ”But what if they mind my bad back...”

Meanwhile, Li Jian was leading another group of officers, intensely reviewing case files in the Criminal Investigation Team’s meeting room.

Since they weren’t yet networked, they could only use the most primitive method—flipping through the books one by one, page by page.

These yellowing case files not only recorded the basic facts of the cases but also contained a wealth of detailed information.

At 1 PM, the officers finally completed their review of the case files.

Qin Yun, the officer wearing black-rimmed glasses, organized the information and reported, ”After sorting, we’ve identified 37 people with records of theft or robbery.”

”Among them, 36 have criminal records, while only one minor was released on bail.”

Li Jian took the list and examined it carefully, pondering, ”According to priority, first focus on those with robbery records.”

”These 7 robbers should be prioritized, the others can be checked later.”

”Understood, Captain! I’ll arrange the investigations right away.”

At this moment, Instructor Zhang Chao, accompanied by Office Director Li Bin, arrived at the victim’s home.

This was a slightly old two-story house, with a clean and tidy yard, and a few rose bushes planted in the corner.

The victim’s parents were sunbathing in the yard. Seeing the officers enter, they quickly stood up shakily.

The old father, leaning on a cane, spoke with a trembling voice, ”Officer Zhang, we are truly grateful that you are reinvestigating this case.”

Although the two elderly tried hard to smile, tears still glistened in their cloudy eyes.

Standing on the opposite side, Zhang Chao felt like a heavy stone was pressing on his heart.

You see, he had participated in the case back then and had voted in favor of the conclusion. The concluding report even bore his handwritten signature.

Now reopening the investigation felt like a slap in his own face.

He awkwardly pulled at the corners of his mouth, his voice somewhat dry, ”It’s what we should do.”

”It’s a detective’s duty to thoroughly investigate every case, to avoid miscarriages of justice, and also to ensure that no criminal walks free.”

”Please come inside and have a seat.”

The old mother wiped her eyes and turned to invite them into the house.

Zhang Chao and two officers followed them into the yard.

At this time, a woman in her early thirties was in the yard, tutoring a little boy with his homework.

Seeing the police enter, she quickly stood up and nervously rubbed her hands, ”Please have a seat, officers, I’ll make some tea.”

Zhang Chao nodded and noticed her plain clothing and rough hands, softly asking, ”Is this... the victim’s wife?”

The two elderly faces showed a look of comfort, ”Yes, it’s her.”

”Since our son left, she’s stayed with us, raising the grandson with great difficulty. She’s really had a hard time.”

Zhang Chao couldn’t help but let out a sigh, ”Truly a good girl.”

”Dear elderly,”

Zhang Chao took out a notebook from his briefcase, ”today we came here to understand in detail the specific circumstances of your son’s outing back then.”

”The details might be crucial to the reopened investigation.”

Hearing this, the two elderly nod enthusiastically.

For years they had run around hoping for the day the investigation would be reopened.

Now that the day had finally arrived, they were eager to tell everything they knew.

The victim’s mother wiped her hands on her apron, choking up, ”He left so suddenly that day. At lunch, he mentioned having a dinner appointment that night, hosted by his childhood friend.”

”I just told him not to drink and drive, but who knew he would drive anyway, and in the end... he never returned...”

The old man’s voice grew fainter, almost turning into a sob.

After the elderly’s emotions calmed a bit, Zhang Chao continued to ask, ”Did he participate in any other activities?”

”It was probably just dinner!”

The old father picked up the conversation, ”This kid, at most, played a little mahjong occasionally, and never visited those messed up places.”

Zhang Chao jotted down some notes in the notebook and asked, ”How much money was he carrying at the time?”

This question caused the elderly couple to look at each other, puzzled.

After their son got married, they rarely asked about such matters.

At this moment, the victim’s wife came in with a tea tray, ”Please have some tea, officers.”

Zhang Chao took the cup and gestured for her to sit down, ”I just have a question for you.”

”How much money did your husband have when he went out back then?”

Anxiously, the woman glanced at her in-laws, her fingers instinctively twisting her clothes.

”It’s okay, just say what you know.”

”He...he sometimes liked to play a little mahjong.”

The woman’s voice grew quieter, ”His parents were often upset about it.”

”Three days before the incident, he told me he wanted to go out to play, so I gave him 200 yuan.”

Hearing this, the faces of the elderly immediately turned grim, ”Why didn’t you mention it at the time?”

”I... I thought it was normal to spend 200 yuan in three days.”

The woman was anxious, her eyes reddening, ”Plus, there was spare change in his wallet, and we didn’t see any problem...

Zhang Chao interjected at the right moment, ”Besides playing cards, did he have any other large expenses?”

”No,” the woman shook her head, ”He just did odd jobs, 200 yuan was enough for several days.”

At this point, the woman suddenly looked up, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes, ”Officer, why are you suddenly asking about this?”

Zhang Chao did not answer immediately, but pondered for a moment.

”After reopening the investigation, we found that the money he had could be an important clue in the case.”

”But there were still dozens of yuan left in his wallet at the time,”

the woman said puzzled, ”A man going out with 200 yuan, and a few days later having dozens left, isn’t... isn’t that normal?”

The elderly couple echoed, ”Yes, how is that related to our son’s death?”

Zhang Chao nodded, ”We suspect the case might be related to money.”

”However, as you said, spending 200 yuan in a few days and having dozens left doesn’t show any obvious anomaly.”

For a married man, having some pocket money is quite normal, and spending 200 yuan in a few days makes sense.

He changed the subject, ”Did he smoke?”

”Rarely,” the old father answered, ”Sometimes he’d have a cigarette when offered in social settings.”

Zhang Chao noted down this detail in his notebook.

Meanwhile, by the pond at the crime scene, they were busy working.

Wan straightened his aching back, looking at the 37th basket of mud laid out on the ground, and sighed helplessly, ”Once we finish sifting through the last three baskets, if we still don’t find anything, we might as well be fishing.”

”Don’t lose heart.”

Zhang Yean, Mr. Zhou patted his shoulder, ”This is how solving cases works; key clues often appear just when you think you’re at the end of the line.”

The high-pressure water gun roared to life again, splashing mud everywhere.

Officer Jiang An, treating this basket of mud like the first one, watched intently as the mud was gradually washed away.

Suddenly, as the water stream cleared away a clump of mud, something appeared at the bottom of the basket that made his pupils contract suddenly.

He turned abruptly, his voice slightly trembling with excitement, ”Trainee! Instructor! We’ve found something!”