Chapter 39: The Meaning of the Open Box Radical

Inside the speeding police cruiser heading toward the old industrial zone, Branch Chief Qin Shan chuckled at Zheng Yuanqiao’s quip.

"I had to come! If this case—the biggest and most sensational kidnapping in the country this century—actually yields a breakthrough in the old industrial zone, and I, of all people, am not there to witness it firsthand, I would regret it to my dying day. Before I kicked the bucket, I’d slap myself twice just for not showing up. Plus..."

Qin Shan paused, his expression turning serious. "I have a gut feeling that this time, we might actually crack this case."

As soon as he said it, he immediately backtracked. "Pfft, no, no, no. That’s not right. We can’t crack it. This case definitely won't be solved."

Zheng Yuanqiao hesitated for a second, but quickly realized Qin Shan was tempting fate with reverse psychology. He smiled and chimed in, "Right, it can't be solved! This case definitely, 100% cannot be solved."

Qin Shan laughed, then added, "In all seriousness, Yuanqiao, you really found a talent this time."

Zheng Yuanqiao knew he was talking about Shen Ting. He himself was quite pleasantly surprised and nodded repeatedly. "Shen Ting finding the Hummer was already shocking enough. At the time, I thought that even if he never made another contribution, just finding that vehicle was enough to keep him on as a consultant. I never expected to have underestimated him. He gave me an even bigger surprise so quickly. The kid looks so ordinary, quiet and unassuming, yet I never imagined he’d be an expert in palynology."

And it wasn't just that he knew the subject! The bureau's own forensic expert, Director Ma, could claim to know palynology too. But knowing it and mastering it were two different things. The lab had spent a vast amount of time, manpower, and resources analyzing those spores, only to deem them useless. Shen Ting had succeeded in just two hours, ultimately identifying the breakthrough point for the case. That was incredible!

"I wonder if we’ll find more clues in the old industrial zone? Can Shen Ting give us more surprises?" Zheng Yuanqiao was filled with anticipation.

Qin Shan shook his head with a smile. "Yuanqiao, you’re getting too greedy! Finding the Hummer and identifying the spores isn't enough for you? You want even more?"

"Heh, the more the merrier! You can never have too many surprises..."

***

The police car sped on. In the back, sitting with Xiong Beibei and Xu Xinyi, Shen Ting opened his "Detective Group" chat. He compiled his palynological analysis into a report, providing detailed spectral and energy analysis for each type of spore, and described in detail the process of identifying each color circle via the pollen clusters. Once finished, he uploaded both the Hummer’s trajectory map and the report to the group.

The group members had been discussing the case, but as soon as they saw the files, the chat went silent. It wasn't until several minutes later that they began to react with excitement.

kikO: "Wow, wow, wow! (⊙O⊙)~~ Who did this spore analysis? It’s absolutely brilliant! It couldn't be the group leader, our handsome boss, could it? It has to be. I don't believe anyone else could be this proficient in palynology."

Qin Feng: "Group leader, you're this well-versed in palynology?"

Guan Hongfeng (Older Brother): "Using pollen clusters to confirm the Hummer’s route. That’s an interesting line of thought!"

Forensic Scientist Qin Ming: "I knew there were applications for palynology, but the issue is... these spores are over a decade old and mostly degraded. You managed to identify them? Group leader, did you really do this yourself?"

Shen Ting typed calmly: "It was alright. The difficulty was fairly average."

He was telling the truth. After redeeming the knowledge of palynology, the case-related spores were indeed of moderate difficulty for him. Had he performed the analysis by hand, he could have compressed the time even further.

Seeing this, the group members became even more curious about Shen Ting's identity and capabilities. They had been together for quite some time, and by now, they had a general sense of who was a forensic scientist, who was a criminal police captain, and who was a novice. Only Shen Ting’s identity remained a mystery.

Group Leader: "Look at the Hummer’s trajectory map. There’s a surprise on it."

A surprise? The members pulled up the map. Being experts, they were significantly more astute than the average officer. They didn't even need a hint from Shen Ting to spot the key detail.

Jigsaw: "Interesting. The old industrial zone seems to be at the core of the trajectory?"

Hannibal: "Is this where the kidnappers' base was back then?"

After examining the old industrial zone, Qin Feng had a sudden flash of inspiration. "I have a sudden realization. The blood-written character '冂' found on the passenger door—we hadn't confirmed its meaning, right? Perhaps the bodyguard really intended to write '同' (Tong)? But he wasn't referring to Liu Qitong's 'Tong,' but rather the 'Tong' for copper smelting (炼铜)?"

Everyone immediately grasped Qin Feng's line of reasoning. There were several copper smelters in the old industrial zone!

kikO: "It doesn't necessarily have to be a copper smelter. It could be a steel mill or a metal processing plant. And '冂' could be 'Gang' (岗) too!"

Tang Ren: "If we're guessing like that, it could be a sodium plant (炼钠) too~~~"

Shen Ting rubbed his temples, contemplating silently. These speculations were indeed all possible, as there were many characters containing the '冂' radical. Furthermore, the old industrial zone did indeed house copper smelters, steel mills, sodium plants, and more—often multiple of each. In the previous case, the glass particles found on the victim's remains had been emitted from the chimney of a copper smelter.

Just then, Shen Xu spoke up: "I also made a discovery! The '冂' might really be referring to copper!"

He immediately uploaded an image to the group.

Could '冂' really be copper? How was this conclusion reached? The members were all very curious and immediately checked the image Shen Xu uploaded.

The image was drawn based on Shen Ting’s Hummer trajectory map. There was only one extra marking on the map—a straight line! It was a line drawn from Sanya Slope, the pond where the criminals dumped the Hummer, leading straight to the old industrial zone!

The members were puzzled. Shen Ting was, too. What was the significance of connecting the pond to the old industrial zone? There was no direct link between them!

kikO: "⚆_⚆?"

Guan Hongyu: "What does this map mean? Why can't I understand it?"

Tang Ren: "Hey kid, you aren't messing with us, are you~~?"

Qin Feng: "???"

Shen Xu left a message directly: "It’s like this. After the group leader uploaded the map and confirmed the suspected base was the old industrial zone, I suddenly realized something. The direction the three victims were kneeling in inside the Hummer seems to be pointing exactly toward the old industrial zone! I combined the underwater photos taken by the frogmen before the Hummer was salvaged with the kneeling positions of the three victims after it was pulled up. I judged the direction of their kneeling while the car was underwater. Using the pond where the Hummer sank as a point, I drew a line along their direction of worship. The result is the straight line on the map!"