National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 957 - 893 Did We Do Our Best?

Tsss...

The heavy truck’s air brakes hissed, coming to a steady stop at the designated parking spot of the repair shop.

The driver got off and started calling for help, then pulled out a thick pipe from the back of the truck and thrust it fiercely into the water tank next to the temporary shed...

Watching the hot water gurgling and being pressed into the tank, the driver wiped off sweat and thanked the assisting police officers with a smile, saying, "We used to deliver water to bath centers; I never imagined that the police would also use this kind of hot water."

"Hot water doesn’t discriminate, you know." The police officer replied without a bad attitude, handed a cigarette to the driver, and said, "Nobody wants to live in these movable sheds, with no AC, poor ventilation, windows that barely open, and hard beds... A hot shower is the only real comfort."

"You guys can’t go home?" The driver looked around and guessed, "Is it because of the explosion case?"

Seeing his gossipy expression, the police officer’s face turned stern as he said darkly, "If I told you, you’d have to stay too."

The driver was startled and hurriedly said, "No... I was just asking casually. I don’t know anything..."

"I know, I was just saying." The police officer smiled. After some experience, police officers tend to dominate social engagements, especially with those who are slick and sly; they are the easiest to handle.

Inside the shed.

Jiang Yuan also took a refreshing shower. He had been working continuously for 24 hours before coming back to rest.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t keep going, but the current situation clearly wasn’t something that could be resolved by persisting for another 12 or 24 hours.

Jiang Yuan glanced at his Patek Philippe watch, calculated the time, planned to sleep for four to five hours, and then go through the ruins again before the sun set.

After thoroughly drying his hair with a blow dryer, Jiang Yuan was extremely sleepy. He lay down in his own shed and instantly started to snore.

Middle and high-ranking police officers still had some privileges, typical ones being a fixed bed spot and cleaning ladies coming in to change the bed linens and clean on schedule. Ordinary officers lived a mixed existence, grabbing any available bed to sleep; nobody should complain about smelly feet, snoring, grinding teeth or playing music out loud—if anyone had even the slightest difficulty sleeping, it just meant they weren’t tired enough.

"Our Captain Jiang is still asleep; let Director Xu explain..."

"Director Xu has already seen it. Uh, although it’s quite embarrassing, this time the chief is accompanying the city leaders here..."

Voices from outside approached, and Jiang Yuan’s snoring gradually subsided.

"Captain Jiang, Captain Jiang..." Wang Chuanxing called softly by the door.

Jiang Yuan turned over quickly and sat up: "What’s up?"

After a few years as a criminal detective, one could almost develop a skill akin to Summoning Technique—anyone called by their full name would immediately enter a state of level three alertness. Commonly known as PDSD.

Wang Sheng, hearing the noise, hurried over and said with a smile, "Captain Jiang, our chief is accompanying the city leaders to inspect the site, and the leaders would still like to hear your assessment."

"I’m coming." Jiang Yuan got up from the bed, wiped his face, and asked, "Should I freshen up and change clothes?"

"I think the natural look is good." Wang Sheng said with implied meaning.

"Alright then." Jiang Yuan checked his watch again, he had slept for just under 4 hours, and while walking he asked Wang Chuanxing beside him, "How far did we get? Any results?"

"All the key areas have been searched, especially the area within twenty square meters around the blast center. Not only is the upper debris cleared away, but the collapsed floors have been uncovered, and the lower levels have been tidied up through seven or eight floors. We’ve found over sixty pieces of evidence... but still no decisive evidence," Wang Chuanxing said, not minding Wang Sheng being nearby, and directly stated, "The leaders were a bit displeased after our report."

"Hmm, normal." Jiang Yuan, having seen a lot, replied quite at ease.

Wang Sheng, on the other hand, paused, realizing from Jiang Yuan’s tone that he really was under no pressure, even somewhat relaxed. He took a moment to size Jiang Yuan up and asked, "Captain Jiang, are you confident in your own judgment or in Director Xu’s investigation?"

He didn’t need to ask if Jiang Yuan was under pressure. In this environment, with the intensity of the task, even the grunts felt the strain. Jiang Yuan had been specially invited to lead, bringing along leaders from the Ministry and the big spender Xu Taining. Even the most heartless person would frown under such triple-layered pressure.

So, Wang Sheng thought that one could only be as pressure-free as Jiang Yuan when holding the winning card.

He also wished to hear such an answer.

At that moment, he wanted someone to point at him and say: Heart-strategist Frog, I’ve always got you on the ropes!

Jiang Yuan chuckled and said, "I already had expectations for the difficulty of the case. That’s why right from the start, I had you invite Xu Taining over. Now doesn’t it speak volumes?"

Wang Sheng’s logical thinking was very sharp, and he barely caught up with Jiang Yuan’s thought process: "Are you saying that Xu Taining not finding evidence is proof that inviting him was the right decision?"

"How convincing is that?"

"Er... The proof is indeed very strong," Wang Sheng sighed, "So, you anticipated that we wouldn’t find evidence for the first three days?"

"Finding something is luck; not finding it is the norm," Jiang Yuan answered properly this time. In fact, for him, who had dealt with many significant cases and conducted large-scale searches, the time and cost spent in the search would ultimately average out.

