"What?!"
Upon hearing Qin Xiaohua's words, the room instantly broke into an uproar! The police officers present protested one after another.
"Chief Qin, this is unfair! Why should we give our hard-earned case to an outsider?"
"Chief Qin, while it's true that Qin Feng was a crucial member in solving the bank robbery case, we're not freshly-graduated police officers either! All of us here have a wealth of experience! Why should we hand over our case to him?!"
"Chief Qin, we've finally gotten some clues! I'm sure we'll be able to crack the case soon! We don't need an outsider to intervene!"
Although everyone had acknowledged Qin Feng's skill, they still could not accept passing the case that they had been working hard on to a mere outsider.
"SILENCE!"
Qin Xiaohua took on a stern expression and shouted.
"What do you mean by your case!! Do you think this your home? This case has been going on for well over a month and we already have four deaths on our hands. So what if you've already found some clues? Do you not understand the mayor's intent by assigning Qin Feng here? The mayor is telling us that he does not want to see a fifth victim popping up! Should another one appear, which one of you here will bear the responsibility of an innocent's death!?"
All other sounds were muffled as Qin Xiaohua's stern reprimands echoed through the room. Everyone fell silent. Indeed, four people had died within a month. Despite all their investigation efforts, and after going through list after list of suspects, they were still no closer to finding the true murderer.
According to the weather forecast, there would be another bout of heavy rain in the next few days. In other words, the murderer was likely to act again in the next few days, which meant that yet another victim would pop up.
Although they had located some clues, they could not guarantee that those clues would indeed point to the real suspect.
Take responsibility of the victims' deaths? Sure, they could work hard to solve the case and catch the murderer as soon as possible, but if any more victims were to pop up due to their delays and incompetency, none of them would be able to bear it.
Qin Xiaohua scanned across the room and finally understood the mayor's frustration back in the city hall.
"I called you here not to discuss this matter with you, but to inform you that from now on, the serial murder of the red-dressed brides will be handled by Qin Feng. All of you are to give your unconditional support to Qin Feng, and while you are allowed to have your opinions, keep them to yourself! If anyone here so much as interferes with Qin Feng's work, don't blame me for the punishment that I will dish out! Do you hear me?!"
"Yes!"
The group of officers looked at seething Qin Xiaohua. No matter how many grievances they had, they decided to keep it to themselves. Moreover, Chief Qin's words had a ring of truth to them as well. Beyond taking credit for solving the case, it was more important to nab the criminal and to prevent any more casualties.
After giving one last fierce glare at his subordinates, he then turned towards Qin Feng and said with a smile, "Qin Feng, I'll leave this case to you. Should you require any assistance, feel free to come to me. I too, share the mayor's sentiments and wish to see this case resolved as soon as possible."
"Chief Qin, I'll do my best to solve the case as soon as possible."
Qin Feng nodded and responded to Qin Xiaohua.
After giving a nod of acknowledgment to Qin Feng, he then turned around and ordered, "Yang Wei, Shen Qing, go through the case with Qin Feng. Let him familiarize himself with the case as soon as possible by organizing a detailed case file for him."
"Yes sir!"
With a nod, the two of them then led Qin Feng to the data room.
Once Qin Feng was gone, the officers from earlier resumed where they had left off earlier.
"Chief Qin, we're doing our best here, you know? Didn't this kid just finish solving a major bank case not long ago?"
"Chief, do you think that he can solve the case?"
"Chief, this kid just showed up unannounced. What right does he have to suddenly barge in?"
Qin Xiaohua looked at the group of nagging officers and waved his hand to dismiss their complaints. With a sigh, he answered, "Stop spouting these worthless nonsense. I'll repeat what I said earlier, just put all your focus into cracking the case, and don't take on this case with any emotional baggage. This case is of utmost importance, and we cannot allow anyone else to die. Capisce? If so, then return to what you were doing."
"Yes, chief."
Everyone looked at the weary Chief Qin and agreed in a low voice before leaving the office.
"Qin Feng, I hope you won't disappoint us."
In all honesty, Qin Xiaohua also had his own grievances with Qin Feng suddenly parachuting into his department and taking over the serial murder case. However, he was keeping it to himself. There were mainly three reasons for this, first off, they were indeed having difficulty solving the case, and they had nothing to show for their efforts thus far. Secondly, they needed all the help they can get, regardless of position hierarchy. Thirdly, and most importantly, Qin Feng was specially appointed to this case by the mayor of the Magic Capital.
While Qin Xiaohua was trying his best to recompose himself, his subordinates continued to insult Qin Feng.
"Who does he think he is? How can he interfere with our case just like that. He thinks he's some hot sh*t huh?!"
"Alright, stop complaining. Didn't you hear what the chief said? He was personally appointed by the mayor."
"HMPH, so what if he was appointed by the Mayor? I'd like to see what this freshie can bring onto the table. That bank robbery incident is child's play compared to our case, and the nature of both cases are completely different! We'll see whether he's actually the real deal or a fraud from the way he handles this case!"
"Alright, zip it. I'm sure we've all heard how Qin Feng analyzed the bank robbery case. He does seem to have the knack for it. If he really does manage to crack this case, there'll be no downside to us as well. More importantly, we could prevent any more deaths from occurring."
"That's right. Personally, I felt that Qin Feng was lying when he said that he had relied on luck to solve the bank case. Although this is a little embarrassing to say out loud, as long as he can solve this case, I don't care whatever his standing in this case is."
A group of officers were discussing animatedly in the office.
Separated by a wall, the data room was fully isolated from the commotion outside.
Yang Wei and Shen Qing gave all the information about the case to Qin Feng. They also helped Qin Feng sort out the information by category. This greatly shortened Qin Feng's time to take in all the information.
Qin Feng read through every piece of information contained within the file. After pondering for a moment, he asked Yang Wei, "I want to head to the crime scene to take a look. Is that possible?"
As a result of the rainfall, the officers were unable to glean much information about the crime scenes. Moreover, with the evidence they had on hand, they were incapable of figuring out the relationship between all the victims of the case. As such, Qin Feng felt that it would be faster for him to watch the reconstructed crime scenes instead.
Yang Wei looked at Shen Qing and nodded. "Of course. Pack up and we'll take you there now."