National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1087 - 1018: Loose Ends

"Send the location details to Captain You. Captain You, are you coming here to coordinate, or will you assign a few people as liaisons?"

Once Jiang Yuan got into work mode, he immediately called Wang Chuanxing over to make arrangements.

You Lixiang thought for a moment. It was evident that the 712 Task Force couldn’t relocate entirely, so he said, "In that case, I’ll send two people to act as liaisons?"

"Good." Jiang Yuan agreed and added, "You go ahead and call your people. I’ll call mine as well."

"Alright." You Lixiang responded with a smile.

Fifteen minutes later.

You Lixiang brought over two young officers from the task force to act as runners, while Jiang Yuan summoned two team captains to begin assigning tasks.

"I think we should utilize undercover informants. Since there’s chatter circulating on the streets, it means the suspect is likely involved in related circles. Someone might know his identity, or there could be some useful leads," Jiang Yuan suggested.

The two team captains, one from the Cybersecurity Brigade and the other from the Public Security Brigade, asked You Lixiang a few questions before heading off to their respective duties.

Buoyed with confidence, You Lixiang remarked, "It’s starting to feel a bit like a multi-dimensional operation now. The most frustrating part of requesting resources has always been the long waiting time for feedback."

Wang Chuanxing, standing nearby, chuckled. "The longer the delay, the higher the cost. Now that Captain Jiang is on the scene, efficiency is bound to improve."

You Lixiang nodded, half-understanding.

But he soon witnessed firsthand the efficiency Wang Chuanxing had alluded to.

By dinner time, detectives from four other jurisdictions and officials from two provinces had arrived together at the Criminal Police Brigade’s guesthouse in Qingshi City. Considering the travel duration, it was impressive they had managed to get here in such a rush.

"Let’s have hot pot. Start with a round of all the different meats on the menu." Sitting in the private dining room of the guesthouse, Director Li glanced at the menu, handed it back to the server, and smiled. "I heard Jiang Yuan enjoys hot pot, so I thought we might as well accommodate."

"We’ll make sure to accommodate perfectly," chimed in others, subtly alluding to topics hidden within their words as they warmed up the conversation.

Jiang Yuan smiled wryly. Though it wasn’t an outright rumor that he loved hot pot, the reputation did seem blown out of proportion. In this situation, however, his social instincts left him no choice but to graciously accept.

Liu Jinghui, who was familiar with Jiang Yuan, also found it amusing. This was similar to how, when he had disappeared for a time in the past, there had been plenty of speculation he could never clearly dispel.

Liu Jinghui had arrived with the provincial officials, effectively taking advantage of unused resources.

After some light chatting, Liu Jinghui shifted the topic to the case. "Let’s invite Captain You to give us an overview of the case. The 712 Task Force was the first to take this on, and also the first to consolidate these related cases into one major investigation..."

He provided a brief preamble, mainly to establish the task force’s leading role. Otherwise, with five jurisdictions involved, communication costs could spiral out of control if each insisted on prioritizing their own objectives.

You Lixiang was straightforward and said, "Alright, let me share what I know. This case has a few distinct characteristics. First, the locations where the incidents occurred: Lanhua Township in Cuigang County is the most remote township in Qingshi City. The local average income is low, and most young people opt to work outside the area. On the other hand, the birth rate remains relatively high, resulting in many left-behind children."

He continued, "Second, the perpetrators are familiar with the placement of our surveillance systems. Cuigang County’s Skynet network has been slow to develop, so most township roads lack functional cameras. That said, main roads do have active surveillance, which should have allowed us to track the suspect’s vehicle. However, even after repeated reviews, we failed to achieve this."

Looking at Jiang Yuan and the others, he added, "Initially, I thought the suspect was likely a local or someone from a nearby area, and that this might have been a coincidental crime, but..."

He glanced at the other team captains before concluding, "Given that this extends across two jurisdictions and each location bears a striking similarity, it feels clear the crimes were premeditated."

As they ate hot pot, the group of officers nodded in agreement, as though appreciating the flavor of the meat.

Liu Jinghui, after chewing on a piece, commented, "If the crimes were so well-prepared, then the sales channels for their human trafficking operation must also be considered. Spreading word on the streets to find buyers sounds rather amateurish."

The group nodded again, affirming Liu Jinghui’s reasoning.

