Huagu Company is a division-level unit, and its chairman Xie Houming is at the same administrative level as the mayor of Shanhai, a county-level city. A state cadre was kidnapped, and he was the CEO who managed thousands of employees and controlled hundreds of millions of yuan of state-owned assets. If he was transferred horizontally according to the convention, Xie Houming would not be surprised to be a mayor. Now, he is controlled by criminals. This is such a shocking case that even the provincial leaders are shocked.
Fortunately, Shanhai City handled the emergency very well and immediately controlled the news to the greatest extent possible, preventing it from spreading and causing immeasurable impact and social unrest.
But this matter is bound to explode sooner or later. The difference is whether it will explode as a shame for the public security personnel, or as an explosion of public opinion that ultimately deters criminals by cracking a major case and restores social stability.
Now, what Shanhai City and the criminals of the "June 2nd Case" are racing against is time.
After the incident, Shanhai City Mayor Wang Qiao and Deputy Mayor and Public Security Bureau Chief Liu Yue set up a command center to cooperate with the special task force sent by the provincial department. Multiple police forces coordinated and conducted combined operations, attacked from all sides, and quickly launched the investigation.
Several Land Cruisers with Rong A license plates drove into the Municipal Public Security Bureau compound at lightning speed. The experts from the provincial government, accompanied by the heads of the Municipal Bureau, went all the way to the case office.
The smoke-filled office door opened, and a group of police officers in black uniforms walked in. "This is the Provincial Department's Expert Requisition Office. Please leave your case files and documents and clear the area."
The investigation team led by Cheng Bin, who was in a meeting in the office, heard some rustling sounds. Cheng Bin and Gu Xiaojun looked up from the table and saw that the investigation team members around them all looked helpless.
Gu Xiaojun walked forward with a playful smile and said to a woman who came in front of him, "Miss, what's going on... You provincial and ministerial experts are capable... but you can't exclude us..."
The righteous female police officer obviously did not expect the guy in front of her to talk to her like this. Her face turned red and white. Then a pale and thin middle-aged man walked out of the crowd and stared at Gu Xiaojun solemnly.
When he saw this person, Gu Xiaojun had no idea who he was.
Zhang Qiubei, a well-known criminal investigation expert in the provincial department, is also a very impressive figure, but he is skinny and gloomy, and is also nicknamed "vampire". No one expected that this vampire would visit their place today.
“From now on, this is not your job alone… A murder has already happened, and you failed to prevent the consequences, which led to the current consequences. We can’t afford to delay now! The province is creating a public security portal, striving for stability and prosperity, and such a big thing happened in your Shanhai City… Do you know that if this matter is exposed by the news before we solve the case, I’m afraid that the media across the country will rush to our side. By then, your Shanhai will become famous, and the public security of our province will also become famous!… Now, leave what you can’t do to us.”
The provincial criminal investigation experts are not all so versatile and powerful as in reality. In addition, there has been long-term discrimination against the case-handling capabilities of grassroots police forces. Zhang Qiubei’s impoliteness at this time directly refers to “everyone present here”.
After hearing this, although the staff of the Municipal Bureau did not dare to refute, they still felt a little embarrassed and annoyed.
Being humiliated in public is not the most painful thing. The most important thing is that it directly evokes the deepest shame in the hearts of people wearing police uniforms, that is, the criminals are still at large.
"We did fail to prevent the crime... But we were the ones who followed up and investigated the case from the beginning. This is our job. If you want to help, I have no objection, but you can't just kick us out. Even if we don't get credit, we have worked hard... Maybe some random clues could be the key to solving the case."
Zhang Qiubei looked at him coldly, Cheng Bin's eyes were gentle, and his tone of voice was extremely humble.
City Bureau Director Liu Yue quickly laughed it off to ease the embarrassment, "Yes, yes... they have also worked hard... Otherwise, Old Zhang, you see..."
"You guys help out and assist from the side." Zhang Qiubei said coldly and came to Cheng Bin's position.
Cheng Bin stepped back from his seat and Zhang Qiubei took the main seat.
The meeting room was still taken over by the provincial department. After Cheng Bin argued with them, Zhang Qiubei did not exclude the investigation team from the municipal bureau. However, the people from the municipal bureau could only sit on the outermost benches. The oval table in the center of the meeting room was occupied by Zhang Qiubei and the members of the special investigation team he brought with him.
Zhang Qiubei made several important instructions in succession at the meeting. The main idea was to use his many years of experience in solving kidnapping cases to mobilize police forces on a large scale, conduct multi-party searches, set up checkpoints on major roads and national highways, and conduct inspections.
