The three teams returned to the police van.
Zheng Kaixuan sat in the second row. He spread out a map of the Moon River and circled it with a pencil. "This is our current location, downstream of the Moon River. The width of the riverbed is more than 100 meters."
Han Bin studied the map and pointed at the river upstream.
"The Moon River is more than 30 kilometers long, and it's not a straight line. If you go upstream for eight kilometers, there will be a ninety-degree bend. The river basin covers an area of nearly 200 square kilometers, so it won't be easy to determine the exact location of the corpse."
"There are at least ten villages on both sides of the river. The amount of work involved in the investigation will be too much," Li Hui agreed.
"Since the investigation will be difficult, let's start from the most likely place to dump the corpse." Zheng Kaixuan took the pencil and drew an X on a bridge upstream.
"There are two bridges upstream of the Moon River. Let's start from these two bridges."
"Captain Zheng, do you have any evidence, or have you found any clues? Why do you think the suspect would dump the corpse from the bridge?" Sun Xing asked.
Zheng Kaixuan did not discover any new clues. This was only a conjecture based on his experience. In response, he asked, "Sun Xing, if you were a criminal suspect and you wanted to dump the body in the river, where would you choose?"
Sun Xing pondered for a moment. "Just like Han Bin said, there are many scenic spots nearby. There are many tourists, so I definitely wouldn't dump the corpse here. I would probably follow the river upstream and find a place with no people to dump the corpse." "This method of dumping the corpse has a certain level of difficulty.
There are no straight roads on both sides of the Moon River, so your car will not be able to drive over. It will be very inconvenient to move the corpse. Also, the river on both sides of the Moon River is very steep. Even if you manage to move the corpse to the river, you will only be able to throw it at the edge of the river. The water level is very shallow, and the corpse is tied to a heavy object. It is very likely that it will be stranded and discovered long ago. "Zheng Kaixuan analyzed the method of dumping the corpse in the river and pointed at the bridge.
"Dumping the corpse on the bridge is much easier. The car will drive directly onto the bridge, and the trunk will be only a few meters away from the edge of the bridge. Most importantly, it can be thrown directly into the middle of the river. The water level is deep, and the heavy object tied to it will sink directly to the bottom."
Han Bin listened with interest. The possibility of dumping the corpse on the bridge was very high. If the headless object's rope was not broken, the corpse would not have been washed downstream, and the case would not have been discovered.
"Impressive. As expected of Captain Zheng. Why didn't I think of that?" Li Hui's flattery was very direct. He did not intend to hide it at all.
"Zheng Kaixuan was speechless. Could it be more technical?
"Captain Zheng, your speculation is very reasonable. I also think that the suspect might have dumped the body on the bridge, but it's not easy to confirm it." Han Bin took out a pack of cigarettes and distributed them.
"Can we salvage it from the river? We might be able to find the head of the corpse," Wei Zimo suggested.
"The water level of the Moon River is relatively high, and the current is relatively rapid. If I want to fish in the river, the sluice gate upstream must be closed. If I can't produce any evidence, it will be very difficult to apply to the higher-ups based on my own speculation," Zheng Kaixuan said.
The purpose of the sluice gate was to control the water level and release the flood. If there was a problem, it would not be a small matter.
"No wonder the suspect likes to dump corpses in the river. The river is a natural barrier. We can only watch. There's nothing we can do even if we want to search." Sun Xing sighed.
"Fortunately, it's not the Yellow River or the Yangtze River. Otherwise, we would have no choice but to give up." Li Hui smiled.
"We should have looked for the source of the corpse. Perhaps the family of the deceased has already reported them missing," Wei Zimo said.
"Don't talk about these useless things. Think more about the clues," scolded Zheng Kaixuan.
"There should be surveillance on the bridge, right?" Sun Xing said.
"That's hard to say. Besides, surveillance has blind spots. Who would dump corpses in front of the camera?" Wei Zimo felt that the possibility was not high.
After a moment of silence, Han Bin said, "I have a stupid idea. Maybe we can find some clues."
"It doesn't matter if it's smart or stupid. As long as we can find some clues, just say it," said Zheng Kaixuan.
"There are surveillance cameras on the bridge. Naturally, it's the easiest to check the surveillance cameras on the bridge. However, if there are no surveillance cameras on the bridge, we can check the surveillance cameras around the bridge. Based on the different driving directions, we can record the average driving time between the two surveillance cameras. Even if it's easier to dump corpses on the bridge, the suspect still needs to observe his surroundings. The car definitely won't drive too fast. We can only dump the corpses when there's no one around. Plus, stopping, moving, and dumping the corpses into the river will also take some time. It will definitely take more time than other vehicles driving in the same direction," said Han Bin.
