Chapter 421 Tracking Expert!!!

This was the first time that Liu Zhiye encountered such a strange case. As a staunch materialist, he absolutely did not believe that there was any "mystery" behind it.

In his opinion, this was nothing more than a fog carefully laid by the criminals in an attempt to confuse people and create mystery.

Liu Zhiye knew that the truth was often hidden behind layers of fog, and only by unraveling it could its true face be revealed.

He was confident that he could solve the mystery if given enough time.

However, Liu Zhiye's current identity is very important. As the acting chief of staff of the Beijing Garrison District and concurrently the commander of the Second Guard Division, he carries a heavy burden on his shoulders and is busy with daily affairs. It is difficult for him to easily extricate himself and devote himself to this case.

As mentioned earlier, the Beijing Garrison District is part of the Beijing Military Region and is under the dual leadership of the Beijing Military Region and the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Government.

The garrison area has leadership organs such as the headquarters, political department, general staff, and logistics department.

Lead the people's armed forces departments of all districts (counties) in the capital city, be responsible for military guard and garrison tasks in the capital area, carry out militia, military service and mobilization work, maintain military appearance and discipline, assist local governments in maintaining public order, etc.

The organization of the Beijing Garrison is similar to that of the Army's field forces. It has a general staff and a chief of staff, and has combat command functions. The garrison has combat forces under its jurisdiction, including several guard divisions with a total strength of approximately 100,000 people (deputy military region level). It is equipped with a large number of heavy weapons and equipment and has a strong ability to fight the enemy.

Therefore, as acting chief of staff, Liu Zhiye carries heavy responsibilities and missions on his shoulders.

In addition, he held dual positions and frequently shuttled between the headquarters and the Second Division's headquarters, working tirelessly between the two places.

The headquarters, as the core command organization of the garrison, is located on Zhengyi Road on the east side of Tiananmen Square.

This location not only highlights the important role of the garrison command in the security of the capital, but also symbolizes its commitment and responsibility to national security.

At present, it is an important period in the history of the Xia State. The existence of the Capital Garrison and the establishment of its headquarters are of immeasurable value in maintaining the security of the country's political center.

The garrison's duties include, but are not limited to, safeguarding the capital's security, protecting the transfer or evacuation of central organs, defending against foreign enemies, counter-terrorism and riot control. These duties require that its headquarters must be located in an environment that is easy to respond to quickly and is safe. Zhengyi Road on the east side of Tiananmen Square undoubtedly meets these requirements.

Therefore, Liu Zhiye, the chief of staff of the "Imperial Guards" in the capital, although his position is not prominent, holds great power.

Being in such a critical position, he naturally cannot be away from his duties for a long time due to other matters.

In view of the urgency of the case, which needed to be solved within a limited time, Director Guo and the leaders of the task force felt helpless and had to seek help from Liu Zhiye, hoping that he could lend a hand.

Liu Zhiye was in such a dilemma and was in a dilemma.

On one hand, there is the heavy burden of a hundred thousand troops, a duty that he cannot shirk; on the other hand, there is an old leader who is loyal to him and has given him great help. Now that the leader is in trouble, how can he sit idly by?

…………

Liu Zhiye frowned, lost in a whirlpool of deep thought, when suddenly an idea flashed in his mind, and he regretted secretly: "Why did I forget about him! If this person could help, the case could be solved..." He had an idea in his mind, and a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes.

Seeing Liu Zhiye's face suddenly showing a hint of joy after a moment of silence, Director Guo and others hurriedly asked: "Chief of Staff Liu, do you have a good idea?"

Liu Zhiye smiled and said frankly, "Director Guo, to be honest, I am really overwhelmed at the moment. Our military region is busy with many affairs, so it is difficult for me to get away to help you."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of Director Guo and others couldn't help but darken a little.

"Ugh!"

The people in their task force firmly do not believe in ghost stories. How can there be ghost stories in this world? If there are ghost stories, it must be someone pretending to be a ghost.

If there really was someone pretending to be a ghost, how did this person evade the search by the public security authorities?

