Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 252: Taizhou City’s Plea for Help

"Master, what’s the matter?"

Lu Chuan put down the flamingo-lily he was tending to, put on his police uniform, and followed Liu Guodong out the door.

"It’s from the Criminal Investigation Team in Taizhou, seems like they need our help with something."

Taizhou Criminal Investigation Team?

Lu Chuan replied with an oh, realizing he had never actually interacted with colleagues from that team before.

Taizhou City is located at the northernmost part of the province, with more mountains and few plains, underdeveloped transportation, and limited arable land, its economic development is far behind Haizhou City.

Among the dozens of prefecture-level cities in the province, it’s consistently ranked at the bottom.

However, there are advantages to being underdeveloped, which is having a low population, and even fewer immigrants.

In recent years, the national population has been on a declining trend.

Many young people no longer prioritize having children as their elders did.

Because sometimes, young people find it challenging enough to support themselves, let alone raise children.

So, the birth rate of newborns is dropping everywhere.

It’s especially true in several provinces in the north.

Taizhou City is the most severely affected prefecture-level city in the province in terms of population outflow.

Last year, Lu Chuan learned from the news that the most recent census results showed Taizhou City’s population had decreased by 500,000 compared to ten years ago.

And the entire population of Taizhou is now only about a million.

With one-third of the population gone, you can imagine how desolate the place has become.

The direct consequence of a large-scale population decrease is a decline in housing prices.

In fact, in the suburbs, you can buy a 50-square-meter apartment for just ten thousand yuan.

It’s not even an exaggeration to say it’s cheaper than cabbage.

This recent development even made it onto the trending topics.

It attracted some young people from economically developed areas who couldn’t afford housing to settle there.

However, the good times didn’t last long, and although housing prices in Taizhou City are cheap, the job market is poor.

Newcomers simply couldn’t sustain themselves there.

Helplessly, most people ended up throwing away ten thousand yuan and then leaving.

"Report!"

"Come in."

Qin Yong saw that it was Liu Guodong and Lu Chuan opening the door and continued:

"Take a seat first, make yourselves some tea. I’ll finish signing this document real quick."

Liu Guodong didn’t stand on ceremony, leading Lu Chuan to sit by the tea table and start making tea.

Qin Yong had a tea stand on the tea table, although quite simple, it was good enough for some leisure time.

It wasn’t Lu Chuan’s first time in Qin Yong’s office, and considering Lu Chuan’s performance over the past six months, which leader wouldn’t greet him warmly?

Moreover, Qiangsheng Group had just donated a hundred million to the Criminal Investigation Team.

That was a huge benefactor.

If Qin Yong wasn’t worried about the impression, he would have wanted to replace his own tea stand.

Ten minutes later.

Qin Yong finished his document work and walked over to the tea table.

He looked at the tea Liu Guodong made, and his mouth twitched.

"You old rascal, just eyeing my good tea."

This tea was given to Qin Yong by Lu Chuan’s father.

"The last time I came, there was this much tea, and now I see it’s the same amount again. Since you don’t like drinking it, I thought it shouldn’t go to waste."

Qin Yong rolled his eyes.

Is it that I don’t like drinking it?

It’s that I can’t bear to drink it!

Lu Chuan sat quietly next to them, neither laughing nor speaking, focusing on drinking tea.

This tea, he hadn’t had much of it at home either.

"Here, take a look at this first."

Qin Yong took a sip from his own cup of tea and turned to grab a file from his desk.

"It just came in from the Criminal Investigation Team in Taizhou. They’re asking for our assistance in reviewing it."

Liu Guodong accepted the file, which turned out to be a case dossier.

"Murder case?"

Qin Yong nodded: "The case happened last week."

"Investigating officers found the murder weapon at the crime scene and collected fingerprints from it."

As Qin Yong sat near Lu Chuan, he poured him a cup of tea. "The fingerprints were quite clear and were immediately matched successfully in the system."

"The suspect was apprehended the night of the crime."

"However... the suspect has steadfastly denied committing murder during interrogation."

This is a common occurrence in case investigations.

Not all criminal suspects confess once they’re apprehended.

A considerable number will still try to resist stubbornly.

Some even remain silent after being arrested, saying nothing from capture to the execution of a death sentence.

Such suspects are the most troublesome.

Convictions without a confession are not unheard of, but the percentage is minuscule in murder cases.

It’s not about fear of doing it a thousand times, you only need to worry about that one time.

Moreover, encountering such suspects adds tremendous psychological pressure on the investigating officers, as no one wants a wrongful conviction.

Unfortunately, the Criminal Investigation Team in Taizhou encountered such a bizarre case.

The suspect initially denied it and later simply said nothing at all.

"After two interrogations, which was the night before yesterday, the suspect... committed suicide."

Suicide?

Lu Chuan was slightly shocked.

"Where did the suicide occur?"

"In the detention center, as soon as he was detained, he committed suicide."

"Is it that easy to commit suicide in a detention center?"

"As a murder suspect, he was held in a separate cell. At night, he bashed his head, smashing it open."

While Qin Yong explained, Liu Guodong had finished reading the dossier and passed it to Lu Chuan.

They were exactly the photos from when the deceased was found.

Though printed on paper, you could still clearly see a line of bloody writing on the wall.

"I am wrongfully accused!"

Qin Yong sighed.

If the suspect indeed killed someone and committed suicide out of guilt in the detention center, it would’ve been the end of it.

Despite the bloody writing, the evidence against the suspect was solid.

Suspects committing suicide out of guilt isn’t unheard of.

"But the critical point is that the day after the suspect’s death, just yesterday, a restaurant owner provided an alibi for the suspect."

Lu Chuan carefully reviewed the dossier.

Indeed, the guy’s death seemed to be a bit of a wrongful accusation.

On the night of the crime, the suspect was actually not at the scene.

As recorded in the dossier, the suspect was dining at a small restaurant ten kilometers away from the crime scene at the time of the act.

However, during the inquiry, the restaurant owner did not distinctly remember the suspect.

The suspect had paid in cash with no evidence left behind, and there was no surveillance in the restaurant.

Therefore, there was no way to prove the suspect’s alibi.

"It turned out the restaurant owner’s son was playing with a phone that night and inadvertently took a picture of the suspect dining."

"Only later, when the owner casually reviewed the phone’s album, did he realize the suspect had indeed dined at their place."

"But... by the time the restaurant owner went to present it, it was already too late."

After Qin Yong finished speaking, Lu Chuan also completed reviewing the dossier.

In short, the Criminal Investigation Team in Taizhou had landed in hot water.

The team leader could forget about continuing in their role, and the involved investigating officers were likely facing disciplinary action.

Of course, this only addressed personnel measures.

More critically, who was the actual murderer in the homicide case?