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

Lu Chuan tapped his finger on the words "architectural coatings": "Zhao Jianguo's company trades building materials. Could they have business dealings with exterior wall construction teams?" He looked at Wang Shuai, "Check if Li Wei's construction team uses this kind of titanium-containing coating, and also that 'LW' ring. Check all of Zhao Jianguo's debtors to see if there are any whose names' initials match."

“I will expand the scope of fingerprint comparison,” Yang Lin added. “We will collect the fingerprints of all residents and construction workers in the community. Maybe we can find the owner of the unfamiliar fingerprints on the steering wheel.” He paused. “Regarding the old fracture characteristics of the deceased, I will issue another notice for assistance in the investigation, focusing on the construction industry—this type of fracture is common in falls from heights.”

Lu Chuan stood up and drew a reconnaissance route map on the whiteboard: "First, trace the source of the size 42 work shoes and dark hoodie; second, find out the whereabouts of the white van; third, confirm the owner of the 'LW' ring; fourth, verify the relationship between Zhao Jianguo and the construction team." His pen stopped on the words "Passat," "The vehicle's GPS records are being recovered, which should provide more clues."

Lu Chuan picked up his enamel mug, tea stains drawing winding lines on the cup's surface: "Wang Shuai has his men keeping an eye on Li Wei. Although he has an alibi, his limp is too suspicious; Zhang Hui has sent more people to check fingerprints and fracture details, we must confirm the victim's identity as soon as possible; Yang Lin is following up on the vehicle and paint clues." He glanced at the brightening sky outside the window, "The breakthrough in this case may very well be hidden in those seemingly unrelated details—work boots, paint, rings. Piece these pieces together, and we can see what the killer looks like."

As the meeting ended, sunlight streamed down the corridor, spilling over the stairwell corner. Zhang Hui, clutching the exclusion list, headed towards the information center, mentally planning to review the missing persons in the construction industry again. He suddenly remembered the old fracture in the deceased's left hand; perhaps that unique healing mark held the key to unlocking the mystery of his identity.

Wang Shuai went directly to the construction team in the community. The workers were mixing paint, and the silvery-white paste gleamed metallically in the sunlight. He stared at the workers' safety boots; the triangular notch at the heel was particularly clear on the muddy ground—exactly the same as the shoe print in the garage.

Yang Lin returned to the scene for a second examination, this time focusing on the passageway from the elevator entrance to the garage. In a corner of the fire hydrant, he found half a crushed cigarette butt; the saliva stains on the filter fluoresced a pale blue under ultraviolet light. Could this have been left by the limping man? He carefully put it away in an evidence bag, knowing that every overlooked detail could be a signpost pointing to the truth.

On the whiteboard in the conference room, the investigation map gradually became clear in the sunlight. Although the victim's identity remained a mystery and the killer's whereabouts were elusive, scattered clues had begun to connect, slowly tightening like a spider web. Lu Chuan stood by the window, watching the busy figures below, knowing that this race against time had only just begun. And the truth hidden behind the gray pajamas and architectural paint would eventually reveal its outline in these subtle traces.

As Zhang Hui pinned the surveillance screenshot of the white van to the blackboard in the information center, the morning light was filtering through the gaps in the blinds, casting dappled shadows on the words "2023 Changan Star". The van in the screenshot was covered in mud, with a faded "Intern" sign on the rear window and the right rearview mirror wrapped with transparent tape—the only distinguishing feature provided by the property security guard, Lao Liu.

“First, check the surveillance footage around the neighborhood,” Zhang Hui slammed his coffee cup down on the table, the brown liquid splattering on the “0:00-2:00 AM” timeframe. “Starting from the west gate, check every fifty meters, comparing frame by frame.” Technician Xiao Wang’s fingers flew across the keyboard, and a dense array of surveillance footage appeared on the screen: “Brother Hui, look at this. At 0:45 AM yesterday, this Changan Star entered through the west gate. The license plate was mostly obscured by mud; you can only make out ‘冀A·7’.”

They stared at the screen for three hours until their eyes stung and watered. The van circled the residential area twice before finally stopping in the fire lane below Building 12. The driver never got out, and the windows were tinted dark, obscuring the view of anyone inside. "At 0:58, the van moved again," Xiao Wang zoomed in on the footage. "It went out through the east gate, walked south along Binhe Road, turned right at the third intersection, and then there were no more surveillance cameras."

When we found the shop at the third intersection of Binhe Road, the grocery store owner was squatting at the door unloading goods. "A white van?" He waved his dusty hands, the "Master Kong" logo on the cardboard boxes wrinkled from sweat. "There was one around 1 a.m., it stopped in front of my store and bought two cases of mineral water. The driver was wearing a baseball cap, spoke in a deep voice, and paid in cash." He pointed to the security camera at the cashier, "This machine can only record for four hours. I cleared the memory this morning, so it wasn't saved."

Zhang Hui asked Xiao Wang to retrieve the traffic surveillance footage from across the street from the shop, but the image looked like a crumpled newspaper. "The camera has been broken for half a month," a colleague from the traffic police brigade sighed on the phone. "The heavy rain last week washed away the wiring, and it hasn't been repaired yet." Zhang Hui stood at the intersection, watching the dust kicked up by passing vehicles. The van disappeared in the direction of a logistics park on the outskirts of the city, which was like a huge maze, hiding tens of thousands of trucks.

When visiting the logistics park's administrator, he was checking the entry and exit register. "Chang'an Star?" He traced the dense handwriting with his fingernail. "Dozens of vehicles come and go every day, how can I remember them all?" On the page of the register for "early morning of July 15th," there was a hastily written signature "Li," and the license plate number was only "Ji A·735," with no contact information left. "This man was carrying two truckloads of cardboard boxes, saying they were going to Shandong," the administrator recalled. "He dropped a wrench while unloading, and I picked it up and returned it to him. He was a lame man."

"A limp?" Zhang Hui's heart skipped a beat; Li Wei, whom Wang Shuai had mentioned, walked with a slight limp. He asked the administrator to lead the way to the unloading area, where faint tire tracks remained on the oil stains on the ground. "Look at this," Zhang Hui pointed to a triangular metal piece, "it's a fragment of the rear bumper of a Changan Star, with red paint stuck to it." When the technician took a sample, he found white paint on the edges of the fragment, matching the titanium-containing paint composition found in the lock cylinder of the community's garage.

The logistics park's surveillance cameras were working properly. The footage showed a van unloading goods; the driver, wearing a dark hoodie, clearly hesitated when getting out of the van with his left leg. "Take off the hood," Zhang Hui told Xiao Wang to zoom in. "Look at his right eyebrow, isn't there a scar?" The image was blurry, but there was indeed a dark mark on his brow bone, closely matching Li Wei's features. However, when they checked Li Wei's vehicle registration information, they found that he only owned a red Civic, not a van. (End of Chapter)