Chapter 15

Director Zhang was skeptical and went to the center of the fire to search. After a while, he actually found the burnt fragments of the wine bottle.

"It really exists!"

Director Zhang looked in disbelief at the girl in front of him. Although she was thirteen years old, she looked only about ten years old. She was thin and small, and it was impossible to tell that she had such ability.

I smelled the broken pieces of wine bottle and they did smell like kerosene.

Director Zhang gave Tang Qingqing a thumbs up and said, "Girl, you are amazing!"

"Master Liu, your disciple is extraordinary. He is so capable at such a young age. He may even surpass you in the future."

It is amazing that he was able to identify the murderer based on two footprints.

There were so many footprints at the scene, and there were quite a few footprints near that footprint, but Tang Qingqing was still able to find it accurately.

When Chief Zhang started working, he heard from the old police officers in the police station that Old Liu and his son had this ability.

Old Liu fled here from other places decades ago because of war and famine.

He was born on the grassland and had been a shepherd since he was a child. He used to herd sheep for the landlord. If the sheep were lost or stolen, he would be beaten and his wages would be withheld.

Therefore, local shepherds have developed a set of techniques to find sheep based on their footprints, which is called "tracking".

Old Liu has this ability, but he rarely uses it, so few people know about it.

But his son, who inherited his abilities, was a completely different person. Not only did he not hide his crimes, he also offered to assist the police in solving the case.

With the help of Old Liu, the police station solved many cases in those years.

In addition to some petty thefts, spies were also captured.

As a result, his fame grew. Not only did the county public security bureau invite him to assist in solving cases, but the municipal public security bureau also came to invite him and made an exception to allow him to enter the public security system.

It's a pity that he died young, without even a child.

Old Liu's wife also passed away due to excessive grief, leaving Old Liu alone.

From then on, Old Liu became very withdrawn, hiding in a cave and no longer willing to interact with anyone.

Twenty years have passed, and few people in the village remember these events. Only the older generation in the public security system still remember that there was such a young man.

Director Zhang thought that he would never have the chance to see such a magical skill again in his life, so he went up the mountain today with the attitude of giving it a try, but he didn't expect it to really work.

What was even more unexpected was that Old Liu actually cultivated such an outstanding talent.

Tang Qing is still young, and he will continue to shine for many years to come!

Hearing Director Zhang's praise, Old Liu remained expressionless, with an incomprehensible depth in his eyes.

Director Zhang was very happy at this time and didn't notice anything strange about Old Liu.

Tang Qingqing noticed it quickly, and secretly sighed that her master hadn't changed. If this matter wasn't so important, he probably wouldn't want to take the risk himself.

Director Zhang quickly recovered from his surprise and asked, "With these two footprints, can you track down the real murderer?"

Tang Qingqing nodded: "I found his footprints two miles away from here before. It was because of those footprints and the wine bottle that I determined that the owner of the footprints was the one who set the fire."

After hearing this, Director Zhang felt more reassured.

"Is this person Cao Zhigao?"

This is the issue that Director Zhang is most concerned about.

"No." Tang Qingqing said affirmatively, "Based on the footprints, the owner of the footprints is 1.8 meters tall, male, weighs about 60 kilograms, is about 35 years old, and has a slightly hunched back.

These characteristics do not match Cao Zhigao, so it can be concluded that the person who set the fire was not him."

Director Zhang was surprised, "How did you know this information?"

"It's the same principle. A person's walking style is related to his age and walking habits. The same person's footsteps may be different due to physical development, so we can infer this information from his footsteps."

Director Zhang could figure out this knowledge after thinking about it, but one day he just couldn't figure it out.

"Then how do you know his back is a little hunched?"

"When you hunchback, you involuntarily lean forward, and your footsteps are different from those of normal walking."

Director Zhang was completely convinced. "I really learned a lot today. I had only heard about it before, but I never thought it was really that amazing."

Although the principle was simple and Chief Zhang understood it immediately, when he saw the similar footprints, he immediately announced his surrender.

This is a skill that can't be mastered even with secret manuals.

Without long-term observation and thinking, it is impossible to judge so much information in such a short time with just the naked eye.

Director Zhang began to search in his mind to see if there was anyone who matched the characteristics Tang Qingqing described.

"There is no one in the Rongshan Brigade who meets these conditions. The murderer is from another brigade."

Director Zhang has already conducted a preliminary investigation in the Rongshan Brigade today. He often goes to the brigade to handle cases and knows many members.

This time, in order to handle the case, I even memorized everyone's facial features.

"According to the footprints, this person came in from the east entrance of the village and went straight to the granary. After setting the fire, he turned back to the same place."

Chief Zhang: "East entrance of the village? Caojiazhuang is at the west entrance of the village. The arsonist is most likely not from Caojiazhuang."

Although it is possible that the arsonist was a person with anti-detection capabilities, he deliberately took a long detour to avoid being discovered.

However, it can still slightly reduce the suspicion of Cao Jiazhuang.

