CHAPTER 1402: CHAPTER 1326: THE GOLDEN KIDNAPPING CASE

The Anwan City airport is a general-purpose airport, one level below the standard civilian airport. The airport facilities and runways are quite simple, and the frequency of takeoffs and landings is very low. After the charter plane carrying Jiang Yuan and others landed, the receiving vehicles drove directly to the foot of the gangway.

"Let me introduce you, this is Forensic Jiang Yuan. This is Liu Zhuangshi, Captain of the Criminal Police Brigade of the Anwan City Bureau." As the intermediary, Yu Wenshu was quite enthusiastic.

Liu Zhuangshi, the Captain of the Criminal Police Brigade of the Anwan City Bureau, wore glasses and looked scholarly like someone from the internet security department. He first smiled at Jiang Yuan and then said, "When I was a child, my name meant ’strong,’ meaning robust. After I started working, my father said the name was too rustic and might be looked down upon, so he forced me to change it to the ’oath’ meaning. But whether it’s ’strong’ or ’oath,’ we always try to do well and ensure good service for Director Jiang."

"I don’t deserve it," Jiang Yuan quickly replied politely with emotional intelligence.

After lowering his posture, Liu Zhuangshi pulled a man from behind and said, "This is Yin Feisong, a top private entrepreneur from Anwan City. This time, with such a big kidnapping case, I feel guilty. I heard from a friend that Director Jiang just solved a case, so I quickly checked my contacts, thinking of someone who could help me get in touch. Unexpectedly, Brother Yu brought him to me directly."

As Liu Zhuangshi said this, he shook hands with Yu Wenshu, fist-bumped, and hugged tightly without words.

Yin Feisong observed Jiang Yuan with an apprehensive tone, then whispered, "Director Jiang, I’ve prepared the gold. If worst comes to worst, paying the ransom is fine, as long as the person can come back."

Liu Zhuangshi waited for him to finish before saying harshly, "Boss Yin, as we discussed, there’s no such thing as absolute certainty in the world. Kidnapping cases are even more complicated, and no one dares to guarantee you anything. You shouldn’t play these tricks. Honestly, I don’t support paying the ransom, at least not before further understanding the situation. Don’t mention these to Director Jiang either..."

Jiang Yuan sized up Yin Feisong and asked, "Is it difficult for you to gather this gold?"

Yin Feisong, although not one to lose his temper, was still caught off guard by Jiang Yuan’s question, only managing a wry smile: "Of course it is difficult. I even pulled the stock from the factory, and the bank is giving me trouble. If it weren’t for the gold jewelry I had stored and my wife putting our current house into the collateral, even with help from peers, I couldn’t have gathered so much gold."

Liu Jinghui stood out, coughed twice, and said, "Boss Yin, Jiang Yuan’s asking is not to make trouble or just for the ransom. His question aims to determine if there’s a mole around you. If the money falls within the range you can mobilize funds in a short period without much delay, it means the other side knows your situation well."

Yin Feisong’s cheeks drooped, then he sighed and said, "To be honest, in our industry, insiders know quite a bit about each other. At the very least, they can easily guess how many kilograms of gold we have and can exchange for."

"Is the vehicle inspection ready?" Jiang Yuan nodded at Yin Feisong, deliberately changing the topic.

Liu Zhuangshi was taken aback, quickly saying: "A little more time is required. If we go now, it should be almost time. Do you want to visit the victim’s house?"

"I won’t go. Is Director Liu going?" Jiang Yuan rarely interacts with the families of victims, and besides, he doesn’t understand expressions nor the insinuations of many words, so the cost-effectiveness of visiting victims’ homes is low. On the other hand, Liu Jinghui always enjoys chatting.

Liu Jinghui thought for a moment and said, "I’ll visit the victim’s home first, and we’ll meet up later."

"Take the main team with you." Jiang Yuan arranged with one sentence and urged Liu Zhuangshi to lead the way to see the suspect vehicle.

The people who came to receive them at the scene were left dizzy by Jiang Yuan’s rapid-fire conversation exchange.

Liu Zhuangshi could only comply, gently patting Yin Feisong twice for reassurance, then turned and got in the car.

The members of Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team boarded the car one after another, and very quickly.

Yin Feisong could only follow in a daze, getting into the front car. All previously prepared thoughts were not realized, leaving him to face Liu Jinghui and others in the same car with a forced smile.

Liu Jinghui had a notebook on his knee, taking notes by writing and drawing. After finishing a page, he turned it over, and seeing Yin Feisong’s drooped cheeks like a Bordeaux hound, patted him and said in a seasoned tone, "It’s a good thing Captain Jiang isn’t giving you set speeches."

"Ah?" Yin Feisong was confused.

"Our Jiang Yuan is quite young, only in his twenties. At your company, someone in their twenties probably can’t even become a manager. Look at Jiang Yuan, leading dozens across provinces to pursue suspects. Let’s just say, there aren’t many police officers in the country with such qualifications, right?"

"Captain Jiang’s resume is indeed impressive." Yin Feisong had just read the relevant information. Though lacking detailed content, it is easy to tell who is formidable by looking at the completed work and assumed responsibilities among several experts’ profiles.

This is like comparing the profiles of two soldiers, where one is "served as staff of XX regiment, participated in major battles XX, played a significant role," while the other is "as the captain of XX battalion, led the team to annihilate XX regiment, captured the regimental commander and 36 others alive, killed the chief of staff and several others," the strength of each is apparent.

Liu Jinghui nodded and said, "Our Jiang Yuan is the type of person who is particularly focused on what he does. Without such focus, he wouldn’t have achieved what he has today. So when I say Captain Jiang isn’t giving you set speeches, it’s because he’s in focused mode, and he is more likely to get things right rather than say pretty words."

