The half-mile distance was quite substantial, approximately eight hundred meters, and the difficulty of the search was not minimal, but compared to the entire riverbed, it had become much easier.

The search was divided into three directions.

First, a technical crew was dispatched to dive into the riverbed for the search.

Second, Little Black and Jackson brought the patrol officers to search for witnesses nearby.

Third, Luke led a team to search along the north side of the riverbank.

The area of the riverbank search extended about one hundred meters from the river, including the river surface, trees, and all suspicious items on the ground.

The search work was tedious, but it was an important component of police work.

After searching for over five hundred meters, Luke felt his eyes were sore. He stopped, closed his eyes to rest, and looked into the distance.

"Captain." It was at this moment that Little Black approached.

Luke yawned and replied, "Any findings?"

Little Black said, "I looked around in a big circle nearby, there are no houses, and very few people come this way.

However, I did find a few homeless people over there. I talked with them for a while, and none had seen anything unusual last night.

They probably are the only residents nearby."

"Good job."

Little Black glanced at the search team members around him, "How about your side, any discoveries?"

"Nothing, but you've come at the right time, continue the search in my direction." Luke gestured the general direction of the search.

"Me search?" Little Black was taken aback, "And you?"

"I'm going to report to Chief Reid, work hard." Luke left the search team, returned to the car to enjoy the air conditioning, and drank some mineral water.

Since he had become captain, enjoying a few small perks was quite normal, wasn't it?

Who would want to be captain if there were no benefits? Then nobody would strive to excel.

Luke was young and vigorous. Cooled off for a while, he became energetic again, grabbed a bottle of mineral water, and got out of the car.

He found the search team and called out to the deputy leader, "Deputy, I need to speak with you."

The deputy massaged his aching back, reluctantly taking a few steps, "Captain, what are your orders?"

Luke handed over the water bottle "It's too hot today, go rest in the car. I'll take over the search for you."

The old man was aging, and Luke worried that he might succumb to the heat.

"Thank you." The deputy's face was a bit complex as he twisted open the water bottle and took a sip.

Just as the deputy was about to say something, Jenny's voice rang out, "Hey guys, I've found something over here."

Everyone gathered around.

Luke also made his way over.

There, they saw that a small pit had been dug out next to a low tree. Judging by the soil's color, it hadn't been dug long ago. The mouth of the hole was about fifty centimeters in diameter, with a depth of roughly seventy to eighty centimeters.

Little Black asked, "Is there nothing in the hole?"

Jenny shook her head, "Nothing."

The deputy held up three fingers, "First, this pit could just be a coincidence, unrelated to the case.

Second, it might have been dug by someone involved in the case but wasn't used.

Third, something could have been buried in the pit but was then dug up by someone."

Luke thought of the homeless people Little Black mentioned. If it were the third possibility, they were the most likely to have dug something out.

"Deputy, continue leading the team in the search. Marcus, come with me."

Little Black came trotting over, "Captain, any orders?"

"Where did you find those homeless people just now?"

"Over to the south, why?"

"I want to talk to them." Luke said and walked towards the direction of the car.

Little Black called out, "Luke, you're going the wrong way, it's not that direction."

"No mistake, just grabbing some beer first."

Little Black instantly understood; no homeless person could refuse beer.

A few minutes later, Luke and another carried several bottles of beer to the vicinity of the homeless camp.

This was an open area, with several tents set up, each spaced a few meters apart.

Luke approached the first tent and asked a Black homeless man, "Buddy, want one?"

The Black homeless man swallowed hard, "I don't have money."

"It's on me." Luke tossed him a bottle of beer.

"Thank you." The homeless man eagerly twisted off the cap and took a drink, his face blissful, "I haven't had a beer in two days, thank you."

Luke said, "Buddy, can I ask you a few questions?"

The Black man pointed at Little Black, "I know him, he said he's a cop, he already asked earlier."

Little Black introduced, "This is our captain."

"Wow, such a young captain, you must be quite impressive."

Luke smiled, "Last night, did you see anyone suspicious around here?"

"No."

"Did you dig anything out of a pit?"

"I'm not a mole, why would I dig in the ground? I wouldn't do something that boring."

"Thank you, buddy."

"And thank you for the beer."

Luke then approached another disheveled, bearded white homeless man, handing him a beer, "Buddy, can I ask you a few questions?"

"For the sake of beer, why not?"

"Thank you. Were you around here last night?"

"Yes, I've been living here for about two to three months. I really like the scenery around here, with woodlands and the river, it's a good environment."

"You have a good spot." Luke smiled and continued, "Did you see anyone suspicious around here last night?"

The white homeless man hesitated slightly, "No."

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