You Lixiang, who had evidently given this considerable thought, responded promptly, "Perhaps they’ve committed many such crimes, or they discovered this flow of operations is particularly lucrative, and their original channels couldn’t handle the volume. That might be why they’re expanding their buyer base. Also, I realized they started spreading word on the streets only by chance. Their usual methods for sending messages are quite niche."

"How did you discover this?" one of the team captains from another jurisdiction asked.

They had joined the investigation precisely because You Lixiang had identified connections among these cases, rather than discovering this independently in their respective locales.

You Lixiang responded without hesitation, "I found it on the dark web. The scope of their communication primarily targets individuals with prior convictions for human trafficking. If not for a tip from an informant, it probably would’ve taken us much longer to uncover this."

"In that case, you must’ve already screened the prior offenders, right?"

"Of course. We immediately did a search of all prior offenders. But across so many counties and cities, the number of individuals with records was quite large. Moreover, the messages might not have been sent directly by the perpetrators; it’s possible they were relayed by middlemen."

This caught Liu Jinghui’s attention, and he grew more serious. "That’s a very valuable observation. It’s indeed possible. Human trafficking chains are long and complex, and not all the information would come directly from the perpetrators. Thoughts from those on the front line are truly unique."

Unlike typical crimes, human trafficking is inherently a business—a business not aimed at end consumers. Child abductors or trafficking gangs often choose to sell children to intermediaries or other participants in the trade, rather than directly targeting end-users as seen in drug distribution.

Due to varying levels of regional development across the country, this business still has a considerable market. Coupled with instances of willingly selling children, human trafficking markets remain resilient despite efforts to suppress them.

A trafficker with the right connections might not even personally engage in abductions; merely acting as a middleman could earn them tens of thousands of yuan. For many people, under various circumstances, that kind of money is highly tempting.

Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but develop a newfound respect for You Lixiang.

For someone to hold their own in an exchange of insights after Liu Jinghui had entered full investigative mode was no easy feat. Of course, You Lixiang’s deductions weren’t purely speculative; they were grounded in his deep familiarity with his jurisdiction and his analysis of past cases.

While plenty of detectives operate on the front lines, You Lixiang’s ability to stand out reflected exceptional professional competence.

As the proverbial blade in the field, he could likely cut through waves of ordinary offenders until exhaustion set in.

The group ate their hot pot in contemplative silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

Cases involving child abduction and trafficking are notoriously difficult to solve. Their resolution rates are far lower than those of homicide cases.

It wasn’t for lack of effort; often, it came down to a lack of leads.

In a coldly rational sense, homicide cases have the advantage of a body serving as both evidence and a source of clues. For child abduction cases, the most critical evidence and clues are inherently tied to the abducted children themselves.

"Can we trace the dark web communication channel back to its source? Alternatively, could we lure someone out? Even if it’s a middleman, we could follow the chain upward," the Criminal Police Brigade captain from Yuwan City suggested.

"We tried, but it didn’t work. Cybersecurity, can you handle it?" You Lixiang turned and asked.

Jiang Yuan nodded, then turned to Wang Chuanxing beside him. "Ask Cybersecurity if they can make it happen."

You Lixiang raised an eyebrow. That phrasing—"can it be done?"—was much more definitive than other, more tentative approaches he had encountered before.

The various Criminal Police Brigade captains from different counties and cities exchanged glances, each sensing the assertiveness Jiang Yuan brought to the table.

With that, they began organizing their thoughts and offered their own suggestions:

"We still need to track the vehicle involved. The fact that we haven’t yet might just mean we’re approaching it the wrong way. This vehicle appeared across six locations in two provinces. Was it always using out-of-town plates? None of the eyewitnesses seemed to notice the plates, which suggests the car might have been using fake plates—or perhaps it’s not even the same car."

"Committing crimes in unfamiliar townships carries significant risks. I suspect this involves multiple perpetrators. Perhaps each one operates in a location they’re familiar with."

"If that’s the case, how was this group formed? Were they ex-convicts?"

"Another key point: the group hasn’t struck again for over a month. Have they decided to quit? Or are they planning more crimes? Perhaps they have already moved to new locations?"

As the saying goes, too many cooks spoil the broth—or, in this case, drain the appetite from the diners.

The discussion had reached the point where several officers found their appetite waning.

"The leads are indeed limited," Jiang Yuan remarked. He turned to Liu Jinghui and asked, "Should we ask Director Xu to weigh in?"