Chapter 1093 - 558: This Young Man Is a Bit Over the Top (2)

As soon as he said that, the row of veteran officers sitting opposite all looked in surprise toward the leaders in the back—of course, most of their gazes focused on Jiang An.

Because as for what sort of status the position of executive deputy leader held, they understood that better than anyone.

Was this some kind of joke?

Trying to show off in front of a bunch of old detectives was definitely not going to work.

But when they heard that the executive deputy leader was actually Jiang An, that meant he would be the main force and principal director in solving the case, yet his age really didn’t quite match this position.

Seeing this, they began whispering to each other, exchanging puzzled looks.

Perhaps noticing that everyone had some opinions, Vice Director Chen Guan immediately spoke up: "Brothers, what is it? Do you feel there’s something wrong with this arrangement?"

"No, no," everyone hastily waved their hands, "we absolutely support Vice Director Chen’s work, absolutely support the provincial expert team’s work. If needed, these old bones of ours will go through fire and water; just say the word."

The veteran officer sitting in the middle spoke with righteous conviction, though his eyes kept drifting toward Jiang An.

At this moment, Vice Director Chen Guan clearly picked up on what they were thinking and quickly said, "Haha, you’re all old detectives—your eyes are sharp."

"The youngest among us here is our Criminal Investigation Team captain, Jiang An. He’s one of Jiangcheng’s outstanding young talents and one of the nation’s Top Ten Detectives, truly among the very best in the province."

"Of course, back when you all were working on the front line of criminal investigation, arresting killers and cracking big cases, Jiang An was still in middle school, maybe even elementary school."

"But as things stand now, from what we know, his ability to solve cases has already surpassed many veteran detectives."

Hearing this, the old detectives opposite nodded slightly, but their eyes still showed a hint of mistrust.

They suddenly felt, how could this be okay?

How could Guangling Criminal Investigation be propping up its image with a young officer?

This didn’t seem right—how could such a situation arise?

Had Guangling Criminal Investigation lost confidence in itself?

Besides, how could such a young-looking officer possibly have such strong case-solving ability?

This was a question in all their minds.

At this moment, Director Hou, who had been engaged in criminal investigation work for many years, naturally understood what was implied and quickly said, "Brothers, you may be wondering why we chose Jiang An as the executive deputy leader."

"You all understand very well the importance of the executive deputy leader. Mainly, it’s because Jiang An’s ability in solving cases is truly formidable, and in criminal analysis, evidence utilization, Scene Investigation, physical examinations, case analysis, and interrogation breakthroughs, he has remarkable achievements. All of us have seen that with our own eyes."

"On the other hand, in this case, among everyone here, only Jiang An is someone who has not participated in the case from beginning to end."

"We know that in the process of solving a case, there can be a kind of inertia in thinking. Sometimes you feel you’ve found a breakthrough, yet you just can’t break through; the root cause may be that your perspective and dimension of thinking are off."

"So this time, for the seventh reinvestigation of the case, we want Captain Jiang An to take the lead. That way he can oversee the entire case, propose new ideas and approaches, and strive to crack this case in one decisive move."

"Therefore, on this point, I hope you can put your minds at ease and understand the painstaking thought behind Vice Director Chen’s decision."

Listening to this, everyone gradually let go of their doubts and turned their eyes to Jiang An—from initial skepticism to curiosity, and finally to expectation.

Then Vice Director Chen Guan turned to look at Jiang An and said, "Mr. Jiang, this time you’re serving as the executive deputy leader of our case task force. If there’s anything that needs me to coordinate, or needs Director Hou to step in and resolve, just say it."

"We’re handing the case over to you for a thorough investigation. As for the specific process, we’ll advance on multiple fronts in parallel."

"You’re essentially the fresh blood in this investigation. You can bring us many new breakthroughs."

"Mr. Jiang, say a few words to everyone."

Next, Jiang An spoke. He looked around the entire conference room and said, "Vice Director Chen, Director Hou, you’re giving me too much credit."

"On the road of criminal investigation, the paths I’ve walked are not as many as the bridges you’ve crossed."

"You could say that back when you were on the front line catching killers and cracking major cases, I was still running around in split-crotch pants, digging in the mud."

"So, in restarting the investigation into the seventh iteration of this case, I’m not trying to issue orders from the standpoint of a commander, but hoping that everyone will actively put forward valuable suggestions."

"It’s possible that the way I’m thinking now is a path you’ve already thought about and explored, yet still never found the correct direction."

"So, to avoid problems in my subsequent work, I hope you can promptly remind me, and we can solve this case together."

Then he went on: "Mr. Chen, Director Hou, regarding this case—earlier I spent almost an hour going through the case files, and I’ve formed some thoughts, some preliminary impressions."

"I’d like to briefly share them with everyone and see whether you brothers can accept my viewpoint. I also hope Director Hou and Vice Director Chen will criticize and correct me."

Hearing this, Director Hou looked at Jiang An in some surprise and then said, "Mr. Jiang, there’s actually no need to rush on the timing. We can just discuss this a bit later."

"You can see the case file is quite thick. You’ve only read it for about an hour. I’m afraid it’s difficult to fully grasp it in that time."

Hearing this, Vice Director Chen Guan quickly tried to smooth things over: "Exactly, I was joking before the meeting—you don’t need to take it so seriously."

"In criminal investigation, we emphasize throwing a combination punch, getting things clear and thorough, not rushing for quick results."

"Besides, we’ve already waited fifteen or sixteen years on this case—waiting another three or five days won’t make any difference."

"So, Mr. Jiang, you can take your time reading, and we can take our time discussing."

Hearing this, the corner of Jiang An’s mouth twitched; he smiled and said, "Mr. Chen, it’s actually fine. The way we handle cases now is to advance along the path of bold hypotheses and careful verification. I think we can first discuss my preliminary ideas."

At these words, the officers opposite all showed looks of surprise.

You have to know that back then, when they worked this case, they spent an enormous amount of time and effort.

Looking at the case file again now, just on investigation and visits, Scene Investigation, and autopsy examinations, they had poured in massive time and energy for each part. Later, even those who participated in the investigation needed a long period to digest everything.

How could someone suddenly be ready to offer opinions after just one hour? Wasn’t that a bit too unreliable?

The good impression they had just formed suddenly evaporated; this young man seemed a bit too flamboyant.

At this moment, the gray-haired old detective sitting in the middle slumped back in his chair, the pen in his hand falling to the table.

He had no expectations at all for what Jiang An was about to say.

However, Jiang An was not disturbed by their expressions.

Because before he entered the conference room, he had already straightened out his thoughts and formed a rough outline in his mind.

All he needed now was to further sort out what he had in mind, and he would be able to present it fully.

Moreover, during their brief discussion just now, he had already completed this round of mental processing.

You could say that he already had a general direction for the investigation of this case.

Next, he only needed to push forward step by step along the line of thinking in his mind.

Right now, the thing he was most concerned about was: why hadn’t all the body parts been found?