National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 386 - 386 353 Conclusion

386: Chapter 353 Conclusion 386: Chapter 353 Conclusion Jiang Yuan arrived at the scene to find a crowd already encircling the police tape.

There were villagers looking for entertainment, passersby who enjoyed drama, and parents crying their hearts out.

“Officer, officer, please help us check if our child is inside?” A tricycle stopped at the intersection, and a couple rushed over, holding a photo of their child.

The officer they grabbed was on the outer perimeter, and this wasn’t the first time they had encountered such a situation.

With difficulty, he glanced at the photo and murmured something softly.

The couple immediately burst into tears.

Jiang Yuan and the accompanying officers pretended not to see.

For an unsolved case, it was against the rules to disclose any information—any public release of information had to be approved by higher-ranking leaders.

Thus, for some cases stirring public opinion, the police kept silent.

However, grassroots work was never strictly by the book, and technicians like Jiang Yuan had no place telling others what to do.

Jiang Yuan pressed on, entering the youth hostel with a bowed head.

An old, human scent hit him—the kind one might find in a boys’ dormitory.

It seemed nobody liked the smell, as everyone gathered in the middle of the courtyard to talk, hold meetings, and issue orders.

In fact, this was the essence of the youth hostel; on a normal day, Li Huaqiang would observe the incoming teams and backpackers from here.

Whenever the reality of the teams clashed with the ideals of the backpackers, Li Huaqiang would reap an extra bit of income.

Of course, they were now residing in the detention center, and chances were they’d have a hard time getting back to the front lines once out.

“Expert Jiang,” Gao Changjiang called, his breath visible in the cold, his spirits slightly high.

The case was basically solved, at least most of it.

As for the additional five children, although they complicated matters, Gao Changjiang wasn’t too afraid.

After all, they had already made a breakthrough in this difficult case.

What was it to follow the trail from there?

Of course, following the trail depended on who was doing it—following a competent person meant chasing big leads, but trailing a fool meant ending up lost.

Jiang Yuan looked around before confirming the information, “I heard there are five extra children?”

“Yes, two of them were snatched by them on a whim, and the other three were bought over.

They belong to another group, stolen from the two cities nearby.

The local police have also arrived,” Gao Changjiang nodded and explained, “These people are trading children and profiting on the price difference.”

“How do they profit?”

“Those who are desperate to sell or have no channels will sell a child for ten to twenty thousand.

People like them can sell for thirty to forty thousand, or buy for twenty to thirty thousand.

They can even stockpile for a few days and wait for someone willing to pay a high price, selling them for forty to fifty thousand,” Gao Changjiang frowned, “With places to hide and channels to sell, they can make money.”

“So many people are involved?”

“Yes.”

“A child sells for forty to fifty thousand, let’s say fifty thousand per child, that means the nine children here are worth four hundred fifty thousand?” Jiang Yuan suddenly started doing the math.

Confused, Gao Changjiang replied, “If you consider them as goods, the average is only about forty thousand each, at most the total is three hundred fifty thousand.”

“There would have to be more than thirty participants, meaning on average no one would make even ten thousand…” Jiang Yuan continued calculating, “That means, to match the income of a regular job, they would have to commit several such cases a year, selling four to five children per person?”

“Yes,” Gao Changjiang responded gravely.

That was indeed the way the math worked out.

In a chain-like gang, even if the final selling price of a child reached seventy to eighty thousand, or even one hundred seventy to one hundred eighty thousand, the average profit per link in the chain was around ten thousand.

This meant that professional child traffickers had to commit multiple crimes per year to make it worthwhile, to ensure they earned more than they would from casual labor.

Gao Changjiang shook his head and said, “We’ve uncovered a few leads now and are planning to follow them.

Expert Jiang, what’s your plan on this end?”

He now felt embarrassed to give orders directly and let Jiang Yuan have free rein.

As long as the case could be cracked, how tasks were distributed wasn’t that important.

Willing to delegate authority, Jiang Yuan only felt relief.

For him, there were so many approaches to solving a case, especially now with so much evidence and a host of witnesses.

After some deliberation, he said, “I’ll start with processing the crime scene, and then see what comes next.”

Interrogation was not his forte, but crime scene investigation was certainly within his wheelhouse.

The sooner the scene was processed, the better.

Other leads could be pursued gradually later on.

Additionally, the process of inspecting the crime scene for Jiang Yuan was also the process of securing evidence.

It was difficult to expect members of such a criminal ring to admit to their crimes; to pursue heavy penalties and long sentences, the evidence had to be exceptionally solid.

Jiang Yuan called over two people to join him and began to search for traces at the youth hostel.

In such a large space that was frequently occupied by different people, finding useful traces was not easy.

Yet, Jiang Yuan searched with extraordinary thoroughness.

At the same time, he didn’t forget to make use of the nearby Expert Liu—as an expert in crime scene reconstruction, he had considerable insight into analyzing locations and movement paths, among other things.

A night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, Jiang Yuan took a break, and Wu Xia had finished comparing the fingerprints that he had lifted.

By noon, the DNA lab began to release reports one after another.

At this point, the information on several individuals released after serving their sentences came to light, and at the same time, the DNA and fingerprints of numerous missing persons were matched.

Indeed, the traces at the youth hostel were incredibly complicated—so numerous as to be theoretically unusable.

However, for a den like this one, the proportion of people leaving traces in the youth hostel who were trafficked individuals or those released from prison was surprisingly high.

As these answers were compiled, many officers, including Gao Changjiang, fell silent.

“This place has turned into a transit station for trafficked individuals,” Gao Changjiang said with a grim tone, devoid of any excitement from a breakthrough in the case.

Trafficking of women and children differed from regular criminal offenses in one significant aspect: the crime was always ongoing.

While murders are terrifying, death occurs within a short span.

Robberies, arsons, thefts, and even rapes—these crimes all have a set duration.

Trafficking cases are different; unless the case is solved or the victims die, trafficked individuals are constantly violated and remain in a state of pain and helplessness.

This made the investigation of the case exceptionally grave and serious.

Gao Changjiang went back home for a few hours, then returned to the police station and began to muster his officers, ready to deploy.

In cases sponsored by government ministries, one could close the case quickly or delve deeply into the investigation, and Gao Changjiang was clearly prepared to choose the latter.

Over a hundred detectives split into six groups and began their pursuit of the matched individuals released after serving their sentences.

Victims were hard to find, but the perpetrators often did not hide.

Their goal in perpetuating violence and crime was often to improve their social lives, to enjoy themselves, not the opposite.

Jiang Yuan stayed in the police station, continuously verifying people and cases.

More trafficked children and women were being rescued as well.

Jiang Yuan remained there until the end of the year before quietly returning to Ningtai County.