Chapter 178 Investigation...

A total of four people died in the fire and six people were seriously injured and are still receiving emergency treatment in the hospital.

Logically speaking, the casualties in both places were caused by fire, and the fire department should have been the first to take action to resolve the fire.

In fact, the fire brigades from the two cities were indeed dispatched first this time, but not long after, criminal police from some parts of the two cities were urgently dispatched to participate in the handling of the fire case.

That’s right, it’s the case.

The fire has been confirmed to be a man-made disaster.

After investigation, it was determined that the fire first broke out in a grocery store on Gumatou Street near Huaian.

Speaking of this ancient wharf, it does not mean that there is water at the junction of the two cities, at least not now. Rather, it means that a long time ago, this place was once an area with abundant water resources. Later, due to the vicissitudes of life, it gradually became inland, and the wharf originally used for mooring was naturally abandoned and turned into a village street.

But people living here in the two cities are still accustomed to calling it the wharf, which is also the name of this street.

The fire broke out in a grocery store in the middle of Wharf Street. In front of the store were various roses planted by the store owner, as well as native trees, flowers and plants, which were lush and green in this warm and gentle season.

As a result, when the grocery store burned rapidly with the help of gasoline, the fire quickly spread to the surrounding houses and surrounding vegetation. Because the fire broke out at 9 or 10 o'clock in the evening, people were urgently dispatched to put out the fire after it was discovered, so the fire became extremely big.

Fortunately, before they arrived, nearby villagers had already carried out emergency firefighting under the leadership of village cadres and others, so the fire did not spread to more places.

However, even so, it took them a whole day to completely put out the fire and form an investigation team.

People on both sides went back to pack up their things and prepared to stay here for many days.

It's just that they are all grown men, very rough, and they really didn't think of wearing things like masks. But after being disappointed just now and now wearing masks again, they finally realized that this thing is really useful.

In addition, Qiu Jiang brought enough masks and gave them two large bags, which were more than enough for their use.

This calmed their discontent a little.

Although Anxi sent a female leader who is just 20 years old, it has to be admitted that she is indeed careful.

Of course, it would be difficult for them to retract their belief that she got the position through the backdoor just based on this.

They still suspected that this little girl might be from some high-ranking official's family and had become a leader through behind-the-scenes manipulation.

This is what most people on Huai'an think.

However, those who knew the true identity of the little sister they despised sneered at them.

"He may be young, but he's solved more cases than all of you combined. How dare you look down on him? We're working together now, and both sides have directors here. Maybe even the mayor will come. If you show your emotions on your faces and let them and the leaders see it, and you embarrass us Huai'an people, don't blame me for being rude."

Their captain Gan Pengchi saw through their little thoughts and gave them a stern warning.

They still believed in Gan Pengchi's words.

He really meant what he said about punishing them, and no one dared to disobey him. But after all, they were his brothers, so Gan Pengchi secretly told them who the girl they looked down upon was.

"Qiu Jiang——"

"Qiu Jiang???"

Their loud shouts attracted Qiu Jiang, who was reporting to Director Chang Hou who had rushed over, to look towards them involuntarily.

Seeing that their eyes were wide open, as if they had heard something extraordinary, although she was curious, she had to continue reporting to Chang Hou about what happened yesterday and the current progress.

"Investigators from both cities have confirmed that the fire spread so widely because of gasoline spilled on the walls, floor, and merchandise inside the grocery store, and the wind that ignited it last night."

"Four of the six people who died were the grocery store owner's family, and the other two were a mother and son who lived next door to the grocery store."

Chang Hou got anxious when he heard this. "Weren't there four dead? How did it become six?"

Qiu Jiang promptly explained, "The mother and child were two of the six seriously injured. We just received a notification from the hospital that they died at 6:15 this morning due to their severe injuries. So the latest casualties are six dead, four seriously injured, and the other four are not in good condition. The hospital asked us to be prepared."

This means that the death toll from this fire is likely to rise again.

When Chang Hou heard this, his head started buzzing.

Chen Da, the captain of the criminal police team who was also assigned to the scene, frowned and said, "This is unavoidable. Those people were burned too badly. We must be prepared for this."

Chang Hou certainly knew that the mortality rate for people with such extensive burns was too high, and even if they survived, they would be worse than death due to infection and pain.

But if possible, he still hopes that the number of deaths can be reduced a little bit, rather than increasing so little by little, which makes people feel uneasy.

