Chapter 885: Beginning Fingerprint Collection

When Lu Chuan and Chen Weiguo returned from the city bureau to the branch office, the preparations here were almost complete, with a total of 198 people able to be mobilized for fingerprint collection.

"Aside from those on duty, dealing with major cases, and those on business or vacation, all available personnel have been assembled, totaling 198 people."

After receiving the order, the branch office’s political commissar wasted no time and immediately called all the police station chiefs to discuss coordination, deployment arrangements, and requirements.

Of course, among these 198 people, there are personnel from police stations, the Criminal Investigation Team, and even the Traffic Police Team; anyone who could be mobilized from the High-tech Zone branch office has come forward.

"Lu Chuan, the personnel are ready, the support is in place, now it’s all up to you."

"Don’t worry, Director Chen, I’ll head to the scene right away."

Bu Zhun, after leaving the branch office, did not return to the Criminal Investigation Team, but called three squad leaders, gathered the team, and headed straight to Beihong Village.

This time, Lu Chuan aims to wrap up the related matters in the shortest possible time, because besides the existing residents, fingerprint collection in Beihong Village involves people who have left the village over the past 10 years.

Fingerprint collection for this part of the population is relatively troublesome.

It’s not feasible to send police on business trips to collect these fingerprints and bring them back; we can only rely on contacting the local police from where these people reside for collection, and then relay it back.

On the way, Lu Chuan assigned the tasks to the three squad leaders.

Given Wang Zhaokai’s familiarity with the village, having investigated here for three days, the fingerprint collection scope will extend beyond just Beihong Village to some surrounding villages, confirmed by Wang Zhaokai.

"No problem."

Wang Zhaokai already had a plan in mind.

"Beihong Village and the surrounding villages form a cluster of natural settlements around the North Mountain’s foot."

Wang Zhaokai opened the map app on his phone to explain to Lu Chuan: "My recommendation is to collect fingerprints from all five villages at the foot of North Mountain, as they’re relatively clustered together, and the nearest village beyond these sits ten kilometers away."

Lu Chuan nodded; "Alright, as per your suggestion, collect fingerprints from everyone in these five villages."

Within these five villages, Beihong Village has the largest population, with over 300 households and more than 1,200 people.

Combined, the five villages host approximately 5,000 people.

police officers were divided into five larger groups, each entering a village.

Additionally, each larger group was divided into smaller teams of two officers, visiting homes for fingerprint collection.

"Make sure to cross-reference with the village roster from years ago, note if there are discrepancies, mark accordingly."

The responsibility for fingerprint collection from the five villages lies chiefly with Wang Zhaokai, but Lu Chuan is also on site.

Chen Jiang and Sun Biao have other tasks.

On one hand, investigations of taxi drivers and construction workers must persist.

On the other hand, in these ten years since the incident, someone must oversee the fingerprint collection of individuals who have left the village.

Prior to the information fingerprint collection, Wang Zhaokai has already accounted for people leaving these five villages over the past decade.

The numbers are significant; in the past decade, there are deceased people and individuals who have left for work or moved away, encompassing all sorts of situations.

Truthfully, Lu Chuan is most concerned about collecting fingerprints from this group of people.

Should the murderer from those days be among the deceased, that would complicate matters.

This case would remain unsolved, definitely a cold case.

Such scenarios are considered extreme, whether or not they’ll unfold is uncertain.

While Lu Chuan carried out other deployments, fingerprint collection within the village had already commenced.

"Brother Zhang, this operation is quite massive."

Chen Xiao, a recent police academy graduate, now practices at the police station.

This is his first action, and he feels a bit excited.

"You’re lucky, kid," Brother Zhang chuckled; Chen Xiao is a fine kid, sensible and diligent. Zhang Feng is his mentor.

"This mission is urgent with a broad scope of fingerprint collection, so even you interns have a chance to practice."

This time, Zhang Feng leads a small team with Chen Xiao, tasked with collecting fingerprints from twenty households, fifty-one individuals.

police officers, two people per team, forming 99 teams.

On average, each team is responsible for collecting fingerprints from 20-30 households, about 50 individuals.

With speed, the work could be completed in one morning; slower, then one day should suffice.

Thus, the personnel involved in this operation are relatively adequate, capable of quickly finishing the battle.

This is all the High-tech Zone’s inability to manage otherwise.

Mobilizing personnel on a large scale demands swift action; pulling staff from police stations for several hours or a day should be alright, but two or three days would be a problem.

Leveraging this event’s opportunity, Zhang Feng shares some experience with Chen Xiao.

"See that house? There’s a dog in the yard; I once participated in an operation where encountering dogs required preemptive measures; otherwise, if the dog barks before we approach, we’re finished."

"And these low walls, if we need to climb over, check for broken glass pieces on top."

Chen Xiao stepped forward and saw indeed tiny glass shards embedded within.

"But no need to worry, it’s easily handled; cover with a blanket and cross over with ease."

The two chatted, and before they knew it, they had collected half the fingerprints.

"Sir, is this Liang Jun’s house?"

The elderly man sitting at the corner looked up, and the two policemen nodded.

The news had spread within the village.

Hu Huihui, who disappeared ten years ago, was found under the national road nearby, killed a decade ago.

In recent days, police have been patrolling the village, inquiring here and there.

Liang Guofa had grown accustomed.

"My son went to the field, can he collect fingerprints tomorrow?"

"Sir, tomorrow won’t do, we only have this morning; we’ll collect yours first then head to the field for your son’s."

The elderly man did not oppose this, called his wife out, along with the children and daughter-in-law, each collected their fingerprints.

"Can you catch the person with this?"

Chen Xiao was just about to say the killer’s fingerprints have been extracted, and as long as the killer is in the village, he can be found, but Zhang Feng stopped him.

"Whether we catch or not, who can say for sure; we’re just collecting fingerprints as required by superiors."

After speaking, Zhang Feng packed up, "Sir, I have several more households to cover; once finished, I’ll come back for you to lead me to your son’s field."

"Alright..."