Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Cross
Arrest him or not?
Being a criminal detective is a job where you’re constantly held over a fire. You often face cases that present a moral and legal dilemma, where either choice feels wrong. This is why the depression rate among retired police officers is extremely high.
Including the elderly and infants, the per capita depression rate is about one in fourteen. If you only count adults and young people, it probably rises to about one in eight.
And for police officers, the depression rate caused by these kinds of cases is five times that number!
Li Jianye took a deep breath, his eyes filled with resolve.
"Arrest him!"
"How?" Zhao Shui glanced at the surrounding rain, his brow furrowing.
How?
The case had been pieced together quite clearly by now, but there were still no concrete clues about the suspect’s whereabouts.
"Captain Li, I don’t think I need to be the one to tell you."
Xu Huo plopped down onto a chair, feeling a sense of comfort that came with mental release.
Li Jianye turned to look at the group of people behind him.
"Zhao Shui."
"Here," Zhao Shui quickly replied.
"Notify Team Three. Team Three will remain at the crime scene to maintain order and conduct the investigation."
"Team One, move quickly to place the families of the four victims under surveillance. At the same time, find out the dates they moved four years ago."
"Team Two, with me. Be ready for orders."
Li Jianye’s eyes narrowed slightly, sharp and determined.
"Move out!"
With the order given, the group of people standing together in black rain ponchos instantly scattered in the rain.
Everyone immediately got busy, each carrying out their assigned tasks.
The three teams began their multi-pronged operation in an orderly fashion. The parents of the four victims were placed under temporary surveillance, and a request was sent to Penglai City to pull their files from that time.
As for how Li Jianye would investigate...
"How are they going to find him? The case is clear, but it doesn’t seem like these clues can be used to catch him."
Standing to the side, Chu Xi saw the flurry of activity die down and lowered her notebook and pen, a hint of confusion on her face as she looked around.
Xu Huo thought for a moment, then said, "One duck leg."
Hearing this, Chu Xi took out her wallet and did some quick math. Just as she was about to agree, she saw Xu Huo wave his hand in resignation.
"Forget it. No duck leg."
"There are many ways to find someone. The most effective is to search based on their identity."
For example.
You know a student’s name and what he looks like. How would you find him?
Following his normal routine, you would naturally go to his school or stake out the route to his school. You wouldn’t look for him in a restaurant, a foot massage parlor, or out at sea.
By the same logic, when looking for a homeless person, it makes no sense to search five-star hotels or top-tier universities.
Instead, you should look in corners, near trash cans.
Using identity as a filter will inevitably screen out a huge amount of useless, messy information!
"So, you’re saying we just need to target these areas and send police to search for him?"
A look of realization dawned on Chu Xi’s dazed face, but after a moment’s thought, she knitted her delicate brows again.
"But Jiangsan City is such a big place. Even if it’s only..."
"Not Jiangsan City. Jiangdong District. Or even just the area around the intersection."
Xu Huo cut in.
"Hatred fades once it’s vented, but the scars on the heart do not."
"It’s like how a killer who hides a body will stay near it, afraid it will be discovered."
"He will also stay near the bodies!"
The area was an intersection, with open shops lining both sides of the road. Although the intersection was cordoned off, many people were still coming and going, observing from the perimeter.
Raindrops fell from the gloomy sky. Amid the PITTER-PATTER, Xu Huo silently watched the bodies at the center of the intersection.
"He’s also afraid..."
"Afraid that no one will discover the bodies."
"So, he won’t have gone far. Even with the police around, he still won’t have gone far."
"His hatred has been vented and is gone, but his resentment is not. And the source of that resentment is..."
Xu Huo looked at Chu Xi, at the police uniform she was wearing.
"The police."
The four bodies were placed at the intersection out of resentment. His grievance is that the original case went nowhere. The antidote to that grievance would be the opposite. But what if the opposite were to happen...
A successful investigation!
He might not be consciously aware of this concept, but his subconscious desires it.
"Don’t worry, he can’t have gone far."
"And he won’t go far."
...
...
Li Jianye was fast.
That afternoon, the police took a lot of action based on this.
The core of the operation was Team One, which followed Li Jianye to search the areas where the killer was likely to be found.
They weren’t searching blindly.
Li Jianye conducted a detailed analysis of the killer’s identity as a homeless person and came up with three points.
One, the killer couldn’t have harbored such hatred while searching for people and simultaneously changing his social status over the past four years. So, he’s most likely still a homeless person.
Two, no matter who you are, you have to eat and drink to survive. A homeless person is no exception, which means he’ll engage in behaviors like rummaging through trash cans.
Three, the suspect is still in Jiangdong District, possibly even right around the intersection!
At 5:00 PM.
Li Jianye had his subordinates bring in another person.
"Li Ermao, are you sure you haven’t seen him?"
Li Jianye asked, frowning at the filthy, foul-smelling man in front of him.
"No. There aren’t any new faces among the homeless these days. It’s not like this is a good profession. Haven’t seen a new guy in five or six years. If I’d seen him, I’d definitely remember," Li Ermao said, shaking his head.
The man before him was a beggar.
In ancient times, begging was considered one of the Lower Nine Professions. These people have a strong sense of territory, just like wild animals. Every area has its regular homeless population, and other homeless people can’t just come and rummage through their trash.
While it’s not as rigid in modern times, territorial divisions are still an unwritten rule.
It’s similar with thieves or carjackers who are frequently in and out of the police station. Sometimes, when the police need clues for a case, they’ll seek them out.
"You really don’t know?" Li Jianye’s brow furrowed.
"Really, I don’t. My territory isn’t big, and there aren’t many people in it. Even if he was living here, if I never saw him, I wouldn’t know," Li Ermao said with a pained expression.
’Strange, very strange...’
Li Jianye frowned, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
This place was about two kilometers from the intersection, a dead-end alley behind a large supermarket. It was very secluded and showed faint signs of someone living there.
According to Li Ermao, there was a residential complex nearby that drove away homeless people. Furthermore, every trash collection point was claimed by idle grandpas and grandmas who rummaged for recyclables. That group’s sense of territory was even stronger than his; they’d gotten into several fights over a few plastic bottles.
So, normally, no one would come here. After asking a few of his subordinates, it was confirmed that none of them had been here either. That meant the tracks could only have been left by a third party.
In an instant, Li Jianye made the connection to the killer!
Unfortunately, they had only found this one small trace of the suspect.
And they had no idea when he had left.
"He left not long ago."
Li Jianye retracted his gaze. "Where did he go?"
"And where could he have gone!?"
"Or... does he know the police are coming for him?"
Why did he go out?
Was he not full?
There were faint food scraps on the ground, along with unfinished food and water to the side. This meant the suspect didn’t need to go out for food at the moment.
It was even more impossible that he knew the police were coming. The entire investigation had been confidential, and their afternoon operation had been swift. The suspect couldn’t have noticed. Besides, the clues didn’t suggest he was fleeing.
Then why?
If it wasn’t for food and it wasn’t to escape, what else would a beggar go out to do?
Where could he have gone?
Suddenly, Xu Huo turned around. He pointed a hand toward a taller, rather conspicuous building.
"Have you guys been over there?"
Li Ermao shook his head. "That’s not my territory."
Li Jianye shifted his position left and right, trying to get a better view. After a long moment, he finally saw something in a gap between the buildings. He paused, exchanged a look with Xu Huo, and silently started walking in that direction.
What was over there?
A building whose style clashed with its surroundings.
It had a conspicuous symbol on it.
It was a red cross.
The killer also had a cross on him.
That place was...
A church.
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