What is even more troubling for the task force is that no matter whether the other party is a ghost or a human, they can't think of a way to catch him. The other party's whereabouts are secretive and there are very few clues left.

As time went on, even some young comrades began to feel scared and kept speculating, could it be that they really saw a ghost? Otherwise, how come the Public Security Bureau mobilized so many manpower and resources but still couldn't catch him?
However, this case is not without clues.

Because, during a large number of searches, the public security authorities discovered that the ghost left footprints at some crime scenes.

Since there are footprints, it is most likely not a ghost, but human-made.

However, the criminal investigation technology at that time was extremely backward, and it was impossible to identify the suspect based on just a few footprints left at the scene.

At this time, everyone thought of the crime-solving expert Liu Zhiye.

But Liu Zhiye said that he could not help them, which made the task force members anxious.

However, Liu Zhiye changed the subject and continued, "However, although I cannot personally take part in the battle, I can recommend a master in the field of investigation to you..."

Upon hearing this, Director Guo and his entourage became tense again, and they asked impatiently, "Tell me quickly, who is this person? Which unit does he belong to?"

Liu Zhiye replied calmly: "This matter can be traced back to the investigation of the sensational [Migratory Bird] organization case ten years ago.

At that time, there were many talented people in our task force, including a leader with outstanding tracking skills..."

It turned out that in order to uncover the mystery of the "Migratory Bird" organization, the department paid unprecedented attention.

The task force is strong, bringing together senior talents such as Zheng Chaoyang and rising stars such as Liu Zhiye. The department has carefully selected and dispatched a group of experienced veterans and various extraordinary people to help.

Among this group of elites, one who is particularly worth mentioning is an expert in tracking footprints. His joining undoubtedly added crucial weight to the investigation of the case.

This person is called Ma Yulin. Who is he? Don't worry, let me tell you slowly.

Speaking of Ma Yulin, he is a legend in the criminal investigation world.

Ma Yulin was born in a poor family. When he was a child, he made a living by herding sheep for a rich family. He had never read a day of school and could not read a single word.

But he is a man with great talent for criminal investigation. When he was young and let the sheep roam free, Ma Yulin was used to observing the footprints and gaits of the sheep.

He soon discovered that he could track a sheep's movements by looking at its footprints.

Because each sheep has a different weight and walks differently, the footprints they leave behind are also different.

As long as he keeps an eye on the footprints, Ma Yulin doesn't worry about any sheep getting lost.

For poor farmers, livestock are very important assets, so Ma Yulin, who has been herding sheep for many years and has never lost a sheep, has used his tracking skills more and more in great use.

Whenever anyone in the village lost their livestock, they would ask Ma Yulin to look for it.

Through this day-to-day tracking, Ma Yulin's ability to identify tracks by footprints became more and more proficient.

As Ma Yulin grew up, he discovered that footprints could be used to identify not only the traces of sheep, but also the traces of humans.

Therefore, in his spare time, Ma Yulin had an additional hobby, which was to observe the footprints left by each person and guess where they were going today. Basically, he could make accurate judgments every time.

However, at that time, Ma Yulin had not yet realized that his skill was actually an extremely important part of criminal investigation - traceology.

Ma Yulin became famous in the criminal investigation field of the public security department because of a case that occurred in the local supply and marketing cooperative in his hometown in 1959.

A thief broke into the supply and marketing cooperative and stole four rolls of cotton cloth, four cartons of cigarettes, seven pounds of sugar, and a barrel of oil.

Looking at these things from today's perspective, they may not be worth mentioning.

But in those days, people's lives were still quite difficult, and these losses amounted to a huge sum of money.

Therefore, the theft case of the supply and marketing cooperative alarmed the township leaders, and everyone was in a panic.

There was no surveillance at that time, and the public security personnel in the townships were unable to conduct fingerprint tests. The only evidence they had was a few footprints left on the ground.

The public security personnel struggled to identify that the footprints came from two people, one wearing rubber shoes and the other suspected to be barefoot.

But other than that, nothing else could be found, because the footprints were very disorganized and quickly disappeared among the grass.

