Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 348: Duty Bound

Lu Chuan sent this case to Sun Jun’s Action Group One, not because the case had an owner, but because Ren Qiang’s side probably hadn’t arrived at the scene yet.

These days, both Action Group One and Action Group Two haven’t had any major events; the team should still be relatively free, so having the two groups alternate to get busy is always a good thing.

After finishing up with the information, Lu Chuan suddenly smiled, recalling the theft suspect just now.

Over six feet tall, standing out so conspicuously, yet still going out to steal and commit crimes—there’s no good way to hide.

Therefore, it’s best for people with such distinct looks not to commit crimes. For instance, a scar on the face, a mole on the forehead, particularly obese, extraordinarily tall, extremely beautiful, or even very ugly.

People can remember them at a glance and won’t forget within three to five days. When the police question them, it’s spot on.

Two cases from last year have been reviewed. Lu Chuan adjusted the timeline to three years ago.

This time Lu Chuan chose an intentional injury case.

From the perspective of the Criminal Investigation Team handling major cases and serious crimes, the intentional injury case Lu Chuan chose isn’t actually significant.

The person didn’t die but was left disabled, spending the rest of their life in a wheelchair.

Lu Chuan reviewed the electronic file; the victim’s name was Zhang Fengzhi, aged 23 at the time, and wasn’t exactly a good person.

Previous theft convictions, frequently involved in fights, detained multiple times. He was a social loafer, a key focus of the local police station.

Of course, since becoming crippled, he didn’t cause trouble, nor was he a key focus anymore. He set up a breakfast stall, selling pancakes daily.

Honestly speaking, this kind of person might be better off crippled than not.

Having mobility issues may cause some inconveniences in life, but at least he won’t continue down the path of crime.

Otherwise, who knows when he might get hacked to death or commit some serious crime and be locked up. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

According to the description in the file, those who injured Zhang Fengzhi should also be loafers with a grudge against him.

At the time of the crime, there were no cameras at the scene, and the other party wore a hood, so Zhang Fengzhi couldn’t see their face clearly and couldn’t confirm their identity.

Luckily, when the perpetrator struck, they left the steel rod that broke Zhang Fengzhi’s kneecap at the scene, and the police extracted several fingerprints from it at the time.

However, the steel rod used by the perpetrator was rebar, and the force exerted during the attack was great, causing the fingerprints to be severely fragmented and distorted.

Liu Guodong and the others had previously conducted a fingerprint analysis, but unfortunately, they didn’t match any target in the system.

After quickly browsing through the case file, Lu Chuan specifically extracted the fingerprints that needed analysis.

This case actually made its way into the Haizhou City Public Security Bureau’s fingerprint identification battle earlier this year.

But since the case happened three years ago, many had tried to analyze the fingerprint back then without success.

Lu Chuan, during the fingerprint battle, focused only on unresolved homicide cases and paid no special attention to cases like this.

Now, Lu Chuan carefully examined the fingerprint; it’s indeed challenging but just requires more effort.

As long as there’s a target fingerprint in the system, there’s a high probability it can be matched.

The likelihood of the system containing a target fingerprint is actually very high. Zhang Fengzhi was originally a social loafer; being targeted and having his kneecaps shattered suggests a clear act of revenge.

Since it was a revenge act, it indicates that the person who injured Zhang Fengzhi should be of the same ilk as him, and there’s a high probability that the two had prior contact.

All of Zhang Fengzhi’s associates back then were riffraff from various walks of life, most having been involved in fights, and having their fingerprints scanned by the police was standard procedure.

Lu Chuan cracked his knuckles: "Let’s get to work!"

Meanwhile, Ren Qiang had also arrived at the suspect’s residence, only to find it empty.

"Old Song went on vacation, won’t be back until tomorrow."

This information was provided by the suspect’s neighbor.

"Do you know where he went on vacation?"

"Liangzhou, I think, he went for some rafting. Look, this is from his social media."

"Hey, did he get in trouble again? You guys..."

"Brother Qiang, what should we do?"

"We can’t wait. When we came over, many neighbors saw us. The news might leak, so inform Liangzhou over there and ask them to help catch him!"

Ren Qiang didn’t expect the suspect to be out of Haizhou City.

Going to Liangzhou now would be too late if someone tipped him off.

The quickest method is to ask them to help catch him there.

On the other side, things went smoothly for Sun Jun. They nabbed the suspect while he was still asleep.

The suspect was blocked under the covers.

The suspect seemed accustomed to being caught.

"Which case found me this time?"

Sun Jun shook his head. This type is already a seasoned pro, certainly involved in more than one case.

And with such seasoned pros, the best chance is the first time they’re caught.

As long as some tactics are used then and never make it clear which case it’s for, let them spill it out themselves, offering leniency for confession; if they resist, face severity. They’ll then recount all their past cases in one go.

But it only works the first time. After that, it doesn’t work anymore.

Once inside, they learn more tricks, realize they were duped. The second time they’re caught, they won’t say anything without evidence; they’ll only confess to cases where the evidence against them is solid.

But, confession only covers cases with evidence, the rest...

Forget about it.

"Take him away!"

In Liangzhou, Cheng Zihao, at the pipeline maintenance team, learned a lot from the gatekeeper senior.

Information he previously didn’t have.

For instance, the maintenance workers often swapped shifts privately without informing anyone and without needing approval.

"Don’t believe who’s on duty—just look at the pay stub. The ones who get paid are the ones who worked."

Cheng Zihao noted this down, planning to investigate workers who had maintenance tasks during the crime time frame.

Like who claimed to be working but wasn’t, to avoid being caught switching shifts.

Or who was clearly working but claimed during the investigation they weren’t.

After leaving the maintenance team, Cheng Zihao received a call from the team.

"Helping with catching a robber for Haizhou City?"

Cheng Zihao immediately agreed: "No problem, I’ll go personally!"

Just a while ago, they helped him, and now that they need his help, he certainly would do it without hesitation.

It turns out that not many busybodies, especially those meddling with police affairs, exist.

Cheng Zihao caught Song Dehui at the rafting visitor center in Zhang Family Valley.

No one warned him—a fool like that is rare nowadays.

When caught, he was still immersed in the thrill of rafting, not having done anything proper for years. This was Song Dehui’s first trip.

And he brought his parents along.

Sadly, even with this single trip, he got caught.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely without benefit; he saved on return ticket costs.