158: Grouping

Before long, Wan Qiang walked in with Zheng Wenchang.

"Let me introduce everyone," Zheng Wenchang said solemnly. "This is Officer Zheng, a veteran police officer here to support us from the Qinghe Police Station. He is also a comrade-in-arms who went through life and death with me back in the day. You can just call him Uncle Zheng from now on."

Wan Qiang had always been strict in his management of the Third Criminal Investigation Detachment, so everyone stood up and greeted in unison, "Hello, Uncle Zheng!"

Captain Wan gave him plenty of face, which actually made Zheng Wenchang feel a bit unaccustomed to it.

He humbly said, "Hello everyone, hello everyone. This is my first time in a Special Task Force, and I hope you all will take care of me in the future."

Wan Qiang invited Zheng Wenchang to sit beside him and then began today's meeting.

"Captain Li Liang, they just arrived today and aren't particularly clear about the case. Give a brief introduction."

Captain Li Liang stood up and turned on the large screen on the wall behind Wan Qiang.

The screen displayed photos of the car accident scene.

"This vehicle is a registered vehicle from a certain transport company in Caiyun Province. The owner is named Xie Yongxing. Xie Yongxing signed a long-term cooperation agreement with a local enterprise called [Qiangneng Group] to exclusively transport high-risk products like sulfuric acid for them.

Qiangneng Group is a non-ferrous metal smelting enterprise. In the process of smelting non-ferrous metals like copper, lead, and zinc, they produce a large amount of sulfur dioxide. The enterprise uses a sulfuric acid recovery device to process this flue gas, thereby producing a large amount of sulfuric acid.

These sulfuric acids are then sold to chemical enterprises across the country, used for the production of chemical fertilizers, chemical fibers, plastics, and so on.

Xie Yongxing usually mainly runs routes in the Xichuan region, including our Jiangcheng and the provincial capital, Rongcheng.

It has been a full ten years since he bought the car and registered it with the local transport company. In these ten years, he hasn't had a single car accident, and hasn't even been issued a traffic ticket.

His colleagues also know that Xie Yongxing has very rich driving experience, is law-abiding, and is very steady in his work.

Besides this, Xie Yongxing neither smokes nor drinks. After the autopsy, no drugs or other substances were found in his body, so everyone was very surprised to hear that his car rushed off the highway."

Gu Qingcheng interjected, "Could it be that there was a problem with the brakes?"

Captain Li Liang shook his head, "After our careful inspection of the vehicle, the car's braking system, whether it's the active braking system or the auxiliary braking system, has no structural abnormalities. After our calculation of the distance the car traveled when it rushed off the highway, that car reached 135 kilometers per hour when it crashed through the guardrail. It is very clear that not only did Xie Yongxing not brake, he was actually accelerating."

Zhu Xiaojun also said, "It was originally a downhill section. Not slowing down but instead accelerating, this is obviously very abnormal!!"

"Could it be the reason of the car itself?" Lei Zhen also interjected.

Captain Li Liang shook his head, "Professional departments have already conducted a detailed inspection. Although the car's transmission is damaged, it did not happen before the accident, but was damaged during the process of the accident. According to information provided by the transport company, this vehicle had just undergone a full maintenance before this transport, so problems with the car itself are basically ruled out."

Gu Qingcheng asked again, "Deputy Captain Li, what about the matter of the child?"

Captain Li Liang said, "It's like this. At first, we found the bodies of the couple who owned the car and thought there were only two people on board. As it turned out, the Police Station later received a call from Caiyun Province.

The person who called was the parents of the deceased. They said there was also the car owner Xie Yongxing's son, ten-year-old Xie Xiaoyu, on the car. Xie Xiaoyu saw Jiangcheng on TV, thought it was particularly beautiful, and really wanted to come and play. So his father, Xie Yongxing, took advantage of the weekend to bring his wife and son along to visit.

Their family of three set off at 11:00 PM on November 7th. They had taken many breaks along the way. They arrived in Jiangcheng around 9:00 AM the next day. The last time they entered a service area to rest was at 9:25 AM. We found footage of their family of three eating instant noodles in the surveillance video at [Yuhuatai Service Area]."

Lei Zhen asked, "So, the child was still there when they entered Jiangcheng. What about the dashcam?"

Captain Li Liang said, "The dashcam was completely corroded by the strong acid, and the data can no longer be recovered."

