Chapter 916: Burned-Out SUV

"Good morning, Captain Lu!"

"Good morning, Captain Lu!"

"Captain Lu, you’re back?"

Walking through the courtyard, many people came out to greet him.

After Lu Chuan responded to everyone, he went to his office, brewed some tea, and took a break. After 9:00, it would be time to prepare for a video conference.

Every morning at 9 o’clock, the Haizhou City Public Security Bureau holds a weekly meeting where all mid-level and above officers must participate.

Since Lu Chuan was with the High-tech Zone Criminal Investigation Team, he didn’t need to go to the branch for the meeting; he could just join the video conference.

The meetings of the Haizhou City Public Security Bureau have always had a particular characteristic.

When no major cases occur, the meetings drag on for particularly long, and they seem to lack any substantial content.

Sometimes Lu Chuan would doze off in the conference room.

One director would finish speaking on stage, then another director, and then another leader would analyze further.

It felt like everyone had endless things to say.

The leaders on stage were also never short on words.

The departments’ reports were filled with long-winded discussions.

However, as soon as a case occurred, everyone seemed to go silent except for the investigators reporting relevant information; everything else seemed to be simplified.

So, by observing the length of these morning meetings, one could judge whether any incidents had occurred recently in Haizhou City.

During the few days Lu Chuan was away, nothing significant happened—just a few theft cases reported by the relevant branch offices.

The most serious was a robbery case, but the suspect was caught in less than three hours.

The director of the Tianshan Branch was bragging, spent over ten minutes just to finish talking about this case.

Then the Criminal Investigation Team mentioned needing to purchase some equipment, starting to ask for funds.

The Traffic Police Team also said some police vehicles were too outdated and needed to be replaced.

The technical group also needed funds for equipment.

Even the Legal Division wanted some money to make law promotion videos.

Struggling to stay awake, Lu Chuan finally endured until the end of the meeting.

Honestly, having time to hold such meetings is less satisfying than handling a couple of cases.

However, the following week was calm; the High-tech Zone Criminal Investigation Team had no significant cases on hand.

But this didn’t mean everyone wasn’t busy. Old cases were usually dealt with during such times.

Reviewing old clues, finding evidence, traveling for investigations, and making visits.

Handling old cases is time-consuming.

Sometimes an unobtrusive clue could lead to breakthroughs.

But sometimes, even after ten or twenty years, there might be no progress.

On this particular day, Lu Chuan was organizing a meeting about police work study.

Then halfway through, he received a phone call.

It was from the dispatch center.

Generally, the dispatch center wouldn’t call Lu Chuan directly, unless it was a major case.

That was exactly the case.

After a few words from the other side explaining the situation, Lu Chuan immediately stood up.

"Captain Lu, what happened?"

Lu Chuan’s expression was serious: "The dispatch center just received a report. This morning, someone found a burned-out SUV in the suburbs with four bodies inside!"

Damn!

Four bodies?

"In our jurisdiction?"

Chen Jiang asked in shock.

Wang Zhaokai responded: "Of course, if it wasn’t in our jurisdiction, why would the dispatch center call Captain Lu here?"

"Old Wang, gather the team quickly, have the forensic doctor come with us, and let’s head to the scene immediately."

"Yes!"

Half an hour later.

When Lu Chuan and the others arrived at the scene, the local police station was already there waiting.

After receiving the report, the dispatch center would first send the closest police officers to check the situation at the scene.

Since it was determined that a murder had taken place, they would also directly notify Lu Chuan’s Criminal Investigation Team.

The location where the burnt SUV was found was in the jurisdiction of the City Gate Police Station.

The director of the City Gate Police Station was named Li Wei, who used to work as a detective in the Criminal Investigation Team. After leaving, he became the deputy director at the police station and is now the director of City Gate Police Station.

"Captain Lu! You’re here!"

Li Wei’s expression was very serious; it was evident he had already taken a rough look at the scene.

"We arrived here 20 minutes ago and roughly assessed the situation. We had the officers conduct a reconnaissance and cordoned off the area."

You don’t have to be a former detective like Li Wei to know that a case like this is not one the police station can handle, so they absolutely couldn’t enter the scene.

The two were both from the High-tech Zone branch, so they were quite familiar with each other and recognized each other from meetings.

"Who reported the case?"

Li Wei pointed to a police car in the distance: "A villager nearby made the report."

"A villager?"

Li Wei nodded: "According to this villager, early yesterday morning around four or five o’clock, he went out to use the toilet and saw some fire here but didn’t pay much attention at the time."

"This morning he came to take a look and discovered this situation."

"The car is under the bridge, so you really can’t see it unless you go underneath."

Although Li Wei hadn’t opened the car to see the situation, he had already checked the surrounding environment.

"Alright, Director Li, please maintain the lockdown here while I lead a team to the scene."

"Okay!"

After organizing the scene investigation, Lu Chuan donned shoe covers, put on gloves, and went down to the underside of the bridge from the road embankment.

The location where the burned vehicle was found was underneath a national highway bridge.

You could see from the traces on the roadside that the vehicle had driven off the embankment.

There were noticeable tire tracks.

However, the vehicle wasn’t rushed down due to an accident; it was maneuvered down slowly under human control.

After the car went off the embankment, it reversed down to hide under the bridge, clearly a deliberate act.

When Lu Chuan reached the spot, he was shocked by what he saw.

The vehicle was burned to almost just a frame; there was nothing left.

The driver’s seat was empty, and there was a charred body in the passenger seat.

Two charred bodies were in the back seat, and there was also a charred body in the trunk.

Besides the strong smell of gasoline and burning at the scene, there was also a scent reminiscent of roasted meat.

During the inspection, starting with basic photography, Lu Chuan and the others didn’t hastily check the vehicle’s condition but instead collected samples from the surroundings.

According to what Li Wei just mentioned, only the reporting villager and Li Wei had entered the scene.

Therefore, Lu Chuan’s team needed to meticulously collect footprints at the scene.

Since the driver’s seat was empty, it was apparent that the perpetrator had driven the vehicle, reversed under the bridge after coming off the embankment, and then set the entire car alight.

This meant most of the traces in the car had been burned away, so collecting any external traces left by the perpetrator was crucial.

Most importantly, they needed to capture information on footprints.