The Headless Case

When Xu Mo handcuffed Boss Hu without hesitation and announced he was taking him in for questioning, Han Fei was completely baffled, his face filled with confusion.

But the moment Xu Mo said to Boss Hu, "Your trusted subordinates have already exposed you," Han Fei instantly understood.

None of Boss Hu’s close associates were good people, and given the circumstances, how could Boss Hu, the head of the company, be clean?

It was likely that Boss Hu had been involved in plenty of illegal activities, perhaps even more so than those who had been arrested earlier.

At first, Han Fei hadn’t thought of this because his mind was entirely preoccupied with the body found in the bridge pier. His thoughts were consumed by the murder case from years ago, leaving no room for deeper consideration.

It was only after Xu Mo’s remark that everything clicked for him.

Han Fei couldn’t help but glance at Xu Mo, thinking to himself how meticulous Xu Mo’s mind was. Even while dealing with a challenging case, he could still pay attention to other matters outside of it. Impressive!

When Boss Hu heard from Xu Mo that his subordinates had already sold him out, he just smiled weakly.

The senior executives who had fought alongside him all these years definitely knew about the illegal things he had done in the past.

Now that they were arrested, they would surely turn on him to reduce their own sentences.

As a result, Boss Hu didn’t doubt the truthfulness of Xu Mo’s words at all.

…

At the police station.

Given Boss Hu’s cooperative attitude, Xu Mo and Han Fei handed over the interrogation to Chen Ke and Li Chen.

Boss Hu didn’t hold back either, laying everything out clearly.

He didn’t know how much his trusted subordinates had already revealed about his illegal activities. If they had already spilled everything and he still tried to hide things, he might end up with an additional charge of non-cooperation, which could lead to a heavier sentence.

It was better to come clean now and hope for leniency.

While Chen Ke and Li Chen were interrogating Boss Hu, Han Fei and Xu Mo were brainstorming in the office.

“Since the lead from the construction company has gone cold and the killer’s identity is hard to trace, maybe we should focus on identifying the victim first,” Xu Mo suggested.

Han Fei gave a bitter smile.

“That path might be even harder. I had Xiao Wang look into missing persons cases from twenty-four years ago that fit the profile, but there weren’t any. Back then, there were only a few cases of missing women and children, but no reports of a missing man in his forties.”

The year the Binjiang Bridge was built, the Ram City police station hadn’t received any reports of a missing man matching the description.

Though it was unclear why no such report had been filed, it meant that investigating the victim’s identity was a dead end.

No missing persons cases that fit the profile? That’s going to be tough… Xu Mo couldn’t help but frown.

The victim’s identity was nearly impossible to determine, and the killer was likely one of the construction workers involved in the project. However, all the workers from that time were now unreachable.

This left the case at a complete standstill, with no way to move forward.

Not long after, the forensic examiner arrived at Han Fei’s office.

He first looked at Han Fei. “Captain Han.”

Then he noticed Xu Mo. “Captain Xu is here too.”

Han Fei pinched the bridge of his nose and asked, “What’s up?”

“The autopsy results are in. The condition of the body is far from ideal. It’s been exposed to the elements for years, and the moisture under the bridge accelerated the decomposition of DNA. We couldn’t extract any DNA from the bones.”

This was another piece of bad news.

With no missing persons reports from that time and no usable DNA, the victim’s identity was almost impossible to confirm.

Add to that the fact that the construction company couldn’t provide contact information for the workers involved in the bridge project, even someone as experienced as Han Fei could only sigh in frustration.

This case was a complete dead end, a true unsolved mystery.

Xu Mo, too, was beginning to realize just how complicated this case was, his frown deepening.

After all, his solve rate was still a perfect 100%, a legendary achievement in the field. Xu Mo didn’t want that streak to end.

But this case was proving to be a real challenge, with no leads whatsoever.

The only way to solve it would be if Xu Mo happened to bump into the killer on the street someday, allowing him to use his criminal detection radar to crack the case.

But the problem was, the case was over twenty years old. There was no telling whether the killer was even still in Ram City. Even if they were, what were the chances of Xu Mo randomly running into them in such a vast city?

The odds were slim, almost nonexistent.

If only the system could give me another powerful tool… Xu Mo couldn’t help but think.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a notification sound echoed in his head.

“You have successfully apprehended a criminal. Reward received: Case Clue Pouch ×3; Criminal Detection Radar range increased by one meter (current range: 124 meters).”

Case Clue Pouch? Something to help with the investigation?

Xu Mo wondered.

After checking the system’s description of the reward, he confirmed that it was exactly that. The so-called Case Clue Pouch worked just as its name suggested.

Simply put, opening the pouch would provide a crucial, directional clue to help solve the case.

Talk about perfect timing! This thing couldn’t have come at a better moment!

Xu Mo’s frown immediately softened.

With the system’s reward, this seemingly unsolvable case might just have a chance.

Of course, he couldn’t open the pouch in front of Han Fei, so Xu Mo decided to send him away.

“Captain Han, want to go to the restroom for a smoke?”

Han Fei nodded immediately. Smoking was a habit of his when dealing with tough cases, and he picked up the pack of cigarettes and lighter on the desk.

“Sure, might help clear my head.”

“Alright, go ahead. I’ll wait here for you.”

Han Fei: “?”

You don’t smoke, so why the hell are you asking me if I want to go smoke in the restroom? Are you out of your mind?