Chapter 21: Investigation Results: Unexpected!

Great question! In this case, Liu Furen’s Hummer is indeed a key focal point, especially when it comes to confirming the perpetrators' escape route. It is much simpler to track a conspicuous Hummer than to follow several criminals whose faces and genders remain unknown. Yet, despite this, the investigative team never managed to locate the vehicle from start to finish.

Tang Ren: "Is this investigative team a bit incompetent? ←_←"

Qin Feng (Detective Chinatown): "Quite the opposite; the investigative team was extremely professional. From the very beginning, they identified the car as a high-priority target for investigation. The problem was that 12 years ago, there wasn't nearly as much surveillance as there is now. The video forensics team cross-checked the existing footage three times, but they truly could not find that Hummer. After the crime occurred, the car seemed to have evaporated into thin air."

Shen Xu: "Moreover, there must have been some highly capable experts on that team. Just look at this diagram!"

He uploaded a sketch he had drawn into the group chat. It was clearly a topographical map, complete with contour lines in certain areas. The map focused precisely on the ferry crossing and the bay area. The entire map was crisscrossed with lines representing roads, though they were full of "sharp angles." In some places, the routes jutted outward significantly, while in others, they dipped inward. Yet, at the outermost edge of every sharp angle, there was a camera icon.

Shen Xu: "This diagram is the perimeter fence drawn by someone on the original investigative team to guide officers in their search. The perpetrators must have been very familiar with the nearby roads. The team concluded that if the killers wanted to leave this area, they had to take these routes. The clever part is that each of these routes had surveillance at some point. No matter which path they took, they would have been captured on camera! Since checking the surveillance yielded no sign of the Hummer, there is only one possibility: the criminals ditched the Hummer within this specific area. Of course, this conclusion assumes that places like scrap yards had already been cleared."

Everyone looked at Shen Xu’s diagram, as if they could see the battle of wits between the criminals and the investigators. Unfortunately, the investigative team never managed to find the car within that perimeter. Some officers had suggested the criminals might have taken side paths, but even after searching those, no clues were found.

Shen Ting looked back at the seven small areas circled in red on Shen Xu’s drawing. They were mostly bodies of water or mountain ravines—all prime locations for sinking a vehicle. These were the high-priority search spots confirmed by the investigative team back then, but the results were clear. Shen Ting recalled how Hannibal and Jigsaw had helped find the body disposal site in the previous case.

"There must be common ground between disposing of a body and disposing of a car! Besides, the search experience from last time shows that the suspicious areas identified by investigators aren't necessarily the ones the criminals would choose."

Shen Ting’s eyes lit up as he turned to Xiong Beibei and Xu Xinyi. "Let’s drive around this area while it’s still light."

He pulled out a local map and circled the range Shen Xu had identified. "We need to cover as much of this area as possible, anywhere a car can go!"

Xiong Beibei gasped. "It’s such a huge area; we won’t be able to cover it today, right? Even if we spend all day tomorrow, it might not be enough!"

Xu Xinyi tentatively added, "Um, do we really have to stick with this case? Why don't we just pretend we never looked into it and go find a different murder case?"

Too late! The system had already issued the mission. Shen Ting couldn't back down even if he wanted to! Unless the five-day deadline passed and he forfeited the gold coin reward, he wouldn't consider switching cases. Furthermore, the perimeter established by the investigative team back then was well-founded. The Hummer really should be there. If he could find the Hummer, he might be able to collect forensic evidence. Perhaps even the bodies of Liu Furen and the others were inside. That would move the case forward significantly!

Shen Ting: "Let’s go. Drive!"

Xiong Beibei and Xu Xinyi both sighed, but they obediently climbed into the car.

The police car sped through the area. They spent the entire afternoon covering the main arterial roads. Early the next morning, Shen Ting dropped his sister off at kindergarten—making sure to ask her to check if her teacher, Miss Gao, had a boyfriend—before heading back out with Xiong Beibei and Xu Xinyi to continue the search.

The two were clearly growing impatient. That morning, colleagues had asked them what they were busy with and why they had been missing all day yesterday. Neither had the heart to admit they were investigating this cold case. If they didn't find a lead today, they couldn't afford to keep wasting time here. Captain Song had assigned them to follow Shen Ting to learn from him, not to spend all their time aimlessly driving around.

By evening, rushing to finish before the sun went down, they finally managed to cover the basics. Shen Ting left a message in the investigation group: "How about it? Have you all reviewed the footage? Any discoveries of a potential dump site for the car?"

The other members remained silent. Hannibal, Jigsaw, and Yoshikage Kira responded in unison: "No."

Shen Ting was surprised. "That shouldn't be! In such a large area, there isn't a single place to dump a car?"

Jigsaw: "There are places where one could dump a car—very suitable ones, in fact. But the investigative team already searched them."

Hannibal: "The suspicious locations I identified are the same. The investigative team from that year had already arranged for dredging and cleared those of suspicion."

Yoshikage Kira: "Same here! The suspicious areas I discovered were searched very thoroughly by the team back then. I’ve checked the search footage; I confirmed there were no omissions."

So that was it. Shen Ting felt a real headache coming on. He pondered for a moment.

"Alright, ignore the previous searches. Everyone, mark the locations you find suspicious. Let’s see if there are any overlaps!"