Chapter 743: Chapter 399: Casting a Wide Net, Thoroughly Investigating

Around six in the evening, as the sky dimmed, cars rushed past on the streets, and pedestrians headed home, lights in the office buildings flickered off one by one.

For most people, this is the end of a busy day of work, the beginning of family reunions, and relaxation.

However, for the members of the Jiangcheng City criminal investigation team, this hour rarely signifies rest.

On the contrary, it often marks the beginning of a new battle.

In the detective line of work, leaving the office on time is considered unusual; working overtime and being on call at all times is their usual pace.

At 6:15, a police car drove into the courtyard of the criminal investigation team.

As soon as the car stopped, the passenger seat and back door opened almost simultaneously, and Wan and Qin Feng got out one after the other, walking briskly towards Mr. Jiang’s office on the second floor.

Both of them bore the dust and fatigue of a long day out in their expressions, but their eyes remained bright and sharp.

Jiang An, who had been waiting in the office for news, stood up immediately upon seeing their return, speaking with concern, "You’ve worked hard, sit down and rest for a moment."

As he spoke, he raised his hand, gesturing for them to sit by the coffee table in the sofa area.

Jiang An leaned forward slightly, an obvious expectation in his tone: "How is it? Any new discoveries from the perimeter investigation?"

Wan and Qin Feng exchanged a glance, politely deferring to each other.

"Qin Feng, you go ahead."

"Wan, with your experience, you should start."

Eventually, Wan nodded and began to speak: "Mr. Jiang, following your instructions this morning, we focused on visiting the neighbors around the crime scene."

"Since that area is a mix of urban and rural, the households are quite spread out; most people aren’t aware of what happened last night."

"As you might know, in such places, almost every household has its own yard. At night, once the gates are closed, neighbors are either watching TV indoors or resting early."

He paused briefly, opening a notebook he had been holding, and continued his report: "Moreover, the area now has few permanent residents; mainly grandparents watching over grandchildren, while most young people work elsewhere."

"The older folks don’t usually go out at night, let alone pay attention to any unusual sounds nearby."

"So, overall, there haven’t been any obvious disputes or noteworthy anomalies discovered initially."

Then, Wan shifted his tone slightly, adding some weight: "However, about a hundred meters from the deceased’s home, we did get some information from a neighbor there."

"This neighbor generally had a good relationship with the deceased and recalled not noticing anything suspicious the day before."

"But he provided a noteworthy clue — there’s another person in the village also in the greenhouse vegetable business who had a competitive relationship with the deceased."

"Last November, they had a rather intense conflict over vegetable pricing, which even led to the police being called. It was only resolved temporarily when the local police station sent someone to mediate."

"Oh?"

Jiang An’s interest was piqued, and he inquired further, "What exactly happened during that conflict?"

"Did this neighbor mention any other details?"

"He said he remembered it clearly because that morning he was taking his child to school and witnessed their argument by the roadside, almost escalating to a physical fight."

"Later, he heard it was a business dispute, with neither side willing to give in."

As Jiang An quickly noted this, he nodded, "This information is crucial."

"We can later reach out to the police station to retrieve the call records and see how it was handled."

At this moment, Qin Feng suddenly interjected, "By the way."

"We also visited one of the deceased’s business partners, who mentioned that around last October I noticed a noticeable scratch on the deceased’s face during a drinking session."

"Since they had a supplier-distributor relationship and interacted frequently, he casually asked about it."

"The deceased didn’t hide much, saying it was from a clash with another greenhouse business owner in the village, where they got scratched during pushing and shoving."

Upon hearing these two pieces of information, Jiang An began to suspect the competitive opponent in the village even more.

In his view, every crime often has underlying motives not immediately visible,

and economic interest combined with business competition is one of the most common catalysts.

This lead clearly warrants further in-depth investigation.

Yet, a slight doubt suddenly crossed Jiang An’s mind: Could business competition alone really escalate to the point of murdering four people and even destroying their bodies?"

"Isn’t this too extreme?"

However, he didn’t voice his suspicion immediately because he knew too well that human nature is unpredictable, and everyone’s psychological threshold and breaking point are different.

Just like the butterfly effect, something trivial could set off a huge wave in someone’s mind.

Much like in a public seating scenario, some can’t bear the thought of germs, while others remain unfazed.

Motives for crime are sometimes hidden in these psychological crevices, buried within the sense of humiliation, threat, and despair only the involved parties truly understand.

After a moment’s contemplation, Jiang An looked steadily at Wan and continued to inquire, "Brother Wang, besides what you’ve mentioned, have you made any progress in other areas of your investigation?"