National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 851 - 790 Point 27

The 11-seater Iveco was crammed full of burly men, making it seem like a scene from a perverts’ film.

Pang Jidong sat in the passenger seat, still quite comfortable, and it was only when they were close to the destination that he gave orders in a low voice, saying, "Put on your bulletproof vests and check each other, make sure all the buttons are fastened."

"Boss, do we have to wear them? We can just stand in the back," a team member whined casually.

Pang Jidong gave a "hmmph" and said, "This is Master Jiang Yuan’s case, and it involves drug dealers at that. You’re telling me not to wear a bulletproof vest? I don’t even want to wear a ceremonial police uniform!"

The deputy captain straightened out the person and fastened the buttons of the bulletproof vest, saying, "Keep babbling and you’ll wear a hard body armor."

The police are mostly issued with soft body armor, which goes up to level 3. Level 3 vests can stop lead bullets from a Type 79 submachine gun, a measure of excellent protective capability. Level 2 vests can withstand shots from a Type 54 pistol within five meters, quite impressive as well.

As for level 1 vests, their operational effectiveness is to withstand shots from a Type 64 pistol within 5 meters, which is roughly the same as a short military coat. The thickness is also similar.

The Iveco, escorted by two other SUVs, quietly made its way to the Wufeng Area. Following that, the criminal policemen from the SUVs dispersed, seeking out the locations marked by Jiang Yuan.

The 11 people on the Iveco still sat quietly, waiting for the moment intelligence would come through.

"Do you have any cameras at home?"

"Do you keep a record from this camera?"

"Have you seen this person?"

Although Jiang Yuan only requested to check the cameras, looking for imaging and surveillance, the criminal police of Luo Jin City still followed the normal questioning process.

It was just that the places marked by Jiang Yuan were so mystifying that even the officers from the Image Reconnaissance Brigade seemed to lack confidence. When these locations were handed to the criminal police, their hesitant demeanour stripped them of any persuasiveness.

However, inspecting surveillance live is a well-established routine; it’s just that ordinary cases don’t require it.

Pang Jidong didn’t leave the vehicle but stared at his phone, silently waiting for the news.

As he had said, this case involved Jiang Yuan, drugs, and fugitives, making the arrest a very hazardous task that needed his constant attention the most.

Reviewing surveillance footage and even the witness questioning that Jiang Yuan did not ask for were mostly routine tasks.

This mission didn’t require any special skills - it was all about canvassing the necessary areas and trusting to luck.

The team members were now fully equipped, hot, and crammed together, leaning on each other as they fell asleep.

This was the best way to conserve energy at the moment; when it was time to deploy, Pang Jidong would simply wake everyone up.

Pang Jidong fell asleep soon after.

Buzz, buzz...

Two hours later, Pang Jidong was awakened by the vibration.

"Pang Da, we have found a person whose physical characteristics match Niu Er," reported the policeman on the phone.

Pang Jidong immediately sat up and asked, "Which location?"

"It was found at location 27. We have gotten hold of the surveillance hard drive, but we are not sure where he went," came the reply.

"Location 27," Pang Jidong called out to the back.

A police officer from the Image Investigation brigade pulled up a high-definition map printed out, quickly finding the location – indeed it was one of the spots inside the second circle drawn by Jiang Yuan.

The officer from Image Investigation waited for the on-site police to upload the video, and the detectives inside the car all crowded around to watch.

In front of the small laptop screen, heads filled the space in an instant.

The officer from Image Investigation struggled to click the mouse a few times before cutting to the location in question.

In the video, a man in a grey coat, riding a shared bicycle, slowly pedaled away from the front of the camera.

Judging from the side of his face, the sagging corners of his eyes, and his prominent ears, it was indeed the features of Niu Er.

"It really is beyond all expectations," the Image Investigation officer couldn’t help but shake his head. Including location 27, just how Jiang Yuan had selected this particular circle of locations baffled the Image Reconnaissance Brigade even after extensive research.

Initially, everyone was about to give up on studying these locations. However, by a quirk of fate, Niu Er just happened to appear within this circle.

The officer from Image Investigation rubbed his sparse hair before hurrying to report back to the brigade.

With this lead, the officers from Image Investigation could continue tracking with their own surveillance videos.

Naturally, the tracking through video was shared in real time with Jiang Yuan and the Drug Enforcement Squad - this would not typically be necessary, but the Image Reconnaissance Brigade of Luo Jin City felt it was crucial.

Niu Er rode for four or five kilometers before leaving the Wufeng Region and walking to a nearby park. There, he left the bike and chose to proceed on foot.