After saying this, he continued, "At 9:50, which was 25 minutes after they rested at Yuhuatai Service Area, the family of three left the service area and headed to their final stop, which was a certain chemical plant 40 kilometers away. But just ten minutes later, around 10:00, the car rushed off the highway while passing through the jurisdiction of Qinghe Town.

But strangely, we only found the bodies of the couple, and we also found the child's school bag and clothes, but we didn't find the child."

Gu Qingcheng immediately said, "Could he have been corroded away by the strong acid?"

"We had also guessed that before," Captain Li Liang replied. "But in reality, this is impossible. Although fuming sulfuric acid is highly corrosive, it wouldn't be enough to completely melt a ten-year-old child. The child's parents were also severely corroded by the sulfuric acid, yet it was still possible to basically distinguish their general appearance. If the child was also in the vehicle at that time, there shouldn't be a complete lack of any remaining traces."

"That means the child disappeared in the distance between Yuhuatai Service Area and the accident scene." Lei Zhen asked, "Have you searched everywhere along the way?"

"We have, and we've searched it over and over several times," Captain Li Liang said. "But there are no traces of the child at all. Interviews with nearby residents also confirmed that no one had seen this child."

"That is strange then," Zhu Xiaojun said. "How could a living person just disappear for no reason?"

Lei Zhen asked, "Didn't the sulfuric acid truck hit a few cars before it rushed out? What did those car owners say? Did they see anything?"

Captain Li Liang said, "We questioned all those car owners and also checked their dashcams. Perhaps due to the thick smoke at the time, we couldn't see anything at all."

The scene was quiet for a moment. Wan Qiang said, "Lei Zhen, see if there is anything else you need to understand."

Lei Zhen shook his head, "Not for now."

Wan Qiang turned to look at Zheng Wenchang, who had been silent the whole time. "Old comrade-in-arms, what about you?"

Zheng Wenchang shook his head.

Wan Qiang turned to look at everyone present. "Comrades, this bizarre car accident has already been six days, yet we have completely failed to find the whereabouts of the child. The child's grandparents came all the way from Caiyun Province and said that if they can't find the child for one day, they won't leave for one day.

Yesterday, the leaders of the Provincial Department came to Jiangcheng to attend an awards ceremony and specifically spoke to me about this case, demanding that we find the child's whereabouts as soon as possible. I have to say, the task on our shoulders is very heavy now. Speak up, what are everyone's thoughts?"

Wan Qiang's gaze swept across everyone, but what was returned to him were all avoiding eyes.

"Captain Li Liang, you tell us, in which direction should we go next?" Wan Qiang could only look at his capable assistant.

Captain Li Liang stood up and said, "I still insist on the belief that the child must have disappeared within those ten kilometers between Yuhuatai Service Area and the accident scene. I think we should increase the scope of the search."

Wan Qiang sighed, "Unfortunately, we don't have enough manpower."

Captain Li Liang said, "If it really comes to it, we can borrow from the Police Stations in the city. Director, if you give me two thousand people, I will definitely find the child."

Wan Qiang looked at Captain Li Liang, "I can give you the people, but if you can't find him, I will hold you solely responsible."

After saying this, he turned to look at Lei Zhen, "Lei Zhen, what do you think?"

Lei Zhen grinned, "I don't know. I'd better go to the scene and take a look first."

After saying this, he added, "By the way, Captain Wan, I have a suggestion. With so many people in our Special Task Force, can we split into two groups? Everyone can act separately, and maybe the efficiency will be higher."

Wan Qiang nodded, "That's a good idea. How do you think these two groups should be divided?"

Lei Zhen stood up and said, "Let's do this. I'll form a group with a few people from our Qinghe. If any of you want to join our group, you can raise your hand."

Everyone had clearly heard Lei Zhen just betting with Captain Li Liang, so who would be so reckless as to dare to join his group now?

Everyone looked at each other, and no one dared to raise their hand.

Wan Qiang seemed to see something and his face darkened on the spot, "What is the meaning of this? If no one raises their hand, I will assign it directly."

Lei Zhen quickly said, "No need, Captain Wan. A forced melon is not sweet; if they are not willing, we cannot force them."

Wan Qiang could only give up, but still pointed at everyone and said, "I gave you a chance to learn from Officer Lei, and yet not one of you cherishes the opportunity."

Just at this moment, a man beside Captain Li Liang actively raised his hand, "I am willing."

Everyone was stunned when they saw it, because the person who raised his hand was named Yin Yong, and he was Captain Li Liang's most loyal brother.