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

"We have checked all 23 custom shops in the city." The technician retrieved the files and said, "Three shops said they had seen similar designs, but because the customers requested anonymity, they could not provide their identities. However, the surveillance camera of one of the shops captured a man wearing a mask who had consulted three months ago. His figure was % similar to Zhao Yang's."

There were gasps from the conference table. Lu Chuan circled the name "Zhao Yang" with a red line and wrote "Laundry" next to it. The two thick lines crossed in the air: "Now there are two visible lines, either of which could tear a hole.

The wind of late autumn was chilly. Zhang Hui and his team stood at the gate of the "Jieya Laundry Factory" and looked at the rusty iron gate and the mottled advertisements on the wall, feeling a little uneasy. When they walked into the factory, the pungent smell of detergent hit them in the face, and the rumbling sound of the machines made their eardrums hurt.

After Zhang Hui revealed his identity, he was taken to the factory director's office. The factory director, Liu, who was in his 50s, sat behind a desk piled with documents, frowning, "Comrade police, we have always been operating legally and have never had any trouble. Please don't affect our business by suddenly coming to investigate."

"We are investigating a case and need to know if any employees in the factory have behaved abnormally recently or have had contact with unidentified people in society?" Zhang Hui explained patiently.

Director Liu shook his head and took out the employee roster from the drawer. "All our employees are honest and dutiful. They just go to work and go home every day. There is no such mess. If there is anything unusual..." He paused, "Three months ago, an employee named Li Hua suddenly resigned, but he just said that he had family matters, and there was no other reason."

Zhang Hui's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked, "Can you provide me with Li Hua's detailed information and contact information?" However, Director Liu shrugged helplessly, "The contact information is long gone, and the emergency contact number he filled in is also an empty number. This person usually keeps to himself and doesn't communicate much with other employees."

In the next few days, Zhang Hui and his team members began to question the employees of the laundry factory one by one. In the drying workshop, Zhang Hui stopped a woman who was moving clothes and said, "Sister, I want to ask you about someone. Do you know Li Hua?"

The eldest sister straightened up and wiped the sweat off her face. "Li Hua, I know him. He usually just works hard and doesn't talk much. But he left quite suddenly. He was fine the day before, but he didn't come the next day."

"Does he have any special habits, or is he close to anyone?"

The elder sister frowned and thought for a while: "No, he always eats and works by himself, and I haven't seen him get particularly close to anyone. There was just one time when I saw him talking to a man in a hat at the factory gate, but it was far away, so I didn't see what the man looked like."

This clue made Zhang Hui feel nervous, but when he asked further, the elder sister could not tell him more information. In the laundry workshop, Zhang Hui asked several employees and got similar answers. Li Hua was like a transparent person. Apart from knowing that he suddenly resigned, no one knew anything about him.

Zhang Hui was unwilling to give up, so he led his team to search the factory carefully, leaving no corner untouched. They checked abandoned warehouses, dim basements, and even searched through the factory's trash cans, but they still couldn't find any clues related to the case. Every corner of the laundry factory was filled with the smell of detergent, and the machines were running day and night, as if to cover up all the secrets.

"Captain Zhang, maybe we are going in the wrong direction?" team member Xiao Chen asked somewhat frustratedly.

Zhang Hui looked at the busy employees in the distance with a firm look in his eyes: "No. The detergent tested by Janssen is the same model as here. It can't be a coincidence. Keep investigating. Even if it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, we have to find something." However, the subsequent investigation still made no progress. They visited shops and residents around the laundry factory, hoping to learn about Li Hua's situation from the side, but all they got was "I don't know" and "I have no impression". Three days passed, and Zhang Hui's notebook was filled with dense words, but there was no key clue to the case.

Just when all parties involved in the case were at a loss and seemed to have reached a dead end, a major turning point occurred.

On the evening of the sixth day after the incident, the dusk gradually permeated the city skyline. Wang Shuai had just finished a day of clueless visits and sat exhausted at his desk when his cell phone suddenly vibrated. The name "Zhao Yang" flashed on the screen. This fitness coach who seemed innocent in the investigation was alerted by the incoming call and quickly pressed the answer button.

"Officer Wang, I...I remembered something." On the other end of the phone, Zhao Yang's voice was hoarse and trembling, with obvious hesitation and uneasiness.

Wang Shuai immediately sat up straight and grabbed a pen and notebook: "Go ahead, tell me slowly."

"A week before Haiyan disappeared, she took 10,000 yuan from me." Zhao Yang paused, as if he was mustering up his courage, "She said... that her best friend was in urgent need of money and asked her to borrow it. I didn't ask much at the time, because she rarely asked me for money, and she looked very anxious..."

"Then do you know which best friend it is? Did she tell her name?" Wang Shuai asked, his heart beating faster unconsciously.

"I don't know. I asked her, but she just said it was inconvenient to disclose and she would tell me after the money was paid back. I thought it was just a normal matter of borrowing money, so I didn't ask any more questions." Zhao Yang's voice was full of regret. "Now that I think about it, her behavior has been a little abnormal since then. She is always absent-minded and avoids me when answering the phone... I really regret why I didn't ask more questions at the time!"

After hanging up the phone, Wang Shuai immediately reported this important clue to Lu Chuan. Afterwards, he and his team members began to investigate Zhang Haiyan's social circle overnight. After a careful investigation, they identified three female close friends of hers - Li Xia, Chen Xiaoyu and Wang Tingting.

The next morning, Wang Shuai and his team first found Li Xia. Li Xia worked in a beauty salon and was very surprised to see the police. In the small room behind the beauty salon, Wang Shuai began to ask: "Li Xia, we are investigating Zhang Haiyan's case and want to ask you some questions. Did Zhang Haiyan borrow money from you before she disappeared?"

Li Xia's eyes widened and she shook her head repeatedly: "No, absolutely not! Haiyan and I have such a good relationship. If she asked me to borrow money, I would definitely lend it to her, but she never mentioned this."

"So when was the last time you saw each other before she disappeared? Did she say anything strange or show any unusual emotions?"

Wang Shuai once again asked in-depth questions about this issue. This was the most important clue they knew so far, and they had to dig deep into it. (End of this chapter)