However, his anti-surveillance choice wasn’t as strong this time; looking at the map, the officers from Image Investigation saw that there were just a few places he could reach by foot. Eliminating the ones with human-image checkpoints, it could only be Li’he Village, a village within the city, a kilometer away.

The criminal police on the scene set out again, this time heading straight for the area around Li’he Village for their investigation, a process far less strenuous than following the stipulated circle of locations as before.

The Iveco, carrying 11 people, quietly followed, waiting to move out once the location ahead was confirmed.

This round, basically, no one slept. Everyone knew that, more likely than not, Niu Er’s final destination was here.

It’s rather difficult to investigate someone just passing through a place, because even that brief moment might entail very little interaction with people and events around them. But if one lives there, then there are far too many avenues for investigation.

For example, basic necessities like clothing, food, lodging, and transportation—all leave traces. Whether you bought a safe house, rented one, or even rented something more temporary, there’s always a trail to follow. Visit a few intermediary stores, ask the neighborhood property management, and if you want to get into details, check their surveillance footage. You might get lucky.

Then there are records of natural gas, water, and electricity usage. If you know a specific timeframe, you can look for houses with low consumption that suddenly started using more from a certain day—those can be suspected.

Beyond that, surveillance cameras at marketplaces, restaurants along the way, courier service outlets, and so on, are all useful resources.

A few detectives changed into plain clothes and split up into pairs, heading out in the direction that had been laid out, questioning as they went.

The stores and business halls along the way were quite cooperative. In urban villages or urban-rural junctions like this, with a high concentration of rental properties, they were always low on the security front, so it was all too normal to see police come by to make inquiries every few days.

Pang Jidong’s apprentice, Qiao Gui, took charge in leading the team. At 40, after braving two decades of trials and tribulations, he had become the deputy brigade commander. Now, he was observing the scene with his own apprentice, Yao Zhihui, acting as a senior investigator.

Although in the span of a few short months, Qiao Gui and Yao Zhihui had been demoted from being Pang Jidong’s apprentice and grand-apprentice to being Jiang Yuan’s grand-apprentice and great-grand-apprentice respectively, both of them were fairly stable emotionally.

"There’s a small supermarket ahead, let’s check it out," Yao Zhihui followed Qiao Gui out of a tobacco and liquor store and continued forward.

As soon as Yao Zhihui entered, he called out to the shopkeeper, "Boss, do you have..."

"Zhonghua!" Qiao Gui grabbed Yao Zhihui’s arm, saying, "Don’t buy Furong Wang, get Zhonghua, go for something more upscale!"

Yao Zhihui reacted quickly. Using the motion of being pulled, he swiftly scanned the store’s interior. A man with a gaunt face and large ears, who looked like Niu Er, was fussing over a selection of puffed food products.

"Then Zhonghua it is," Yao Zhihui said.

"How much?" the shopkeeper turned to get the cigarettes.

"Just... two packs will do," Yao Zhihui spoke and added, "Hard Zhonghua."

"90 yuan," the shopkeeper grimaced, placing two packs in front of him.

"I’ll pay with WeChat," Yao Zhihui said while taking out his phone and started sending a message to Pang Jidong.

"...Received... 90 yuan!"

As Niu Er was about to leave, he heard the announcement from the store’s speakers and his vigilance dropped significantly.

Yao Zhihui and Qiao Gui, however, were on high alert.

Watching Niu Er heading out, Yao Zhihui and Qiao Gui exchanged a glance and pounced together.

Thud.

Bang!

Ah...

The three sounds were consecutive, marking the moment Niu Er hit the ground.

"My knee, my knee!" Niu Er howled loudly.

"What’s your name?" Qiao Gui cuffed him first.

"Jin Jianchun."

"What’s your nickname?"

"Niu Er."

"Who’s with you?" Yao Zhihui bluffed.

"I came alone, no one’s with me. My knee is shattered, for real," Niu Er struggled to express.

"Can’t be that bad..."

"I use drugs!" Niu Er said, his body twitching. "Our bones are naturally fragile!"

Screech!

The 11-seater Iveco slid to a halt in front of the supermarket.

The door swung open and a swarm of burly men emerged.

Pang Jidong, sweating profusely, charged out of the vehicle with a small handgun at the ready.

Qiao Gui and Yao Zhihui, each holding a Zhonghua and dragging Niu Er, walked out of the supermarket to face the 11 fully-armed officers.

"Hey, guys, have a cigarette," Yao Zhihui sighed and reluctantly pulled out the newly bought Zhonghua.