Era: Starting from the local police station

After a moment, Yuan Hua looked up and said, "Yes, it will. When you apply the brakes intermittently, the brake pads cool down briefly, and there will be a momentary restoration of residual braking force, which will most likely cause the brakes to lock up. However, if the car is traveling too fast at this time, it will slip slightly and quickly lose braking again."

Everyone's expression changed, and they all looked down at the ground, but there were no tire marks.

Jiang Zhenghua looked at the protrusion at the corner: "What do you think would be your first thought if you realized you were going too fast before you turned the corner?"

Fang Ya, who was holding a camera nearby, suddenly brightened up: "On one side is a cliff. Knowing that falling off means certain death, if it were me, I would probably stick close to the cliff and hope that the impact would stop the car. At least that way, there would still be a chance to survive."

"That's right. But now there are no signs of impact, no tire drag marks, and it even made the turn smoothly. There can only be one possibility. The truck suddenly lost all its brakes right after turning the corner, and then accelerated rapidly, leaving the driver no time to react before it plunged into the ditch."

After Jiang Zhenghua finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement.

Jiang Zhenghua then said to the crowd, "There's nothing left to see here. I think we can remove the cordon. Let's stop blocking the flow of people. Deputy Director Jin, what do you think?"

Jin Hong nodded: "Comrade Yuan Hua, let the security comrades evacuate."

Yuan Hua responded.

Jin Hong said to everyone, "Let's go down and take a look at the truck wreckage. Hopefully, we can find some clues."

The group arrived at the bottom of the cliff.

Cheng Mingli, from the security department of the machinery factory, who was organizing personnel to conduct an investigation, noticed the commotion and quickly came forward, raising his hand in salute: "Deputy Director Jin."

Jin Hong returned the greeting: "Section Chief Cheng, you've worked hard."

Cheng Mingli nodded to Jiang Zhenghua and the others.

The sun was high in the sky, and his cadre uniform was completely soaked with sweat. He was drenched in sweat, and his face was covered in black coal dust, with streaks of sweat washing over it, making him look somewhat disheveled.

He sighed, "I must first apologize. The person you asked me to keep an eye on actually got into trouble right under my nose."

Jin Hong pulled out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes, took out two, and handed them over: "Tell me about the situation."

Cheng Mingli took the cigarette, and while feeling in his pocket, he said in a deep voice, "After you called me last night, I immediately made arrangements to have someone keep an eye on the convoy."

Jin Hong nodded, lit a cigarette for himself, and handed the rest to Jiang Zhenghua: "Distribute this to the brothers."

Cheng Mingli continued, "Around 9 p.m., someone reported to me that Gu Youliang had left work as usual, and the factory had not assigned any tasks."

Jiang Zhenghua took out a cigarette, handed the pack to Zhang Chongguang beside him, and interjected, "So you didn't arrange for anyone to keep watch?"

Cheng Mingli struck a match, lit a cigarette, and said with a wry smile, "I thought nothing would happen if he left work normally, so I didn't arrange anything. I was even thinking of ways to get him on a mission, but I never expected him to be out in the middle of the night..."

Jin Hong suddenly asked, "You just said the factory didn't assign any tasks? Then why is he...?"

Cheng Mingli took a deep drag on his cigarette and exhaled a cloud of smoke: "No, not at the time. However, after receiving the news this morning, I inquired with the convoy and learned that they did indeed have a mission to Shijingshan last night to transport urgently needed parts. They said they had assigned a different driver. I just don't know why they changed drivers."

"Where is the driver who was originally scheduled?"

Cheng Mingli said with a gloomy expression, "I arranged for people to search before I left. There should be news when I return."

Jiang Zhenghua interjected, "Section Chief Cheng, didn't anyone notice him taking the car?"

Cheng Mingli explained, "Every time he went home, he would drive the car back. According to the people in the fleet and the workshop, the trucks used to load parts in the factory were the original vehicles, but the two of them switched them privately."

After listening, Jin Hong comforted him, saying, "This isn't your fault. Who would have thought they would switch them in private?"

Cheng Mingli shook his head with a wry smile: "It was my carelessness. If someone had been watching, this wouldn't have happened."

Zhang Chongguang asked, "Have you found anything here?"

Cheng Mingli's expression grew even more distressed: "No. I don't believe it was an accident, but so far, we haven't found anything wrong. Everything points to an accident caused by the brakes overheating and failing due to a long downhill stretch."

Yuan Hua then stepped forward and said, "Section Chief, we encountered a problem during our investigation at the higher-ups' site."

Cheng Mingli looked at him and hurriedly asked, "What did you overlook?"

Yuan Hua recounted Jiang Zhenghua's deduction in detail.

After listening, Cheng Mingli looked at Jiang Zhenghua and sighed, "I really did lose my vigilance and sensitivity in the comfortable environment of the factory. I actually overlooked these details. I'm ashamed of myself."

He looked at Jin Hong: "Deputy Director Jin, give the order and see how to proceed with the investigation."

Jin Hong nodded slightly: "Let's discuss it together and work together to handle this case perfectly."

He then looked at Jiang Zhenghua: "Deputy Director Jiang, you should take command."

Jin Hong appeared calm on the surface, but was actually overjoyed inside.

According to regulations, the factory's security department is under the dual leadership of the factory and the public security bureau. While being managed by the factory leadership, it also receives business guidance, supervision, training, and instructions from the public security bureau. The public security bureau is responsible for providing business guidance, supervision, training, and instructions to the security department, especially in criminal cases, which must be led by the public security bureau.

