National Forensic Doctor

Chapter 1351: Chapter 1277: He’s Rubber Garden

He’s Rubber Garden has been in existence for a hundred years.

After expansions and nurturing through several generations, the rubber garden now spans over 200 hectares, with full equipment, mature technology, and employs 26 full and part-time staff—of course, now there are only 23.

The rubber plantation is located in a secluded corner, leading a simple life, maintaining to some extent the lifestyle from a hundred years ago, even the main buildings in the plantation were built a hundred years ago, just internally refurbished with a lot of modern mechanical equipment and household items.

Ni Cha and Zhong Renlong, along with 8 officers and another 10 local officers, appeared at the rubber plantation, making a compelling impression.

On Jiang Yuan’s side, he also brought 8 people, not for show, but out of real necessity. Just like Mu Zhiyang, Wen Ming, and Lu Tongda who are indispensable next to Jiang Yuan. Being abroad, Huang Qiangmin wouldn’t be at ease without these three.

Liu Jinghui wanted to handle the case, Wei Shikan wanted to follow and learn, Shen Yaowei was armed and ready for action at any moment, and Wang Chuanxing was always ready to write official documents and PPTs.

To some extent, Jiang Yuan’s team was compact and efficient.

However, in the eyes of He’s Rubber Garden employees, the arrival of 26 police officers—the same number as before the garden’s staff—felt somewhat threatening and provocative.

"The garden can’t accommodate so many people, you need to have some of your people stay outside," the production manager stepped up.

Ni Cha and others immediately looked at him.

This was a Chinese man in his 50s, with a face dark and oily from the sun, resembling sticky black glutinous rice dumplings made for the Dragon Boat Festival.

Faced with the police, his expression wasn’t too firm but he had to say it, showing a bit of reluctance. His expressions and appearance somewhat resembled the middle-aged protagonist of some black AV scenes.

Zhong Renlong frowned, in front of Jiang Yuan, he replied kindly, "We are here to collect evidence, if we commute back and forth to the city, it wastes too much time. Can you squeeze in a bit more space for us, we only need it for a few days. If it doesn’t work, we’ll set up tents."

The production manager hesitated, seeking help from behind.

"A lot in the garden is self-sufficient, if you don’t require separate bedrooms, I can prepare beds for you, but it might need 4 people per room. Also, our canteen can’t cook for so many, nor do we have enough food as you don’t allow us to procure. Moreover, we usually grow vegetables, and while it used to suffice, it’s not enough now." The operational manager, also a tanned Chinese, about 10 years younger, stepped forward.

Ni Cha, hearing the rambling, finally got annoyed, patted his waist, and said in Malay, "Enough with the talk. We’ll discuss living arrangements later, now queue up for the deposition."

Depositions, though less strict than interrogations, still presented an unequal power dynamic, during which the two managers should figure out what to do.

"We’ve already done depositions."

"And what about our production work? We have daily duties to fulfill."

Seeing the police approaching, the two managers hurriedly spoke.

Ni Cha nonchalantly replied, "Cooperate with us, and we’ll give you time for your work."

In reality, whether to allow it or not, he couldn’t care less.

He’s Rubber Garden is just nearby Kilombo, fully under Ni Cha’s jurisdiction. Were it not for foreign peers watching, he wouldn’t be so accommodating.

On the other hand, because it’s near the capital, this serial murder case seemed prominent, making Ni Cha and others less inclined to believe the garden staff. The remaining 23 people in this garden are all potential murderers.

"God Jiang, where do we begin?" As the officers went about recording depositions, they immediately turned to Jiang Yuan.

His intention was clear, relying on Jiang Yuan to solve the case; otherwise, they’ve already investigated, there’s no point in an inexplicable retake.

Jiang Yuan coughed twice, said, "I’ll first inspect the three crime scenes, Director Liu can oversee the investigation here, is that alright?"

"No problem at all, King of Deduction, Officer Liu, we are quite familiar." Ni Cha tried flattering, then said to Liu Jinghui, "Officer Liu, we’ll trouble you next."

"I’ll help organize the records," Liu Jinghui volunteered for the task.

He had already organized the case records before arriving and even made a few charts and mind maps.

Regarding this case, Liu Jinghui had quite some thoughts. Just going through depositions was not enough, but with everyone inside the garden, he felt he had a good chance.

Ni Cha was naturally pleased to have Liu Jinghui assist, consenting and immediately taking him to communicate with other officers.

"In recent times, have any staff members from the garden resigned?" Liu Jinghui asked while walking.

"The garden has long-term workers. We’ve requested minimal personnel changes shortly." Ni Cha provided two versions of the answer.

Liu Jinghui nodded slowly, "This can’t last long though."

"Of course. If there’s no resolution in months, we’ll have to pause this case." Reaching this point, Ni Cha felt a need for more trust among them, adding, "We’re worried about not capturing the criminal and them striking again, abandoning this case would be foolish."

"Indeed, starting over would only cause greater loss," Liu Jinghui immediately grasped their concern.noveldrama

It’s no surprise since, with an unclear suspect, such serial killers often don’t cease their actions.

Especially those who seek neither financial nor personal gain, just craving crimes, their antisocial tendencies are usually deep, they remain passive unless they’ve started and their resistance is then strong.

Liu Jinghui scanned the surroundings, asked, "They also hire temporary workers, right? And people who deliver goods and supplies should be questioned too."

"No problem, we’ve kept records and I’ll show you their depositions later." It was basic work that Ni Cha and his team had already done.

Liu Jinghui nodded; he had to review the documents himself. Otherwise, in such a large garden, the temporary workers hired for tapping alone are countless, which could be a huge loophole.

The case of He’s Rubber Garden is unlike a complete locked-room murder or a snow-covered manor scenario, as the garden is indeed accessible, though entry and exit are restricted.

Generally speaking, in a garden like this, even if not internal personnel, it must involve internal and external collusion. Otherwise, purely external people would find it hard to know where inside.

However, Liu Jinghui thought even deeper.

This He’s Rubber Garden, established for a hundred years, and hiring temporary tappers yearly, plus varying personnel for deliveries and transactions each year, implies the existence of a massive group. They might not be on the list of employees and temporary workers from the past two years, nor be suppliers or trading partners but still, they could be familiar with the garden...

From this perspective, the case becomes complicated.

As he thought, Liu Jinghui proceeded to visit the room where depositions took place.

The garden workers, accounting already done two or three rounds of depositions, although slightly more professional, still fell into the police’s trap.

Taking a deposition is a technical skill, similar matters stated differently could turn into varying scenarios.

However, in a serial murder case, a single deposition isn’t capable of resolving it.

The case facts remain more crucial.

Liu Jinghui remained on the scene, paying special attention to the two managers, even proactively asking a few questions.