Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 399 Joining the Special Task Force

On May 8th, three days after Wu Yongcheng took "sick leave," an anxious Zhou Yi received a notification.

He was instructed to go to Hongcheng University to attend a meeting of the special task force for the Hongda case.

He, who had been eager to try it out, immediately headed to Hongda.

Since the establishment of the task force, in order to facilitate the comprehensive investigation work of the task force, Hongda specially vacated an independent office building for the task force to use.

This building is located in the southeast corner of Hongda, and has three floors. It is one of the earliest office buildings built when Hongda was founded.

After the deceased's identity was confirmed on May 2nd, and as the special task force was established and stationed at Hongda, in order to avoid causing panic and riots, Hongda, after consulting with the municipal party committee and public security department, decided to implement a semi-lockdown measure.

This means that schools will be closed to the general public, and a gate control system will be implemented at all school gates. Only those with student IDs and faculty/staff IDs will be allowed to enter and exit. In addition, a closing time will be set, and school gates will be sealed after 9 p.m. No students, including faculty and staff, will be allowed to enter or exit except for members of the special task force and school leaders.

But nothing stays hidden forever; while the police were conducting a large-scale search for the body parts, there were bystanders watching.

The school arranged for someone to identify the body, and after the deceased's identity was confirmed, the news immediately caused a stir on campus.

Everyone knew that the person who died was Xu Liu, a freshman girl from the Department of Financial Management, and that she had been dismembered, leaving only her head. The whole school was in a state of panic.

When Zhou Yi arrived at the task force's office building, the first person he saw was Chen Yan.

Chen Yan was overjoyed to see Zhou Yi arrive. He, Jiang Biao, and Qiao Jiali had been feeling down these past two days, partly because of the case, but even more so because of the matter between Captain Wu and Zhou Yi.

Although they did not know the truth behind Wu Yongcheng's report, they were also unsure whether Zhou Yi could be included in the special task force.

As soon as Chen Yan saw Zhou Yi, he came up and hugged him.

"Welcome back to the team."

Zhou Yi was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and patted Chen Yan on the back.

"Thank you, Brother Yan."

Just then, a loud voice called out from upstairs: "Zhou Yi."

Zhou Yi looked up and saw two people standing on the balcony. One was Xie Guoqiang, and the other was someone he didn't recognize, but was probably a leader from the provincial department.

Zhou Yi immediately stood at attention and saluted: "Good morning, Director! Good morning, Leader!"

Xie Guoqiang waved his hand: "Come up, let's have a meeting."

The two people downstairs quickly went upstairs and entered the large conference room on the third floor.

Inside, there were familiar faces as well as unfamiliar ones.

The old acquaintances were all very happy to see Zhou Yi and exchanged glances with him.

"Everyone's here, so let's have a meeting to summarize the findings of this investigation and then plan the next phase of work," Xie Guoqiang, sitting in the middle, said.

"But before that, let me introduce a new member of the task force. You guys in Hongcheng are probably familiar with him, but the comrades from the provincial department probably don't." Xie Guoqiang looked at Zhou Yi, who was sitting in the corner, and called out, "Zhou Yi."

Zhou Yi immediately stood up, first saluted the leader, and then saluted everyone present.

“Zhou Yi is a member of our city bureau’s third brigade. He was not in Hongcheng before due to work reasons, so he did not join the task force. Now he has returned to the team,” Xie Guoqiang said, pointing to Zhou Yi.

The person sitting to Xie Guoqiang's left is the one he saw on the balcony earlier. He wasn't wearing a police uniform, but a set of black civilian clothes. He looked to be around forty-five years old, tall and thin, with sharp eyes.

The man exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, so he's Zhou Yi. I remember he made significant contributions in the Donghai Residential Area dismemberment case and the Long Zhiqiang case."

Xie Guoqiang laughed and said, "Captain Liang has a good memory. That's right, he did play a key role in these major cases. He's a promising talent."

Upon hearing Xie Guoqiang address him that way, Zhou Yi immediately knew who this person was.

Liang Wei, the head of the Major Crimes Investigation Division of the Provincial Public Security Department's Criminal Investigation Corps, was also Xiang Jie's superior whom he had met in the provincial capital before.

The Major Crimes Investigation Detachment of the General Team is specifically responsible for criminal investigation of major cases throughout the province. If a case cannot be solved locally, it will be handed over to them. It is equivalent to a provincial-level enhanced version of the Third Detachment. Of course, its police force, resources and experience are far superior to those of the Third Detachment.

If Zhou Yi wants to make the most of his memories from his previous life to get involved in major unsolved cases across the province, his ultimate goal will definitely be to join the provincial department's serious crimes squad.

Liang Wei laughed and said, "Director Xie, why didn't you bring out such a capable assistant sooner?"

Xie Guoqiang also laughed and said, "Hey, young man, you have talent, but you still need more experience."

Then he said loudly to Zhou Yi, "Zhou Yi, cherish this opportunity and learn from Captain Liang. Most people don't have this chance."

"Yes!" Zhou Yi responded loudly, without any polite or humble words. He knew that this was not the time for him to show off.

"Sit down," Xie Guoqiang said.

The current task force is headed by Xie Guoqiang, but he does not actually coordinate the task force's daily work. He only appears when there are major discoveries and decisions, or when there are case meetings like today's.

