I'm not a genius detective

Chapter 157 Searching for Li Dechang

Twenty minutes later.

Municipal Bureau.

The task force command center received a call from the police officer in charge of monitoring and protecting Li Dechang.

Four police officers from the detachment arrived at the construction site ten minutes earlier, but they still hadn't seen Li Dechang. At this point, more than twenty minutes had passed since the originally agreed meeting time.

The phone call went through, but no one answered.

The four police officers knew their mission was to protect Li Dechang. Since they were protecting him, it meant that the special task force suspected him to some extent as the killer's next target. So, after failing to see him and being unable to contact him frequently, they immediately reported the situation.

Upon learning that Li Dechang had suddenly gone missing, the three team leaders immediately became alert, instructing the police officers responsible for his protection to make continuous phone calls, while simultaneously leaving the meeting room and rushing to the Technical Investigation Branch.

Losing contact at this critical juncture is not a good sign.

Three possibilities.

First, Li Dechang had a case against him. After receiving the call from the police, he pretended to agree and then ran away.

Secondly, Li Dechang has encountered some personal matters and is temporarily unable to answer the phone, but may call back later.

Third, Li Dechang was the killer's next target and has already been attacked.

There is no significant difference between the three possibilities; the task force must assume that Li Dechang's disappearance is the third possibility.

The captain of the technical investigation team was at the same level as Gao Bingyang, so the latter came personally to improve the speed of mobile phone positioning, even if it was just a minute faster.

"Old Shen! Set a phone number!" Gao Bingyang called out as he walked into the room of the Technical Investigation Detachment.

"Gao Zhi?" Shen Yunguo was in front of his computer instructing his subordinates when he heard the voice and looked up. "What's going on?"

Gao Bingyang: "It's related to a series of murders, and it's urgent!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yunguo became serious and immediately arranged for people to work, quickly pinpointing the approximate location of Li Dechang's phone number.

It's right near the construction site.

"Make a call, find him," Gao Bingyang said to Wu Bin, who then took out his phone and gave orders to the four police officers responsible for protecting Li Dechang.

The area isn't large; you'll find it quickly.

Shen Yunguo asked, "Old Gao, are you alright? Who is this guy?"

He sensed something was off and guessed that this Li Dechang was likely a key figure in the serial murder case.

The technical investigation team did not join the task force; they only provided technical support on the periphery and did not participate in the core of the case, so Gao Bingyang did not say much.

Shen Yunguo didn't care. He was just asking casually. As the detachment leader, he was very clear about disciplinary issues.

The three team leaders returned to the task force.

The atmosphere was quiet during the wait; the air seemed to freeze. All three were experienced detectives, and in this situation, Li Dechang was likely in trouble.

Let's not guess yet, just wait and see. What if it's a misjudgment and a false alarm?

Ten minutes later, the phone rang.

As Wu Bin listened to the report, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper. He ordered, "Expand the search area for clues and retrieve the surveillance footage from the nearest road."

He put down his phone and looked at Gao Bingyang: "We were attacked. The electric bike is lying on the side of the road, and the phone is in the bushes nearby."

"What the hell!"

Gao Bingyang slammed his hand on the table. He had no more illusions. Li Dechang was probably the next target of the murderer in this case.

Moreover, it is very likely to be the last target.

This time, the modus operandi was slightly different. In the first two cases, Wu Cuicui and Xiong Chuan had their phones on them, but Li Dechang's phone was thrown away.

It's easy to understand if you think about it for a moment. The murderer was probably racing against time. He didn't choose to do it directly near the construction site, but instead threw away the phone and took the person away.

Wu Bin said, "Did he know that the police were about to find out about the car accident? A large number of police officers were suddenly sent to reinforce the area in the urban-rural fringe. He knew he couldn't wait any longer and took action hastily."

"Never mind that for now." Gao Bingyang, his emotions flustered, picked up a cigarette from his pack, lit it, and said, "Activate the Skynet video tracking system. Using Li Dechang's phone location as the center, search for suspicious vehicles. It's only been less than an hour; there shouldn't be many vehicles around."

Furthermore, reinforcements were sent to the construction site, and the technical team also went. Given the short timeframe, there should be plenty of evidence left at the initial crime scene.

The suspect took Li Dechang away, most likely by car.

Wu Bin: "Okay, I'll arrange it right away. Shall we continue the reconnaissance on the perimeter?"

Gao Bingyang: "Pause. All police forces, withdraw and focus all efforts on finding Li Dechang's whereabouts."

The urban-rural fringe area.

The quiet and peaceful atmosphere of the surrounding streets was shattered in the next second as people came and went. Many police officers in uniform and in plainclothes received orders to cease their investigation and quickly got into their vehicles to return to their posts.

From a distance, the streets appeared somewhat chaotic, as if some major, unknown event had occurred.

