Zhang Jian's worst fears had come true.
The three-day canvassing operation had ultimately turned up nothing.
They had canvassed all 282 households in Xianghong Village, a total of over 8,400 local and non-local residents, and found nothing.
The workload was immense.
Xianghong Village didn't have many local residents, but it had a massive non-local population.
Moreover, many residents had illegally built extra floors on their buildings to rent out, with a dozen or more households packed onto a single floor. You can imagine how many people that adds up to.
Add in all the shops, big and small, and that's how Xianghong Village, with fewer than 300 households, somehow had a population of over 8,000.
"Song Suo, I'm not afraid of being tired! I just feel like this whole case has been a complete screw-up!"
In the main conference room of the Yunlin Police Station.
Zhang Jian, his hair greasy and dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet.
After some discussion, Song Liang and Chen Chao had decided to shelve the case for now.
The investigation had hit a wall with Fan Jie.
It would be suspended.
They wouldn't close it, but transfer the rest of the investigation to the branch's Criminal Investigation Division for Chen Chao and his team to follow up on.
Zhang Jian's resentful shout instantly tensed the atmosphere in the conference room.
Sitting in the corner, Shen Xin felt a chill run down his spine and didn't dare let his mind wander any longer.
Zhang Jian felt disgraced, and so did Shen Xin.
He'd personally discovered the suspect and had even been part of the team that arrested the main culprit.
You could say this was the first criminal case he had ever handled.
For Shen Xin, who dreamed of becoming a criminal investigator, he also wanted to see this case wrapped up perfectly.
Who could feel good about letting go like this, when the real mastermind was still at large?
But from Song Liang's perspective, his decision was understandable.
Shen Xin could understand, too.
This was a local police station. They only handled criminal cases on the side. A major case like this, involving hundreds of thousands of yuan, would have been transferred long ago if it hadn't landed in the Yunlin Police Station's lap from the start, and if they hadn't immediately caught Fan Jie.
A local station's real responsibility was dealing with the trivial, everyday matters of the community.
Right now, with Zhang Jian taking several people out every day for canvassing and interviews, the station was suddenly short several of its most capable key officers.
Their workload was already heavy, forcing everyone to work overtime. Now it was even worse.
Take Li Dongsheng, for example. Just like Zhang Jian, he had been pulling so many all-nighters that his mouth was full of sores from stress.
If all this effort had yielded some results, it would have been one thing.
But there wasn't a single clue, and no hope of cracking the case anytime soon. What were they supposed to do? Were they really going to keep pouring resources into it indefinitely?
The Criminal Investigation Division specialized in criminal cases; they could afford to stick with one case indefinitely. A local police station couldn't.
It wasn't that Song Liang wanted to give away the credit, but given the circumstances, his hands were truly tied.
Zhang Jian slammed the table, and Song Liang slammed it right back.
"Zhang Jian, this isn't the time for you to play the lone hero! No one is happy with how this case turned out, but our station can't revolve around a single case."
"You want to continue, is that it? Fine. I don't need a new lead from you. Just give me a new line of investigation. Captain Chen is right here. As long as he nods and agrees that your approach is viable, then you can keep working on it."
You need a plan to investigate a case. Without one, you're just a headless fly, buzzing around uselessly.
Zhang Jian stood there, neck stiff, and said nothing.
While canvassing these past few days, he'd wracked his brain to the point of exploding but still hadn't come up with any good ideas.
But just as Chen Chao was about to step in and smooth things over, Zhang Jian suddenly yelled, "I do! I have a lead! A cat! The suspect had a cat!"
"A what?"
Song Liang was a bit baffled.
Beside Zhang Jian, Wukaishan quickly reached under the table to tug on his clothes.
He figured Zhang Jian was truly at his wits' end, clutching at straws. Otherwise, why would he bring up such a flimsy lead like a stray cat?
Shen Xin was also startled.
'Bringing up a lead like that in a formal case analysis meeting would make you look so unreliable.'
The moment he thought that, his name was called.
"Xiaoshen discovered it. He found that when the suspect was living at Wu Zhicun's place, he used to feed a stray cat. I think that's a lead we can look into." Zhang Jian whipped his head around and pointed at Shen Xin in the corner.
Instantly, everyone turned to look at Shen Xin.
