National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1099 - 1030: Retrieval

"Zhang Bing, nicknamed Ghost Li... do you know what you’ve done wrong?" Meng Chengbiao blew on his tea leaves, pretending to be indifferent.

His mission was to interrogate Zhang Bing as quickly as possible, both to provide Jiang Yuan with more clues and to expedite the submission of evidence, freeing up space for the next suspect.

Zhang Bing sat upright, the interrogation chair creaking loudly, and flashed a forced smile, "Sir, ever since I finished my last sentence, I’ve truly turned over a new leaf. My wife says I’ve been diligent about contributing to society, I stay out of trouble now, my health has improved too, and my eyes radiate positive energy."

"Your tone is decent, but your attitude about confessing is problematic," Meng Chengbiao looked up at Zhang Bing. "Do you want to reconsider?"

"Sir, I swear I’ve mended my ways," Zhang Bing shook his head, adding, "I have a courier shop now, like those Rookie Stations, and I’m earning a good income every month. I’m entirely self-reliant."

"Zhang Bing." Meng Chengbiao’s voice turned heavy.

Zhang Bing straightened up again with a smile, "Sir..."

"Our informant, the Ape, has already talked. What nonsense are you trying to spin here?" Meng Chengbiao set his cup down with a soft "bang."

Zhang Bing jolted, visibly shaken, and tried to feign ignorance, "Who’s the Ape?"

"Are you seriously trying to play cat-and-mouse with our task force?" Meng Chengbiao’s faint smile shattered Zhang Bing’s defenses instantly.

If Zhang Bing had truly been innocent, perhaps he could’ve held onto a sliver of hope. But he wasn’t.

The Ape was his superior, someone who had already confessed to Zhang Bing’s involvement. Zhang Bing could try denying it to the bitter end, but police methods are beyond negotiation: phone conversations, monetary transactions, surveillance footage before and after the deals.

In truth, just based on the Ape’s statements, Zhang Bing would find it hard to escape culpability.

"How did you find me? How do you know who I work for?" Zhang Bing made one last attempt at resistance. His connection with the Ape was barely direct. The Ape knew Ghost Li was a player in the underground scene, had a record for human trafficking, but that’s about it.

Zhang Bing had never revealed his true identity to anyone who knew Ghost Li, least of all the Ape, who shouldn’t and needn’t have known.

He was merely a middleman in the human trafficking business, earning a small cut—a few thousand dollars at most.

Meng Chengbiao chuckled and said, "That’s not for you to know."

He couldn’t exactly disclose that Jiang Yuan had stumbled across Zhang Bing while investigating prior cases and had pulled him out for further scrutiny.

Zhang Bing’s gaze wavered; he truly couldn’t figure out how his identity had been leaked. The police had stormed in outright that day. Still, one thing was certain: the Ape couldn’t have known his real identity.

In other words, it was highly likely that someone he trusted the most had betrayed him.

"Sir, I want to cooperate!" Zhang Bing tried to stand up, but the chains dragged, rattling noisily again.

Meng Chengbiao picked up his teacup again, savoring the bittersweet taste.

Working with Jiang Yuan was sometimes deeply satisfying, but at other times strangely unrewarding—a contradictory feeling.

"Go on." Meng Chengbiao exhaled, ready to mine Zhang Bing for information.

Sequential arrests had become the mainstream method in law enforcement now. Previously, the pretrial system operated around this concept, and though the pretrial divisions had been dissolved, the methodology they aspired to had now gained traction.

Zhang Bing’s role was essentially that of a broker in the human trafficking network, which is the survival strategy for many human traffickers—or rather a pathway deliberately constructed by certain trafficking syndicates.

These pathways were far from stable; criminal organizations didn’t care about that. The sole driver was money, transferring trafficked individuals from one spot to another through a series of trades.

Because of this, Zhang Bing had interacted with numerous superiors and clients. Yet, similar to his confusion, most of these people were only known to him by their aliases. Some he had met face-to-face; others he had never even seen, conducting transactions remotely.

Meng Chengbiao meticulously pieced together all of Zhang Bing’s accounts, extracting every shred of usable information before watching him sign and stamp each page of the interrogation record.

Zhang Bing complied with everything, and by the last page, he didn’t even need prompting to write: "I have reviewed the above account and confirm it matches what I stated." He signed again, added his fingerprint, and noted the date.

"Once you’re in the detention center, reflect carefully on the details of your involvement. Notify the warden if there’s more you want to confess." Meng Chengbiao murmured, ending the interrogation and heading off immediately to report to Jiang Yuan.

Knock, knock.

Meng Chengbiao knocked on Jiang Yuan’s office door and found two other detectives already inside, delivering updates to Jiang Yuan.

"Team Meng, any progress?" Jiang Yuan looked up.

"Interrogation went smoothly. Suspect Zhang Bing confessed and identified two additional superiors and four buyers. Among the buyers is a woman nicknamed Lingdang, said to be about 30 years old, moderately attractive, heavily made-up, with wavy hair. Zhang Bing always meets her at the wholesale market to conduct transactions."

Meng Chengbiao shared the key details.

Jiang Yuan began flipping through his notebook.

He had a significant advantage in his investigations, particularly with fingerprint and footprint analysis, which often acted as trump cards in ordinary cases. However, many criminals were molded gradually through experience, meaning earlier cases were relatively easier to solve.

Furthermore, Jiang Yuan wasn’t solely focused on catching perpetrators. Investigation required tracing evidence, establishing robust chains of proof. But when it came to clues, his approach was far more flexible, especially with smaller cases where sentences maxed out at three years. Prosecutors could push for plea bargains, and judges could issue lenient rulings, potentially resulting in probation.

"Got it." Jiang Yuan quickly flipped to a page he’d written earlier. "Nicknamed Lingdang, real name Xu Min, ID number 310103... a minor accomplice in a counterfeit goods case, sentenced to two years and three months. Now involved in the antique and artifact trade."

"Selling antiques and trafficking kids?" Nearby, one of the detectives muttered, breathing heavily in anger.

"Perhaps her antique business helped her connect with buyers." Meng Chengbiao recalled the interrogation, adding, "This Lingdang is particularly eager when it comes to receiving trafficked children. Zhang Bing always prioritizes selling to her because she’s quick with payments and offers more, though she has some specifications for the children."

"If the chain ends at Lingdang, recovering the children remains hopeful," Jiang Yuan said with a slight burst of enthusiasm. The task force’s main priority was to find the five abducted children. If they were sold to ordinary individuals, this would count as relatively fortunate.

In modern society, the grotesque practices of older eras are rarer, but the types of perversions have expanded.

Jiang Yuan didn’t bother comparing this case to others; he simply picked up the phone to call Director Zhou, requesting manpower to apprehend Lingdang.

Director Zhou, upon hearing Jiang Yuan’s voice, became immediately energized, exclaiming, "I’ll convene the officers right away!"

"Uh... okay. I’ll send over a list shortly," Jiang Yuan replied, realizing he couldn’t stop Zhou from holding a meeting. He hurriedly matched the names Meng Chengbiao had just provided against his notebook and selected a few individuals for further inspection.

That day, Yuwan City Bureau’s police cars hardly took a break.

Reporters familiar with the station were already calling to ask, "Is this part of a crack-down operation?"

At dawn.

A Coaster van pulled up in front of the Yuwan City Bureau office building.

Five children stepped out one by one, overwhelmed by the sheer number of people waiting for them, their faces clouded in confusion.