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

"When was the last time you two met? Did you have a fight or anything unpleasant happen?"

"Three months ago, it was her birthday and I prepared a surprise for her. We had dinner together and went to the movies. We had a lot of fun. When we parted, she said she would contact me the next day, but I couldn't contact her the next day. I thought she was joking with me at the time, but later I realized something was wrong." Zhao Yang said, his eyes reddening.

"Did she say anything strange to you or exhibit any unusual behavior before she disappeared?"

Zhao Yang tried hard to recall: "No, really not. She was very happy that day, and she even said that she would go traveling with me after she was done with this busy period. Police comrade, I really don't know why she was like this, I really loved her..." Zhao Yang was very emotional, and he covered his face with his hands and burst into tears.

Wang Shuai also asked other staff members of the gym, and they all confirmed that Zhao Yang had indeed been frantically looking for Zhang Haiyan after she disappeared, and that he was absent-minded at work and had taken a lot of leave. From the current investigation, Zhao Yang does not seem to be a suspect.

Then, Wang Shuai began to investigate Zhang Haiyan's classmates. By contacting her college counselor, Wang Shuai obtained the list and contact information of Zhang Haiyan's college classmates. He called each of them one by one and made appointments with more than a dozen classmates.

Lin Na, her college roommate, recalled: "Haiyan was very innocent and kind when she was in school, and she didn't have any enemies. After graduation, we contacted less, but we chatted on WeChat occasionally, and I didn't feel that she had any trouble."

"Has she ever had a romantic relationship in college, or had close contacts with people in society?" Wang Shuai asked.

"No, she had a boyfriend in college, who was from our school, but they broke up after graduation. After that, she devoted herself to her work, and I haven't heard that she had any contact with anyone in society."

After three days of investigation and interviews with dozens of people, Wang Shuai's notebook was filled with dense writing, but he did not find any suspicious clues. Zhang Haiyan's interpersonal relationships seemed simple and normal, with no obvious conflicts or unusual contacts.

At night, Wang Shuai sat in his office, looking at the dimming lights outside the window, frowning. He opened the investigation records again, carefully studying every detail, trying to find a breakthrough. He knew that he couldn't give up now, the murderer must be hiding in a corner, and he had to unravel the truth and make it known to the world.

Four days after the incident.

The incandescent lights in the conference room stretched everyone's shadows. Lu Chuan stood in front of the whiteboard and circled the words "Zhang Haiyan's dismembered body case" with a red pen. The projector alternately played photos of the body dumped in the sewer and the image of the deceased's bright smile before his death, forming a glaring contrast. The electronic clock on the wall showed 10:17 pm. Seven or eight disposable coffee cups were piled in the corner of the conference table, and the cigarette butts in the ashtray had already overflowed.

"Let's start with the on-site investigation." Lu Chuan's voice was heard over the hum of the air conditioner, and his eyes turned to Yang Lin. Yang Lin pushed up his goggles, and the laser pen drew a red spot on the projection screen: "The body was dumped at a brick inspection well with a diameter of 1.2 meters. A total of 23 pieces of human tissue were found, distributed in 8 different well sections." He switched to the 3D modeling diagram, and the dark blue lines outlined the underground pipe network. "The body fragments spread out in a fan-shaped pattern, which is consistent with the parabolic trajectory from top to bottom when the body was dumped. It is preliminarily inferred that there were at least dumping points."

Yang Sen added, tapping his fingertips on the tablet: "The residual concentration of chloroform detected on the well wall is 0.3 mg/L, which is consistent with the anesthetic component mentioned last time. In addition, a special fluorescent reaction was found in the No. 3 well section—" He called up the photo, and the well wall glowed with a strange blue light under ultraviolet light. "It is an industrial-grade cleaner containing tetrachloroethylene. This cleaner is strictly controlled on the market and is usually used in large laundries or slaughterhouses."

"So the murderer probably dismembered the body in a professional place?" Zhang Hui wrote quickly in his notebook.

Lu Chuan knocked on the whiteboard: "Zhang Kai, autopsy results."

Forensic doctor Zhang Kai opened the report soaked in the smell of formalin, and the autopsy photos appeared on the projector: "The deceased died of mechanical asphyxiation combined with craniocerebral injury. The left side of the thyroid cartilage was fractured, which is consistent with the characteristics of right-hand strangulation; there were three depressed fractures in the occipital bone, and the murder weapon should be a metal blunt object with a diameter of 5 cm." He zoomed in on the tattoo, and the blue pigment of the swallow's wings was twisted into a strange color block on the screen. "The tattoo uses a single-needle matte technique and was completed at least five years ago. There is a halo in some parts. Through dental pulp radiocarbon dating, it was confirmed that the deceased was 29 years old, which is exactly the same as Zhang Haiyan's information."

Wang Shuai pinched his sore brows and said, "The investigation into interpersonal relationships has reached a deadlock. The deceased's boyfriend Zhao Yang has a complete alibi during the time of the crime. The gym surveillance shows that he was teaching a private lesson at the time. Colleagues and classmates all confirmed that the deceased had a gentle personality and no obvious contradictions. The only suspicious point is the anonymous phone call she received before she disappeared, but the number was a one-time virtual number and could not be traced."

"Wait a minute." Yang Sen suddenly interrupted, showing two photos side by side. "The detergent residue on the wall of the well where the body was dumped is the same type used by the laundry factory near the Xingchen Advertising Company where Zhang Haiyan worked. Although there are 17 units in the city that purchase this detergent, this laundry factory is the closest to the place where the body was dumped."

The air froze instantly, with only the projector's cooling fan humming. Lu Chuan circled the laundry factory on the map with a red pen, and the tip of the pen slammed heavily, "Focus on investigating the employees of the laundry factory, especially those who joined or left in the past three months. In addition--" He turned to the technical department, "Restore Zhang Haiyan's mobile phone data, even if only fragments are left, we must piece together the information."

Zhang Hui raised his hand: "I suggest re-examining Zhao Yang. He had been dating the deceased for two years and was familiar with her life details. Although he had an alibi, his fitness studio was only a 15-minute drive from the place where the body was dumped. Is it possible that there was an accomplice?"

Wang Shuai shook his head and retorted: "We retrieved his call records and whereabouts for the past six months, and there was no abnormal social interaction. And according to his colleagues, he almost collapsed after Zhang Haiyan disappeared, and stayed up all night in the gym for a week looking for clues."

"It is precisely this kind of excessive expression that is questionable." Zhang Hui called up the surveillance screenshots, in which Zhao Yang ran on the street holding a missing person notice, his clothes soaked with sweat. "When people are extremely sad, they will have two extreme reactions: either they close themselves off or they express themselves in a performative way. His behavior seems to be deliberately creating the image of a 'loving boyfriend'."

Lu Chuan interrupted the argument: "Both possibilities must be investigated. Wang Shuai will continue to dig deeper into Zhao Yang's social relationships, focusing on checking the students in his fitness studio; Zhang Hui will lead the team to search the laundry factory, paying attention to the bloodstains in hidden corners. In addition -" he pointed to the ring indentation on the deceased's ring finger in the autopsy photo, "How is the jewelry store's custom record being checked?" (End of this chapter)