Chapter 732: Chapter 394: We Have Confidence! (2)

At the same time, on the other end of the line, Li Jian had just roughly put his office supplies in order in his new office.

This deputy director’s office was indeed much more spacious than his previous office as captain of the criminal investigation team, with its own bathroom and a small rest room, bright and clean.

He was thinking of giving the desk a good wipe, then making himself a cup of hot tea to enjoy this rare moment of leisure during the transition between posts.

The freshly brewed tea was sending up wisps of steam; before he had time to take the first sip, the phone on the desk lit up and began buzzing.

He glanced at the caller ID showing the two characters "Jiang An," and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curve upward as he recalled that just a few hours ago, at the party committee meeting, their appointments had been announced together.

From now on, this pair of old partners would be fighting side by side again, on a higher platform.

He had always been full of expectations and trust in the capability and resolve of this newly appointed captain of the criminal investigation team.

"Hello, Mr. Jiang?"

As soon as the call connected, there was still a hint of relaxed amusement in Li Jian’s voice; he casually picked up his teacup.

However, on the other end of the line, Jiang An was silent for a moment; this brief pause caused the smile on Li Jian’s face to recede slightly.

Right after, Jiang An’s low and serious voice came through: "Reporting to Mr Li, this morning we received an order to handle a fire alarm."

"A fire?"

Li Jian blew on the hot steam above the cup, his tone still fairly relaxed. "In the old city, the wiring is old, the weather is dry—fires aren’t unusual."

"Is the scene under control? Are the losses big?"

Jiang An continued his report; his speaking pace was steady, but he emphasized the key information: "The fire has been extinguished, but the preliminary on-site examination shows this case is anything but simple. Inside the building where the fire broke out..."

He deliberately paused for half a second, then clearly uttered four words: "We found four bodies."

The words "four bodies" struck the air like a heavy hammer.

The teacup that Li Jian had been about to raise to his lips suddenly froze midair; because of this abrupt movement, the warm tea sloshed in the cup, spilling a few drops onto the desk.

The relaxed expression on his face vanished without a trace, and he unconsciously sat up straight.

"What?! Four bodies?!"

His voice suddenly shot up, filled with incredulous shock.

It had been less than two hours since the two of them had parted ways; in such a short time, not only had a case occurred, but it was such a heinous major case?

It sounded almost unbelievable.

But a few thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning: the essence of criminal investigation work was dealing with emergencies and extreme evil, forever full of uncertainty.

Moreover, given what he knew of Jiang An, there was absolutely no possibility of him joking or exaggerating on this sort of issue—there was nothing funny about a "joke" like this.

After letting his surging emotions settle a little, Li Jian took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound steady and forceful.

He asked into the receiver in a low voice, "What happened? Don’t rush, tell me the situation in detail."

On the other end, Jiang An’s pace was not fast, but every word carried weight: "Mr Li, here’s the situation."

"After we parted, I had just gotten back to the squad; I hadn’t even warmed the chair when the alarm call came in."

"In an old alley area in the urban–rural fringe of the West District, a self-built house caught fire."

"The fire brigade reacted very quickly; they’ve been doing their utmost to fight the fire and have brought the open flames under control."

"The initial feedback from the scene said that a body was found in the living room, and the preliminary judgment at the time tended to be accidental death caused by the fire."

He paused, his voice growing even lower: "However, Mr Li, after our criminal investigation team conducted a preliminary on-site examination, the situation turned out to be far more complicated and serious than we imagined."

"We... we found three more bodies at the scene."

"It has now been confirmed that the other three deceased are the female head of the household and their two children."

"A family of four, all dead."

"The whole scene... is quite horrific."

Mr Li gripped the receiver, his brows knitted tight, his mind rapidly flashing through all kinds of possibilities.

Although his heart was already heavy, he still held onto a sliver of hope and asked the question he least wanted to face but had to confirm.

"Jiang An, based on the clues so far... is there any way to rule out the possibility of an accident?"

"Where is the preliminary determination of the fire’s point of origin?"

