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

Wang Shuai pulled up the surveillance footage from three days ago at the park entrance, and sure enough, there was a white van without license plates in the video. The driver's side window was tinted with dark film, and only a blurry profile could be vaguely seen. "The man was wearing work clothes, and there was a logo on his left chest," Old Li leaned closer to the screen and squinted, "like an eagle spreading its wings, and it looks a bit like...like the logo of a company in the next park!"

The police tape outside the warehouse was faintly visible in the fog. Lu Chuan watched the busy investigators inside, his fingertips unconsciously tapping on the walkie-talkie. The half-exposed tattoo on the back of the deceased's neck, the strange arrangement of components on the ground, the blocked surveillance cameras... these fragmented clues swirled in his mind.

After the initial on-site investigation, Lu Chuan made a work assignment. He asked Yang Lin and Yang Sen to conduct a more detailed and further investigation of the site.

On the other hand, Wang Shuai was tasked with investigating the existing leads.

The smell of disinfectant mixed with the stench of corpses fermented in the confined space, creating a suffocating odor. Yang Lin, wearing blue shoe covers, ground the dark red liquid on the concrete floor with his boots, which gleamed eerily under the survey lights. "Start from the outside, take photos in all four directions, making sure every corner is in the frame." He held up his camera, the lens aimed at the pile of cardboard boxes of electronic components in the corner, the shutter sounding exceptionally clear in the silence.

Yang Sen was crouching three meters away from the body, using a laser rangefinder to measure: "The body is 1.7 meters from the north wall and 2.3 meters from the west wall. There are no obvious signs of a struggle around it." He suddenly adjusted the beam angle, and a green line landed on the edge of the tarpaulin. "Look here, there are drag marks on the corner of the tarpaulin. It must have been moved from deep inside the warehouse."

“Take a picture.” Yang Lin’s camera lens followed the movement. “Pay attention to the light, make sure the direction of the drag marks is clear.” He changed angles and suddenly noticed a crooked box in the pile of cardboard boxes. “Yang Sen, something’s wrong with that capacitor box; the label is facing the opposite direction from the others.”

Yang Sen, wearing gloves, turned the box over. On the bottom was a half-faded shoe print: "Size 42, rubber sole, serrated pattern, but less worn than Wang Bingchen's." He pulled out a scale ruler and placed it beside him. "Mark it first, we'll get the plaster model later."

The two men advanced in a spiral pattern around the body to investigate. Yang Lin's flashlight swept across the ceiling, then suddenly stopped at the ventilation opening: "There's dust falling off there, like it's been disturbed recently." Yang Sen moved a cargo box over, stood on it, and peered inside with an endoscope: "There are fiber residues, dark blue, like workwear fabric."

"Put it in an evidence bag, number 073." Yang Lin quickly jotted down in his notebook. "Begin the surface examination of the body." He crouched down and carefully lifted the tarpaulin. The characteristic oily sheen of a decomposing corpse was visible on the skin. "Male, estimated age 35-40, height approximately 175 cm."

Yang Sen carefully examined the wound with a magnifying glass: "There's a blunt force injury to the back of the head. The wound is roughly circular, about 3.5 centimeters in diameter." He gently touched the edges with a probe. "The wound edges are irregular, with tissue contusions; it was likely a metallic weapon."

“There are three shallow stab wounds on the chest,” Yang Lin said, turning the body over. “Less than a centimeter deep, like threatening injuries.” He suddenly stopped at the deceased’s left hand: “There’s a ring-shaped indentation on the second joint of the ring finger, indicating he wore a ring regularly, but it’s gone.”

"Could it have been taken by the murderer?" Yang Sen leaned closer to examine it. "There are fresh scratches around the edges of the indentation, like it was forcibly removed." He suddenly pointed to the deceased's cuff, "There are fibers wrapped around here, dark gray, not the same type as those from the vents."

In the third hour of the investigation, sunlight streamed in through the warehouse's high windows, casting beams of light on the ground. Yang Lin was using an electrostatic fingerprint scanner to collect fingerprints; the device buzzed on the metal shelf. "Strange," he said, "aside from the deceased's fingerprints, everything else has been deliberately wiped clean."

"Not even on the electronic component box?" Yang Sen's voice was tinged with surprise. "Only half a capacitor was on this crooked capacitor box," Yang Lin pointed to the patterns on the screen, "and it was left with gloves on, the lines are blurry." He suddenly got up and walked deeper into the warehouse, "The drag marks ended here. Look at the cement powder on the ground, someone cleaned it up."

Yang Sen then sprinkled fluorescent powder on the nail, revealing a large pale green area under the ultraviolet light: "It's quite a large area, enough for at least two people to move around in." He suddenly kicked something hard, bent down to pick it up, and found it was a rusty nail. "The nail head has fresh hammer marks, like it was recently pulled out from somewhere."

“Compare it to the screws on the vent.” Yang Lin took the nail. “The size matches. It seems the murderer dismantled the vent; they probably entered and exited through there.”

As they inspected the northeast corner of the warehouse, Yang Lin's heel struck an inconspicuous metal piece: "This is... fragments of the surveillance hard drive." Yang Sen pieced them together; the edges showed signs of burning. "It was deliberately sabotaged using high-temperature equipment."

“No wonder the surveillance cameras didn’t capture anything.” Yang Lin carefully collected the fragments. “The fingerprints and footprints were handled very cleanly, and the murder weapon was taken away as well. It was incredibly professional, unlike something a novice would do.” He looked at the neatly arranged pile of electronic components and suddenly frowned. “The model numbers of these components are exactly the same as those used by Ren Tao’s company.”

Yang Sen pulled out comparison photos from his phone: "It really is, they're all ST brand chips." He counted them, "Seven are missing, just enough to assemble a simple controller."

"Take the samples back for testing to see if there are any residual fingerprints or DNA." Yang Lin closed his investigation notebook. "Although we haven't found any direct clues pointing to the killer, these details, when pieced together, at least confirm that the killer was familiar with the warehouse environment and understood electronic components."

Yang Sen was putting the last piece of hard drive fragment into the evidence bag when he suddenly noticed a cigarette butt in the corner: "Zhongnanhai cigarette butt, 8mg tar, lip print on the filter, DNA should be extractable."

“Number 098, priority for testing.” Yang Lin glanced at his watch. “It’s been four hours. Notify the forensic doctor to come over.” He looked at the body in the center of the warehouse and suddenly whispered, “This deceased, like Zhang Baohua, was wearing a ring, and both were related to electronic components. Do you think it’s a coincidence?”

Yang Sen sealed the cigarette butt. "There aren't that many coincidences." He kicked at the drag marks on the ground. "Maybe the DNA results will connect another thread."

When the sunlight streamed fully into the warehouse, the two men's survey suits were soaked with sweat. Yang Lin gave the marked points one last check, then suddenly pointed to the ventilation vent: "That fiber from earlier, have the technical department expedite the comparison. I feel like I've seen a similar fabric somewhere before."

As Yang Sen nodded, Wang Shuai's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "The white van is cleared of suspicion, but a forged official seal has been discovered." Yang Lin exchanged a glance, then looked at the pile of electronic components—as if each capacitor and resistor held a secret yet to be spoken. (End of Chapter)