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

"Don't rush, take your time," Zhang Hui picked up the roster and continued to examine it carefully page by page. "There might be some omissions." His gaze lingered on each name, his mind constantly comparing the characteristics of the deceased, but after a long time, he still found nothing.

Vice President Liu watched from the side, his smile gradually becoming somewhat unnatural: "Officer, is there some mistake? No one in our company is missing, all our employees are fine."

“We’re just conducting a routine investigation,” Zhang Hui said without looking up. “Are you sure all your company’s employees are on duty and there are no abnormalities?”

"Absolutely," Vice President Liu assured, patting his chest. "Our company has very strict management. We take attendance every day, and if someone is absent, we'll definitely know."

More than an hour later, the list was finally finished. The three men looked at each other, their eyes filled with disappointment. "It seems the deceased really had nothing to do with this company," Xiao Wang said weakly. "All our efforts were in vain."

"Let's ask the other employees," Zhang Hui said, unwilling to give up. "Maybe someone knows something."

They then questioned several other employees who appeared to have worked at the company for a relatively long time, but the answers were all similar: no one had seen the deceased, and no one knew who was missing. The employees' expressions gradually changed from initial curiosity to impatience; after all, no one wanted to be surrounded by police asking questions and disrupting their work.

"Alright, let's go," Zhang Hui sighed, knowing there was no point in staying any longer. "It seems the trail has really gone cold."

Stepping out of the gates of Sunshine Technology, the sunlight became even more glaring. The three stood by the roadside, unsure of where to go. The exhaustion of the previous night, coupled with the disappointment of the present, weighed heavily on their hearts like a boulder.

"When will this damn case ever end?" Xiao Li kicked a pebble on the roadside, which rolled far away. "We've been investigating and the clues have kept going cold. I'm starting to lose hope."

“Who isn’t?” Xiao Wang rubbed his shoulder. “My shoulder hurts so much from looking at the computer all night that I can’t even lift it. I thought I would get something out of today, but it’s all for nothing.”

Seeing their dejected expressions, Zhang Hui felt bad too. He was tired and frustrated just as much. But he knew he was the captain and couldn't afford to give up. "Don't be discouraged," he said, forcing a smile. "If the lead goes cold, we'll look for new leads. There will always be a breakthrough."

Even so, looking at the empty streets, Zhang Hui felt a deep sense of confusion. This case was like a giant maze; they were wandering around inside, unable to find a way out. The sun was still shining brightly, but it offered them no warmth.

“Let’s go back to the team,” Zhang Hui waved, his voice tinged with weariness. “We’ll discuss this further.” The car slowly drove away from Sunshine Technology, the cabin silent. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts, no one spoke. Only the scenery outside the window kept receding, like the passing time and broken clues, never to return. Zhang Hui looked out the window, silently vowing that no matter how difficult, he would continue the investigation, he would find the truth. But the thought of the countless pieces of information waiting for them to compare, the countless places waiting for them to investigate, filled him with a deep sense of powerlessness. He didn’t know how much longer this tedious and arduous investigation would take.

The air in the logistics park's monitoring room reeked of a strange mixture of solder and dust. Wang Shuai draped his coat over the back of his chair, revealing his sweat-soaked shirt underneath. The monitoring screen wall resembled a giant honeycomb, with sixteen images showing trucks, containers, and workers carrying packages. The gray cement floor gleamed with the same cold light from different angles.

“We’ll start investigating three days before the incident,” he said, slamming his thermos down on the control panel. Steam condensed at the rim of the thermos. “We can’t miss a single frame, not even at every entrance or warehouse.” Technician Xiao Zhang, who had just put a steamed bun in his mouth, coughed violently at his words, spilling soy milk onto the keyboard. The splashes of water spread across the “pause” button.

The first suspicious point appeared in the surveillance footage from the side door of the warehouse in Zone B. At 2:17 a.m. the day before the incident, a figure wearing a dark blue hoodie flashed by, the brim of the hood pulled down very low, carrying a black canvas bag. "Zoom in!" Wang Shuai slammed his fist on the table, and the pixels on the screen instantly became a mosaic. "This bag looks like it's for carrying tools, and the size is just right to hold a crowbar."

Xiao Zhang pulled up the shipping records for comparison: "At this time, only warehouse number 3 in Zone B is unloading goods, a batch of electronic components." He suddenly pointed to the figure's shoes, "Look at the reflective soles, they're work shoes, the same style as the ones Zhou Ming is wearing." Wang Shuai asked his team members to take a screenshot and print it out. The figure in the photo had a bluish edge in the morning light, like a faded old newspaper.

By noon the following day, another surveillance video added to the tension. At 9:03 a.m. on the day of the incident, a silver-gray minivan parked at the back door of warehouse number 17 in Block B. The driver, wearing a mask and sunglasses, got out of the vehicle, walked around the warehouse three times, and even took out his phone to take a picture of the door lock. "Check the license plate of this vehicle," Wang Shuai said, his finger swiping across the screen, "Liaoning A72XXX, it looks too much like that used minivan from before."

The vehicle management office's feedback was a major blow: "The license plate is a fake. The original owner had a white Jetta, which was reported stolen three months ago." Wang Shuai crumpled the printed license plate photo into a ball, and the scraps of paper fell into the instant noodle buckets scattered on the ground. "Keep investigating and see where this van went."

The surveillance cameras were like a broken chain. After the van drove out of the logistics park's south gate, it turned into an urban village without surveillance cameras at the third intersection. "This guy knows the place well," said team member Lao Li, rubbing his sore neck, which was covered in plasters and made a clicking sound when he turned his head. "He must have been in the logistics park before, maybe he's one of the workers there."

The third suspect came from the surveillance footage from the highest point of the logistics park. At 4:58 p.m. on the day of the incident, a dark figure flashed across the warehouse roof, moving as fast as a cat. "Switch to infrared mode!" Xiao Zhang's fingers flew across the keyboard. In the thermal imaging, the heat source lingered near the ventilation opening for more than two minutes. "Slender build, estimated height of about 1.75 meters, matches Zhou Ming's autopsy data."

Wang Shuai asked someone to find the photos of the ventilation openings for comparison: "This location just happens to be able to see warehouse number 17 in area B. Maybe they're scouting the location." He suddenly noticed a white object falling from the roof before the heat source disappeared. "Check the ground surveillance footage to see what fell."

What was initially thought to be a major discovery turned out to be quite comical after a closer look. (End of Chapter)