Because the case involved too many people, and the killer had not been caught, Li Hongjiang could not order a return to the city. With so many people gathered in the mountains, it was not a sustainable situation.
Therefore, Li Hongjiang only gave Hu Jia two days.
"Are you confident?"
"I am, but I'm not sure if luck will be on our side."
Upon hearing Hu Jia's reply, Lü Qingqing could only smile. Indeed, solving cases sometimes required a bit of luck.
"A blind fortune teller from my hometown once told me I had great luck," Lü Qingqing said, breathing a puff of air onto the back of Hu Jia's right hand. "Now I'm lending some of it to you."
Hu Jia felt the warmth Lü Qingqing left behind. "That old man was really accurate."
Because she had met a good man!
Lü Qingqing, of course, didn't know Hu Jia's thoughts and assumed he was just casually agreeing. After a few more exchanges, they shifted the topic back to the murder case.
"Since Liang Zhenning and Li Zhenmi were attacked in the same place, it means the attacker is the same person, namely Yang Luo."
Hu Jia deeply agreed with Lü Qingqing's deduction.
Judging by how Li Zhenmi was attacked, he was likely struck on the head with a stone, causing him to lose combat effectiveness instantly.
Liang Zhenning, seeing Li Zhenmi being struck, tried to intervene but was overpowered and killed.
As for Yang Luo, it's estimated he was attacked by his accomplice.
Everyone, don't forget, Cai Xiaojuan, while tracking Yang Luo, discovered a large area of broken branches and fallen leaves. At the time, she had concluded that someone had been in that location, lingering.
Now, it seems, that person was Yang Luo's accomplice.
For some unknown reason, Yang Luo was ultimately killed by his own accomplice.
The only way forward is to find Yang Luo's accomplice.
But how to find them?
Hu Jia slammed the table and organized an all-night meeting. "All the evidence we have now is very limited, but one item appeared that shouldn't be here: this scarf."
Hu Jia stated that the scarf's appearance was definitely related to the killer, so he suggested focusing the investigation on it.
It must be said that Guan Jinsong and his team were very efficient. Ten people spent most of the night going through everyone.
Under the lamp's glow, Hu Jia began collecting information from everyone.
"I saw Liang Zhenning at noon at grid point 3.1, but he wasn't with Li Zhenmi at the time."
"Around 1:30 PM, I spoke a few words with Li Zhenmi. He seemed very happy. I asked him if he had received his new recruit's armband yet, and he said no. The location was about grid point 4.2."
"At 1:30 PM, I'm quite sure I saw Yang Luo at grid point 3.4. He was chasing a new recruit, and they ran for a long time. Yang Luo seemed to have caught him."
"The last time I saw Yang Luo was at grid point 4.2. He was with Li Zhenmi, but there was another person with them. That person was definitely not Liang Zhenning. The time should have been around 2 PM."
"I returned to the camp very early because a girl told me there were savages in the mountains, and I was a bit scared."
"..."
"..."
Grid points are a traditional method of locating positions.
It involves dividing an area into a grid, with the first number representing the vertical line and the second number representing the horizontal line.
For example, the exercise area was divided into a twelve-grid system. Grid point 4.2 means the fourth section vertically and the second section horizontally.
The muddy pool where the body was discovered was at grid point 5.1, just one step away from grid point 4.2.
Guan Jinsong and his team collected hundreds of pieces of information, and Hu Jia finally selected a few.
According to the autopsy results, the two deceased were preliminarily determined to have died around 3 PM that day. Combining this information, Yang Luo was with Li Zhenmi around 2 PM, and there was another person with them. Since that person was not Liang Zhenning, it is highly likely they were the killer.
Unfortunately, the informant only caught a glimpse and didn't notice the appearance or remember it.
However, finding such a person is extremely difficult.
With no other options, everyone began a second round of full interviews, asking if anyone had seen that "mysterious person."
...
"Captain Hu, how is the investigation progressing?" Li Hongjiang's face showed signs of fatigue.
"There has been progress, and we are currently screening," Hu Jia said, quickly standing up to offer Li Hongjiang a seat.
This action surprised Li Hongjiang. When had Hu Jia's demeanor become so pleasant? He used to be quite arrogant.
However, Li Hongjiang did not sit. He felt it was best not to approach such an unclear gesture.
Tong Hua, on the other hand, walked directly to Lü Qingqing and stood there without saying a word.
Lü Qingqing glanced at him. This person was quite amusing. If he wanted her to give up her seat, he should have just said so instead of standing around pretending.
Lü Qingqing stood up and vacated the seat. "Director Li, please sit here. You haven't rested this late; you must be tired."
As she spoke, Lü Qingqing moved the stool a little closer to Li Hongjiang.
This time, Li Hongjiang did not refuse. He dared not sit on Hu Jia's stool, but the stool of a cadet was acceptable.
Tong Hua maintained his smile, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
"You are also tired today," Hu Jia said, gently pushing Lü Qingqing back towards his own stool.
Uh.
Li Hongjiang suddenly understood. Hu Jia wasn't actually offering him a seat; he was afraid Li Hongjiang would take the girl's seat.
Lü Qingqing gladly accepted Hu Jia's kind gesture.
And so, under the dim light of the diesel generator, a man and a woman sat.
The man sat upright, with Tong Hua standing equally straight behind him.
The woman, resting her chin on her hand, was very casual, sitting as comfortably as she pleased. Hu Jia stood behind her, leaning on the table with one hand, his upper body half-bent over Lü Qingqing's head.
It was a picture of elegance.
"Now we need to find that third person. I believe someone must have seen him," Hu Jia explained the progress of the entire case.
"This person will be hard to find," Li Hongjiang frowned.
"It's difficult for now, but I believe we will quickly narrow down the scope," Hu Jia replied.
"Heh, Captain Hu is very confident. Don't end up embarrassing yourself in front of everyone. That would reflect poorly on our entire auxiliary staff," Tong Hua couldn't help but interject.
Lü Qingqing was about to retort when Hu Jia patted her shoulder.
"Confidence comes from ability. You wouldn't understand that," Hu Jia's brief remark made Lü Qingqing burst into laughter.
That was a jab straight to the heart!
Tong Hua did not get angry. "I'm just reminding you that if we don't find the killer in 20 hours, we will all have to withdraw on time. We can't have so many people accompanying you in this charade."
Hu Jia ignored him and continued chatting with Lü Qingqing as if no one else was there.
"You've been busy all night. Are you hungry?"
"Not hungry!"
"Even if you're not hungry, you should eat something. You're someone who's working, unlike those idle people who waste food with every bite."
"Hehe!"
"Hehe!"
If Li Hongjiang wasn't sitting right beside them, Tong Hua would have turned and left immediately.
Who were they referring to as idle people?
Me?
Just then, Zhan Ruoxuan entered.
Seeing the room full of people, he was taken aback.
Hu Jia nodded at him, and Zhan Ruoxuan understood. "Captain Hu, we've checked. Nothing!"
Lü Qingqing looked at Hu Jia with confusion. Nothing? What were they checking for?
Hu Jia pondered for a moment. "Alright, let's continue according to plan."
"What's wrong?" Li Hongjiang voiced Lü Qingqing's question.
"The killer is a new recruit," Hu Jia said.