Tang Qingqing took the two of them back to the place where she had fainted before, and then continued to work.

Just as she was about to squat down, Old Liu handed her something.

Tang Qingqing took a closer look and her eyes widened immediately.

"Master..."

Due to Old Liu's avoidance, Tang Qingqing seldom called him master, but today she made an exception.

Old Liu put an obviously old ruler into Tang Qingqing's hand and said, "Take it."

This is the relic of Old Liu's son. Old Liu would only take it out when he started teaching Tang Qingqing, but it has rarely been seen in the past two years.

A ruler is an important tool for tracking, which can better record data and thus infer the owner's situation.

Tang Qingqing held the ruler tightly, excited: "Master, I won't let you down!"

Old Liu waved his hands, put his hands behind his back, stood two or three meters away, and stood by silently.

Tang Qingqing knew that Old Liu was trying to help her. Although she felt sorry for him running around with her at such an old age, he had that temper and she couldn't persuade him.

Tang Qingqing quickly adjusted her mindset and threw herself into work, beginning to track and circle step by step, hoping to find the arsonist as soon as possible so that her master could return home earlier.

Although Old Liu was just standing by, he gave Tang Qingqing great encouragement and made her move faster.

She didn't even eat the dry food that Meng Changqing brought. She just stuffed the candy that Zhai Hongyi gave her into her mouth and continued to track.

Finally, when the moon was high in the sky, Tang Qingqing followed the footprints and found the man's residence.

Only then did she stand up straight and realize that her body was stiff and sore.

But she didn't care about that and said to Director Zhang:

"Director Zhang, that person finally walked into this room."

This is the Hongqiao Brigade, where Meng Changqing is in charge.

When Tang Qingqing just walked towards this place, Meng Changqing had already matched that person in his mind.

Unexpectedly, it was really him!

Meng Changqing suppressed his shock and said, "Director, I know this family. The owner, Yang Gang, meets the characteristics of the arsonist that Tang Qingqing described."

"Yang Gang? No wonder he did such a thing!"

When Director Zhang heard the name, he immediately remembered who this person was.

Yang Gang is a well-known idler in Hongqiao Brigade. He often steals things and is very mean.

He was scolded for stealing before, but not only did he not repent, he also found an opportunity to beat up the other person.

Director Zhang looked at the watch on his wrist. It was already ten o'clock in the evening. Most people in the village had gone to bed, and Yang Gang's house was also dark.

"Changqing, go find the village cadres, we are going to arrest him."

If you want to arrest someone in the countryside, unless you act secretly, you usually have to inform the village cadres in advance, which will make it easier to carry out the work.

The brigade officers came over soon, and they were very angry.

They had all heard about the burning of the autumn harvest grain in the Rongshan Brigade, but they never imagined that the waste came from their own brigade!

Director Zhang asked Tang Qingqing and Old Liu to stand further away, and asked several village cadres to form a circle around them. Then Director Zhang led Meng Changqing to the front and rushed into the house.

Meng Changqing kicked the door hard, and the door, which was already shaking and about to fall, was kicked away.

"who!"

Yang Gang was startled awake, and before he could figure out what was going on, he was tied up tightly, with his head pressed on the kang, making it difficult for him to make a sound.

He glared at Director Zhang fiercely, and roared from between his teeth:

"Why are you arresting me? I didn't do anything."

Director Zhang ignored him, picked up the shoes on the ground, checked the soles, and found that they were exactly the same as the footprints near the fire scene.

"He is the arsonist. Take him back for interrogation!"

Yang Gang was stunned for a moment, and after the hand pressing on his head loosened, he shouted that it was unfair.

Director Zhang ignored him and directly asked Meng Changqing to take him away.

Old Liu and Tang Qingqing stood far away in the dark, and Yang Gang did not see them when he was taken away.

When Director Zhang saw Yang Gang walking away, he walked up to Old Liu and Tang Qingqing and thanked them sincerely:

"Thank you so much. Without your help, it would have been difficult to identify the real culprit in this case."

Director Zhang looked at Tang Qingqing again and said, "I will ask the higher-ups for your commendation and hold a meeting to commend you. If you have any problems in the future, come to the police station to find me."

Tang Qingqing: "Thank you, Uncle Zhang."

"I should thank you. You are an extraordinary girl. You are so amazing at such a young age. You will definitely be something extraordinary in the future."

After expressing his gratitude, Director Zhang hurried back to the institute.

Footprint identification can only be used as a means of criminal investigation and cannot be used as evidence to convict a criminal.

However, with a breakthrough, the criminals can be brought to justice through interrogation and other means.

Director Zhang had an agreement with the captain that he had to make Yang Gang confess his guilt within a short period of time.

After two days of hard work, Tang Qingqing was very tired and sore all over, but she was in particularly good spirits.

"Master, did I perform well this time?"

Old Liu looked at her and sighed deeply.

"Girl, if you have another way to go, I will never let you go this way."

Tang Qingqing supported his arm with a smile, "But I think it's very interesting, and I can serve the people."

“What if this is a dead end?”