Chapter 27: The Ability to Solve Cases

  After listening to Zhu Dajun's account, Liu Li couldn't help but furrow his brow: "Since the Tibetan mastiffs you raised are extremely repelled by outsiders, it means that the thieves used some method to make those mastiffs fall asleep first, and then stole them while they were unconscious."

  You just said that the Tibetan Mastiffs are all over one meter tall, and to transport six of these massive dogs, an ordinary car won't do. Based on this reasoning, the vehicle used by the thieves to steal the dogs should be a van.

  Let's go check the surveillance cameras at the nearby intersection later and see if there were any suspicious vans entering or leaving your village after you left home in the morning and before you returned. I believe one of those vans must have been driven by the thief."

  "Comrade police officer, there are no surveillance cameras near the entrance of our village," Zhu Dajun said. After a moment's thought, he couldn't help but ask: "Excuse my impertinence, how did you know that the vehicle that stole the Tibetan mastiff was a van?"

  "There were no tire tracks left at the scene, and nobody saw the thief driving a vehicle. If the thief drove another car to steal the Tibetan Mastiff, but you guys are focusing on investigating the van, won't that be a waste of time?"

  When Zhu Dajun expressed his doubts, Liu Li explained to him: "There won't be any mistake. The thieves must have put those Tibetan mastiffs in the van and gone in this direction. If we investigate in this direction, we will definitely get some results."

  Because the sedan has limited space, it cannot load those giant Tibetan Mastiffs. Although motorcycles and agricultural six-wheeled vehicles are convenient for loading Tibetan Mastiffs, there is only one carriage at the back of this type of vehicle, with no cover on top.

  If thieves use that kind of vehicle to transport the stolen goods, afterwards they must cover the carriage with objects, otherwise it will be discovered by passersby, which would waste too much time, therefore this type of vehicle is not suitable for transporting the stolen goods.

  While vehicles like Iveco and business class are also suitable for loading Tibetan Mastiffs, such a car coming to this small village would be too eye-catching and easily arouse the curiosity and attention of the villagers, so thieves would not choose that kind of vehicle to steal Tibetan Mastiffs here.

  This way, the space is big enough, not eye-catching, convenient for loading and unloading goods, and it's unlikely to attract villagers' attention. The only suitable vehicle left is a van, because this type of vehicle is very common in rural areas. Even if thieves park the van on the main street, as long as it doesn't block the road, it won't catch the villagers' attention."

  When he said that, Liu Li paused for a moment and then continued: "As for surveillance, since there are no surveillance cameras installed at the intersection near your village, we can only use stupid methods. First, you go to the village yourself and ask around to see if any villagers have noticed a van stopping in front of your house?

  Secondly, it's like looking for a needle in the ocean. The highway at the entrance of your village goes south to the countryside and north to the county, while the exit of your village is right in the middle of this highway.

  I remember that both ends of this highway have high-definition surveillance cameras installed. We will retrieve the surveillance footage of this highway and investigate all the vans that drove on this highway.

  "How are you going to find it? With so many cars coming and going, how do you know which van has been to our village?" Hearing Liu Li's words, Zhu Dajun looked at him with some doubt.

  "How to find? Find it slowly." After finishing, seeing Zhu Dajun's expression still had some doubts, Liu Li had to tell him: "From the northern surveillance point to the southern surveillance point, it takes about 10 minutes to drive.

  We've been reviewing the footage from two surveillance cameras since you left home, regardless of whether it's going north to south or south to north. As long as this van appears in both cameras within about 10 minutes, then there's no problem with this vehicle.

  For example, a van is traveling from north to south. At the first minute, it appears on the surveillance screen at the northern intersection, and around ten minutes later, it reappears on the surveillance screen at the southern intersection, indicating that the van has been driving normally without stopping in between.

  On the contrary, a certain van appeared in the surveillance video at the northern intersection from the first minute, but after twenty minutes, it still did not appear in the surveillance video at the southern intersection.

  "If this car hadn't broken down on the road, it would mean that it had passed through your village in between, which is why it was delayed, and that's the suspicious vehicle we're looking for."

  After the explanation, Liu Li walked into the yard alone and carefully searched around, but still found no clues. Looking at the open iron cage, Liu Li couldn't help but mutter to himself:

  Since the other party is here to steal dogs, they will definitely not stay for too long. The time of the crime is at most a few minutes. If the thief stays for too long, it may attract the attention of the villagers.

  But in such a short time, what method did the thieves use? Before the Tibetan mastiffs barked, how did they subdue those Tibetan mastiffs? Unless they used drugs, it would be impossible to make those Tibetan mastiffs lose their resistance.

  But these Tibetan Mastiffs never eat food given by strangers, so how did the thieves feed the drug to the Tibetan Mastiff? Also, if the thieves fed the drug to the Tibetan Mastiff, then when the Tibetan Mastiff heard a strange movement, it would definitely bark loudly, because the hearing and smell of dogs are the most sensitive.

  "As long as these Tibetan Mastiffs keep barking continuously, the villagers nearby will hear the noise and come to check out of curiosity. But why didn't these Tibetan Mastiffs make any sound from start to finish?"

  Because the value of these Tibetan Mastiffs is too high, with each dog valued at nearly 100,000 yuan, it has reached the level of a criminal case. After Liu Li finished investigating the scene, he reported the situation to Du Zhiqing and asked the criminal police team to come over.

  Half an hour later, the captain of the criminal police brigade, Cheng Bin, led two criminal police officers to the scene. After seeing Liu Li, Cheng Bin was stunned for a moment. This time he didn't rush to investigate the scene, but instead walked to Liu Li's side: "What a coincidence? You're investigating another case again, how is it going? Have you made any progress?"

  Upon hearing this, Liu Li shook his head: "Nothing was gained." Then, he told Cheng Bin about his own discoveries and reasoning. After finishing, Liu Li concluded:

  "This gang of thieves must be old hands, they chose to commit the crime during the day and after committing the crime, there were no clues left at the scene, which shows that this gang of thieves is bold and meticulous, ordinary newcomers do not have such good psychological quality."

  "Oh? Is that so? Just now you used the word 'this gang', how did you know it was a group of people committing a crime together, rather than an individual acting alone?" Cheng Bin asked back.

  "Cheng, you're also too calm, aren't you? Don't tell me you have a lead on the suspect?" Liu Li was somewhat surprised to see Cheng Bin standing at the entrance asking him questions instead of entering the scene to investigate.

  "Haven't you answered my question yet?" Cheng Bin didn't answer Liu Li, but continued to ask about the topic just now.

  Seeing this situation, Liu Li seemed to understand something. After a moment of contemplation, he said to Cheng Bin: "The principle is very simple. In this case, 6 Tibetan Mastiffs were stolen. Tibetan Mastiffs belong to the giant dog category. An adult Tibetan Mastiff weighs over 100 kilograms, and some can even reach over 200 kilograms."

  The stolen Tibetan Mastiffs in this case were all adult Tibetan Mastiffs, with a huge body and weighing around 100 kilograms. The thief stole six Tibetan Mastiffs at once, if the thief was alone, he would not be able to transport these mastiffs onto the vehicle because they were too heavy.

  "To quickly load the Tibetan Mastiff into the car and adjust its position inside the van, at least three people are needed. Adding the driver and the lookout, I estimate that there are at least five thieves in this group."