Chapter 981 - 505: Visiting the Psychiatric Hospital (Part 2)

After all, in a criminal police unit, everyone has long been used to the hardship and risk of handling cases, but honor is a tangible form of recognition.

It concerns not only personal prospects, but also embodies the dignity and value of the entire team.

Just as one police car after another roared out of the criminal investigation compound, Director Hou and Jiang An were riding in a black business van, heading unhurriedly toward the Criminal Investigation Team.

After finishing breakfast at the hotel, the two had come straight here, ready for a deeper review and analysis.

The moment the car stopped and they opened the doors to get out, they saw Director Lu and Zhang Biao already waiting on the steps in front of the building.

"Director Hou, Mr. Jiang, you’ve worked hard."

Jiang An glanced at the dust from the vehicles still hanging in the air in the yard and asked with a hint of doubt, "I just saw a lot of police cars going out. Is there another new special operation?"

Zhang Biao’s lips moved slightly; he shook his head with a half-smile. "Hey, what new operation? It’s still all around this case."

"I’ve had them carry out a carpet-style canvass, taking the area we delineated last night as the core and gradually extending outward. They must thoroughly map out the victim’s social network and see if they can filter out any suspects."

Hearing this, Director Hou immediately gave a thumbs-up. "The response speed and execution capacity of your Dongcheng City Criminal Investigation Team really make me sit up and take notice!"

"The task has only just been assigned and you can already deliver such a swift and solid response. That shows your unit’s professional quality and coordination efficiency are truly exceptional."

"If you keep pushing ahead with this momentum, I believe the day when this case is fully solved is not far off!"

Off to the side, Director Lu couldn’t help bursting into hearty laughter, his tone both modest and full of warmth. "Director Hou, you flatter us!"

"When it comes to solving cases, we really have to rely on experts and leaders like you and Mr. Jiang to take the helm and give guidance."

"Everyone in our bureau will fully cooperate. Whatever assistance you need, just say the word!"

As he spoke, Director Lu had already stepped forward himself to lead the way, taking the two upstairs at an easy pace.

After inviting the two to sit, Director Lu turned, took some tea leaves from the cabinet, and personally brewed a cup of green tea for both Director Hou and Jiang An.

Taking the cup and sipping lightly, Jiang An asked, "Director Lu, Captain Zhang, I’d like to ask: do you have a psychiatric hospital locally?"

"We may need to start from that type of institution and sort through information on relevant persons whose household registration is in this area."

"A psychiatric hospital?" After hearing this, Director Lu’s expression clearly paused for a moment, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes, but he quickly returned to normal.

"Yes, there is indeed a ’Dongcheng City Kangning Mental Rehabilitation Hospital’ here, which is what we usually refer to as a psychiatric hospital."

"The hospital is of a decent size and has been around for quite a few years."

Jiang An nodded, then pressed on, "So where exactly is this hospital located now?"

"We hope to retrieve their registered personnel records from the system as soon as possible, especially information on those whose household registration addresses fall in the village where the crime occurred and the surrounding area."

Hearing this, Director Lu and Zhang Biao both froze slightly at almost the same moment, identical looks of doubt and contemplation appearing on their faces.

With the case at hand, they should by rights prioritize clear leads and related persons; they hadn’t expected Jiang to suddenly extend the direction of investigation into the field of mental health.

This would undoubtedly mean a further increase in workload, which also left them somewhat puzzled.

Unable to help himself, Zhang Biao turned his head toward Director Lu and added in a low voice, "Director, early this morning I already sent out every operative we could move in the Criminal Investigation Team. Apart from a few comrades who are older or in poor health, everyone else is outside doing the canvass."

"If we still have to spare people to screen the psychiatric hospital’s records, I’m afraid..."

Director Lu nodded slowly as well, a hint of difficulty showing between his brows. He was clearly weighing the distribution of personnel and tasks.

However, Jiang spoke up in an even tone to explain, "Director Lu, Captain Zhang, there’s no need to reassign manpower just for this."

"What I mean is, I can go to Kangning Hospital in person later and coordinate with them directly. I’ll just ask the hospital to help us preliminarily screen from their internal system a list of people whose household registration falls within our delineated area."

"That way we can narrow the scope of our checks without excessively dispersing our current investigative forces."

Director Lu hurriedly raised his hand to stop him, speaking earnestly. "Oh, that won’t do."

"Director Hou, you’re a leader from the higher authorities, and you’ve come all this way specifically to guide our investigation, broaden our thinking, and point out the direction. That’s already very hard work!"

"These past few days you’ve been going nonstop with meetings and case analysis—we’ve all seen it."

"How can we trouble you to personally run around for something as procedural as retrieving records? That should be left to our people at the grassroots level."

Director Hou smiled faintly. "Director Lu, you’re being too polite."

"In this case, time is tight and the clues are messy. If I go to retrieve the records myself, I can maybe be more targeted, and it will probably be more efficient."

"Besides, when we discussed it yesterday and raised the possibility that the killer is someone familiar with the victim, that was only a canvass from the perspective of interpersonal relationships."

"I’m wondering whether, when committing such a brutal crime, the killer’s mental state could have been abnormal."

"After all, from the visits we’ve made around the scene so far, local residents generally say public security in this area has always been good and neighbors get along fairly well. For such a vicious case to erupt all of a sudden, there may be psychological or pathological factors we haven’t yet touched on behind it."

"Pulling relevant medical records from the hospital might help us open up a breakthrough from another angle."