Detective: From the Police Academy

Chapter 181 Dereliction of Duty
Cai Xiaojing stood up quickly and felt cold sweat all over her back.

She didn't dare to delay and quickly took out the USB drive, then ran to the case analysis meeting room.

In the corridor, she met Tian Guanghan who had not yet finished get off work. He used to be Yang Qian's subordinate and now serves as the team leader of the Criminal Investigation Team 2.

Cai Xiaojing hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Old Tian, ​​quickly call Director Wei to the conference room! There is a major criminal case!"

Tian Guanghan was startled and immediately replied: "Okay, I'll go right away!"

Wu Dahao was still standing in front of the clue board. Seeing Cai Xiaojing running over with a panicked look on her face, he hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Why are you so anxious?"

Cai Xiaojing calmed herself down a little, walked to the computer below the screen, and inserted the USB drive into the computer.

She was operating the desktop computer, and soon, Wei Qunshan and the criminal police who had not yet left work arrived.

Seeing that everyone was present, Cai Xiaojing clicked on the video on the computer and projected the image onto the big screen.

As soon as the video started playing, it immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Wei Qunshan frowned and put his hands on his hips.

Wu Dahao was stunned with an expression of disbelief.

In an empty and old room, a man was tied up all over his body, with a guillotine hanging above his head. The rope tied to the guillotine was being roasted with a special oil lamp.

The number on the timer is 12:00, which means that after 12 hours, the rope will burn, the guillotine will fall, and the victim's head will move?

Even though Du Feng has been a police officer for so many years, he has never encountered such a scene.

For a moment, he was speechless.

The detective behind him was the same, his face was pale and his eyes were wide open.

From the beginning of the year until now, there has not been a single homicide in the Haijiang Branch, but today, two homicides occurred in succession, instantly tensing up their relaxed nerves.

After the video was played, Wei Qunshan immediately asked, "Where did the video come from?"

"Report mailbox! I found the USB drive in the envelope when I collected the mail tonight."

For other cases, Wei Qunshan could ignore them and not go to the scene, but murder cases were different. As the director, he had to find out the whole story.

Before he could continue asking, Cai Xiaojing said, "I collect mail every three days, and today is the day to collect mail."

Du Feng regained his composure and analyzed: "So, this USB flash drive was put into the report mailbox within these three days?"

This question immediately caught everyone's attention.

Three days? Even if the envelope was delivered yesterday, the man in the video must be dead!

In twelve hours, the rope will burn through!

Wei Qunshan took a breath and ordered, "This case is serious! This criminal is openly provoking the police! Xiaojing, go make a phone call and call back all the colleagues who have already left work! Especially Director Zhao Ming, ask him to extract the fingerprints on the envelope.

Du Feng, go to the security room now and find the guards. Ask them if they have seen any suspicious people wandering outside the police station in the past two days, and retrieve the nearby road surveillance!"

Wei Qunshan rarely cursed, and then he urged: "Hurry up, hurry up!"

The detectives in the conference room took immediate action, but everyone was nervous.

The guillotine, the oil lamp, the timer, and the man's desperate eyes were all deeply imprinted in their minds.

Everyone is on high alert and dares not slack off even for a moment!
Wei Qunshan returned to the office and dialed the city bureau without hesitation.

He understood that this case was of great importance and the life of the victim was at stake, and it was no longer something that could be investigated by one police station alone.

The call was made directly to Cao Hua. Logically speaking, Cao Hua was Wei Qunshan's superior, but the latter had never given the former any face.

After he explained the situation directly, he hung up the phone.

Then he hesitated for a moment and dialed another number.

……

Luo Rui was sitting on the floor with his upper body naked and sweating profusely.

There were a dozen puppet models placed in the training room. He had bought them and used them as imaginary enemies during training.

He would practice knife skills for a while every night.

The so-called knife technique is actually a kind of cold weapon confrontation in close combat.