The crowd watched curiously for a while before turning their attention away, realizing it was none of their business and life had to go on.

Tong Feng started the car: "What happened? Is Li Dechang really the killer's next target?"

Han Ling fastened his seatbelt and said, "They're just missing. We can only confirm it when we see them, or... when we see their bodies."

Tong Feng: "Can it be saved?"

As the vehicle started, Han Ling was pessimistic about the situation: "I'm afraid it's too late. Killing someone only takes a few seconds. Since he's already missing, the murderer won't let him go and won't bother with any rituals. He'll take his life as quickly as possible."

Tong Feng: "Just for a car accident? It can't be that serious, can it?"

Han Ling: "The result has already occurred, so there's no point in talking about this. If it's really about avenging the car accident victims, then I don't know why it involves Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui."

Li Dechang did not flee the scene; he remained at the scene and called 120 (emergency services) and 110 (police). Therefore, there should be no question of him failing to provide assistance.

Tong Feng: "So it has nothing to do with the car accident? The murderer's motive came from other sources."

Han Ling thought for a moment and said, "It's more likely to be a car accident. Maybe... something happened before the car accident? For example, Wu Cuicui and Xiong Chuan indirectly caused the car accident, or they had done something bad to the victims and caused consequences, and the suspect took them down along with them."

"Since the decision to kill has already been made, it makes no difference whether it's one person or three."

Tong Feng: "You're making it sound so easy. That's murder, the difference is huge."

9 p.m.

The main leaders and team leaders of the task force gathered in the conference room to discuss the serial murders and car accidents. The peripheral tracking had begun, but the outcome was already not optimistic.

Li Dechang disappeared around 7:30, and an hour and a half has passed now.

An hour and a half is enough time to do a lot of things.

Li Dechang is likely to face dire consequences.

No one suggested any other possibilities; doing so would seem like self-deception. The fact that Li Dechang disappeared right after the car accident was discovered was too much of a coincidence to explain.

Moreover, the car accident was related to both Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui; the former lived nearby, and the latter walked that road every month.

Currently, the task force must link the car accident to the serial murders.

The only unavoidable question is: what does the car accident have to do with Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui?
The large screen is currently displaying the car accident investigation file, which is very detailed. However, there are some suspicious points. Because these points are unrelated to the accident itself, the traffic police and criminal investigators who handled the case at the time did not pursue them further after their investigation yielded no results. One of these points is the disappearance of the old woman's money; she had a habit of carrying money with her, and the perpetrator, Li Dechang, claims to be unaware of this.

The deceased was named Zhu Guilan. She was a teacher before retirement. In her early years, she worked at a primary school a few kilometers away from the accident site, and her home was also there.

Zhu Guilan has moderate Alzheimer's disease. She is sometimes lucid and sometimes confused. Her husband has passed away, and her family consists of only her son, daughter, and granddaughter.

She is an elderly person left behind in the countryside.

Zhu Guilan raised her children to be outstanding; both of them went on to university and earned doctorates, and then studied abroad on government scholarships, staying overseas after graduation.

It's somewhat sad that the elderly are left behind in their later years, unable to enjoy the company of their children.

Of course, the children may have suggested taking the elderly person away, but the elderly person may have refused, unwilling to leave their country.

Every family has its cupboard.

Three years ago, Zhu Guilan was usually taken care of by her niece, not her personal caregiver. Her niece would come twice a day, once at noon and once in the evening, which was considered quite dedicated.

The relatives have all discussed it and agreed that the niece will provide financial support.

It's better to have family members take care of you than to hire a stranger as a caregiver.

Zhu Guilan is in good health and capable of taking care of herself. However, due to Alzheimer's disease, she sometimes goes out alone and can't find her way home. Therefore, her niece leaves a card on her so that kind people can help call the police if they see it.

The car accident happened when Zhu Guilan was out for a stroll; she had walked quite a distance, several kilometers away.

After the car accident, the children returned to China to handle the situation, signed a letter of understanding, and did not make things difficult for the perpetrator. They then left. With their mother gone, they no longer have any attachment to this country and probably won't set foot there again for a long time.

"Who would avenge Zhu Guilan?" Wu Bin asked. "Her children are all abroad, her niece isn't that close to her and doesn't have the physical ability to kill someone violently, so it can't be a student, can it?"

Zhu Guilan's interpersonal relationships consisted only of relatives, friends, and students.

Liang Yan said, "It's hard to say. It depends on how Zhu Guilan treats her students. If she is a student, the profile should be quite clear."

Gao Bingyang nodded: "If he is a student, it is very clear. We can say that the suspect's original family definitely had problems, which led to a certain degree of distortion in his personality. Zhu Guilan gave him warmth during his student days, and her kindness is greater than heaven."

Based on this assumption, the motive for the crime becomes more plausible.

Everyone agreed.

