CHAPTER 1273: CHAPTER 1200 I DIDN’T DO IT

Chen Yueran leisurely arrived at the parking shed, just about to get on his tricycle, when he saw two policemen looking straight at him.

The two policemen were wearing dark blue tactical uniforms and flat-topped hats, which looked more action-ready than standard uniforms.

Chen Yueran’s body involuntarily trembled, and he messed up inserting the key into the lock twice. Fortunately, on the third try, it went in. Chen Yueran immediately jumped on his bike and left as fast as he could.

The two policemen, hands on their waists, watched Chen Yueran until he turned the corner up ahead, all in silence.

Only when Chen Yueran turned the corner did he realize the two policemen weren’t following or calling out to him, and he let out a huge sigh of relief, his whole waist going slack. He cursed silently: I thought they were coming to arrest me. These idiots, staring at people for no reason!

Cursing the policemen, Chen Yueran slowed down his bike, rode to an intersection, and came face-to-face with a van painted in police colors.

Chen Yueran immediately hit the brakes, not daring to run the red light, and kept his head down, staring hard at the ground.

The police in the van rolled down the window, revealing several bald heads, repeatedly examining Chen Yueran.

Feeling their gaze, Chen Yueran dared not lift his head and endured until the vehicles around him started moving, only then quickly driving forward.

The police van gradually fell behind him.

"These idiots." Chen Yueran, tense but then relaxed, felt like cursing after a scare.

Muttering curses, he rode to his supermarket’s entrance, swinging his keys, ready to open the door, when he caught sight of another policeman out of the corner of his eye.

With the previous experiences, Chen Yueran was less nervous, guessing there might be some operation happening in the county, causing police to run all over the streets.

"What a waste. Wasting taxpayers’ money." Chen Yueran huffed internally, his hand continuing to jingle the keys.

"Chen Yueran!" someone called loudly from behind.

Chen Yueran instinctively turned around, realizing the speaker was a policeman, and immediately panicked again.

"Are you Chen Yueran?" The policeman asked while approaching, and at the same time, several other policemen came to encircle him from both sides.

Seeing this setup, Chen Yueran knew it wasn’t good.

As a middle-aged man long past his prime, breaking through the encirclement of several policemen was wishful thinking.

All he could do was quickly find the keys, try to open the supermarket door, then lock it and find a way to escape through the back door, or buy some time to make a few calls for help—Chen Yueran couldn’t think of much else at the moment, treating the keys like a lifeline, as if back to the state when he first saw the policemen earlier that day.

In a flash, Chen Yueran sensed something amiss, but before he could think clearly, his face was pressed against the cold glass door.

Thump.

The policemen behind him moved together, pushing him without courtesy against the supermarket door.

The cold on his face had not yet faded when his wrist felt an even colder touch.

Handcuffs?

Just as Chen Yueran’s expression changed drastically, the policemen behind him flipped him over.

"What’s your name?" The opposing policeman looked fierce, his voice equally aggressive.

Chen Yueran suspected it was the same one who had just pressed his head against the door.

"What do you want?" Chen Yueran asked.

"Police, you’re guilty," Wu Junhao, standing opposite Chen Yueran, couldn’t be bothered to waste words with him. After confirming the photo again, he gestured for others.

Jiang Yuan approached under the protection of Mu Zhiyang and Wen Ming.

Soon after, a large group of policemen appeared from nowhere, wearing a mix of tactical and regular uniforms. They formed a semicircle in front of the supermarket entrance with neat but varied steps.

Chen Yueran’s hands were cuffed behind him, held up by two of the Bald Strike Team’s burly men, leaving him with no room for resistance. Seeing so many officers in front of him at once, his mind went blank, swaying like a drunk man.

"Once we track down a suspect through Legal Botany, the first thing we do is secure the evidence, especially the suspect’s clothes, shoes, and personal items. Collecting these at the scene aids future comparison," Jiang Yuan explained, conducting a live demonstration.

At his signal, Wu Junhao, wearing gloves, stripped Chen Yueran of his jacket and tossed it into an evidence bag.

Jiang Yuan took the evidence bag, examined it with a magnifying glass, and said, "It doesn’t match the pollen profile of the crime scene. Check the shoes."

Many men, in particular, often wear the same pair of shoes for long periods, which clearly increases criminal risk.

Wu Junhao immediately removed the suspect’s shoes.

Chen Yueran tried to resist, but his hefty legs were no match for powerful arms. In a few swift moves, his shoes were removed, leaving him shivering as he stepped on the cold ground.

Tang Jia pushed a cardboard box in front of the supermarket to Chen Yueran.

Chen Yueran quickly stepped onto it.

After seriously inspecting the shoes, Jiang Yuan handed them off to Pang Jidong, saying, "These should be the same shoes from the crime scene, everyone can take a look."

Someone on site couldn’t help but comment, "It’s similar to investigating via footprints."

"Well, has the footprint team found the person?" Jiang Yuan turned to ask.

"Yes, the footprints, technical investigation, and surveillance all tracked down the person," Wang Chuanxing said, showing some photos and a simple PPT on a pad.

Even though it’s just a theft case, Jiang Yuan divided it into several teams for separate investigations, the same as the approach with the academician murder case.

Unfortunately, Chen Yueran’s anti-detection abilities couldn’t be compared to the murder case culprit; all three teams on three tracks took less than a night to identify the suspect.

Had it not been for waiting for Jiang Yuan, Chen Yueran would’ve been captured right from leaving home.

"Alright, secure the evidence, see if there’s anything else," Jiang Yuan instructed, letting others with cameras and Criminal Science personnel begin sweeping Chen Yueran’s supermarket.

In fact, it was excessive. In a normal theft case, if it reached this point, apprehending the suspect usually resulted in suspects interviewed on the spot, maybe entrants taking a few photos, unless there was obvious evidence, or a suspect revealed its location. Detailed searches, fingerprinting, and such, like in murder cases, wouldn’t happen.

Even if police conducted the investigation, don’t expect Criminal Science personnel to deliver results in a few days; it could take weeks.

As a criminal suspect, Chen Yueran’s vision blurred.

He’d always been a thug. It was only because his family had some money and left him a house and shop after they passed that he stabilized, having dealt with police numerous times, he knew a normal theft case wouldn’t receive such thorough treatment.

Seeing the large number of officers now, Chen Yueran’s legs suddenly gave way.

"Officer, could you have the wrong person?" Chen Yueran said with a forced smile to Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan seriously shook his head, "No, with so many people and several teams investigating, they all point to you, we wouldn’t make a mistake."

Chen Yueran’s legs were so weak he couldn’t stand, his voice teary, "Officer, you really have the wrong person, I didn’t commit any major crime!"