Diary of a Criminal Investigator

On one hand, it’s not easy to pinpoint his exact whereabouts; on the other hand, no one knows how many birth certificates he actually has.

Further, no one knows how many subordinates he has.

And then there’s Li San, whom Qian San mentioned.

This person needs to be caught too.

But currently, no one knows where this person is.

We only have the portrait provided by Qian San.

Fortunately, traces were left by the party at the Far Printing Shop.

The Far Printing Shop in Huangcheng County was sealed after everyone rescued the children, by the Criminal Investigation Team there.

The children sold by Li San have also been accounted for.

Three in total, with one located in Huangcheng County.

The remaining two are in the suburbs.

The relevant rescue mission will be completed by the Criminal Investigation Team of Huangcheng County.

As for the capture of Li San, Lu Chuan also entrusted it to them.

After all, it’s a case that happened in Huangcheng County.

Of course, Lu Chuan could personally follow up on this case too.

But since surveillance footage of the party was found at the Far Printing Shop, capturing them shouldn’t be particularly difficult.

If the Criminal Investigation Team of Huangcheng County can handle this case, it would be a significant achievement.

Solving cases is better organized based on jurisdiction.

Otherwise, capturing Li San might lead to other cases, and Lu Chuan would then need to continue following up.

Thus, sometimes breaking down a case might be more effective.

When Lu Chuan headed to Heishan for the rescue, Zhang Hui didn’t take Qian San to Qingzhou; instead, they returned to West Valley Town.

According to Qian San, Zheng Hu is elusive and suspicious by nature.

Whenever they traded, Zheng Hu would deliver the goods personally.

So, a few of them returned to West Valley Town, lying in wait.

The small supermarket was still doing a good business.

Zhang Hui became one of the workers moving goods inside.

Qian San cannot be fully trusted.

Getting caught out through negligence happens often, so Zhang Hui monitored Qian San very strictly.

Besides the time when he contacted Zheng Hu, Qian San hadn’t used any communication devices.

"Captain Zhang, you can rest assured, I will cooperate fully with the police work."

"I understand, only by capturing Zheng Hu can I redeem myself for my crimes. Rest assured, I definitely won’t play tricks since Zheng Hu has nothing to do with me, and it’s unlikely he’d take me away."

Qian San spoke earnestly, but no one could tell how much truth his words held.

The case regarding Heishan is already closed on Lu Chuan’s side, the people have been sent back, and the subsequent task of the children reuniting with relatives has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Team by Lu Chuan.

He’s already rushed from Heishan to West Valley Town.

And five days have passed.

It turned out that, since the first day after receiving the call, Zheng Hu hadn’t shown any response.

"Director Lu, is this guy planning some tricks?"

The people brought by Zhang Hui are from the first group of the Criminal Investigation Team, still accustomed to calling Lu Chuan Director Lu.

In the hotel, a few people ordered a local specialty of chicken stewed with mushrooms, having it delivered.

If Lu Chuan and Zhang Hui’s group of about 10 people were to appear together in West Valley Town, it would certainly arouse suspicion.

Therefore, apart from monitoring the duty personnel at Qian San’s supermarket, the others stayed inside a small inn in the town whenever they had nothing to do.

Even meals were delivered to them.

According to Zhang Hui’s inference, the official might not necessarily come from Qingzhou in half a month’s time.

It’s possible that after receiving Qian San’s trading request, they would come to West Valley Town ahead of schedule.

They’d observe covertly for a period, check for any anomalies, proceed with the trade if none, or flee promptly if there were issues.

"Probably not, they’re just trading partners, with Qian San now caught and sentenced, it’s expected for him to seek redemption."

"Helping Zheng Hu does him no good."

"Let’s wait, also, we’ve made some arrangements within the town, there shouldn’t be major issues."

No matter how cautious, careful, and cunning Zheng Hu is, he’s just one person.

Even if they come to West Valley Town ahead of time to check if there’s anything suspicious with Qian San, all they could do is look at the shop front briefly.

Or inquire if anything unusual happened recently.

There was little commotion when they captured Qian San, moreover, to be safe, Lu Chuan and Zhang Hui had already communicated with the local township police.

Coupled with the connections with Chen Yang of Huangcheng County, the township head and some leaders were informed.

There are out-of-town police handling a case here.

Thus, shops around Qian San’s supermarket were specially briefed, with instructions to immediately report to the police if anyone inquires!

West Valley Town is a secluded government area, if Zheng Hu indeed arrived, as soon as they showed any hint, capturing them would be very easy.

This place is essentially a bottleneck.

There’s only one road for coming in and going out.

Usually, residents of the town travel by public bus.

One trip a day, departing from West Valley Town to Huangcheng County in the morning, and returning in the afternoon.

If they’ve come, they either take this bus or drive themselves.

But in this remote place like West Valley Town, spotting a strange vehicle is very easy.

Thus, Lu Chuan and the others stayed another three days in West Valley Town, which was already the eighth day since Qian San called Zheng Hu.

"Captain Lu!"

At around three in the afternoon, the local police station chief, Zhao Juncheng, called.

"Someone just called, saying they saw a car with Qingzhou plates entering the town."

"It stopped at Wang Family Restaurant."

A strange vehicle?

"Should we go check it out?"

For the past few days, West Valley Town has been on high alert.

But as days have gone by, it seems like nothing happened in West Valley Town.

Aside from Lu Chuan and the others, there hasn’t been any outsider.

Now, there’s a strange vehicle?

"Let’s go and check it out!"

Based on Qian San’s description, the portrait of Zheng Hu has been sent to all the shop owners in West Valley Town.

Wang Family Restaurant is the most upscale eatery in West Valley Town, a single-story building with three rooms.

The chicken stew with mushrooms Lu Chuan and the others had was made by Wang Family Restaurant, very authentic in taste.

West Valley Town is not large, its one street only spans about two kilometers.

The only motel Lu Chuan and the others stayed in is a three-minute walk from Wang Family Restaurant.

When they reached Wang Family Restaurant, Lu Chuan immediately spotted the vehicle with Qingzhou plates parked inside the yard.

"Officer Zhao! It’s likely him!"

Outside, the boss was already waiting impatiently.

"I remember this person; he seems to have come before and had meals at our place several times, upon arrival, he even asked if anything strange happened recently."

There are no waiters at Wang Family Restaurant.

The boss himself serves as the cook, waiter, cashier...