In the special police force, some instructors are very powerful. They can knock down several people in just tens of seconds with just a dagger.

Moreover, he specifically chooses the opponent's vital parts to stab.

For example, neck, wrists, ankles, etc.

Luo Rui had seen Liao Kang's dagger fighting, and his movements were so fast that it was hard to keep up.

Fortunately, Luo Rui was a good boxer in his previous life, and he had decent agility and dodging skills. He learned dagger fighting and made rapid progress.

These days, he held a dagger in his hand and trained like he used to spin a pen in class.

He wiped the sweat off his face with a towel and went into the bathroom to rinse off.

After taking a shower, Luo Rui stood in front of the mirror and looked at another self.

His shoulders were straight, his body was getting stronger, the muscles on his cheeks were sharp, and he no longer looked like a student like he did a few months ago.

He also shaved his hair into a buzz cut, looking neat and clean.

As he walked out of the bathroom, his cell phone, which was placed on the sofa, rang.

After Luo Rui answered the call, he didn't even have time to dry his hair, put on his clothes, and took the elevator downstairs.

At this time, it was already half past nine in the evening. Mo Wanqiu was at home. An hour ago, he said he wanted to come up and play for a while.

She had the key to Luo Rui's house, but it had been taken away by He Chunhua, and she has been watched closely recently.

Luo Rui didn't inform her and drove the BMW quickly to the Haijiang Division.

Half an hour later, he came to the conference room and saw a large group of people sitting inside.

In addition to Wei Qunshan, Cai Xiaojing and other police officers from the Haijiang Branch, even the criminal police from the Municipal Bureau came.

Cao Hua and Wu Dahao sat at the top with serious expressions.

They were all surprised to see Luo Rui.

Especially Wu Dahao, his life was saved by Luo Rui, and the two have a good relationship.

However, no one greeted him, but looked at Wei Qunshan with frowns.

Luo Rui sat next to Cai Xiaojing, who pushed the laptop in front of him and clicked on the video for him to watch.

The video was only two minutes long, and Luo Rui had finished watching it just as Wei Qunshan finished his opening remarks.

He looked at his leader with a serious expression, and the latter stood up and stood in front of the big screen.

Wei Qunshan quickly introduced the source of the USB flash drive and explained: "The suspect who delivered the video was captured by the surveillance camera."

As he spoke, a surveillance video appeared on the screen.

A man wearing a hat and a scarf walked stealthily to the mailbox. When no one was around, he took out a brown envelope from his arms, threw it into the mailbox, and then left quietly.

The time shown in the video is 8:30 this evening, which is two hours ago.

Luo Rui's brain worked quickly. He watched the video again and found that the light outside the window was very dim, and there was a row of white woven light tubes hanging from the ceiling.

He speculated on the time of filming, and just as he had an answer, Wei Qunshan said, "It is now 10:30 in the evening. Calculating backwards, this video may have been filmed between 6 and 7:30 in the afternoon."

Wu Dahao immediately asked: "The countdown on the timer is twelve hours. That is to say, between 6:00 and 7:30 tomorrow morning, if we can't find this house, the rope will be burned and the victim's head will be chopped off by the guillotine..."

After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

There are still eight or nine hours until dawn. It seems impossible to find the victim in such a short time!
As the senior leader of the Municipal Bureau, Cao Hua remained silent.

But he understood that since Wei Qunshan called him, they were sharing the risk. This case was too difficult. If the victim unfortunately died and the case failed, it would be difficult for everyone.

At this time, Zhao Ming rushed into the meeting room. Wearing blue latex gloves, he said to Wei Qunshan: "Director Wei, no fingerprints were found on the envelope..."

No one was surprised because the suspect in the surveillance video was wearing gloves and it was impossible for him to leave such obvious fingerprints.

But why would such a cunning murderer appear under surveillance?

At this time, Du Feng was leading people to hunt down the suspect, hoping to catch him as soon as possible!
Zhao Ming walked quickly to the big screen, picked up the remote control and started playing the video.