Shen Xin was so embarrassed he covered his face with his hands.
Beside him, Li Dongsheng looked at Shen Xin, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
It seemed Shen Xin was destined to be involved with cats and dogs.
When Zhang Jian said the suspect had a cat, Chen Chao had subconsciously been about to ask for details. But when he heard it was just that the suspect had fed a stray cat while renting the room, his eyes instantly filled with disappointment.
Disappointment in the lead, and a little disappointment in Zhang Jian himself.
"Zhang Jian, I understand how you feel. Some cases are like a thorn in your throat. When you can't solve them, it's an unbearable itch you can't scratch. But you still have to be rational when it comes to cracking a case."
"Okay, so you're saying the suspect fed a stray cat. Let me ask you, how do you plan to follow that lead? Are you going to find this stray cat and ask it where the suspect is?"
Chen Chao retorted.
Someone in the conference room couldn't help but laugh.
Zhang Jian stood ramrod straight, his expression a mixture of embarrassment and anger.
Song Liang shot him a fierce glare and scolded, "Zhang Jian, if you have time to look for a stray cat, you'd be better off trying to get through to Wu Zhicun. Speaking of which..."
He snapped his head up, looked toward Shen Xin in the corner, and asked how things were progressing with Wu Zhicun.
He knew that Zhang Jian had ordered Shen Xin to "clock in" there every day and wear the old man down.
Once again, all eyes turned to Shen Xin.
Many of them now had a hint of mockery in their eyes.
After all, Shen Xin was the one who had discovered the stray cat "lead."
And he had previously found Tian Yongjun while looking for a stray cat as well.
A perfectly good police officer, now spending all his days dealing with stray cats and dogs.
Shen Xin quickly shook his head. "No luck. Whenever I mention the suspect, he just says the same thing: 'Then arrest me and throw me in prison.'"
Three days of grinding away at it had yielded absolutely nothing.
Song Liang had expected as much. He sighed, no longer bothering to argue with Zhang Jian. "Let's not discuss this any further," he said directly. "For once, I'm pulling rank. We'll do it my way. Zhang Jian, you get the case file and investigation records in order. Captain Chen will send someone to pick them up tomorrow. This case ends here for us."
With that, he stood up and left.
Chen Chao got up as well. Before leaving, he deliberately stopped by Zhang Jian and patted his shoulder.
Zhang Jian shook his hand off, his face dark as he fumed in silence.
Everyone else filed out of the room.
Li Dongsheng's eyes were bloodshot; he had pulled another all-nighter. Still, he grabbed Shen Xin and advised him in a low voice.
"Shen Xin, don't get too focused on cats and dogs. Didn't you submit your application for early confirmation? It'll probably be approved soon. Then you'll be an official People's Police officer. Focus on learning and observing. Improving your professional skills is what really matters."
Shen Xin quickly nodded in agreement.
Only then did Li Dongsheng turn and leave.
Shen Xin didn't dare linger. Although he felt a sense of regret, he could understand Song Liang's decision.
He even felt a sense of relief deep down.
These past three days, butting heads with Wu Zhicun, the old man seemed to have gotten fed up. He gave Shen Xin a sour look every day and his words were especially harsh.
He'd call Shen Xin useless, a good-for-nothing, for wasting time with him instead of doing real work and finding his grandson's killer.
Just as he was about to head downstairs, a heavy hand gripped his shoulder.
He turned his head. It was Zhang Jian!
His eyes were red. He dragged Shen Xin into a corner and said in a low, serious voice, "Shen Xin, you don't want to give up either, do you?"
Sensing something was off with Zhang Jian's tone, Shen Xin could only nod along.
"But Captain Zhang, the case is about to be transferred. Even if we don't want to give up, there's nothing we can do," Shen Xin said.
"Who says there's nothing we can do?"
Zhang Jian snorted coldly. "The case isn't getting transferred until tomorrow. That means it's still ours to investigate right now. We still have time!"
"Go get the car. We're going to Wu Zhicun's place. I swear I'm going to pry a lead out of that mouth of his today if it's the last thing I do!"
He said this through gritted teeth.
Shen Xin's heart pounded. His first thought was that Zhang Jian was about to do something reckless.
But before he could try to talk him out of it, Zhang Jian dragged him downstairs.