National Forensic Doctor

Chapter 1377: Chapter 1301: Lottery Chariot

"Did you find the phone? The third phone." Jiang Yuan asked the key question.

"Not yet. It was turned off on the day Qikoli died." Meng Chengbiao paused, then said, "We have confirmed the phone number and are contacting the service provider, hoping to get his communication records and texts. Also, Qikoli should have multiple Wechat numbers, and we are confirming those as well."

"What about the other two phones?"

"The other two phones didn’t contain sensitive information. One was used by Qikoli to contact his parents and religious figures. The commonly used second phone was mostly filled with friends, classmates, and business partners, but he didn’t use it often and it wasn’t always with him. The third missing phone was actually the one he used the most daily."

Jiang Yuan quickly understood: "So, you’re saying what he did most on a daily basis was fool around with women?"

"That’s roughly it. Based on what a few of his friends said, apart from putting up with his father’s side, he spent most of his time with various women. His father didn’t allow it but didn’t have time to control him either." Meng Chengbiao broadly described what some of Qikoli’s "friends" had said.

"Are there any suspects among the people and friends around Qikoli?" Jiang Yuan asked again.

Meng Chengbiao said on the other end of the phone: "No discoveries."

"So how do you plan to find this phone or the related information?" Jiang Yuan asked a somewhat critical point. Qikoli’s phone wasn’t registered in his real name, and he had several Wechat numbers. It’s unclear if he used other chatting apps. To obtain further clues, finding the phone itself was essential.

Meng Chengbiao hesitated for a moment, then said: "After our discussion, we currently have an idea. Although it might be relatively complicated."

Jiang Yuan softly said "Hmm," understanding that by complicated, they meant costly, with low success probability, and somewhat unreliable. However, having an idea is better than having none; a complex path to success is better than finding no path at all.

Meng Chengbiao said: "We think that there’s basically no connection between Qikoli and the building at the crime scene. From this angle, why Qikoli went there and who gave him the address, this information might be found through his third phone."

Jiang Yuan continued with a murmured "Hmm," aware that they were still setting things up.

Meng Chengbiao continued: "At the crime scene, we found the first and second phones that Qikoli carried with him. Theoretically, the third phone should also have been on him, and the last location where the phone was turned off, according to the service provider’s report, is about three kilometers from the crime scene. It’s a bit farther but not a route Qikoli would normally pass. Therefore, we think the phone was probably discarded there by the killer."

"You want to search the roadside garbage heap?" Jiang Yuan immediately understood what Meng Chengbiao meant and asked, "How large an area?"

Meng Chengbiao chuckled awkwardly: "According to the local service provider’s report, they can ultimately determine an area approximately in a 500-meter diameter circular area."

"Complicated?" Jiang Yuan had experienced so many investigations that the area size was insignificant. The vertical length and the complexity of the area mattered more.

"It’s a roadside area, with some residential houses and green spaces. What we’re worried about now is the frequency of garbage disposal; if the phone was discarded, then we’ll have to rummage through the garbage heap again." Meng Chengbiao seemed uncertain.

"Finding a phone is easier than finding plastic boot covers." Jiang Yuan sighed.

Meng Chengbiao immediately reacted: "You agree?"

"Agreed. I’ll communicate with Ni Cha; you guys go to the site to take pictures, then contact Xu Taining and Director Xu for advice." Jiang Yuan didn’t hesitate at all.

Despite the 500-meter diameter area, including residential houses, those who frequently investigate know that rummaging for a phone is relatively simpler.

Furthermore, according to Jiang Yuan’s speculation, the phone was likely discarded, which aligns most with the killer’s interests. There are several scenarios here: the first is that the phone remains in the original place, possibly intact or damaged, but that makes no difference. Send someone to search, and it will be found.

The second scenario is that the phone was picked up by someone. The possibility of it being intact is low, as an ordinary person’s first reaction would be to turn it on, causing the service provider’s records to change. If the damaged phone was picked up, it might have been stored away or sold. In this case, only by visiting nearby areas can you inquire if anyone recently found a phone.

The third scenario is that the phone was thrown into a trash can and then sent to a garbage dump. This is the worst scenario, and unlike finding the gloves or boot covers used by the killer, which could directly lead to their identification, finding a broken phone might be of no use, making it hard to decide to allocate large resources.

However, the likelihood of the third scenario is also the lowest; nearby is not a high-end community, and there may be people who live by sorting through garbage. Even if it’s a damaged phone, they would pick it up. Moreover, you can also alleviate some possibilities by visiting to see if anyone scrounged and obtained a phone.

Ultimately, this plan is still akin to buying a lottery ticket. But those hoping to win big through a lottery, if they don’t win, can only continue spending money on lottery tickets, full of optimistic aspirations, gambling all the way.

Even Jiang Yuan didn’t have a reason to hit the brakes now.

Ni Cha and his bureau chief Kumar didn’t either.

The lottery-buying chariot sped up as if merely by increasing speed, they could win the jackpot.

...

Hotpot.

Barbecue!

Grilled fish—

Tropical fruit feast...

Director Kumar and Ni Cha, while resisting, exerted their utmost to entertain Jiang Yuan, as if serving well enough would provide clues to the case.

"We’ve found the car."

The most exhilarating news of the day came from the team of Tang Jia and Zhong Renlong, not from evidence they personally searched, but from a reward that was just released.

"Captain Jiang, look, it’s this car." Tang Jia cautiously manipulated the phone in her hand. To preserve the integrity of the evidence chain, they directly purchased the bounty worker’s phone.

The video was taken by an employee from a nearby office building, focusing on the traffic and environment downstairs, primarily capturing the scenery without footage of the rooftop at the time of the incident or the vehicle’s license plate.

But this was already the clearest video they had obtained.

Other contenders for the reward provided more blurry photos and videos; most of their footage coincidentally captured a few seconds of the scene while shooting other things.

Even though direct evidence couldn’t be provided, these videos and photos helped the special task force to clarify the timeline.

Thus, the suspected killer’s vehicle appeared before Jiang Yuan. noveldrama

"A silver Toyota Crown, an old car, right?" Jiang Yuan asked, "Can we find the owner?"

"We confirmed the vehicle information through a surveillance video at the previous traffic light." Tang Jia paused slightly, then glanced at Zhong Renlong beside her.

Zhong Renlong sighed: "Let me explain. We found that the vehicle owner is named Fatuma, a mid-level manager in Hassan’s religious faction, tall and matching the suspect’s characteristics. We’ve already brought him in, but Fatuma denies the murder, claiming the car was stolen and hasn’t been used for a long time."