When the transparent tape covering the victim's lips appeared on the screen, he quickly froze the picture.

Everyone looked at him strangely. Zhao Ming quickly enlarged the image and explained, "Look, there is a string of letters on this transparent tape..."

Cai Xiaojing suddenly realized and blurted out: "Isn't this the same tape as the one on the mouth of the female victim in the cement pipe?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the conference room immediately became noisy.

Wei Qunshan was also startled. He widened his eyes and was speechless for a moment.

Since Du Feng was not there, Cai Xiaojing had to stand up and recount the murder case that was discovered last night in detail.

Luo Rui had just arrived and apart from watching the video and listening to the case for a while, he knew nothing else.

Now, listening to Cai Xiaojing talking about another case, he was also shocked.

The female victim's limbs were tied and her lips were sealed with tape. The murderer trapped her and a wild dog in a cement pipe, where she was brutally bitten by the wild dog.

This way, it can be proved that the two cases were committed by the same murderer. The identity of the female victim is unknown. The crime happened on February 9th, and the police discovered the murder scene yesterday, which is February 24th.

Half a month! The female victim was eaten by wild dogs for half a month!

Today is February 25th. If the two cases are related, then this is the second one?

Everyone in the conference room was silent, and no one dared to say a word.

This case is too difficult and serious in nature, and no one dares to analyze it using the conventional homicide classification method.

Cao Hua was sweating profusely and wiping his forehead with a tissue. He thought that he should really find an excuse not to come here, so as to avoid getting into trouble later.

Wu Dahao came to the Haijiang Branch in the afternoon. He originally wanted to take the 224 case to the Municipal Bureau for investigation. Now that this has happened, he has begun to back down.

But the Municipal Bureau is the Municipal Bureau. If they shirk their responsibilities and obligations, when the time comes to investigate, inaction will be more serious than not solving the case.

In the past few years, criminal cases were generally handled by local branches, and the municipal bureau only provided technical training and professional support. But now it is different, the municipal bureau also has the function of solving cases.

When the problem is really hard to handle, they will draw police officers from various counties and cities to form a joint task force, just like the previous times.

At this time, Cao Hua had this idea. While the second victim was still alive, he quickly reported to the provincial department and set up a special task force, which would reduce his own pressure.

But at this moment, in the silence so loud that one could hear a pin drop, a hand was raised.

Cao Hua, Wei Qunshan and Wu Dahao all looked at Luo Rui.

Wei Qunshan wanted to speak, but Cao Hua spoke first: "Time is urgent and the task is heavy. I think we should report to the provincial department immediately and form a joint investigation team!"

He completely ignored Luo Rui. He really disliked this young man!

Because he has stolen the limelight from the Municipal Bureau many times, whether it was the kidnapping incident by the kidnapper in Luming Mountain, the rescue of Municipal Bureau's Wu Dahao, or the subsequent jewelry store and escort vehicle robbery cases, the Municipal Bureau did not get any credit at all!

Although Wu Dahao had a special status as a member of the Municipal Bureau's detachment, he was a relatively straightforward person. He had no ill feelings towards Luo Rui, but he had the same idea as Cao Hua. He believed that stealing the credit from the Municipal Bureau was like stealing his medal of honor.

But at the same time, the two did not want to take responsibility, so Wu Dahao immediately agreed: "I agree with Director Cao's opinion!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Qunshan looked at them coldly.

"Director Cao, Squadron Five, setting up a special task force will take time and manpower!"

He tapped the watch dial on his left wrist with his right index finger.

"There are only seven or eight hours left. If we can't find the second victim before dawn, his life will be in danger!"

Wei Qunshan's words were already very tactful. After so many years of ups and downs in the officialdom, how could he not know what these two people were thinking!

If the victim is already dead, you can do whatever you want to me. I won't bother with it.

