Chapter 748: Murder Case in Hongfa District

Unexpectedly, time flies so fast, and another year has passed.

But this time, Lu Chuan doesn’t plan to participate in the fingerprint campaign.

"I won’t go this time; it won’t make much of a difference anyway."

Last year, Lu Chuan had already gone through Haizhou City’s backlog of fingerprint cases, especially the murder cases, during the fingerprint campaign.

Those that could be matched were matched at the time; those that couldn’t be matched wouldn’t be useful now either.

The main issue is that if there are no fingerprints of the target person in the system, it’s futile no matter how you try to match them.

Moreover, some major cases in various precincts this year, other than those handed over to the Criminal Investigation Team, related to fingerprints, have also been reviewed by Lu Chuan.

So, this year, there aren’t any major cases in the fingerprint campaign organized by Haizhou City’s Public Security Bureau.

They’re all minor cases that occurred this year.

Lu Chuan also manages a Criminal Investigation Team, and being away for an extended period is inappropriate.

Haizhou City’s Public Security Bureau has thousands of people, and just the Crime Scene Investigation officers number one or two hundred.

It’s impossible for Lu Chuan to handle all the work alone.

It’s like the fingerprint identification expert from the provincial department.

That expert is indeed impressive, but not every fingerprint can be taken to them for identification.

Everyone has their own responsibilities.

The Public Security Bureau isn’t supported by one person.

Otherwise, if Lu Chuan resigned, could we still say the bureau couldn’t operate?

There’s no such principle.

No matter how important someone is, once they leave, someone else will replace them.

This is reality.

The Earth revolves regardless of anyone.

Even when the sages die, the sun will still rise in the east and set in the west.

"Alright, Director Song knew you wouldn’t go. How about this, you take some time and give a lecture."

"That’s no problem, I..."

Ring ring ring!

Lu Chuan was interrupted; the phone on Chen Weiguo’s desk rang.

Lu Chuan paused, waiting for Chen Weiguo to answer the call, half getting up, ready to leave.

When the leader takes a call, if possible, it’s best to step aside.

Previously, when Lu Chuan was with the Criminal Investigation Team, he didn’t care much about these things.

Technical people focus on fingerprint identification, footprint analysis, and blood trace analysis, doing technical work.

Social niceties were just small talks among Liu Guodong’s team of four.

None of them were difficult to get along with, so generally, Lu Chuan didn’t mind much.

But coming to the Criminal Investigation Team was different.

Besides solving cases, there were more social matters to handle.

Apart from meals and drinks, which we’ll set aside for now.

Reporting to leaders was a big issue.

How to report in the leader’s office, and how to brief during inspections.

How to phrase things to get the leader’s approval for the same issue.

That’s what Lu Chuan has been studying lately.

Unfortunately, the system lacks skills in this area, so Lu Chuan must rely on his judgment.

Just like now.

Chen Weiguo was about to answer the phone; Lu Chuan half stood up, though he wasn’t genuinely leaving.

He mainly posed to await Chen Weiguo’s instructions.

If Chen had no expression or gesture, Lu Chuan would leave accordingly.

The conversation would be over for now.

If Chen invited him to sit back down, it meant the leader wanted to continue talking, unimpressed if Lu Chuan overheard the call.

It’s not really about bureaucracy.

Honestly, it’s just social etiquette.

Of course, it depends on the level.

When Lu Chuan was in the Criminal Investigation Team, subordinates would directly report upon knocking on the door and then leave.

More often, discussions took place in the meeting room.

For casework, who has time for formalities?

Just say what needs to be said.

Chen Weiguo waved: "No worries, take a seat..."

After that, he picked up the phone: "...What?"

With that expression and tone, Lu Chuan knew something had happened.

"Okay, got it,"

Even before hanging up, Chen Weiguo told Lu Chuan, "It’s the Alert Center, there’s been a homicide. Their director called me, I guess it’s at your..."

Buzz buzz buzz.

As he was speaking, Lu Chuan’s phone rang.

Glancing at the caller ID, it was indeed the Alert Center.

In the High-tech Zone precinct, the Alert Center typically assigns cases based on the alert level to the local police station for on-site handling.

But in a homicide case, they would directly notify Branch Director Chen Weiguo and Criminal Investigation Team Captain Lu Chuan.

"Director Chen, I’ll head to the scene now."

"Good, keep me updated, the precinct is fully supporting!"

"Yes!"

Leaving Chen Weiguo’s office, Lu Chuan quickly dialed Captain Wang Zhaokai of the First Squad.

"There’s a homicide in Hongfa District, take the team there immediately. I’m heading straight from the precinct."

"Yes!"

Lu Chuan had come over from the Criminal Investigation Team in a car, and after exiting the office building, he got into a police car and went straight to the scene.

Seventeen minutes later.

At the entrance of Hongfa District.

Personnel from the local police station had already arrived.

This area falls under the jurisdiction of Huaguang Street Police Station.

Director Huang Jianmin was already on the scene.

On the way, Lu Chuan had contacted him by phone.

At the entrance of the district, Huang Jianmin met Lu Chuan: "Captain Lu, this way."

Getting out of the car, Lu Chuan briefly surveyed the surroundings.

The geographic location of Hongfa District was quite good, surrounded by matured commercial facilities and equipped with excellent medical and educational resources.

There were temporary parking spaces on both sides of the road at the district entrance.

Most of the vehicles were relatively high-end.

There was pedestrian access control at the district entrance.

And the community maintained pedestrian-vehicle separation.

Although Lu Chuan wasn’t in uniform, Huang Jianmin was, so the security at the door didn’t stop them from entering.

"We arrived at the scene ten minutes ago."

As Hongfa District was close to the Huaguang Street Police Station, upon receiving the alert center’s notification, Huang Jianmin promptly came over with his team.

"It’s in Building 9, Unit 3, Room 201."

Just as Lu Chuan entered, Wang Zhaokai and his team also arrived at the main entrance, jogging over.

At the entrance of the unit where the incident occurred, police officers were maintaining order.

As they climbed the building, Huang Jianmin briefed him on the situation.

"It was the victim’s neighbor who first noticed something was wrong. He said that in the early hours today, he heard a woman’s screams and cries for help next door and knocked on the door."

"However, no one opened the door; they only claimed to be watching TV, and it was too loud."

"The neighbor didn’t think much of it at the time."

"This morning, feeling uneasy, he went to knock again but got no response."

"So he contacted the property management."

"The property company had the owner’s contact information, and when they called, they found the phone ringing inside without anyone answering."

"Then the incident was reported."

The hallway was filled with people.

There were police officers and property staff.

In Room 202, officers and the neighbor who noticed the oddity were present.

The door of the incident room was also open.

"Zhaokai, you take the team to do the notes, Gao Wenxiang, come with me to the scene."