At this moment, a villager suddenly suggested, why not let the village footprint expert Ma Yulin come and take a look?

At that time, everyone just thought it was a desperate measure.

After all, Ma Yulin was almost fifty years old at this time, and in the eyes of everyone, he was just an ordinary old shepherd.

In his half life, he hadn't made any notable achievements. At most, he was better than others in finding the flock.

But some people also think that since Ma Yulin can find where the sheep went, he may be able to follow the footprints to find where the people went.

A few minutes later, village cadres hurriedly brought Ma Yulin to the scene.

After hearing the whole story, Ma Yulin took a flashlight and pointed it at the footprints on the ground without saying a word, observing them carefully.

After the investigation, Ma Yulin immediately gave his conclusion: "One of the suspects is about 20 years old and about 1.65 meters tall, and the other is about 40 years old and about 1.7 meters tall."

He determined this by the depth of the footprints and the way he walked, and everyone couldn't help but marvel at it.

At this moment, Ma Yulin broke off a branch and drew a circle towards the footprints on the ground.

Everyone was confused, but they saw Ma Yulin drawing circles along the footprints on the ground as he walked.

Gradually walking towards the messy place, Ma Yulin's branches were not messy at all.

He drew circles one by one and actually distinguished the footprints of the two suspects.

However, after drawing a dozen footprints, the traces on the ground disappeared.

But Ma Yulin seemed to have opened his third eye and continued to draw circles on the ground to determine the direction.

At this time, someone couldn't help but ask, there were no footprints on the ground, what was Ma Yulin still drawing?
Ma Yulin smiled without saying anything and pointed to the ground. The criminal investigation personnel then discovered that there was a small stone on the ground that had been stepped on and overturned. It was obvious that it was caused by the suspect stepping on it when he passed by in a hurry.

It’s amazing! Who else except Ma Yulin could notice such details?
Everyone no longer had any doubts and followed Ma Yulin to find the trail.

To ordinary people, there were no traces on the road, but in Ma Yulin's mind, the suspect's route was clearly visible.

The sand and stones they stepped on, the grass and trees they passed by, were all guiding Ma Yulin's direction.

Just like that, a few hours later, local public security personnel followed Ma Yulin and found a house.

The stolen goods from the supply and marketing cooperative were hidden under the bed, and the perpetrators were caught red-handed.

From then on, Ma Yulin's nickname "God's Eye" became famous throughout the country.

Although he had no diploma and no criminal investigation experience, the public security organs still recruited him as an exception.

In this way, Ma Yulin became a local public security criminal policeman in Chishi.

From then on, Ma Yulin relied on the superb tracking skills he had acquired in the first half of his life to help the public security organs solve many major cases.

The department will definitely pay attention to such capable people, and will temporarily transfer him to help when encountering major cases.

Liu Zhiye and Ma Yulin's acquaintance can be traced back to when the special task force was first established in 1962.

At that time, Ma Yulin had already stood out in the task force with his extraordinary tracking ability, which made Liu Zhiye admire him so much that he could not express it in words.

Although the task force at that time has been disbanded, whenever there is a difficult matter, Liu Zhiye always thinks of Ma Yulin first and invites him to come for help.

After a few interactions, they not only had a tacit cooperation, but also developed a deep friendship.

Soon, according to Liu Zhiye's proposal, the task force seconded Ma Yulin, who was retired from the Public Security Bureau in his hometown of Chishi.

At first sight, Ma Yulin's face, full of traces of time, looked like a simple and unpretentious old farmer, which made Director Guo and the members of the special task force feel suspicious.

They secretly wondered what kind of extraordinary abilities this seemingly ordinary old man had that could make a figure like Liu Zhiye praise him so highly?
However, they soon understood what it meant to "Don't judge a book by its cover, and don't judge the sea by its depth!"

Ma Yulin traveled a long way from Chishi to the capital.

After arriving, Ma Yulin did not dare to delay and immediately cooperated with the task force to conduct an investigation.

The only evidence was the footprints at the scene. Ma Yulin observed the footprints for a long time and quickly came to his own conclusion.