"Tsk tsk, this method is really stupid." Li Hui shrugged.
"It's a bit stupid, but as long as we check carefully, we might really find some clues," Wei Zimo muttered.
"How can there be so many smart methods in the criminal investigation field? The suspects aren't stupid either. If there's a way to catch them easily, they would have already avoided it." Zheng Kaixuan agreed.
According to his experience, more than 70% of cases were solved using stupid methods.
"Of these two bridges, one is about four kilometers upstream, and the other is about 11 kilometers upstream. There's a backwater bay about eight kilometers away from here. If the corpses were dumped from the bridge that's 11 kilometers upstream, there's a certain chance that the corpses would be stranded there. So, it's more likely that the corpses were dumped on the bridge that's four kilometers away from here. Let's concentrate the police force to check this bridge first." Zheng Kaixuan arranged.
Everyone nodded and agreed with Zheng Kaixuan's arrangement.
"Captain Zheng, I suggest that we make a copy of the surveillance footage around the two bridges before we officially compare the surveillance footage. The deceased was killed about twenty days ago, and the corpses might also be dumped about twenty days ago. The surveillance hard drive might be overwritten." Han Bin said worriedly.
"Not bad. That's thoughtful." Zheng Kaixuan nodded and ordered.
"Han Bin and Li Hui, collect the surveillance footage around the bridge that's four kilometers away. I'll bring Wei Zimo and Sun Xing to collect the surveillance footage around the bridge that's 11 kilometers away. At the same time, visit the surrounding people and see if there's anything unusual around August 30th."
"Yes."
Everyone agreed and split up.
Wei Zimo drove the car and dropped Han Bin and Li Hui off near the bridge, while Zheng Kaixuan and the other two continued to rush to the bridge upstream.
After Han Bin and Li Hui got out of the car, they first observed the bridge. There was a stone tablet by the side with the words "Tongan Bridge" written on it. Beside it were a few rows of smaller words that introduced the bridge and its construction time.
The Tongan Bridge was nearly a hundred meters long, with two lanes on both sides and a sidewalk on the outermost side of the bridge. There was a meter tall guardrail on the outside of the bridge to prevent pedestrians from falling.
Han Bin and Li Hui walked around the bridge. The water under the bridge was rapid, and there were boats passing by occasionally. However, they didn't notice anything unusual.
What made Han Bin happy was that there was a surveillance camera installed on the north side of the bridge, and it might capture the suspect's vehicle. However, this surveillance camera wasn't under the jurisdiction of the traffic police, but the Transportation Bureau.
Han Bin immediately contacted Zheng Kaixuan and asked him to retrieve the surveillance footage. Zheng Kaixuan calling the Transportation Bureau was more useful than him and Li Hui personally making a trip.
Thereafter, Han Bin and Li Hui searched the roads on both sides of the bridge and copied the surveillance footage of the nearby shops.
It had been twenty days since the body was disposed of. It had been so long that almost no one remembered what happened during that period of time.
It was already six o 'clock in the evening when they returned to the station.
Han Bin and Li Hui didn't return to Team 2's office. Instead, they went to the temporary office of the task force. This office was also in the Criminal Investigation Building, but Team 2 was on the second floor, while the temporary office was on the third floor, which was quieter.
The office was large with more than ten desks. Zheng Kaixuan and the others hadn't returned yet, and Team 1 wasn't in the office either. Only Han Bin and Li Hui were in the empty office.
The two didn't stay idle either. They started to organize the surveillance footage and made a topographic map of the area around the bridge. They attached the serial numbers of each surveillance footage to make it easier for them to compare.
These were just the surveillance footage of the shops. They still had to retrieve the surveillance footage from Skynet later. If they didn't organize and categorize the footage, they would be confused first, not to mention comparing the time each vehicle took to cross the bridge.
At around seven o 'clock in the evening, Zheng Kaixuan and the other two returned to the temporary office. Other than bringing back the surveillance footage of the other bridge, they also went to the Transportation Bureau and brought back the surveillance footage of Tong An Bridge.
Li Hui immediately looked at the surveillance footage of Tong An Bridge. However, to their dismay, the surveillance footage of Tong An Bridge from twenty days ago had been overwritten. They could only see footage from September 4th at the earliest.
This was just the beginning. Li Hui looked at the surveillance footage of some other shops. Most of the surveillance footage had a limited storage capacity and could only be stored for about fifteen days. The surveillance footage from before that was overwritten.
Zheng Kaixuan's expression didn't change. He had seen this kind of situation many times. Many cases had their leads cut off in the middle of investigation. He asked Sun Xing to send the footage to the technical team to try to recover the overwritten surveillance footage. He didn't have much hope for this.
Fortunately, the surveillance footage of Skynet could be stored for about a month. They could still search for new leads …
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