Under normal circumstances, children would certainly not seek revenge, but if Zhu Guilan had done someone a favor and that person had a twisted and obsessive personality, it could lead to a series of murders.

After all, Zhu Guilan died in a car accident, not murder, and most people wouldn't commit revenge, so the reason isn't sufficient.

But the question remains: what does the car accident have to do with Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui?

With no clues and no way to speculate, do we really have to wait until the murderer is caught to get the answer?
Or perhaps the direction was misjudged, and the murder was unrelated to the car accident?
At this moment, a police officer pushed open the door: "Chief Gao, we found a van with a fake license plate. Judging from the direction it was traveling, it may have come from the construction site where Li Dechang works. The driver is wearing a mask so we can't see his face, but we can tell that he is male."

Gao Bingyang turned his head: "Time."

Police officer: "The time of the surveillance footage is 7:50."

Gao Bingyang glanced at the clock: "Have you tracked them down? Where are they going?"

Police officer: "It disappeared from the surveillance footage. The last intersection it appeared at was on Jianyang Street. It turned onto Jianyang Street and was going very fast, exceeding the speed limit of 80 to 50."

Gao Bingyang: "Map."

In the conference room, a police officer was operating a computer. A map of Qingchang appeared on the screen, with a focus on Jianyang Street and its extensions.

It was in the suburbs, very close to the river, with a wilderness and an urban village called Xijiang.

The appearance of the river made Gao Bingyang's face turn somewhat grim; the bodies of Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui were both found by the river.

Wu Bin said, "It seems that they really want to take action against Li Dechang. The reason for choosing the riverside is either because of some special obsession, or because they have already made the choice in advance and will not change it easily. I tend to think it is the latter."

The suspect is very familiar with the river; he probably fishes there frequently.

He had already arranged for personnel to investigate, and so far no suspicious persons have come into the police's sights.

Just as he finished speaking, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door, and another police officer strode in: "Chief Gao, we received a report that a vehicle was on fire. It was a minivan, located near Xijiang Village. We've been tracking a minivan with a fake license plate, and we believe it's this one."

When a vehicle catches fire, the alarm information is usually not transmitted to the municipal bureau, but the special task force, together with the traffic police department, had been monitoring this route, so they received the news immediately.

The meeting room erupted in commotion.

Gao Bingyang looked at the big screen. The vehicle was driving along Jianyang Street. After a few kilometers to the end, it would reach Xijiang Village. A river ran through the village, which was a major feature of the place.

"Notify all police stations near Xijiang Village to immediately deploy police forces to block off intersections within a five-kilometer radius of the fire site, strictly check every departing vehicle, register all vehicle owners and passengers' information, and detain any suspicious persons directly."

"Tell them to be careful, as there may be highly dangerous criminals among them."

Gao Bingyang has extremely rich experience in handling cases. Assuming that the driver is the murderer, and that setting the car on fire was probably to destroy all traces, then he could try to corner the suspect in an encirclement.

Having abandoned the vehicle, how did the suspect leave? It's not easy to get a taxi in that area.

Even if I'm lucky enough to get a taxi, I should still make it in time.

It cannot be ruled out that an investigation might be conducted through the taxi company to identify any vehicles operating near the fire site.

"Yes!"

Gao Bingyang issued a second order: "All search teams shall set off and search along the river, centered on the point where the van caught fire, in order to find Li Dechang's whereabouts."

"Yes!"

Everyone went downstairs, and numerous police cars turned on their sirens and drove away from the municipal police station, heading at full speed towards Xijiang Village.

When the firefighters arrived at the scene, the flames had already been extinguished. The van was burned down to its shell and was sitting alone in the desolate wilderness by the roadside. There were no surveillance cameras nearby, and even the streetlights were hundreds of meters away.

The car owner was nowhere to be found.

It's obvious that this was done intentionally—the car was driven here and burned with an ignition source, such as gasoline.

The burning of the vehicle indicated that everything that needed to be done had been done, and Li Dechang's chances of survival were extremely low.

With powerful flashlights on, the police officers from the special task force divided into areas and went to the sparse forest across the river to search the vicinity.

"The suspect's time frame for committing the crime was shortened rather abruptly," an officer whispered.

A colleague from the investigation team said, "There might only be one person left, or they might realize that the police investigation is about to make a breakthrough."

Han Ling and Tong Feng were among them; they were responsible for the area closest to the riverbank, advancing along a route parallel to the river.

Where there is a river, there are fishermen. After walking for more than ten minutes, you can occasionally see them, with their vehicles parked by the roadside.

The suspect certainly wouldn't have made a move in front of the fisherman.

It's at least fifty meters from the main road to the riverbank; the horizontal and vertical distances are quite long, and it will take some time to search the entire area.

The "human" figure is very large; you're sure to see it if you're here.

……

P.S.: Today's update is a trip back to my hometown.

Grandma passed away.

(End of this chapter)