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

"That bastard's up and about again?" Little Li leaned over to look. "Wait a minute, isn't Zhao Gang still in the detention center?" He suddenly remembered something. "Could it be a case of the same name? Or...is someone deliberately using this name to confuse people?"

Xiao Wang ran over holding up the repaired surveillance screenshot. The license plate of the van on the screen was vaguely visible: "Liaoning A72XXX". "The vehicle management office replied that this vehicle is registered under the name of 'Beishan Freight,' but the legal representative is a shell company." She pointed to the owner's photo, "This person is wearing a baseball cap, but his profile looks a bit like Zhou Ming."

At five in the morning, the instant noodle containers in the information center were piled up like a small mountain. Zhang Hui stared at the clock on the wall, each tick of the second hand feeling like a hammer blow to his nerves. "Go through Zhou Ming's social media accounts again," he rubbed his red eyes, "especially his posts after he left the company, don't miss any of his likes."

Xiao Li pulled up Zhou Ming's Weibo account, the last post dating back three months: "Some accounts need to be settled." The accompanying photo was a distant view of a warehouse, with a blurry figure in the corner. "This warehouse looks like Beishan Logistics Park," he zoomed in on the picture, "but this figure is wearing Sunshine Technology's work clothes."

“We’ve come full circle.” Wang Shuai stubbed out his cigarette in the empty lunchbox. “From Ren Tao to Zhang Baohua, and now Zhou Ming, they’re all connected to Sunshine Technology.” He suddenly remembered something. “Forensic Doctor Zhang said Zhou Ming’s teeth are very similar to Ren Tao’s. Could it be…?”

“It doesn’t look like that,” Zhang Hui interrupted him. “Ren Tao’s wisdom tooth is horizontally impacted, while Zhou Ming’s erupted vertically.” He pulled up the dental records of the two men for comparison. “But they both had orthodontic treatment and used brackets from the same clinic.”

As dawn broke, a matching notification suddenly popped up in the system—Zhou Ming's housing provident fund withdrawal record was linked to a rental contract located in an old residential area near the logistics park. "Finally, a new lead!" Xiao Li jumped up, his knee slamming against the table leg, grimacing in pain but ignoring it. "I'll apply to investigate this rental location!"

Zhang Hui looked out the window at the gradually brightening sky. The screen in the information center was still flashing, with over a thousand messages laid out like a tangled mess in front of him. He picked up Zhou Ming's case file and suddenly noticed a line of small print on the edge of the title page, a note from forensic doctor Zhang Kai: "The fracture morphology of the hyoid bone is highly similar to that of Zhang Baohua."

“Get the case file of Zhang Baohua,” he took a deep breath, “and compare the social networks of the two victims, especially their mutual contacts.” The printer started up again, and this time, two names were circled together in red on the paper that came out—Tian Feng and Li Biao.

As the first rays of sunlight streamed into the information center, Zhang Hui's phone suddenly vibrated. It was a text message from Yang Lin: "The ventilation vent fibers match; it comes from Sunshine Technology's 2015 workwear." Staring at the densely packed names and dates on the screen, he suddenly felt that this long, agonizing night might just be the prelude to an even greater darkness.

The morning sunlight filtered through the thin mist, casting a warm glow on the four gilded characters of "Sunshine Technology." Zhang Hui, along with Xiao Li and Xiao Wang, stood at the company entrance. The exhaustion from a sleepless night was palpable in the glaring sunlight. Dark circles clung to their eyes, and their steps were unsteady. Only the files in their hands were tightly clutched, as if they were the only source of strength keeping them going.

"Everyone, stay alert," Zhang Hui took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound more confident. "Once inside, follow your assigned tasks, ask questions carefully, and don't overlook any detail." He pushed up his glasses; fingerprints on the lenses blurred his vision, but he was too lazy to wipe them away, his mind only focused on starting the investigation as soon as possible and getting results quickly.

The three entered the lobby of Sunshine Technology. The receptionist's sweet smile froze instantly when she saw their police uniforms. "Excuse me, what can I do for you?" Her voice trembled slightly, and she hurriedly picked up the phone on the table, seemingly wanting to report something.

“We’re from the Municipal Criminal Investigation Division,” Zhang Hui showed his badge. “We’d like to ask you about some things. Could you please find your supervisor?” A short while later, a middle-aged man in a suit with a beer belly strode over, a professional smile on his face: “Officer, I’m the company’s vice president, surnamed Liu. What can I do for you?”

"We're investigating a case and want to know if any of your company employees have gone missing recently," Zhang Hui said bluntly, showing her a reconstruction of the deceased's skull. "Take a look, have you seen this person before?"

Vice President Liu took the picture, squinted and examined it carefully for a long time, his brows furrowed: "This person looks familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen him before. We haven't heard of anyone going missing in our company recently, and employee attendance is all normal."

"Could you show us your company's employee roster?" Xiao Li asked from the side, his voice heavy with weariness. He had been staring at the computer screen for too long last night, and now his vision was blurry.

“Yes, yes,” Vice President Liu nodded hurriedly. “I’ll have someone get it right away.” He turned around and gave the receptionist a few instructions, then turned back around and said with a fawning expression, “Officer, why don’t you go to the conference room and sit for a while? I’ll have the receptionist get you some water.”

The air in the conference room was stifling. The clock on the wall ticked away, each tick seeming to strike at everyone's hearts, making the already irritable mood even more oppressive. Xiao Li couldn't help but yawn, the sound particularly clear in the quiet conference room. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, a look of embarrassment on his face.

"This damn case, we've been investigating for so long and we still haven't found a clue," Xiao Wang complained in a low voice, his fingers tapping the table unconsciously. "Last night I looked at more than a thousand missing persons reports, my eyes were almost blinded, but nothing matched up. Coming here today is probably just a wasted trip."

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Zhang Hui frowned. “Maybe the clue is right here.” Even so, he wasn’t sure, after all, the previous investigations had hit a dead end time and time again, leaving him quite exhausted.

Soon, the HR manager walked in with a thick stack of employee rosters and respectfully handed them to Zhang Hui: "Officer, this is a roster of all our company's employees, including those who have recently left."

Zhang Hui and his two companions immediately crowded around and began flipping through the pages. The names on the roster were densely packed, like ants crawling on paper, making it dizzying to look at. Everyone's information was largely the same: name, age, date of employment, and position. The tedious content made the three, who were already drowsy, even more exhausted.

"What is all this?" Xiao Li flipped through the list, then slammed it on the table. "I've looked at it for ages, and not a single one matches. The ages and appearances are all so different." (End of Chapter)