Compared to Jiang Yuan, Wang Sheng’s rank was higher and his police experience deeper, but he had spent years spinning his wheels in the police department of a prefecture-level city and rarely had similar experiences.

Therefore, Wang Sheng hoped for a stroke of good luck, always thinking about landing in the top 30%, top 10%, or even top 5%, wishing the search team would strike gold within just a few digs.

But for the "big case faction" like Jiang Yuan and Xu Taining, it was normal to get results on the first day of the search, and just as normal to get them on the tenth day. Although they also tried their best to shorten the time and reduce errors, they had to accept the absence of good luck or, to say, extremely good luck.

In the time it took for a few exchanges, the group had entered the command tent.

Wang Sheng shouted "reporting in" and then led Jiang Yuan and the others into the tent, introducing the dozen or so people inside.

"I must clarify that we are here to support everyone’s work, not to cause trouble," Zhang Dinghui, who was surrounded by the crowd, spoke in a down-to-earth manner, seemingly reasonable.

Song Tiancheng from the Ministry smiled and said, "We all have the same goal."

"That’s the idea," said Zhang Dinghui, who had already chatted with Song Tiancheng for a while and was somewhat familiar with each other. Knowing that Jiang Yuan and Xu Taining were in charge of the command and the scene, he quickly turned his gaze to them, smiling, "Right now, what I actually want to know first is whether we are still facing the risk of another explosion?"

His question was very much to the point—not asking about the criminal or solving the case, but whether there would be another explosion.

From Zhang Dinghui’s perspective, this could be very well understood. Solving the case was important, but another explosion was absolutely unacceptable.

And this was the reason why top investigative resources were present at the scene—the barefoot sage Song Tiancheng, detective Jiang Yuan, and search specialist Xu Taining, all here to guard against that risk.

Wang Chuanxing and Xu Taining, who initially intended to ease into the conversation, couldn’t help but frown at this.

Everyone’s gaze converged on Jiang Yuan.

At first glance, this question didn’t seem tricky, but on closer inspection, only Jiang Yuan could answer it.

"We have not found conclusive evidence to prove that the bomb was detonated remotely. Nor can we prove that the bomb was detonated by a timer," Jiang Yuan’s answer was somewhat official, but he quickly shifted to another end of linguistic technique: "However, the critical issue now is that we also have not found key evidence to prove the bomb wasn’t detonated remotely or by a timer."

Everyone in the tent was adept with words and instantly understood Jiang Yuan’s meaning.

"Is this to say the search hasn’t achieved its goal, or what?" Zhang Dinghui wanted a definitive answer.

"There is no evidence to suggest a second explosion. But the risk of this explosion absolutely exists," Jiang Yuan paused only slightly before continuing, "Right now, we can only prepare for the worst-case scenario."

"Prepare for the worst-case scenario?" Zhang Dinghui repeated Jiang Yuan’s words, then looked at the Chief beside him, "In the face of the worst-case scenario, have we done our best?"

The Chief took a deep breath, "We have confronted it with our maximum effort."

Wang Chuanxing, a squad leader two ranks below the Chief, had no opportunity to speak up in such a situation, only feeling anxiety throughout his body and sensing the pressure bearing down from his Chief.

This was the most frustrating time, and also when the mental pressure on the investigating officers was at its peak. Looking at reports of major cases, many investigators speak of this sort of plateau phase with both resentment and sighs.

Resenting the process and sighing at making it through. But the ones afforded interviews are those who made it through. What about those who did not?

The pressure comes not only from the case itself but mainly from the upper echelons.

Just like now, Wang Chuanxing could almost guess what would be next for the Chief—either a "deadline to solve the case" or a "military order," choosing one or perhaps both.

This traditional art form is almost an inevitable encounter for every level of police officer.

As for eliminating it, it’s actually impossible to do. Both the "deadline to solve the case" and the "military order" essentially reflect the immense pressure faced by higher-level leaders.

After Zhang Dinghui gave the "deadline to solve the case" or "military order" command, the Chief naturally could only make stricter demands downward. And as the squad leader, Wang Chuanxing, naturally had to break down tasks to subordinates, a case of adding layer upon layer of demands.

For a moment, the air in the tent seemed to thin.

"In the face of the worst-case scenario, we have already done our best," Jiang Yuan’s voice was somewhat abrupt, but it pierced through the tense and serious atmosphere.

Zhang Dinghui couldn’t help but look at Jiang Yuan in surprise.

In his position, he didn’t actually like strategies like "deadline to solve the case" or "military order," but did he have a better strategy to choose from?

If he didn’t make demands, if he didn’t delegate responsibility, could he bear the responsibility for another explosion case?

"If possible, may I take a few minutes of everyone’s time to explain our work over the past few days? I hope to demonstrate why we have done our best," Jiang Yuan, without much hesitation, stood out. From the perspective of solving cases, he also disliked "deadline to solve the case" and "military order."

And to do the best, his team didn’t need a "deadline to solve the case" or a "military order." From this perspective, standing up against them was in itself proof.

Just that at this moment, no one else seemed to notice this.