Chapter 44: The Bane of the Cattle Thieving Gang Has Arrived

  At this point, Du Zhiqing saw Liu Li concentrating on listening to his account of the case. He sighed and continued: "You also know that this type of cattle theft is basically an unsolvable case."

  Thieves come and go without a trace, stealing and leaving immediately. On the same day, they will slaughter the stolen cattle, and as long as they are not caught in the act, two hours later, the stolen cattle will become a pile of beef. By then, even if you arrive at the slaughterhouse, you won't be able to identify whether the beef is from the stolen cattle or not.

  Thieves specifically target the homes of elderly people for several reasons: firstly, older adults tend to react slowly; secondly, their hearing and vision have declined; thirdly, many elderly individuals reside in traditional courtyard houses that are easy to break into by climbing over walls or making holes in them; fourthly, older adults move more slowly, so even if they notice something amiss, they often cannot catch up with the suspect, allowing the perpetrator to escape easily after committing a crime.

  The leaders of the bureau attach great importance to such cases, often asking our local police stations to strengthen patrols and security controls to prevent the theft of farm cows. If such a case occurs in a certain jurisdiction, it will be subject to administrative disciplinary action, or even dismissal of the head of the police station.

  There is a saying that there are a thousand ways to commit a crime, but no way to prevent it. Who can guarantee that such cases won't happen in their own jurisdiction? Helpless, the directors of various police stations racked their brains, thinking of ways to leave themselves an escape route.

  As the saying goes, "there are policies from above and countermeasures from below." After some deliberation, we really came up with a solution, which is to strengthen patrols in our jurisdiction while also making arrangements with the village branch secretaries.

  After the villagers found that their cattle were stolen, few people directly called 110. Most of them would first ask their village branch secretary what to do? We took advantage of this loophole and instructed those village branch secretaries that if there were any cases of cattle theft in their jurisdiction, they should directly call our mobile phone or the police station's duty phone, rather than calling 110.

  Because after dialing 110, the command center will display it, and afterwards they will conduct a follow-up visit and notification, whereas the police station's duty phone does not have this function. After the village branch secretary dialed the police station's duty phone, the civil policeman will also go out to respond, the only difference is that there is no record of this case in the superior command center.

  In that case, we won't be held accountable for this matter. After the incident, the police station will secretly investigate the case. If it can be solved, we'll report it after finding clues, and then the county bureau won't pursue our responsibility for concealing and not reporting it.

  If we investigate and find no leads, we will go directly to the criminal police team to report and hand over the case for investigation. Although we will also be punished, the punishment will be lighter.

  This case of stolen plowing cattle was actually detained by me. After I led the team to the scene, I found that except for a few footprints at the scene, the thief did not leave any clues. Originally, I wanted to slowly crack this case.

  However, because the ox was stolen, the owner's emotions are more agitated. The old man had raised the cattle for many years and suddenly they were stolen by someone, so he can't accept this fact and has gone without eating or drinking all day.

  Later, I called the old man's three sons to the police station and told them about the situation. In order to prevent the old man from thinking of something desperate, I proposed a suggestion: we intensify the investigation on our side and let the three brothers each contribute some funds to make up for the value of the stolen cow.

  Then I handed the money over to the old man, falsely claiming that the case had been cracked and the stolen cattle had been sold by the thief. Although the cattle were not recovered, the funds from selling the cattle were found, so the old man's emotions would definitely be alleviated.

  But I didn't expect that after listening to my suggestion, the old man's three sons all disagreed with this plan. One said there was no money, another said their family was poor, and the remaining one scolded the police station for being incompetent. I got angry and drove those three white-eyed wolves away."

  Upon hearing this, Liu Li seemed to have caught on to something. He said in a low voice, "Du Suo, just now you said you lost over 10,000 yuan. Could it be that afterwards, you personally compensated the owner of the lost item?"

  After hearing this, Du Zhiqing nodded: "Yes, I saw the owner's situation getting worse day by day, and his three useless sons were not willing to contribute money to let the old man rest assured. Helpless, I secretly took 14,000 yuan from home and sent it to the old man, saying that the case had been solved."

  As soon as I mention this, I get angry. After that, the old man's three sons saw the old man start eating and a smile appeared on his face, so they asked the old man what was going on? As a result, the old man told his three sons about me giving him money.

  After listening to the whole story, the three sons surprisingly held a family meeting and decided to divide the cattle equally among themselves in order to prevent the other two heads of cattle from being stolen. The eldest and second son got the remaining two heads of cattle, while the third son took away the 14,000 yuan that I had given to my parents.

  Upon learning of this, I was furious and summoned the old man's three sons to the police station that day. I originally wanted the three of them to return the cow to the old man, but after the old man understood my intention, he insisted on disagreeing, saying that no matter what, he had to divide the draft cattle and the money among his three sons.

  Alas... Since the old man insisted, what could I say? His three sons knew that the 14,000 yuan was paid by me, but they pretended to be ignorant. I wanted to get my money back, but I was afraid that the old man would not be able to get over it, so I had to remain silent.

  These past few days, I've been tirelessly investigating the suspects who stole the cows. For now, my only plan is to catch those thieves; otherwise, my 14,000 yuan will be gone for nothing.

  I know you have a way with cracking this kind of case, if you're confident in solving it, I'll report it to the top even if it means being disciplined by our leaders, at worst I'll get an administrative warning.

  And most importantly, your sister-in-law has been fighting with me every day during this period, asking me for that 14,000 yuan. This money is currently not available to me, brother. As long as you can crack the case and help me recover this loss, even if the director is dismissed, I won't regret it."

  After listening to Du Zhiqing's words, Liu Li had some respect for him. After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly remembered his own special ability. Thinking of this, Liu Li's heart moved: "Du, you said that in our county, how many cases of stolen cattle like this have there been?"

  "There shouldn't be few, although the case report on the command center's website doesn't record such cases, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. It should be those police station chiefs who, like me, chose to investigate privately." After analyzing, Du Zhiqing looked at Liu Li with suspicion: "Why are you asking this?"

  Hearing this, Liu Lile was delighted: "Hehe... nothing, I formally declare that from now on, our Criminal Police Team 3 will specialize in solving cases of stolen farm cows. Let's go to the victim's house first."

  "I've searched that place several times already, the suspect didn't leave any clues behind, what's the point of going there?" Du Zhiging couldn't help but ask.

  "Just take me there, don't worry about it." Liu Li urged Du Zhiqing and thought to himself: "I hope the stolen cow's hair can still be found, otherwise it would be a waste of joy."