Before, everyone thought that the haunted incident was caused by one person, but Ma Yulin believed that the footprints came from two people.

The reason why no one had made such a guess before was because the footprints of the two people were too similar.

This also proves that the two people were similar in height and build, and the shoes they wore were most likely the same model. Their movement trajectories were so consistent that they confused each other and disrupted the public security organs' investigation direction.

Moreover, Ma Yulin also suggested that the perpetrators were most likely a pair of brothers.

This speculation is also based on the high similarity expressed by the footprints.

There are no two identical leaves on a tree, and people's footprints are also unique.

However, the footprints of relatives who live together day and night will be similar.

Ma Yulin also judged from their gait that the two men were probably between 20 and 25 years old.

In addition, the two have different personalities, one is more calm and cautious, while the other is relatively reckless and jumpy.

Because, after the footprints of the two people are separated, it is easy to find that the footprints of the steady one are more regular, while the latter's are slightly messy.

The members of the task force were stunned after listening to Ma Yulin's analysis.

In a short period of time, Ma Yulin had greatly narrowed down the search scope: a pair of brothers around 20 years old living in the capital, with very different personalities.

Combined with a series of previous investigation results, the brothers are most likely students at a university.

Therefore, they have time to hang out in various university towns in the Hai HD area.

But even so, there are too many college students living in the HD area. Even if we narrow it down to brothers, there are tens of thousands of people we can find.

But Ma Yulin was not panicked, because if his inference was correct, the two suspects must still be living in the HD area.

Moreover, two people who are keen on playing tricks will never give up easily just because of Ma Yulin's arrival.

In fact, given their style, they are likely to be more high-profile and provoke Ma Yulin.

Therefore, Ma Yulin did not rush back to his hometown, but decided to stay near the Summer Palace, where the flow of people was the largest, and observe the students coming and going every day.

Maybe one day, I will find these two familiar pairs of footprints among the crowd.

Ma Yulin originally thought that it would take at least several weeks to complete the search.

But within a few days, the suspect ran into a gun.

That day, Ma Yulin went to the cafeteria of the Party School to eat and passed by two people.

Ma Yulin, who was racking his brains to find the suspect, suddenly realized that the walking posture of these two people matched his previous observations of the suspect's footprints.

Ma Yulin looked up again and noticed that these two people were not ordinary students, but two mixed-race people with deep eye sockets and pale skin.

Ma Yulin immediately thought that if these two people put on a little makeup in the dark night, their appearance would be exactly the same as the ghosts that the students had encountered before, right?
Although Ma Yulin is good at tracking, he is not good at fighting and arresting.

So he immediately ran back to the Public Security Bureau and informed the task force about the matter.

The task force leader was overjoyed and immediately led people to the foreign gathering place in the HD area and successfully found the residence of the two brothers.

However, no one expected that when the suspect saw that his plan was exposed, he actually took out a shotgun and tried to attack the police.

Fortunately, the public security soldiers were quick to control the two people, and the truth of the haunted incident was revealed.

It turns out that these two guys are indeed a pair of brothers, and they are of Chinese and French descent.

The younger brother is studying at a university in HD District, but the older brother has been a lazy boy since childhood. He was even jailed for theft during the "severe crackdown" a few years ago.

After being released from prison, my brother did not repent, but instead developed thoughts of revenge against society.

After racking his brains, he came up with a plan to pretend to be a ghost, scare the victim half to death, and then take advantage of the campus riot to steal their property.

Moreover, the elder brother also dragged his younger brother into the plan. The younger brother was so bold that he actually agreed to this ridiculous plan.

In this way, the two brothers roamed around various campuses and committed crimes.

Because they randomly chose the time and place each time they committed a crime, and the younger brother was on campus and well-informed, they escaped the pursuit of the public security organs.

But they probably didn't expect that Ma Yulin was able to lock on to them based on just a few footprints of the two brothers.

Eventually, the suspect was thrown into jail, and the HD area finally returned to its former tranquility.

Later, when Liu Zhiye learned the whole story of the case from Director Guo, he was amazed even though he was experienced in handling cases.

(End of this chapter)