1995, Starting as a Criminal Investigation Expert

Tang Weidong's office.

"In other words, while we were solving the Yanglu Lane family annihilation case, we also helped Yuehai solve a long-standing armed robbery case," Tang Weidong said.

Xu Qiang nodded with a smile; this was definitely an unexpected delight.

He has already contacted Yuehai by phone to find out the situation.

Starting in 89, a series of armed robberies occurred in Guangzhou, Bao'an District, and Dongguan City.

The first case occurred in Dongguan City. The suspect, armed with a handgun, robbed a woman who had just withdrawn money from a bank, stealing 80,000 yuan in cash.

The victim was shot in the chest and rushed to the hospital, where he miraculously survived.

A year later, a similar robbery occurred in the neighboring Bao'an district.

The victims were a couple who had just finished their business at the bank and were carrying 32 yuan in cash when they were hit by the criminals before they even got into their car.

One death and one injury.

Similar robbery cases occurred for the next two years.

Police in the three cities confirmed that the bullet marks were caused by the same person.

Then in 1993, in Guangzhou, two thugs broke into a gold shop in the city, killed the manager on duty, injured a security guard and a shop employee, and stole gold worth more than 600,000 yuan.

One of the suspects was carrying a Type 56 assault rifle.

According to the analysis from Yuehai, after the initial criminals succeeded for four consecutive years, their crimes escalated. They found accomplices, purchased more powerful weapons, and then committed this major crime.

Over the years, the Yuehai police have been trying to find these two people, but without success.

Until yesterday, the bullet marks were compared.

"Deputy Director Qian of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Bureau, along with people from the public security bureaus of the three cities in Guangzhou, are preparing to come tomorrow. Firstly, to understand the situation, and secondly, because there is an accomplice in the fifth case, whom we haven't found yet."

"The problem is that now that Zheng Cheng is dead, it's really hard to find this person."

Now that there are new developments, the case certainly can't end here; we must find a way to dig out this accomplice.

Tang Weidong nodded thoughtfully and asked Xu Qiang if there was any direction for the investigation.

"There really is."

Xu Qiang nodded and said, "Director Tang, we investigated Zheng Cheng last year, but two days before the incident, he took a train to Yuehai and stayed there for a week. He didn't have time to commit the crime, so we ruled him out."

"At the time, he not only showed us the train ticket to Yuehai, but also the receipt he got from the hotel in Yuehai. We even called the hotel and confirmed that someone had indeed checked in with Zheng Cheng's ID card."

"But he killed him. If he was in Yuehai, that wouldn't make sense. So I was thinking, could it be someone from Zheng Cheng's group who went to Yuehai in his place, stayed at a hotel, and left their accommodation information to cover for him?"

"Then this person is very likely the accomplice we're looking for."

Tang Weidong nodded.

Train tickets are now hard-copy tickets, and scalpers are everywhere, so they're easy to buy. Once on board, the train conductor only recognizes the ticket, not the person.

Hotels are similar; the more reputable ones register your ID, while the less reputable ones let you stay as long as you pay.

Even when registering an ID card, it might only be glanced at, which gives Zheng Cheng the opportunity to forge his alibi.

"By the way, I remember when you arrested Zheng Cheng the day before yesterday, you told me that Li Shu had some ideas, that Zheng Cheng's behavior was very abnormal, and that he insisted on killing Sun Xiaohui."

Sun Xiaohui is the woman who was murdered by Zheng Cheng.

I investigated her social connections; she's from out of town and worked as a prostitute in a hair salon a few years ago.

According to her friends, she quit her job after the Chinese New Year last year, supposedly because she hooked up with a rich man.

Now it seems that this tycoon is Zheng Cheng.

Tang Weidong continued, "Let's assume that's the case. Zheng Cheng really had no reason to kill Sun Xiaohui, but he still did it. Could it be that Sun Xiaohui knew something about him, such as having met his accomplice?"

"Then Zheng Cheng was afraid that Sun Xiaohui would leak information to us, mentioning this accomplice and thus finding him through the accomplice, so he had to kill Sun Xiaohui to prevent future trouble?"