"We are already analyzing the collision marks on the Cherokee that fell into the water. Once the remaining paint is compared, we can track down the relevant vehicles throughout the city..."
"At the same time, since the other party used the money transfer method, this is a clue. Let the technicians follow this path to track down. The hostage's family has already transferred a sum of money. Find out where the money went and the account opened by the person to whom the money was transferred. As long as the other party dares to withdraw the money, they will definitely be exposed!"
Zhang Qiubei was still talking, but Cheng Bin interrupted him and said, "The information we provided shows that there is an important suspicion. This gang of criminals is ruthless and thoughtful. This should not be their first crime. We have previously compared the three unsolved cases in Dongcheng, SX Province, Puhan, GD Province, and XM. They are likely to be the work of the same gang..."
Zhang Qiubei looked at the documents on his hand and shook his head. "I have read the hypothesis you provided before. The kidnapping methods of these cases are obviously different... Take the case of SX Province for example. The methods are different, and the characteristics of the criminals are also different. They can't be confused at all. This time, the kidnappers asked the family to put the money in the trunk of the kidnapped person's car. This is cash! How can you Shanhai gang be so powerful that you can directly ask for a transfer!"
"It's possible..." Cheng Bin said, "The criminals made many mistakes in their previous crimes, but they are gradually growing! They must have something to rely on when they asked for a remittance this time. If we continue to investigate along this path, we may not be able to find out the clues."
No one else in the entire venue dared to make a sound.
Liu Yue winked at Cheng Bin repeatedly, and he defended this general of his many times.
But at this time, it would be obviously unwise to conflict with the provincial task force.
"Oh, you mean these kidnappers have escalated their methods..." Zhang Qiubei sneered, "Where is your evidence? Where is the evidence for all these assumptions?"
Looking at the pairs of eyes staring at each other in the meeting room, Cheng Bin stammered and said, "Intuition..."
Zhang Qiubei laughed, and the task force also laughed.
There are many people with bad tempers in the public security department. There is no need to be so elegant and pay attention to the art of speaking, especially Zhang Qiubei. He has always been known for being impolite to his subordinates. "I don't deny that some senior criminal investigators have a high intuition about cases. But this does not mean that intuition represents everything. This has also directly led to a part of the atmosphere. Many times, our public security officers act on intuition. A case is pending and they just muddle through. This is a manifestation of lazy politics! Now everything must be done based on evidence. You grassroots personnel in Shanhai City still need to improve your professional level!"
Watching Zhangqiu Bei training people, everyone was still worried about Cheng Bin.
Cheng Bin still argued, "I have a second suggestion... I think we shouldn't conduct such a large-scale search, otherwise the kidnappers may realize that they are at the end of their rope and simply kill the hostages and escape. Our biggest reliance now is that the criminals believe that the victims' families are still raising money... They also need the hostages to communicate with their families, which can increase the victims' survival rate..."
Zhang Qiubei's face darkened. "If we don't take large-scale action, are we asking you to coordinate with multiple police forces to just do the dirty work? ... So, in order to prevent criminals from becoming alert and killing the kidnapped people, should we police just stop doing it?"
Zhang Qiubei looked around the scene, "… Not only do we need to conduct a large-scale search, but we also need to mobilize the armed police from the armed forces! The more we do this, the sooner we can rescue the hostages. If we don't cast a wide net and mobilize people to conduct investigations and search everywhere, where will we get clues? Without clues, the kidnappers will have plenty of time to commit crimes. Don't have unrealistic fantasies… We can only take the initiative to attack. This is racing against time with the kidnappers! Let's see if we catch them first, or they succeed first! I, Zhang Qiubei, have more experience than you in dealing with such vicious bandits! The opportunity is fleeting! If the other party kills the hostages, the result of us mobilizing so many police forces... can only become a laughing stock! I, Zhang Qiubei, can't afford to lose this face..."
When the meeting ended, everyone smelled a strong smell of gunpowder.
The conflict between the provincial experts and Cheng Bin, the deputy director of the municipal public security bureau, was just a dispute over methods. It was hard to say who was right or wrong, but Zhangqiubei had the imperial sword, and under the instructions of the provincial department, the municipal public security bureau had no choice but to cooperate fully.
After the meeting, Cheng Bin and Gu Xiaojun stood at the entrance of the corridor, watching countless police cars speed out of the compound after receiving orders.
Cheng Bin shook his head. "Zhang Qiubei is too arrogant. This will completely harm the hostages!"