I Play Dungeons in the Police Station

Chapter 470 - 279: Unexpected Situation

"Yes."

Today, no one had originally planned to work overtime, but it was all initiated by a cup of coffee from Sun Zhidong.

At this point, the effects of the coffee were slowly fading, and everyone was starting to feel a bit sleepy. After hearing Li Xiang’s order, no one said anything, and they all began to pack up the files on their desks, preparing to return to their dorms.

For three consecutive days, the guidance group diligently organized every aspect of the case as per Li Xiang’s request. On the fourth day, the group’s case analysis meeting was held under Li Xiang’s chairmanship.

"The three days passed quickly, does anyone have anything to say about this case?"

The guidance group was very enthusiastic. Upon hearing Li Xiang’s question, everyone raised their hands, especially Sun Zhidong, who was sitting in the last row, raising his hand as high as he could, afraid that Li Xiang might not see him.

"Oh? Dongzi, do you have an opinion too? Go ahead and share."

Upon Li Xiang’s cue, Sun Zhidong smiled at everyone. No one despised him, not only because he was Li Xiang’s follower, but also because in a previous case, one of his remarks pointed the investigation in a new direction, turning a dead-end case into a breakthrough. Whether by luck or coincidence, he contributed significantly.

Besides, he’s a once-in-a-lifetime martial arts genius, who dares to laugh at him?

Who has the right to laugh at him?

"I believe the wife of the deceased has significant motive for the crime; this is a self-directed kidnapping case. After all these years, she surely knew about her husband’s infidelities, which could very likely be her motive for murder. After Shen Youlin’s death, she stands to benefit, including inheriting his estate."

Clearly, after studying the case files, Sun Zhidong became a proponent of the murder theory.

This situation had been discussed by Li Xiang and Jiang Tuo that night.

"Anyone else?"

Seeing Yang Ming raise his hand, Li Xiang nodded and said, "Yang Ming, you share your thoughts too."

This move by Li Xiang was evidently to groom Yang Ming and Sun Zhidong, letting them speak first to examine their reasoning and constantly correct their mistakes.

"In this case, the role of Li Xiaofang is crucial. She was the last person to meet the victim; clearly, she knew of Shen Youlin’s whereabouts, giving her opportunity to commit the crime."

"Then what is her motive?"

Everyone who commits a crime has a motive, and Li Xiang wanted to see how Yang Ming analyzed Li Xiaofang’s motives.

"From Li Xiaofang’s statement, it’s not hard to see she no longer has feelings for Shen Youlin. After their last meal until the incident, she had no clue? Not a single phone call? Unless she knew that even if she made the call, Shen Youlin wouldn’t answer."

Yang Ming presented his view, which seemed to hold up fairly well.

"And others?"

Li Xiang looked at the other members of the guidance group and started calling names: "Qi Liyan, you go ahead."

In the last case, she was the first to affirm Sun Zhidong’s idea, considering the perpetrator could be female, which made everyone take Sun Zhidong’s joke seriously.

Evidently, her ability to synthesize information was commendable.

"The current difficulty in this case is still the lack of a confirmed murder motive. Different motives lead to different investigative directions; there is the possibility of murder, kidnapping, or even random robbery and murder. Among these, if it’s random, solving the case is even more challenging. But regardless of the possibility, I believe we cannot easily dismiss any possibility unless we have ironclad evidence."

Qi Liyan’s analysis closely matched Captain Jiang’s from the other day, indicating she thoroughly understood the case files.

"Qi Liyan’s points are valid, which is also the case’s current dilemma. Does anyone have other opinions?"

Following this, Zhou Jian and others added insights to the case, but largely there was no newness, staying within these three motive frameworks.

Seeing the group without new ideas, Li Xiang reaffirmed everyone’s views: "Everyone’s views are good; the contents of the case files have been thoroughly understood. So now, let’s discuss from which angle we should begin our investigation for a breakthrough?"

Yan Xindong raised his hand first. Li Xiang glanced at him and nodded, signaling him to speak first: "The special investigative team has already comprehensively investigated these three lines, yet nothing turned up. I actually think we should return to the origin of the incident, to the place Shen Youlin disappeared. How he last lost contact, if we can retrace all his movements at the time, since all the incident-related monitor footage is available, we must start from that angle."

His perspective held some truth, like unraveling a cocoon, you must find the filament to pull through the threads.

And where Shen Youlin disappeared is a thread; only by following this thread can we unravel the thread of events.

"Are there other perspectives?"

Through collective brainstorming, by gathering various opinions, sparks of thought may emerge, maybe even revealing the truth directly like Sun Zhidong previously.

Lan Huina also raised her hand and said: "I basically agree with Yan Xindong’s opinion, but Li Xiaofang and Sheng Yehong’s suspicions cannot yet be entirely dismissed; their investigation should continue. Three years have passed, perhaps the foxes’ tails have shown; this time’s focus should be on people around them, whether any have been to Fuhui City."

Since there’s no crime scene, even if Li Xiang wants to use his crime simulation skill, he can’t; this is a limitation of that skill. Without a crime scene, how could he use it?

Li Xiang was also somewhat troubled; the case files are just files. They have to follow procedure to investigate, step by step summarizing.

The guidance group’s suggestions just now were all good and reasonable, so Li Xiang had no different views.

Finally, he summarized: "Everyone’s thoughts are correct, but we are limited in personnel and can’t investigate all three lines simultaneously like the previous special investigative team. So I decided to divide the work with the special team people, to comb through previous clues again. But I have one demand; about the case’s suspects, our guidance group will retake their statements, especially re-asking previous questions, then comparing with previous statements for any discrepancies, as this part could likely indicate where they previously lied."

Li Xiang’s method was simple; if the same question receives different answers in two statements, then the other party must have lied.

After three years, they surely can’t recall what lies they told last time.

This is a breakthrough point.

"Understood!"

After assigning tasks, the guidance group split into several teams, re-taking statements from previously suspected individuals.

However, half an hour later, Lan Huina’s team, responsible for retaking Li Xiaofang’s statement, suddenly approached Li Xiang and said: "Captain Li, we can’t reach Li Xiaofang. We called her family, her mother said Li Xiaofang has been missing for two months."

"What? Missing for two months? What does the Fuhui police say?"

"We asked, they’ve investigated too, no travel records for Li Xiaofang. According to her colleagues, she hasn’t been back to work since getting off her night shift on November 6."

Sun Zhidong, just beside Li Xiang, hearing Lan Huina’s report, immediately suggested: "Could Li Xiaofang’s disappearance be related to Shen Youlin’s case?"

"It’s not impossible. I think someone has pointed us the direction. Notify everyone, unfinished statements should be given to the special team’s comrades. We set off to Fuhui immediately. Lan Huina, go buy the tickets."

"Yes."