civil forensic

Chapter 1355 Arrest
There are two potted green ivy plants in front of the door, with large, plump leaves and full of vitality.

The gate was made of two large iron sheets with welded steel bars in the middle. It wobbled and rattled with the slightest touch, giving it a vintage feel.

"Open the door, police!"

Wu Junhao pounded on the gate of the courtyard, his eyes darting around warily, his hand resting on the butt of his gun.

The other side of the large iron gate remained silent, pretending as if no one was there.

Wu Junhao knew the other party was a bit confused. If it were someone the other party knew knocking on the door, the probability of them opening the door would probably be higher.

Unfortunately, Wu Junhao didn't have the time or patience. There was no need to be so sentimental with a former receiver of stolen goods.

Wu Junhao waved his hand behind him, and a burly man with a gleaming head stepped forward carrying a door battering ram.

thump.

With a muffled thud, the large iron gate, secured only with an ordinary lock, burst open. Wu Junhao kicked it open, brandishing his Type 92 rifle, and shouted along with his team, "Police! Hands on your heads, squat down!"

The bald-headed team members, armed with shotguns and submachine guns, took the lead and charged ahead.

The former receiver of stolen goods in the courtyard was even more bewildered as he watched this scene.

As a criminal who has worked on the front lines of crime for many years, he has imagined the scene and response when he is arrested many times. But the most magnificent scene is nothing more than police cars surrounding him and smug police officers blocking his way from the front and back.

There's no need for guns! There are still so many guns, still being held by a large group of sweaty, bald, fit men. The overwhelming Chengdu vibe is simply suffocating.

He stared at the dark muzzle of the gun on his forehead, sweat pouring down his body, truly feeling like his life was counting down. Not only are modern firearms of good quality and unlikely to misfire, but the lack of experience among police officers these days also makes them more prone to accidental discharges.

Anyone who uses a gun regularly knows that accidental discharge is quite common. It's not so common that you'll encounter it frequently, but you'll certainly hear about it often. Besides, it's your life at stake.

"Um, what's up?" the former receiver of stolen goods asked cautiously.

"Liu Haozi, you've committed a crime." Wu Junhao, of course, didn't answer. He first made sure the surrounding environment was safe, then put away his gun. While personally escorting the convict, he arranged for people to conduct a search.

This man used to be a receiver of stolen goods. After making money, he gradually changed his business and continued to engage in activities that skirted the edge of the law.

He doesn't deal in stolen goods mainly because the number of robbers and thieves has decreased, making the risk of selling stolen goods increasingly higher and the profits increasingly lower. As for why he would commit crimes again after switching careers, it's because the competition in legal businesses is fierce, and the risk of criminal charges acts as a moat for him.

Of course, he also had to bear the consequences of the moat rising and flooding the city.

"Wu Da, we found a batch of counterfeit cigarettes." The team members who conducted the initial search quickly brought over a carton of cigarettes to show Wu Junhao.

Wu Junhao burst out laughing: "Liu Haozi, you're a funny guy. You're not going to sell stolen goods anymore, so you're making fake cigarettes? Are you out of your mind?"

"Real cigarettes," Liu Haozi said weakly.

"gab."

"It's definitely genuine cigarettes, but the sales location might not meet the original requirements of the tobacco bureau." Liu Haozi said, his heart finally at ease. He had been through the cracks of the iron fist before; seeing so many guns, he knew he couldn't escape. He simply confessed everything about his petty crimes. At worst, he'd serve two years in jail, what else could he do?

Wu Junhao chuckled and said, "I'll talk to the tobacco bureau later and see if what you said is true, or if the cigarettes you made are fake."

In the blink of an eye, Liu Haozi went from a counterfeit cigarette vendor to a counterfeit cigarette manufacturer. Liu Haozi seemed to understand, and with a wry smile, he said, "Um... what do you want? Just tell me. I'm just a nobody, I really don't need so many people here..."

“I have my own mission.” Wu Junhao said first, then took out several sketches of the murderer from his pocket, handed them to Liu Haozi, and said, “Take a look and see if you know this person. About 15 or 16 years ago, you should have had some contact with him.”

Wu Junhao didn't know if they had any contact, but he only needed the answer that they had contact, so he decided to trick Liu Haozi.

Liu Haozi stared at the man's face in the sketch, lost in thought.

His first thought wasn't who this person was, but why he was being asked to do this.

For a man who has spent years fighting crime and has been held by the back of his neck, the answer to this question could very well determine the course of his life.

Wu Junhao also stared at Liu Haozi.

This wasn't the first receiver of stolen goods he had arrested. He had used the same methods and approaches for questioning them more than once, and each time, Wu Junhao would observe their behavior and mentally assign them a certain level of trust.

Investigating this type of person is very different from investigating ordinary people. It relies heavily on the investigators' on-site abilities, which is why Xu Taining needed Jiang Yuan's consent even after expanding the scope of the investigation.