"Have you found any traces pointing to a liquefied gas leak, aging wiring, or other flammable or explosive materials as the cause?"

Jiang An’s reply did not contain the slightest hesitation; through the line, it carried a kind of cool decisiveness.

"Mr Li, the investigation into the cause and nature of the fire is still underway under great time pressure; we need to carry out a joint examination with the fire department’s experts before we can reach a final conclusion."

"But based on all the traces and signs I’ve observed so far, the outlook is very grim."

"On the basis of all sorts of unreasonable signs at the scene, my personal judgment is that this is very likely a particularly vicious case of murder followed by arson to burn the corpses."

"Murder and burning the bodies?"

Those four words hit Li Jian’s heart like a sledgehammer.

He was stunned for a moment, holding the phone, not knowing how to react for a while.

He knew Jiang An far too well: meticulous, solid, and in all his years on the force he had never uttered a single empty word in his work, let alone joke about something this monumental.

Since he was speaking with such a definite tone, he must have grasped highly persuasive on-site evidence.

Li Jian subconsciously took a deep breath, trying to calm the violent turbulence in his chest, and slowly, heavily set the teacup he had just lifted back down on the desk.

His thoughts quickly shifted to jurisdiction and follow-up procedures in the case—under the relevant regulations, when a homicide involves one or two deaths, it is usually led by the county-level public security organ, with the municipal bureau providing necessary guidance.

Once the number of deaths reaches three or more, the seriousness of the case sharply increases; under regulations it must be reported to the provincial department, and there may even be a need to request that an expert team be dispatched to support the on-site investigation.

And right now, we’re talking about four lives!

Thinking of this, Mr Li couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh, his mood extremely complicated.

He had just taken office, the chairs of deputy director and captain of the criminal investigation team hadn’t even warmed, and such an earth-shattering major case had already occurred in his jurisdiction—was he to immediately request support from the provincial department?

It would indeed be hard to save face.

The criminal investigation unit of the Jiangcheng Public Security Bureau had long been known for its strong combat strength and ability to fight tough battles; in the past, they had solved multiple difficult major cases, and their capability enjoyed a solid reputation.

If they had to seek outside assistance as soon as the new leadership team took office, it would inevitably be the subject of discussion among colleagues in other regions, even leading to private snickering that the new team had an unlucky start.

After a brief silence, he gathered his thoughts again, his tone becoming even more grave.

He asked Jiang An on the line, enunciating each word: "Jiang An, you’ve confirmed there are four dead at the scene, and there is absolutely no mistake about that, correct?"

"Then, based on your experience and what you know at this point, how would you objectively assess the difficulty of solving this case?"

"Do we... need to immediately request outside support from the higher authorities?"

"Relying on our own strength in Jiangcheng, do we have the confidence to take this case down completely?"

Hearing this, Jiang An, holding his phone, instinctively turned to look behind him.

The harsh beams of the forensic lights cut through the lingering smoke; his colleagues’ figures moved busily through the rubble, and the low murmur of their exchanges, the clicks of camera shutters, and the faint sounds of evidence bags being opened intertwined into a heavy and urgent background noise.

His gaze seemed to penetrate the charred broken walls; in his mind, the positions and postures of the four bodies at their respective locations reappeared clearly, a grim yet sharp image.

After just an instant of silence, when he spoke again, there was not the slightest hint of wavering in his voice; instead, it carried a calm and resolve tempered a thousand times over: "Mr Li, I understand your concerns."

"This case involves four lives, with bodies found in different locations at the scene; at first glance, it is indeed horrifying."

"But no matter how things change, all criminal cases, no matter how complex they appear, inevitably follow their internal logic and patterns."

"The perpetrator’s behavior patterns, the traces left at the scene, and the connections among the victims—these are the keys to solving the case."

"Therefore, I believe that although this case is major, our Jiangcheng criminal investigation detachment is fully capable of handling it independently, with the experience to back that up."

"We have the confidence, and the determination, to gnaw this bone clean!"