But right now, it is a critical moment, and a qualified criminal policeman should take the responsibility of rescuing the victim!
Luo Rui's hand was still raised and he didn't put it down.

Everyone in the conference room looked at the leader sitting at the top, and then at Luo Rui.

There are two groups among them. The people from the city bureau have mocking eyes, while the people from the branch bureau have sullen faces! Tian Guanghan, Chu Yang, and Su Mingyuan all look very unhappy. After all, Luo Rui is the criminal team leader of the branch bureau.

Cao Hua still ignored Luo Rui and said, "Old Wei, it is because the case is important that we need to report it!"

He didn't say it very clearly, but his meaning was clear.

Wei Qunshan was about to speak when Luo Rui got tired of raising his hands, so he simply stood up.

Everyone thought he was going to say something to the leader, but he looked straight at Cai Xiaojing and asked, "Captain Cai, you just said that the video was found in the report mailbox, and now the same murderer is involved in both cases, so what about the first video?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the conference room suddenly became silent and stunned.

Yeah, what about the first video?

Everyone was panicked and anxious by the scenes in the video. They knew they had no ability to rescue the victim in a short period of time, so their brains stopped thinking.

It's like, your boss is talking to you, he's talking a lot, and you're nodding frequently, following his lead.

Afterwards I suddenly realized that this guy was completely wrong and confused himself.

To put it more seriously, there have been many flight errors in history that have caused plane crashes, and many of them were like this.

The co-pilot predicted the risk, but didn't dare tell the captain. After all, the captain was the most senior and capable, so he would definitely not be so careless as to not notice this risk.

It is precisely this that has caused an irreversible tragedy.

The order of hierarchy leads to collective dementia.

Now, this group of criminal police is in the same situation.

When Cao Hua, Wu Dahao and Wei Qunshan were talking about the special task force, Luo Rui was too lazy to pay attention to them. His thoughts had not stopped yet, so he asked this question.

Cai Xiaojing was stunned and opened her eyes wide. Seeing that everyone was looking at her, she quickly replied, "I just found this video!"

To make it clear, she explained, "I collect the letters in the report mailbox every three days. Today is not the third day, but I went to get it. And as I said just now, the suspect was captured by the surveillance camera and he delivered the USB flash drive at 8:30 tonight. Before that, I didn't find any other USB flash drives, and there was no second sight of him in the surveillance video!"

The conference room fell silent again.

Cao Hua didn't say anything, and Wu Dahao didn't dare to speak either.

Only Wei Qunshan pondered and said, "Because the transparent tape used to seal the mouths of the two victims is the same model, we can be sure that the murderer is the same person! We received the video of the second victim, so the first female victim must also have a video!"

At this time, Cao Hua said in a daze: "What if there is nothing?"

Luo Rui turned around on behalf of Wei Qunshan: "Of course there is!"

After he finished speaking, he looked at the detectives in the conference room and said, "Everyone is unwilling to talk about it, so I will say that this is a serial murder case! Judging from the murderer's behavior pattern, he seems to be playing a joke and challenging the police!
Not only did he send the video to the police, but he also instructed the police to rescue the victim within the specified time. If the police did not take action, the victim would surely die tragically!

The murderer has treated this as a game. If the police don't play with him, he will continue to play in different ways!
Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that this was a revenge killing. We should immediately investigate the social relations of the two victims to see if there are any common points. Starting from this aspect, we may be able to find clues about the murderer!
But time does not allow, the only thing we can do now is to find the house where the victim is trapped!"

Luo Rui talked incessantly and had already characterized the murder.

To solve a case you need the instinct of a wild beast!
The criminal police in the conference room were not shocked. After all, they could also come up with these analyses. However, Luo Rui's words were very inspiring.

The leaders didn’t dare to make a conclusion, so he did!

While the leaders were arguing, he went straight to the analysis of the case!

