Chapter 118 Prediction (Case)

—Knock, knock.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Chen Mo stood up and opened the door.

Wu Tian and Sun Yi were standing at the door.

He had just been looking at their files when they happened to arrive.

"My name is Wu Tian, and she is Sun Yi."

"Hello, Captain Long."

Long Hao had been provisionally appointed as the team captain. His seniority was one factor, but he also had years of experience on the front lines, giving him more expertise. Compared to letting a younger person be the captain, he was the best candidate.

"Mhm, come in and have a seat."

The door was closed once again.

After the two of them sat down, they gave a formal self-introduction.

"My name is Wu Tian. I graduated in forensic medicine from the Provincial Capital Police Academy and currently work at the Provincial City Bureau."

"My name is Sun Yi. I also graduated from the Provincial Capital Police Academy. I'm skilled in Trace Technician work, and I currently work at the Provincial City Bureau as well."

Their self-introductions were actually quite modest.

According to the information in their files,

in their respective specialized subjects at school, they had basically ranked first in their year every single year.

They were far ahead of the second-place students.

They certainly seemed to have the capability.

Soon after, Long Hao and Chen Mo introduced themselves.

"What about the other person?"

"She should arrive tomorrow."

Chen Mo casually explained on behalf of Liu Fengxia.

If it hadn't been for Uncle Wang's matter, they would have arrived tomorrow as well.

"Have you guys tried to predict the case?" Sun Yi asked curiously, looking at Chen Mo and the others.

Predicting the case was essentially the same as predicting exam questions.

Since a case would be randomly selected from those over the years to serve as the competition topic,

then naturally, one could try to guess what it would be.

"That's not easy to predict; there's a high chance of being wrong."

Wu Tian hadn't expected Sun Yi to consider this and responded casually.

Case selection was random—it could be a recent case or a cold case from years ago.

And every Municipal Bureau had more or less a backlog of old cases.

It was impossible to know which case would be chosen by the higher-ups.

There was no need to waste the effort.

"Regardless, Little Sun's idea is a good one."

Although Long Hao didn't think they could predict it either, he appreciated Sun Yi's attitude.

"From what you're saying, have you prepared some cases that might be chosen?"

He asked again.

"I did prepare some, but as Wu Tian said, there are too many cases. I tried on my own and found it very hard to narrow down."

As Sun Yi spoke, she pulled her small backpack to her front and took out a thick stack of documents.

These documents were all the major and cold cases she could find.

She probably wasn't the only one who had obtained such materials.

The other contestants in their group likely had a copy as well and might be reviewing them right now.

They hope to guess the case and gain some clues in advance to get a head start in the competition.

"This really is a lot."

Looking at the stack of case files, everyone, including Chen Mo, felt their heads throb.

Going through them one by one would likely take an entire day.

"Should we look, Captain Long?"

Wu Tian's mouth twitched.

"Logically speaking, we should."

"But considering the sheer volume, let's forget it."

There were at least a thousand cases in these materials.

A one-in-a-thousand chance.

And that wasn't even counting any cases Sun Yi might have missed while gathering information.

It would be a lot of effort for very little reward.

Just then, Chen Mo spoke up.

"Are these materials complete?"

He looked at the round-faced Sun Yi.

"They're probably not complete, but I've been diligent in collecting them, so very few should be missing."

Chen Mo pursed his lips and speculated.

"In that case, the materials the higher-ups have should be these as well."

Sun Yi hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Theoretically, that was true.

The materials the leaders received were all researched by people like them.

Naturally, they wouldn't be much different from what they had in hand.

After all, it wasn't a closed-door competition, and the leaders weren't afraid of them guessing correctly beforehand.

Being able to predict it in advance was a skill in itself.

"If that's the case, we do have a certain probability of guessing right, or at least narrowing down the number."

As he spoke, he picked up a pen and paper.

"First, ordinary cases can basically be ruled out."

"Second, cases that are too old can also be filtered out."

"Third, cold cases that caused social unrest in earlier years should be the focus."

Long Hao and the other two could understand the first two points.

But they weren't sure why he mentioned the third.

"The purpose of this competition seems to be for the 'Pilot City' plan."

"But in reality, it's likely using that name as a pretext to conduct a case-clearing operation."

This was a deduction he made based on the current general environment.

Just because some things aren't said openly doesn't mean they don't exist.

Even in the year 2024 of the future, criminal investigation techniques, Skynet technology, and even the quality of all police officers would be greatly improved.

Yet there would still be people dissatisfied with the police's ability to solve cases.

Not to mention now, when everything was lagging behind.

It was the norm for many cases to go unsolved.

Based on this,

the purpose of installing surveillance wasn't just for the economy.

If the competence of law enforcement is questioned and not addressed in time, it can easily become a social issue.

Small troubles would then turn into big ones.

"So, you mean the ultimate goal of the higher-ups is 'case clearing,' and the Pilot City is just a reason given to the outside world?"

Long Hao nodded and thought for a moment; he agreed with this idea deep down.

It would be a waste to gather the best people from every province and not use them to solve the cases that the public couldn't let go of!

"Gosh, you're so smart!"

Wu Tian and Sun Yi looked at Chen Mo with shocked expressions.

This person had actually guessed the thoughts of the higher-ups.

That's incredible.

Especially Sun Yi; she had obtained these cold case materials long ago.

But because there were so many cases, she couldn't determine which one the higher-ups would choose.

Yet the Officer Chen before her could analyze the necessary conditions for case selection in such a short time.

This was just too impressive.

She felt a sincere sense of admiration.

"It's not that I'm great; it's just that the current environment is one where the public has doubts about the police."

"The leaders must be able to see that."

Chen Mo didn't take any credit for himself.

If Sun Yi hadn't brought all these materials,

he wouldn't have considered the issue from this perspective.

"Cases the public can't let go of."

The four of them etched this phrase into their minds.

They immediately divided the documents into four portions and began searching.

And this search lasted for several hours.

In the blink of an eye, it grew dark outside.

Sun Yi rubbed her slightly reddened eyes and placed the last ordinary case file on her right.

She then placed the three cases from her left that had garnered social attention in the middle of the table.

Soon, the three files became five, and eventually eight.

"These eight are the cases that once caused social unrest."

"You could say they all caused a nationwide sensation back then!"