Xu Qiang crossed his arms and thought.

From Zheng Cheng's perspective at the time, he first used Sun Xiaohui as bait to lure out Ning Hualin, who was lying in ambush at the back door.

This lured the tiger away from the mountain, creating an opportunity for escape.

The fact that they insisted on killing Sun Xiaohui is illogical. It is highly likely, as Tang Weidong said, that Sun Xiaohui knew something, such as having met this accomplice.

After all, she had been with Zheng Cheng for over a year, so this is quite possible.

At that time, Zheng Cheng was still thinking that if he could escape, he would definitely eliminate any future troubles.

Normally, if he escapes, we would definitely ask Sun Xiaohui about his social connections, which would likely reveal information about his accomplices, allowing us to catch him by arresting them.

However, there is a question mark in this logic.

Just as Xu Qiang was about to speak, Tang Weidong interrupted, "There's one more thing. Zheng Cheng didn't consider notifying his accomplices after he escaped. I think that can only mean that Sun Xiaohui must have known the identities and circumstances of her accomplices very well."

"So Zheng Cheng was worried that he wouldn't have time to notify his accomplices when he escaped, but once we found Sun Xiaohui, we would immediately know the situation of his accomplices."

"Xu Qiang, I think we can start with Sun Xiaohui and thoroughly investigate her situation over the past year or so. We might find something."

"We also need to conduct a more detailed investigation of the scene, and continue to interview the neighbors and Zheng Cheng's parents to see who he associates with. This person's relationship with Zheng Cheng is definitely not ordinary."

Xu Qiang nodded and noted it down; he had felt there was something wrong with that point earlier.

Now, according to Tang Weidong's explanation, it makes logical sense.

Tang Weidong thought for a moment and then gave some instructions.

The motive behind Zheng Cheng's murder of Huang Youjun and his mother is that, although Huang Youjun's entire family has been wiped out and there are no relatives left, we still need to find out the truth.

I also instructed them to make sure to do a good job of receiving guests tomorrow.

Even across mountains and rivers, they helped someone solve a major case, which made the Nanjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau look good.

And if I ever need anything in the future, this is a favor I'll have to do for you.

After everyone had finished explaining, Tang Weidong said with emotion, "Speaking of which, this case was solved thanks to Li Shu. If it weren't for him extracting the fingerprints, we wouldn't have been able to identify Zheng Cheng."

"This kid deserves credit again."

The original plan was to award him a commendation, but now, it seems the two commendations will be combined into one, and he'll be awarded a major commendation.

However, judging from Li Shu's performance, he truly deserves the title.

Xu Qiang smiled and nodded. Li Shu should indeed be credited for the outcome of this case.

Not only did they extract fingerprints, but they also reminded themselves to identify the suspect as someone they knew, which led them to pinpoint Zheng Cheng.

"Director Tang, this kid is impressive, a real talent, we should nurture him properly."

Leaving aside his professional skills and crime-solving abilities, the advice he wrote on the preservation of physical evidence alone is enough to prove Li Shu's competence.

"Then I'll allocate him a housing quota, do you still have any objections?"

Tang Weidong gave a soft snort.

Xu Qiang was taken aback, and quickly said, "Director Tang, when did we have any objections?"

Tang Weidong said, "Do you think I really don't know anything? You know in your heart whether you have any objections or not."

The new residential compound is attracting a lot of attention from the bureau regarding performance targets.

Since I made the decision myself and gave one to Li Shu, it's inevitable that some people will be jealous and gossip.

The purpose of giving Xu Qiang a warning now is to send a message to everyone.

He was biased towards Li Shu and wanted to give him benefits.

You disagree?

If you're so capable, then do something helpful and solve the case.

Xu Qiang hurriedly raised his hand and swore, "I'm innocent, Director Tang! I really have no idea. Anyway, I don't know about other people, but in our detachment, you can ask them yourself, who doesn't respect Li Shu?"

From the September 5th case to now, so many major cases have been solved. In the entire branch, who can resist Li Shu?