The actual investigation was handled by deputy team leaders Liang Wei and Ni Jianrong, along with Wu Yongcheng.

As for the others, those from Hongcheng included some of the core elites of the First Brigade, members of the Third Brigade, forensic doctors and technicians, and others from the Criminal Investigation Detachment who were responsible for receiving instructions and tasks and conducting peripheral investigations.

This is also to prevent information from being leaked and causing other problems.

For example, regarding Lu Xiaoshuang being identified as a criminal suspect, no information was leaked to the outside world except to members of the special task force and school leaders.

This reassured Zhou Yi that the matter hadn't been leaked, so it wouldn't affect Lu Xiaoshuang's reputation in the short term. As long as the case was solved as soon as possible, the situation could be kept under control.

After all, people's hearts are unpredictable, and who knows if someone will look at Lu Xiaoshuang with prejudice in the future. However, this also aroused Zhou Yi's suspicion.

When exactly did the anonymous person who reported her write the report? Did the person already know that Lu Xiaoshuang had been identified as a criminal suspect?

It seems I need to find out how to investigate the anonymous report against me.

But I can't do this myself, because I don't know anyone in the municipal party committee office.

We also cannot investigate in the name of the special task force. We cannot allow Wu Yongcheng to create any more trouble by "sacrificing himself" to gain this opportunity.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on Qiao Jiali, who was standing to the side.

Perhaps we could ask Director Zhang to inquire about it.

On the provincial department's side, besides Liang Wei and the few members of the Major Crimes Division he brought, there were two other people.

One of them is Wang Yao, the head of the forensic department of the provincial city bureau, who is also one of Qin Beihai's students.

Zhou Yi knew this person in his previous life. He had been in charge of forensic work at the provincial and municipal bureaus and had trained many outstanding newcomers.

Another person was a computer technology expert from the provincial department named Chen Yao, who brought the most advanced computer equipment available at the time.

His job mainly consists of two parts: one is to search for clues on the internet.

In 1997, the Internet in China was still in its infancy, with only about 600,000 Internet users nationwide, because the high cost of computers and dial-up Internet access was simply unaffordable for ordinary people.

However, the internet at that time was in a stage of unbridled growth, and the government's control and technology were insufficient. So, although the internet was free, it was also full of all kinds of unscrupulous information. Many forums were filled with all sorts of strange information, and there were also criminal intentions.

There was also research on this topic in my previous life.

Chen Yao's other job was to review surveillance footage and repair videos.

There are surveillance cameras on the campus, but in 1997, even if universities had surveillance cameras, the coverage rate was very low.

Just like the massive surveillance system, apart from one at the main entrance of the school, the other surveillance cameras are installed in places such as the finance office and laboratories with important equipment. There are none in public areas and living areas such as student dormitories.

Moreover, Zhou Yi later discovered that the most advanced imported surveillance equipment that Hongda claimed to have purchased was actually not as clear as the surveillance footage from the Golden Phoenix Nightclub.

At night, the visibility was so poor that you couldn't even tell a face, let alone a man or a woman.

So Chen Yaocheng was locked in an office all day, watching the surveillance footage second by second. If he found anything suspicious, he would cut it out separately, repair it, and then hand it over to the criminal investigators for analysis.

It was a really tough job.

Zhou Yi had a feeling, but he wasn't sure.

Today's meeting seems to be held specifically for him.

Xie Guoqiang basically had each department present all the key information they had gathered since the case began.

This allowed Zhou Yi, who had been absent for almost a week, to immediately grasp the clues that the task force now had.

The meeting lasted the entire morning, and Zhou Yi's notebook was filled with information.

All four kettles were emptied.

Only when Xie Guoqiang said the words "meeting adjourned" did everyone breathe a sigh of relief and stand up, hungry, to leave.

Xie Guoqiang's voice cut through the crowd: "Zhou Yi, stay behind."

Zhou Yi, who had just gotten up, stopped walking forward and instead stood still to stretch his limbs.

After everyone left, only Xie Guoqiang and Zhou Yi remained in the empty conference room.

Zhou Yi walked up to Xie Guoqiang and said, "Director Xie."

"sit."

"Ok."

Xie Guoqiang's expression was unreadable. He casually asked, "Do you know how you got into the task force?"

Zhou Yi dared not hide anything and nodded in reply, "I know."

"Do you know why your name wasn't on the task force's list before?"

Xie Guoqiang’s tone seemed casual, but his eyes revealed an unusual sharpness.

Zhou Yi knew that lying was pointless; a bureau chief like him wasn't so easily fooled.

He nodded and chuckled awkwardly, "I know a little bit."

“Zhou Yi, I don’t care what tricks you and your Captain Wu are playing. I’m telling you this: the case is solved, and I will let bygones be bygones.”

"But if the case isn't solved, or if it's solved unclearly, I'll settle accounts with you later!"

Seeing Xie Guoqiang's serious expression, Zhou Yi immediately suppressed his smile and said, "Then, Director Xie, I also have a question I'd like to ask you!"

　Don't worry, the plot of the first two days didn't really focus on the investigation, but it was all foreshadowing related to the case. Today we've entered the special task force, and from now on it'll all be about information.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)