Municipal Bureau, Criminal Investigation Division!
While Li Yi was in the county town exchanging national grain coupons with Tang Xue, Wang Anguo had already arrived at the Municipal Bureau to take up his post.
The city authorities placed great importance on this Criminal Investigation Division captain, who had been promoted on the front lines. Consequently, with the exception of the bureau’s top official, all the other deputy directors were present today to welcome Wang Anguo.
Although the rank of Criminal Investigation Division Captain isn’t particularly high, he is responsible for major and high-profile cases across the entire city—a classic example of someone with a low rank but significant power.
With someone like this, while it wasn’t necessarily essential to curry favor, it was best not to offend him.
Moreover, Wang Anguo’s older brother is the top official in Qingshan County, so they had to give him that face.
However, what no one could have anticipated was that just as the municipal bureau leadership was welcoming Wang Anguo to his new post, the Criminal Investigation Division suddenly received a report that workers had unearthed a body at the construction site for the renovation of the Old Bridge in the western part of the city.
The sudden homicide case brought the Municipal Bureau’s welcome reception to an abrupt halt. As the newly appointed captain, Wang Anguo immediately led his team to the scene.
On the way to the crime scene, Wang Anguo was in a state of utter shock.
He couldn’t help but recall the words Li Yi had spoken at his home the day before: two homicide cases—one old, one new.
Moreover, Li Yi had made it very clear yesterday: the old case would come first, followed by the new one.
Although he had always been aware of Li Yi’s abilities and knew he was uncannily prescient,
he never imagined it would be this precise—he hadn’t even had time to settle into his new position before a body was discovered in the city.
Moreover, according to the officer who responded to the call, the remains found at the scene were nearly skeletal, and a visual assessment suggested the time of death was no less than ten years ago.
There was no doubt about it—this was clearly an old case that had been unsolved for a long time, matching Li Yi’s prediction to a T.
Although Wang Anguo really wanted to go back right now to see Li Yi and ask him exactly what was going on,
he recalled Li Yi’s words: there were plenty of leads in this cold case, and a thorough investigation offered a good chance of solving it.
Therefore, he decided to go to the scene first.
The crime scene was located beside the old bridge over the Bawang River on the outskirts of the city. At that moment, the area was surrounded by a crowd of workers and a small number of police officers.
After Wang Anguo and his team arrived, an elderly police officer in charge of maintaining order at the scene immediately came over to report the situation.
“Captain Wang, we’ve secured the scene. There’s a nearly skeletonized body and a few pieces of clothing under the bridge pier—nothing else at the scene…”
After hearing the veteran officer’s report, Wang Anguo immediately asked, “Who called the police?”
The veteran officer immediately shouted toward the crowd of onlookers in the distance, “Where’s the foreman? Come over here!”
Soon, a middle-aged man in his forties hurried over and said, “I’m the foreman… I’m the foreman!”
“Tell me what happened here. How was the body discovered?” Wang Anguo asked immediately.
“Comrade Police Officer, we’re from the Municipal Road and Bridge Team. We were tasked with renovating this bridge. While demolishing one of the piers, we suddenly unearthed a metal oil drum from below. We found a dead body inside, so we called the police…”
After getting the details, Wang Anguo went personally to the site where the remains were found.
There, beside the bridge pier slated for demolition, was a large pit two or three meters deep. Inside the pit lay a rusty, large oil drum, tilted at an angle, with a skeleton huddled inside.
Recalling Li Yi’s mention that there were plenty of leads in this cold case, Wang Anguo immediately began examining the skeletal remains closely.
Having worked in law enforcement for so many years, Wang Anguo knew full well that to crack a cold case like this, the first step was to identify the victim.
Relying solely on these nearly skeletonized remains, it was highly unlikely that his identity could be determined.
Fortunately, the clothes on his body hadn’t completely disintegrated yet, and Wang Anguo could vaguely make out that they were a factory uniform.
He immediately called over several veteran police officers who had accompanied him to identify which factory the uniform belonged to.
Soon, a gray-haired veteran officer named Yan Guoqiang recognized it: “Captain, this looks like the uniform from the Municipal Textile Factory!”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. The employees at the Municipal Textile Factory still wear this type of work uniform—it’s very distinctive.”
Wang Anguo ordered immediately, “Take this gasoline drum and the remains back to the Municipal Bureau right away. Have the forensic team determine the time of death, and at the same time, send someone to the Textile Factory to find out if any of their workers have gone missing in recent years.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Notify all team members to return for a meeting. We’re setting up a special task force immediately to solve this case as quickly as possible!”
“Yes!”
…….
After returning to the Municipal Bureau from the crime scene, Wang Anguo first gave a brief report on the situation to his superior. Upon receiving instructions to solve the case as quickly as possible, he returned to his office.
Sitting in his chair with his eyes closed, he pondered for a long while before finally picking up the phone and dialing the number.
Qingshan County, Criminal Investigation Division!
Li Gang was packing up his things in his office when he suddenly heard someone calling him to the phone.
Without hesitation, he immediately ran to the switchboard room and took the receiver from the operator.
“This is Li Gang. Who’s calling?”
“It’s me, Wang Anguo!”
“Brother Wang, didn’t you just get to the Municipal Bureau? Why are you calling back so soon? Missing your old buddy?” Li Gang said with a laugh.
However, Wang Anguo replied in a serious tone, “Stop joking around. I’ve got something important to discuss with you!”
Li Gang immediately composed his expression and replied, “Got it. What’s going on?”
Wang Anguo was silent for a long moment before saying, “Gangzi, do you remember what Brother Li Yi told us yesterday?”
“What did he say?”
“Things aren’t going so well—two murders!”
“I remember. What’s up?”
No sooner had he asked than Li Gang froze, then cautiously inquired, “Brother Wang, it can’t be that accurate, can it?”
“Yeah. I just got a report from the public as soon as I arrived at the Municipal Bureau. A body was found on the outskirts of the city. Judging by the condition, the victim has been dead for at least ten years—an old cold case!”
Hearing Wang Anguo’s words, Li Gang couldn’t help but gasp.
He thought back to what Li Yi had said yesterday—one new case and one old case. This was definitely the old one!
The victim had been dead for over a decade, and the crime had occurred at least ten years ago—there was likely no older cold case in the Municipal Bureau than this one.
“Any leads?”
“A few, but not many!” Wang Anguo replied.
“Should I go talk to Brother Li Yi? He might have more concrete information!” Li Gang asked.
“Not just yet. I want to see how capable our colleagues at the Municipal Bureau are at solving cases. Let’s use this case as a test,” Wang Anguo said.
“That’s fine, but Brother Wang, don’t go too far. You know how many people are watching you right now, and how many are just waiting for you to slip up!” Li Gang said.
“I know. I’m not the type to let pride get the better of me. If things don’t work out, I’ll ask Brother Li Yi for help!” Wang Anguo said.
“Hmm! Is there anything I can do?”
“Nothing for now. Just keep an eye on Brother Li Yi for me after I’m gone.”
Then Wang Anguo added, “Also, I stopped by Director Zhang’s office last night to recommend you for the position of Criminal Investigation Team Captain. Tell your dad to get out there and make some moves—he shouldn’t just sit around waiting!”
“Got it!”
“Mm-hmm!”
……..