At ten the next morning.

Lu Chuan slowly awoke.

Looking at the flamingo-lily swaying gracefully by the window, Lu Chuan felt his spirits had been fully restored.

At twenty, his young and vigorous body reacted strongly, as it should in the morning.

He stretched lazily, got out of bed and washed up.

The conditions of the Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team were overwhelmingly superior to those of the Haizhou City Criminal Investigation Team in all aspects.

Take this hotel, for instance, though it's not five-star, it is a four-star single room with a large bed.

Moreover, it has a zero-gravity waterbed, which feels rather dreamy.

Just as Lu Chuan got up, he suddenly thought of Forensic Doctor Shen Yan.

Whew...

He still needed to invite Forensic Doctor Shen for dinner when he got back; the hotpot broth last time... was a bit overwhelming.

Lu Chuan couldn't imagine that scene now; otherwise, he probably wouldn't be able to eat hotpot for months.

Especially dishes like boiled big bones, he'd have to look closely in the future.

The self-service restaurant on the first floor of the hotel was still open.

When Lu Chuan came down, Wang Changjiang was having breakfast.

"Awake?"

Wang Changjiang greeted, "How did you rest yesterday? This hotel's steamed egg is quite nice, give it a try!"

Lu Chuan took the soup bowl handed over by Wang Changjiang, "Slept well, Brother Wang, how's their case investigation going?"

Even though the highway case wasn't related to Lu Chuan, after all, not even the system had issued any tasks.

However, having spent half the night on it, Lu Chuan was still quite interested in the progress of the case.

"Just got off a call with Li Kai, who said that, according to the analysis report you provided, they've already identified the identity of the skeleton."

"But the difficulty level of case investigation is incredibly high, after all, the person died sixteen years ago."

"Also, you were right on another count too, the skeleton had indeed been moved."

Early this morning, the Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team dispatched personnel to conduct soil testing at the crime scene overnight.

It was confirmed that there was only clay at the crime scene, so the sandy soil on the skeleton proved it had been buried elsewhere at some point.

It was later found under the highway roadbed.

Lu Chuan nodded, knowing that it would now be even more challenging to solve the case.

The place where the corpse was initially buried was not the first burial site, indicating that solving the case...

is difficult.

Not all homicide cases can be solved, especially ones hidden for sixteen years.

Every criminal investigation team has unsolved cases in its history.

Many of them haven't been solved.

Or, even if they were solved, it might have been after ten or even twenty years had passed.

Like when Lu Chuan had just crossed over, capturing the old gang member at a wedding.

If it wasn't for the system's reward of the Eye of Truth, and the fact that the guy didn't remove the birthmark behind his left ear during the facelift, no one would have been able to catch him.

Even though he was caught, twenty-eight years had already passed.

"Yesterday, I just did a simple microscopic analysis of the soil. If they conduct further experiments, they should be able to pinpoint the soil's origin, right?"

Lu Chuan thought, based on the sandy soil's characteristics, they could at least roughly lock down the initial crime scene area.

"It's tough!"

Before Wang Changjiang could answer, a sigh was heard nearby.

Lu Chuan turned to see Forensic Doctor Li Kai.

"Old Li, what brings you here?"

Wang Changjiang looked at the heavily shadowed-eyed Li Kai, figuring that the case reaching this stage meant they were at their busiest.

"Why can't I be here? Lu Chuan has already helped us with a precise skeleton identification analysis; our forensic work is done."

Sitting next to Wang Changjiang, Li Kai grabbed a piece of fried dough and took a couple of bites. "I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon."

"Forensic Doctor Li, you just mentioned difficulties; is it because the soil is hard to analyze?"

Li Kai quickly chewed a couple of bites of the fried dough and shook his head at Lu Chuan. "Last night, after completing the on-site soil structure evaluation and confirming the corpse-moving process, Captain Wang arranged to have the evidence sent to the technical identification center; they have specialized instruments for soil component detection."

"The results just came back. The sand found on the skeleton likely comes from the sandy soil near Gourd Mountain."

Wang Changjiang took a sip of soy milk and explained, "Gourd Mountain is in the northern part of Tianzhou City and is home to a 4A-level scenic spot."

"The area is too vast; pinpointing the primary burial site of the skeleton is virtually impossible."

Lu Chuan nodded, given that sixteen years had passed.

And even if they did manage to find the initial burial site, then what?

The clues left by the murderer would have long been erased.

But fortunately, Lu Chuan's skeleton identification analysis report helped the Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Team confirm the identity of the deceased.

The follow-up work could revolve around investigating the deceased's social ties.

However, according to Li Kai, the deceased was a government employee back then.

The investigation revealed that he had resigned sixteen years ago and went abroad.

Who would have thought he was actually dead?

Moreover, since this person was an orphan, and his parents who adopted him had long passed away.

His wife had also divorced him, so no one reported him missing.

DNA information couldn't be matched, naturally.

Also, those who knew the deceased well back then have forgotten most things due to the passage of time.

If it weren't for his sudden resignation and emigration, many people might not even remember him.

Li Kai, with no more tasks at hand, spent the afternoon touring Tianzhou City with Wang Changjiang and Lu Chuan.

Near dusk, a special car was arranged to take them back to Haizhou City.

This was basically a routine; whenever you assist someone, you have to enjoy yourself a bit.

Tianzhou City's Criminal Investigation Team was in chaos, while Haizhou City's Criminal Investigation Team was peaceful and joyful.

Having just wrapped up the skeleton investigation, everyone was still basking in the joy of closing the case.

The field operation team was idling, and the crime scene investigation office was even less busy.

Early morning on September 30th.

The sun was shining brightly, and the warm sun after the autumn equinox was no longer blinding. As it bathed one's skin like a maiden's caress, it was intoxicating.

Lu Chuan had already finished mopping the floor and was now tending to the vibrant flamingo-lily in his hand.

He was meticulous in watering and fertilizing.

Even the most fragile flowers require careful nurturing to bloom vibrantly.

Delighting in breaking through the rain-soaked flowers only works once.

Sustaining a slow, steady flow is the real key.

Speaking of which, he should really invite Shen Yan for dinner tonight.

Old Bai had already propped up his leg, humming a Beijing opera aria unfamiliar to Lu Chuan.

Yang Sen was late again.

Liu Guodong had just finished the morning meeting, lounging in his chair with an enamel mug in hand, kicking off a leisurely day.

"Lu, how did the case you and Old Wang assisted with in Tianzhou City go the day before yesterday?"

Lu Chuan set down the flamingo-lily and approached Liu Guodong's desk, "The Skeleton Identification Analysis report had no issues and has already helped them confirm the skeleton's identity, and also determined the time and cause of death."

"But it seems like the case's progress is relatively slow."

"Yesterday, I heard from Brother Wang that the deceased was overseeing engineering supervision within the system back in the day, and there seemed to be quite a few hidden stories behind his resignation."

"Hehe."

Old Bai chuckled twice, "It's probably the usual corruption and bribery stuff. This kind of case existed ten years ago and will still exist ten years later, but as long as no one dies, that's an economic investigation matter."

Hearing Old Bai mention economic investigation, Liu Guodong had a fleeting change of expression and slapped his thigh enthusiastically, "How about the items sent by the economic investigation yesterday?"

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