Liu Jinghui smiled at Yin Feisong, "Our task in the upcoming event is, when we receive a call from the kidnappers, to try to keep the conversation pretty. As for the rest, let Captain Jiang handle it, alright?"

"Alright... okay!" At his age and position, Yin Feisong no longer believes in love, much less in the promises of other men. But given the current situation, he could only look at Liu Jinghui with hope, like a foster child, hoping his words were true.

...

Anwan City Bureau Criminal Science Squadron.

The large-space fingerprint fuming system Jiang Yuan requested had been materialized into a blue tent in the parking lot.

The top of the tent is labeled with "502 Fingerprint Fuming Tent," and inside are two fuming devices resembling air purifiers, along with a portable box containing a specialized system laptop.

From a civilian standard, the entire system seems quite primitive, but as professional equipment, it’s something the Anwan City Bureau doesn’t typically have on a daily basis, and the tent itself had to be temporarily borrowed from the provincial capital.

Jiang Yuan and others arrived, first looking through the observation hole to inspect the vehicles inside, then waiting for the scheduled forced ventilation.

Forced ventilation takes longer because 502 vapor is highly toxic and flammable. Even in a parking lot, it’s feared it would cause harm, necessitating timing personnel exclusion at the entrances and exits. Jiang Yuan’s urgency made it challenging for the Anwan side to find a more suitable location in a short period.

Normally, there’s a fuming tent that filters before ventilation, albeit more expensive and time-consuming, somewhat extravagant in nature.

When dealing with chemicals, toxicity is the norm, and ventilation is the king. If you only think about being completely clean and non-toxic, you might as well become a chef.

"Because we need to do fingerprint fuming, we’ve already conducted a preliminary investigation on the vehicle. Photography and videography were synchronized, and we’ve also extracted some evidence like hair, but we don’t know if it matches any suspects," said Li Erlie, the hefty and blessed-looking captain of the Criminal Science Unit, reminiscent of a grassland bokh wrestler in his later, fatter years.

Li Erlie had, of course, heard of Jiang Yuan’s name. More than just heard, as one of the leading technical investigation experts in the neighboring province, Li Erlie had practically grown calluses in his ears from hearing Jiang Yuan’s name. However, when the kidnapping case arose and the brigade captain called for expert assistance, Li Erlie’s first thought was Jiang Yuan.

At this moment, looking at a face even younger than his son, Li Erlie was less contemplating fate and the times and more curiously wanting to see Jiang Yuan conduct an investigation firsthand.

"Alright. Let me take a look first." Jiang Yuan, fulfilling the wish, watched the recorded preliminary investigation on site, while waiting for the fuming tent to ventilate and settle. He then donned protective gear and walked in.

Li Erlie called over a young man to shadow Jiang Yuan, while he followed behind observing, feeling self-satisfied like a sparrow.

Jiang Yuan didn’t employ any extraordinary methods; this was his first time using a fuming tent to find traces, the primary goal being speed.

With Jiang Yuan’s Level 5 Crime Scene Investigation skills and Level 3 Vehicle Trace Identification, if he meticulously inspected a vehicle, he could maximize various details, but the time consumption was unavoidable.

Not to mention, the 502 fuming requires constant temperature and humidity for a certain duration, with ventilation and settling time unavoidable, and each method has a technical timeframe involved. The key difference between a kidnapping and a murder case is that the perpetrator can wait, but the victim cannot.

With the fuming tent’s assistance, there was no need to agonize over fingerprint locations like the driver’s side outer door handle, the 9 o’clock position on the steering wheel’s left side, the trunk release button, or the upper right corner of the front passenger glove compartment. Jiang Yuan glanced over and left the fingerprint collection to others.

For these fingerprints, experienced criminal science technicians could guess that they’re mostly from the original vehicle driver. If fingerprints are still present, it’s not a good sign, indicating a higher probability the suspect wore gloves, negating the need to wipe fingerprint-prone areas.

Compared to not wearing gloves and then wiping, the suspect wearing gloves directly is less prone to errors.

However, Jiang Yuan was not in a hurry, activating the skill "Crime Scene Reconstruction Temporary +1," and then "Temporary +1," both skills enhancing his Level 5 Crime Scene Investigation. Instantly, it felt like... there was no change!

Even Level 7 skills cannot create something out of nothing.

Nevertheless, Jiang Yuan’s confidence was at least two levels higher.

Level 7 might not create something out of nothing, but if anyone sat in this car, even an alien, they wouldn’t leave without a trace.

Jiang Yuan stood up, thought for a moment, and began focusing on the sides of the car doors.

The car is a 5-seat Buick Lacrosse, with 3 perpetrators and 2 hostages, practically filled to the brim.

In an ordinary sedan, regardless of how thin a 13-year-old middle schooler is or how tightly the driver is bound and curled up, if it’s packed, the backseat is bound to be cramped.

With a larger contact area, traces are naturally more likely to be left.

Jiang Yuan stretched a bit, did a couple of warm-up exercises, then bent down and meticulously swept the sides of the car door and seats.

Around the same time, the phone at Yin Feisong’s house rang.

Liu Jinghui and others, as well as the negotiation experts brought in by the Anwan City Bureau, all paused their indefinite preparations and naturally gathered around the phone.

The negotiation expert pressed one hand on the phone, pulled Yin Feisong over with the other, and said in a calm tone, "Remember what I said, make sure Yin Xiaofeng is alive before you promise any money, or we might never see him again."

"I understand." Yin Feisong’s eyes were bloodshot, urgently fixed on the phone.

The negotiation expert waited until the next ring before picking up, pressing the speaker button.