Wei Qunshan nodded uncontrollably, but Cao Hua looked unhappy. He pointed at Cai Xiaojing and said, "Your Haijiang Branch Office actually received the video of the second victim, so there must be a first one. Now your office should quickly check to see if there are any omissions!"

These words implied self-blame, and Wei Qunshan had a cold face.

Cai Xiaojing also felt a little guilty, as she was afraid that the murderer did not submit the report through the reporting mailbox.

The daily collection of letters is entrusted to trainee police officers. If there is any omission, it will be disastrous!

At this moment, the trainee police officers have already gone off duty, and it will take time to call them over.

Cai Xiaojing, Chu Yang and Su Mingyuan quickly stood up and planned to look for the letter immediately.

But Luo Rui then said: "The murderer sent the report through the reporting mailbox. What does he want to say in this way? If it is really a revenge serial murder case, then we'd better not limit it to the reporting mailbox of Haijiang Branch!
The city bureau and each branch have a reporting mailbox. It would be best to send someone to collect it now to see if there is any video of the first victim! "

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Dahao's brain froze.

His face was pale, and his throat seemed to be blocked, so he couldn't speak.

Wu Dahao cleared his throat and asked Wei Qunshan, "Director Wei, when did the first case occur?"

Wei Qunshan saw that he looked flustered and suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart, but he still replied, "Half a month ago, that is, February 9th."

February 9th?

Wu Da's body froze. February 9th!
Although his mind was a mess, he still recalled in a corner that one night after get off work, when he drove out of the Municipal Bureau parking lot, he looked through the rearview mirror and saw a stranger delivering a letter to the Municipal Bureau's reporting mailbox.

And this stranger was the man captured by the surveillance camera outside the Haijiang Branch building!

The hat on his head and the scarf around his neck were exactly the same as the ones he had seen.

But he didn't care at the time!

Wu Dahao's head was covered in cold sweat, and he was struggling with his conscience!

Say it? Or not?

If he said that, all the police officers in the Municipal Bureau were derelict in their duties. Not only would he and Cao Hua be criticized by the Provincial Department, but in serious cases they would also be suspended for investigation!
If I don't tell anyone and conceal this matter, it will have a great impact on the case and it will be unfair to the victim! And I will also be breaking the law!
When Cao Hua heard what Luo Rui had just said, his face immediately darkened.

"Luo Rui, how come the murder case that happened in your Haijiang Branch is also related to the Municipal Bureau?"

Luo Rui was about to speak when Wu Dahao stood up tremblingly.

Facing everyone's gaze, he mustered up his courage and spoke: "That... the city bureau has received such a letter. If I remember correctly, late at night on the day before February 9, when I was off work, I saw a strange man delivering a letter to the city bureau's reporting mailbox. This man is the same person you captured on camera! But I was in a hurry to get off work at the time and didn't pay attention!

I failed in my duty!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the conference room immediately became noisy!
Wu Dahao sat back in his chair, sweating profusely. Wei Qunshan reached out and patted his trembling shoulders twice.

Cao Hua's face turned pale. He didn't expect Wu Dahao to tell the truth without his permission. But he never thought about why this situation happened.
The criminal police from the Municipal Bureau could no longer sit still. They were arrogant at first, but now they all lowered their heads and tried their best to hide themselves.

This matter will definitely be reported to the provincial department, and they will be subject to full review!
The fact that Wu Dahao could make such a decision shows that although he is not a qualified criminal policeman, he is also brave enough to take responsibility!

Cao Hua was still in a daze and had not made any plans for the next step.

The matter was of great importance and time was limited, so Wei Qunshan ignored him and directly called the Municipal Bureau, asking a technical detective officer he knew to quickly pick up the letter from the mailbox.

After that, the meeting room was silent and no one spoke.

Only Luo Rui and Zhao Ming leaned over the laptop, watching the video of the second victim being trapped and talking in low voices.

I caught a cold and had a fever. I wanted to take a day off, but after thinking about it, I decided to bite the bullet and finish today's task.



(End of this chapter)