But he also knows that things will not go as planned. The most important thing now is to find the arsonist as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, Chang Hou hurriedly urged them to leave and start working.

Qiu Jiang and the others naturally thought so too, and left quickly after he said that.

As the two of them walked towards the area Anxi was in charge of, Chen Da's walking posture was a little strange, obviously because he had fallen seriously while putting out the fire yesterday.

But he has always been used to enduring it, and would not say a word even if it hurts.

Fortunately, she knew his character well and was afraid that he would stay here yesterday and not go back to the city to buy medicine, so she prepared the medicine for him when she came.

What she took out from her pocket was the green medicinal oil that Team Ji had given her to relieve bruises.

Chen Da was delighted when he saw her. "Good girl, you really know how to care for others."

He didn't hesitate at all. He sat down on the ground, rolled up his trouser legs and applied medicine to the swollen area below his knees.

He hissed as he rubbed, and the more he hissed, the harder he rubbed, as if he was competing with his own body to see whose willpower was stronger.

Qiu Jiang felt so much pain for him when she saw this. She gritted her teeth as if she was applying medicine, which made Chen Da very amused.

After he finished his work, Qiu Jiang told him, "Team Gan from Huai'an and I have already divided the work. The grocery store is the boundary between the two sides. Each team will be responsible for one side and try to find any witnesses."

"Brother Chen, we have enough manpower here now, so you can go to my car and rest for a while. I'll call you when we're no longer busy."

Chen Da was not ungrateful, and he repeatedly confirmed with her, "Can you really do it?"

"Don't worry, it's okay. Our cars are parked on the side of the road. I'll bring the keys over later. You and your teammates can have a good rest."

You have to know that a team of people stayed behind to clean up the mess yesterday. They probably didn't get much sleep last night. If we ask them to continue working now, it would be like treating them like mules.

Chen Da hesitated a little, "Director Chang..."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm watching over you. If anything happens, I'll definitely notify you as soon as possible. Nothing will happen."

"And there's breakfast I bought for you in the car, go eat it quickly."

Qiu Jiang urged repeatedly.

"Okay, thanks." Chen Da called a group of people to walk towards the car.

Deng Xingwang had already prepared everything and put the car keys and food in the trunk of a van. After they happily started eating, he ran towards her and started his busy day.

According to the agreement, the five teams went to the homes of the people on both sides.

After Deng Xingwang and Tong Bei knocked on the door of one house, Qiu Jiang and Jia Wang went to the next one.

Most of the businesses on both sides of this dock street are selling drinks and food, repairing bicycles, and even fertilizer stores. There is everything you can think of.

Since the fire yesterday, everyone was obviously afraid that something might happen to their homes, so some people in each house opened their doors and sat on small stools, looking out curiously at them.

It's probably rare to see so many people here except during big markets, not to mention that they are all police officers. Plus, everyone wants to know the latest progress of the investigation, so some of them come up to answer their questions without even asking.

But Qiu Jiang still told them the purpose of her visit, hoping that they could provide some information they knew.

For example, whether the family of the owner of the grocery store where the fire broke out had ever had conflicts with anyone, and whether any suspicious people had been seen near the grocery store recently, especially last night, etc.

It's a pity that despite their enthusiasm, they didn't provide any useful information.

Qiu Jiang was disappointed for a moment, but also knew that this was normal.

For example, she herself only knew that the person who set the fire was a thin man who was not very tall. After setting the fire, he quickly jumped on a motorcycle and ran away.

No further information was obtained from the shadow.

It is normal to have no harvest now.

She sighed slightly and continued walking to the next house.

This time, she met an older woman. She was sitting with her hands in her pockets, looking curious and excited. After hearing her question, she slapped her thigh and said, "That's perfect."

Qiu Jiang and Jia Wang were instantly delighted.

"Who is the other party and what happened? Please tell us, auntie."

"That's hard to say. First of all, there was Wang Ermaizi. Three days ago at the market, he came to buy some wine and took a cigarette with him. Guihua found out and scolded him severely. He didn't look very happy at that time."

"And that second son of the Zhang family, he always buys things on credit and never pays them back. We've often had fights."

"By the way, the day before yesterday, He Aihua got drunk and peed in front of their store. It was so smelly that it splashed on their two children, and the two of them had a big fight."

…

There was no news at all before, but now there is too much news. Qiu Jiang's palms are sweating and she is really writing with sparks. This aunt is still listing all the people who have grudges against the grocery store owner.

Could this aunt be working in intelligence?

They were deeply suspicious.