Attending ex-girlfriend's wedding, arresting the groom's officer on the spot

"Comminuted fracture of right clavicle, female, 23 years old", the handwriting on the diagnosis was a little blurred due to the passage of time, but the record of "surgery to implant titanium alloy steel plate" made his heart beat wildly. More importantly, the emergency contact column on the first page of the medical record read "Manager Li of Paradise Entertainment Club", while the signature on the payment slip was "Wang Yaoyao".

The rain started falling without anyone noticing. When Wang Shuai rushed into the Paradise Club, his shirt was soaked. The neon lights cast a distorted shadow behind him. The receptionist saw the police badge and her face turned pale instantly. "Wang Yaoyao? She resigned last month." The manager said calmly, but his fingers scratched deep wrinkles on the leather sofa armrest.

"Where are the resignation procedures?" Wang Shuai opened the law enforcement recorder, "Social security suspension record, salary settlement statement, nothing can be missing." When he saw that the date on the so-called "resignation letter" had been altered, his eyes turned cold. In the monitoring room, the security guard hesitantly explained that the video recording on October 10 was accidentally damaged, but Wang Shuai noticed fresh pry marks on the hard drive interface.

In the staff dormitory of the club, Wang Yaoyao's locker still has half a bottle of perfume, several unopened letters, and a yellowed photo. The girl in the photo is wearing a beige dress and smiling brightly, with several heavily made-up escorts standing beside her. "Yaoyao is the most popular girl here." A girl with purple hair wiped her tears, "She said she wanted to save enough money to study fashion design. She was very happy on the 14th and said she would meet him in the evening." She suddenly closed her mouth, and fear flashed in her eyes.

Wang Shuai found a breakthrough in a milk tea shop near the club. The cashier remembered that around 10 pm on October 14, Wang Yaoyao came to buy a cup of hot cocoa. "She said she wanted to go to the beach to watch the sunrise, and she even had her hair re-braided." This detail is highly consistent with the time of death inferred by the forensic doctor - based on the degree of digestion of stomach contents, Wang Yaoyao was killed two to three hours after the meal, and the dinner containing seafood and red wine should have taken place on the evening of the 14th.

Back at the police station, the technical department's comparison results were exciting: the titanium alloy steel plate model of the deceased's right clavicle was exactly the same as Wang Yaoyao's surgery record in 2018; more importantly, the fiber extracted from her fingernails was made of the same material as a sweater in the locker. In the massive surveillance screening, Wang Shuai finally captured a blurry figure - at 10 pm on October 14, Wang Yaoyao, wearing a beige dress, stopped a black car on Haibin Avenue, and the license plate number was deliberately obscured.

At the case analysis meeting, the projection screen alternately displayed Wang Yaoyao's daily life photos and autopsy photos. The strong contrast made everyone present silent. "Her mobile phone and personal belongings are still missing," Wang Shuai flipped through the investigation report. "The club staff deliberately concealed the truth, the surveillance was destroyed, and the residence was searched." He called up a map, and the red mark extended from the Paradise Club to Haibin Avenue and finally formed a closed loop at Beishan Park. "The murderer was familiar with Wang Yaoyao's daily routine and had anti-reconnaissance awareness. Moreover," he pointed to the strangulation marks on the neck of the deceased, "the method of committing the crime was professional, and it is very likely that he had relevant experience."

Lu Chuan wrote the name "Wang Yaoyao" on the whiteboard and circled it with a red circle: "From now on, focus on investigating her social relationships. The club's frequent visitor list, bank statements, communication records, no details can be missed."

Dusk, wrapped in damp mist, drifted into the street. The neon sign outside the "Paradise Entertainment Club" was blurred into an ambiguous light spot in the rain. Wang Shuai lowered the brim of his police hat, and his black leather shoes stepped through the puddles, and the splashing water soaked his trouser legs. Zhang Hui beside him tugged at the collar of his police uniform, and the edge of his bulletproof vest left a dark mark on his shirt - they deliberately changed out of their conspicuous duty equipment, but still attracted everyone's attention the moment they pushed open the carved wooden door.

The receptionist's smile froze on her face instantly, her carefully drawn eyebrows twisted into a knot, and her ten-centimeter high heels made a harsh sound on the marble floor: "Two officers, our manager will be here soon." When she turned around, her black fishtail skirt swept across the bar, knocking over a half-finished martini, and the dark red liquid meandered into strange patterns on the mirrored table.

The corridor of the box was filled with the pungent smell of tequila mixed with cheap perfume. Wang Shuai counted the house numbers and pushed open the door of VIP3. The deafening music stopped abruptly. Seven or eight drunken men froze on the leather sofa, and the escort in her arms hurriedly adjusted her slipped shoulder straps. The crystal chandelier cast light and dark shadows on everyone's faces, and the song selection screen in the corner was still stuck on the prelude of "The Moon Represents My Heart".

"Routine investigation." Zhang Hui waved his ID, his eyes sweeping over the scattered dice, unopened condoms, and several packs of opened foreign cigarettes on the coffee table, "Who of you is familiar with the name Wang Yaoyao?" He emphasized the word "familiar" and observed everyone's reactions. The man in the crocodile-patterned leather shoes had a violent rolling Adam's apple, grabbed the whiskey glass and drank it, and the sound of the ice cubes hitting was particularly loud.

"Yaoyao, I haven't seen her for a long time." The man with silver-gray hair burped, and the big gold chain around his neck swayed with his movements. "I heard she went back to her hometown to get married." As he spoke, his eyes glanced at the surveillance camera in the corner, and his ring finger unconsciously stroked the rim of the cup - there was a fresh ring mark there, which was surprisingly similar to the shape of the mark left by the deceased's wedding ring being violently pulled off. Wang Shuai pretended to squat down casually, but when he picked up the ashtray, he caught a glimpse of the reddish-brown mud on the other's sole, which was exactly the same color as the sample extracted from the base of the sculpture.

The air conditioner in the manager's office made a subtle hum, and the purple clay teapot on the sandalwood table was still steaming. "Wang Yaoyao is indeed our employee." The manager pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, revealing a valuable Patek Philippe on his wrist. The date of the resignation report in the folder was blurred and altered. "Last month she said she was going to the south to develop her career. She left in a hurry and took nothing with her." When Zhang Hui asked to check the surveillance, he turned the armrest of the leather seat, and a trace of panic flashed in his eyes behind the lenses: "Unfortunately, the surveillance hard drive on October 10th broke down and is waiting for the manufacturer to repair it." These words made Wang Shuai notice the wastebasket under the desk, in which lay a half-shredded data cable, and the cut of the insulation layer was so smooth that it seemed to have been processed with professional pliers.

The cleaning lady was hunched over in the storage room, sorting cleaning tools. When Wang Shuai handed her a bottle of mineral water, the old lady's wrinkled hands tightly grasped the bottle, her knuckles whitening: "That girl is kind-hearted and always helps me carry buckets. The night before the accident, I heard her making a phone call in the employee corridor, crying so sadly, saying 'I don't want to live like this anymore.'" The old lady suddenly lowered her voice, her cloudy eyes looking towards the corridor vigilantly, "She also said someone forced her to do it." Before she finished speaking, the door of the storage room was suddenly pushed open, and the security captain appeared with a dark face: "Auntie, the VIP box on the third floor needs to be cleaned." (End of this chapter)