Experienced investigators are extremely rare; they're all found by risking lives. Every municipal and county police bureau treats them like treasures. Without Jiang Yuan's phone number, they would never release these captains, squad leaders, or deputy captains to the special task force. It's good to keep them around for their own theft cases.

Liu Haozi also clearly felt the pressure, staring at the portrait, deep in thought...

Suddenly, Wu Junhao said, "Wait a minute, you've set up this place so secretly, with a big iron gate, henchmen, and lookouts in front of the village. Do you really think you can just run a cigarette resale business without worry?"

Wu Junhao beckoned someone over and said, "Bring the metal detector over and search the area."

"Yes, sir." The detective who was called saluted in response. The metal detector had already been brought along; it was intended for use anyway, and this was just an extra layer of security.

Liu Haozi was wealthy and pampered. Even if he sensed something was wrong, a group of police officers with guns at the ready walked in. If they were still trying to deceive him, he could only pretend to be deceived and act anxious, saying, "Please don't punish me. Just tell me what you want."

"I want this person." Wu Junhao nodded and continued acting.

Different teams have different styles of doing things. When Wu Junhao led the Bald Strike Team out, he only focused on making the situation seem serious and then put on a show.

If the performance is successful, everyone is happy; if it fails, consider it a training exercise for the team.

However, even acting was a burden that Liu Haozi could not bear.

Most importantly, he actually knew the person in the picture.

"How did you manage to investigate a case from 15 years ago? For most cases, the statute of limitations would have expired by now," Liu Haozi probed again.

"What do you think?" Wu Junhao glanced at him.

"It can only be described as a serious case."

Wu Junhao remained silent.

Liu Haozi lowered his head and thought for a long time, almost going through all the legal knowledge and practical stories he knew, before saying, "Um, if I say I know him, wouldn't that be admitting what I did 15 years ago?"

"You're going to jail anyway, so isn't this basically clearing your name?" Wu Junhao wasn't too agitated. During his previous investigations, he had encountered people who claimed to know the person in the picture. In other words, no one who gets arrested would say they don't know them.

These are sketches of human faces, so there's bound to be some discrepancies. And this was 15 years ago. Randomly naming a few people is the most normal choice for these ruthless lambs to the slaughter.

"To fabricate lies when there are any, and to gain merit even without lying"—this is the experience summarized over many years by criminals who have undergone further training.

Liu Haozi thought for a moment before whispering, "If the information I provide leads to someone being caught, would that count as a meritorious service?"

"Of course it counts, and it's a major meritorious service." Wu Junhao became more serious at this point, his eyes fixed on Liu Haozi: "You really know him?"

"I might have seen him before, after all, it's been 15 years."

"Tell me, what's this person's name?"

"Fire Bull. It's a nickname he gave himself. I don't know his real name, but he's probably from Northeast China. He doesn't usually speak with a Northeast accent, but I heard it once during a conversation."

"Once? You've seen each other many times?"

“He’s come three times. The things he brings are all too hard; I guess some places wouldn’t dare accept them, so he comes back to me.” Liu Haozi said, glancing cautiously at Wu Junhao.

"Is there anything you recognize?"

"I guess he either stole it or robbed it," Liu Haozi said, letting out a long sigh.

Upon hearing this, Wu Junhao's eyes lit up, and he asked a series of questions.

The issue of the Northeastern accent alone can greatly narrow down the search area for the task force.

Liu Haozi only knew it was a serious case, but didn't know exactly how serious it was. Now that he started talking, he began to chatter on and on:

"This person is tall, probably 1.8 meters. Of course, kids these days are all tall, but in our time, 1.8 meters was considered super tall, you wouldn't see one in a whole class."

"He came directly to us. He had a bad temper, but his price wasn't high. He sounded like a thief, but he was too tall and strong. Being a thief isn't easy. He might as well be a lackey for some bosses. Of course, being a lackey for a boss isn't comfortable either."

“Each time he came, he would exchange items worth a few thousand yuan, but I don’t recall any worth over ten thousand. He came three times, with a few months between each visit, though I don’t remember the exact number.”

Wu Junhao then interrupted Liu Haozi, saying, "I need a specific time!"

"I really don't remember," Liu Haozi said.

"Don't you have the ledger? The time of each transaction should be recorded there. If you really can't remember, just think about what happened at the time; I need the specific time," Wu Junhao said firmly. This was the core requirement of the task force. Simply knowing a nickname required multiple verifications and searching for the person, which was far less convenient than checking hotel records. Even if the hotel records couldn't be found, tracing back through nicknames wouldn't waste any time.

At this point, it is necessary to ask Liu Haozi to state the exact time, hand over the account book, and verify its authenticity.