However, since the factory is responsible for grassroots security administration, personnel appointments and removals, expenditures, and daily administrative management, the security department often handles these matters independently, simply notifying the branch office and filing a record, making it almost an independent kingdom.

Hongxing Machinery Factory, in particular, is a deputy-division-level unit and an important enterprise in the city, yet it doesn't seem to care much about the branch bureau.

Now they're proactively requesting guidance, which will make things much easier to manage in the future.

Jiang Zhenghua, of course, had no idea what Jin Hong was thinking: "Section Chief Cheng, is the vehicle intact?"

Cheng Mingli shook his head: "It was severely deformed when it fell from above, and many parts of the chassis were broken. I have already arranged for people to search, but the search is not yet complete."

Jiang Zhenghua nodded and said in a deep voice, "Now we need to focus on checking the vehicle's braking system. We must find every part of the braking system and see if there are any problems. We can ask the driver for advice."

The crowd responded, "Yes."

He then asked, "Is the person still in the driver's seat, or has he already been taken out?"

Cheng Mingli said, "When we arrived, the local residents had already carried it out."

Jiang Zhenghua turned to Fang Ya and said, "Teacher Fang, could you please take a look at the deceased and check if he had been drinking or if he had suddenly fallen ill?"

Fang Ya nodded: "Understood."

Jiang Zhenghua said, "Now, when we enter the site, each person will be assigned to a specific area. We will search every inch of the area, making sure not to miss any gaps or corners."

The group responded and quickly walked towards the scene.

The group carefully stepped over the stones and arrived near the cordon, where they saw the accident vehicle from afar.

Cheng Mingli pointed to a spot not far away and said, "The body is over there, already on a stretcher."

When everyone looked over, the body was completely covered by a white cloth.

Fang Ya said to her assistant, "Let's go."

After saying that, she nodded to Jiang Zhenghua and the others, and quickly walked over.

Jiang Zhenghua, Zhang Chongguang, Jin Hong and the others came to the vehicle.

The GAZ truck was in a terrible state at that moment.

The entire vehicle was overturned, the windshield was nowhere to be seen, the hood was detached, and the engine was visibly deformed; there were still bloodstains on the dashboard, and the inside was a mess; there was a large dent in the roof, and the passenger compartment was dented in several places, with one of the passenger compartment doors long gone; the doors were deformed and open, with obvious pry marks, which were probably caused by villagers moving the body.

Jiang Zhenghua came to the side and saw that the wheels of the carriage were twisted outwards and there was a dent at the bottom.

He looked for the brake lever and found that the side that was raised was empty: "The brake lever is gone?"

Zhang Chongguang said, "It looks like it was hit by a rock during its fall and broke off directly."

Cheng Mingli pointed to the side and said, "The parts we found are all over there."

Looking over, everyone saw various metal objects laid out on a canvas not far away, with the front cover and carriage door placed beside it.

Jin Hong glanced at the vehicle a few times: "Should we take it back to dismantle it, or dismantle it on the spot?"

Jiang Zhenghua touched the outwardly twisted wheel: "I reckon even if it flips over, it won't be able to be towed anymore. I think we should just dismantle it."

Zhang Chongguang agreed, saying, "We should have several drivers here; let them disassemble and inspect it."

Jin Hong said to Xiao Li, "Go find the driver and help us check."

Xiao Li responded and left.

Jin Hong said, "Cheng Mingli, let's go take a look over there."

Cheng Mingli and the others left, leaving Jiang Zhenghua to watch over them.

Soon after, Xiao Li came over with three middle-aged men, each carrying an iron toolbox, which made a clanging sound as they walked.

Xiao Li introduced, "This is Deputy Chief Jiang of Taotiao Hutong Police Station."

A rugged-looking, tall man in police uniform with bulging arms stood at attention, saluted, and loudly proclaimed, "Guo Yong, truck instructor at the People's Public Security Academy."

Jiang Zhenghua was taken aback, then immediately returned the greeting: "Hello, Comrade Guo."

He put his hand down and asked, "Comrade Guo, why did you drive here?"

Guo Yong said with a smile, "At the time, I was in the motor transport class. Teacher Fang also needed a car. When he heard that there had been a car accident here, he volunteered to come and take a look. This will also provide material for students to explain in class later."

Jiang Zhenghua nodded, then looked at the other two.

The older man introduced himself: "My name is Yang Shaogang, and I am a driver for the transportation team of the machinery factory."

The younger man saluted and said, "I am Ma Qiang, a truck driver from the security department of the machinery factory."

Jiang Zhenghua returned the greeting and said in a deep voice, "I won't mince words, here are my requirements. This car can't be towed back; it can only be disassembled and inspected here."

The three men glanced at the truck and then nodded.

Jiang Zhenghua continued, "An accident has occurred, and a comrade has lost his life, which is something none of us wanted to see. But since it has already happened, what we need to do is determine the cause of the accident and ensure that such incidents do not happen again. The accident occurred on a steep slope, so please carefully check the braking system when dismantling the vehicle."

The three responded, "Understood."

Jiang Zhenghua looked at Guo Yong: "Comrade Guo, you are in charge of the dismantling work, so please make sure to check carefully."

Guo Yong nodded: "No problem."

Jiang Zhenghua added, "You guys take a look at which parts are missing from the braking system first, and I'll have my comrades search carefully."

The four immediately went forward to check.