Chapter 875: Identity Confirmed
"After the husband withdrew the money, he went out for a drink before the crime took place. He mentioned the money at the table, according to his memory."
Sun Biao started the projection, "But the people dining and drinking with him are all quite wealthy, and none of them fit the suspect’s profile."
"I also investigated the families of these people, and they don’t quite meet the criteria."
"Is there anything about the wife?"
Lu Chuan pressed on.
Sun Biao nodded, "On the wife’s end, she only attended a parent-teacher meeting for a training course. I’ve confirmed with her personally, and she didn’t mention the money to anyone."
"Did you investigate the people who attended the meeting?"
Lu Chuan thought for a moment and continued asking.
Sun Biao answered confidently, "Yes, there are two people who match the suspect’s age and height, one of whom is in Haizhou City, but the fingerprint collection didn’t match."
"The other person is not in Haizhou City and hasn’t been found yet."
Not in Haizhou City?
"What’s the situation?"
Lu Chuan looked at Sun Biao.
"This person is named Zhang Yang, forty-two years old. His son attends the same tutoring class as the child from the robbed family."
Sun Biao’s investigation results were quite thorough.
"During our investigation, to avoid alerting anyone, we didn’t contact the family directly but got in touch with the child’s parents through the school."
"Because the time was too short, there aren’t more clues at the moment."
Lu Chuan pondered for a moment.
Currently, the investigation status from the three squads isn’t very clear; only Sun Biao’s group has some leads.
Parent-teacher meeting...
The wife, who was robbed, couldn’t have mentioned to other parents at the meeting that she took out 100,000 yuan.
Moreover, if it was just about the parents knowing each other’s schedules, it seems unlikely the suspect could have obtained the keys to the robbed house.
"Alright, visit them one more time, ask if the child saw the parents taking money and then told classmates."
Lu Chuan looked at Sun Biao, "We can’t leave this lead unconfirmed; it must be verified."
"Yes!"
The investigation continues.
After arranging the work, Lu Chuan immediately headed to the precinct.
Chen Bing’s former unit leader also came today.
They were discussing Chen Bing’s funeral arrangements with the family.
In the meeting room, Lu Chuan met the Criminal Investigation Team’s captain.
"Captain Lu, any progress on the case?"
Li Tao frowned deeply, his face showing extreme fatigue.
His relationship with Chen Bing wasn’t just a typical superior-subordinate one.
Twenty years ago, Li Tao, fresh out of police academy, joined the Criminal Investigation Team, and Chen Bing mentored him.
He had been there for eight years.
Now, his mentor was dead.
Killed by the suspect they’d been chasing for fifteen years.
This case was Li Tao’s biggest source of pain.
When the crime occurred 15 years ago, Li Tao was in a team with Chen Bing, investigating these cases, and he had been involved back then.
Fifteen years have passed, and Li Tao has become the captain of the Criminal Investigation Team, but the case remains unsolved.
After Chen Bing retired, Li Tao advised him.
"After a life of hard work, you should rest well upon retirement. We’ll let the younger ones solve the case."
But...
No one could have predicted that the meal they had last New Year’s Eve would be their last farewell.
"As of now, there’s not much progress."
Lu Chuan stated frankly, "What we can confirm is that the suspect committed another home invasion robbery in Haizhou City three years ago."
"The case remained unsolved due to the small amount of money involved and the lack of clues left by the suspect."
"We’re conducting a thorough masonry investigation into that case, based on the suspect’s physical characteristics and age range we’ve established."
"Captain Lu... are you confident?"
Li Tao’s voice was hoarse, his eyes filled with anticipation.
But...
To be honest, Lu Chuan wasn’t confident.
Two of the investigation teams essentially have no possibilities left.
Only Sun Biao’s team has a lead, which is currently being verified.
However, in terms of likelihood, this lead is actually the least probable.
The suspect and the robbed wife’s only connection was attending a parent-teacher meeting, followed by a robbery, which is quite unlikely to occur.
So Lu Chuan didn’t mention this lead.
"Being confident... not very much, but there is some. Although our clues are few, we’ve done a lot of work, and many possibilities have been ruled out."
What Lu Chuan said might not be understood by most, but Li Tao could grasp the meaning.
"If a case has 10 leads, and nine are completely ruled out, then even if the remaining lead seems unlikely, its probability increases greatly."
"Captain Lu, about Old Chen’s case... Please take care of it!"
Although Chen Bing belonged to Li Tao’s Criminal Investigation Team, he died in Haizhou City, so Beizhou City has no jurisdiction, nor can he participate in the investigation.
Besides, they’re only a county-level Criminal Investigation Team, limited in both ability and equipment.
Definitely not comparable to Haizhou City.
Additionally, Li Tao knew of Lu Chuan’s reputation.
He’s a member of the newly formed provincial major crime squad and one of its key members.
He solved cases even in Beizhou City.
If Lu Chuan couldn’t crack it, then others likely couldn’t either.
Facing Li Tao’s bow, Lu Chuan quickly stood up, "Captain Li, don’t worry, we’ll give it our all!"
Buzz, buzz!
Just then, Lu Chuan’s phone rang.
It was Sun Biao.
"Captain Lu! We’ve found something!"
Twenty minutes later.
Lu Chuan had already arrived at the robbed family’s home.
It was the weekend, the child wasn’t in school, so Sun Biao went straight to the house to inquire about the child’s recollections.
"Captain Lu!" Seeing Lu Chuan arrive, Sun Biao greeted him downstairs.
"We’ve found something! A major discovery!"
"What’s the situation?"
Sun Biao nodded, suppressing his excitement, "When I inquired with the child, he recalled seeing the money his parents brought back when he attended tutoring."
"He mentioned this to classmates in the class."
"Crucially, on the day of the parent-teacher meeting, the wife remembered a detail."
"At the meeting, two people sat side by side, and during one part, the wife went to the restroom, asking Zhang Yang to watch her bag."
Sun Biao’s eyes were filled with excitement, "And there were keys to their home in the bag."
"If — I mean, if — Zhang Yang is the suspect, he could know about the 100,000 yuan in the house from his child."
"Additionally, he had the opportunity to access the wife’s bag, and if he was intent, could likely have duplicated the keys."