Liu Haozi was naturally unwilling to hand over the ledgers, as this would be tantamount to confirming his crimes. But at times like this, Wu Junhao had too many resources. All he needed to do was find someone to explain the policy to him, making him understand that the outcome would be the same, and his final struggle would cease.

Two days later.

The task force had gathered information from various sources, some true, some false, and some unclear, and a lot of time had been spent on the investigation.

However, with the cooperation of criminal police in various places, even though many details have to be traced back to 10, 15, or even longer ago, some of the information has been confirmed.

Among them, the most eye-catching was a mobile phone number provided by Liu Haozi.

Although it has been abandoned, the records from that year are still there. After extracting the relevant information, the location range and time limit of the suspect were made more specific.

The next day, a tattered notebook was solemnly presented to the three leaders.

"Look here." Shen Yaowei, still wearing a mask, completely forgot to take it off as he flipped through countless tattered notebooks to find the key information. He said indistinctly, "This is a record of the time and location from a hotel in Liyuan, which matches Huoniu. The key is that a phone number was filled in here. It must have been requested by the staff. You see, the first few digits he filled in are the same as the ones Liu Haozi gave us, only the last three digits are different. I guess either they are from the same batch of phone numbers, or he just made one up."

Fifteen years ago, most mobile phone numbers were anonymous. Some people would use up the credit on a SIM card and then throw it away. For some people, buying multiple SIM cards at once was quite reasonable.

Jiang Yuan carefully reviewed the evidence Shen Yaowei had found and asked, "Can we find the person who registered this? Sang Gengwei? Is that his real name?"

“It’s his real name. We’ve found him too. He matches the description of his appearance and build, and his age is right. He’s from Northeast China and currently lives in Dongping City. He hasn’t been abroad.” Shen Yaowei said, his face flushed slightly. “At the time, Liyuan City was conducting a 100-day campaign, and hotel management was quite strict. I estimate that Sang Gengwei hadn’t committed the crime yet.”

"Let's arrest them." Xu Taining came over, glanced at them, made the decision, and then turned back to continue communicating with the team.

Unless the case is declared solved, his net will not stop for a moment. No matter how reliable the suspect sounds, Xu Taining will not believe anyone unless there is solid evidence in front of him.

Wu Junhao, still in full armor, went into battle.

Song Tiancheng helped contact the local police.

At Xu Taining's insistence, Wu Junhao brought two fully equipped assault teams, totaling 72 men, armed with bulletproof vests, stab-proof vests, and conventional weapons such as shotguns, submachine guns, and pistols. The Dongping City Police Department, seeing this, provided half a squadron of criminal investigators, along with corresponding vehicles, shields, spiked clubs, police steel forks, first-aid kits, tear gas, and handcuffs. Both sides conducted a quick but effective pre-battle mobilization; the young officers were in high spirits and eager for glory.

The suspect, Sang Gengwei, is 45 years old and lives in a 140-square-meter apartment in downtown Dongping. He is 180 cm tall and weighs 210 catties. He owns a Corgi and is lying on the sofa with a thick-bottomed beer mug next to him, which can be described as an extremely dangerous weapon.

Wu Junhao prepared a complete contingency plan and solemnly submitted the attack plan to the task force.

Jiang Yuan, Liu Jinghui, and Xu Taining reviewed the document and signed their approval.

Five minutes later, the phone on the task force's desk rang again.

"We've caught him!" Wu Junhao's voice was filled with joy. "Request an on-site interrogation!"

“Agreed!” Jiang Yuan said.

Meng Chengbiao, on the other side, immediately pulled the person aside and began the interrogation according to the planned procedures.

Two hours later, two more names were vomited out.

Just as Liu Jinghui and others guessed, the three met at different times, contacted each other when committing crimes, and formed their own groups. The Li Huimin case was committed by Sang Gengwei in cooperation with another person.

Without further hesitation, Xu Taining suspended the investigations of other groups, dispatched scouts to arrest people based on the information provided by Sang Gengwei.

Huang Qiangmin, also rubbing his neck and panting heavily, reappeared in the conference room as if he had survived a disaster.

"So, does that mean the case is solved?" Huang Qiangmin asked Jiang Yuan for confirmation.

“Sang Gengwei’s footprints match the characteristics of the murderer, so we can identify them as the same person,” Jiang Yuan said.

"Okay, next is to arrest the other two." Huang Qiangmin's mental state had visibly improved.

It wasn't until Jiang Yuan spoke again that he said, "We can notify Captain Wei now."

"Hmm." Huang Qiangmin sighed softly, paused for a moment, and said, "When Lao Wei got married, we all went to drink. I also went to Lao Wei's house for a meal. His wife doesn't usually like to cook, but when we went, she would still cook and make a good meal."

The detectives in the conference room fell silent.

After a long silence, Huang Qiangmin said, "Notify Lao Wei, and Wei Yin as well."