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

Wang Shuai stood by the window, watching the police car drive away, clutching the button he had found under the forklift seat. The dark blue fibers inside the buttonhole, upon final testing, belonged to the same batch as those found on Song Yao's dress. These scattered clues finally wove together into a complete web in the interrogation room, completely locking this murder case, intertwined with greed, infidelity, and betrayal, within the framework of the law.

The word "Justice" in the corridor gleamed in the setting sun. Wang Shuai knew that Zhao Jianguo's interrogation was still waiting for him, but at least for now, the prophecy in Li Yunfeng's diary had received the fairest response.

That afternoon, the clanging of metal echoed long through the corridor as the iron door of the interrogation room closed behind Zhao Jianguo. He wore a tailor-made suit, the gold ring on his left ring finger gleaming coldly under the light, a stark contrast to the blood-stained ledger on the interrogation table. “Officer Wang,” he leaned back in his chair, a contemptuous smile playing on his lips, “my company still has millions of dollars worth of contracts to sign. Are you trying to disrupt our business with this unwarranted summons?”

Wang Shuai pushed a copy of the call log in front of him. At 8:57 PM on July 12th, Zhao Jianguo and Wang Lei had a 18-minute call. Cell tower location data showed that he was in the underground parking garage of Shengda Trading Company at the time. "At this time, instead of being at home with your family, you were making a phone call in the company parking garage," Wang Shuai underlined the "18 minutes" with his pen. "Can you tell me what you talked about?"

Zhao Jianguo tapped his fingers lightly on the table, the rhythm matching the wall clock: "It was just work. There was a slight problem with the renovation project Wang Lei was in charge of, and I scolded him a bit." He suddenly raised his voice, "Is it illegal for a boss to criticize an employee?" But when Wang Shuai pulled up the spectrum analysis chart of the call and pointed out a 1 minute and 23 second silent segment, his Adam's apple visibly bobbed: "It's just a bad signal, what's the big deal?"

"Would the bad signal have just cut off right when Wang Lei said 'we're going to take action'?" Wang Shuai pressed the play button on the recorder, and Song Yao's voice came through clearly: "Zhao Jianguo gave me a key, saying it could open the side door of the garage..." Zhao Jianguo's face instantly darkened, and his gold ring made a harsh sound as it scratched on the table: "She's talking nonsense! This woman is trying to extort money; I fired her a long time ago!"

Wang Shuai ignored his explanations and instead produced a financial audit report. "Your company has evaded taxes totaling 178 million yuan over the past three years," he pointed to the details on page 17. "This fraudulent building materials purchase payment was actually received by a shell company owned by your distant cousin, and you were the one who signed and approved it." The bank statements attached to the report showed that 30% of each payment was transferred to an anonymous account—which, upon verification, was registered to Wang Lei's wife.

“It’s normal for business transactions to have normal cash flow,” Zhao Jianguo’s tone remained firm, but his fingers gripping the water glass had turned white. “You can’t accuse me of tax evasion based on a few pieces of paper.” Wang Shuai suddenly flipped open the blood-stained ledger. On page 17, dark red spots mixed with ink fluoresced under ultraviolet light: “Your fingerprints are on this, as well as Li Yunfeng’s blood.” He pulled up the fingerprint comparison report. “Your index finger fingerprint is on the line ‘false expenditure on March 15,’ and the time difference between it and the bloodstain is no more than 48 hours.”

Zhao Jianguo's breathing became noticeably rapid, and a button on his suit jacket ripped open. Wang Shuai seized the opportunity to drop a bombshell: "We found this agreement with Song Yao in your office safe." The agreement stated, "If Li Yunfeng dies unexpectedly, Song Yao must transfer 60% of the insurance payout to a designated account." It was signed by Zhao Jianguo and bore his bright red fingerprint, dated the third day after the insurance policy took effect. "You've been planning to get a piece of this 50 yuan insurance payout all along, haven't you?"

"This is a forgery!" Zhao Jianguo slammed his fist on the table, splashing water from his glass onto the agreement. The ink smudged, making the fingerprints even clearer. "Song Yao and Wang Lei conspired to frame me! They stole my seal and stamped it on!" Wang Shuai, however, pulled up the security footage from the safe. At 2:17 a.m. on July 13, Zhao Jianguo, wearing white gloves, took the agreement from the safe and shredded two pages with a paper shredder—the edges of the agreement in the security footage perfectly matched the shredded pages found by the police.

When Wang Lei's recorded confession began to play, Zhao Jianguo's defenses began to crumble. "...Zhao Jianguo said that as long as we kill Li Yunfeng, the insurance money and company shares will all be ours..." The voice in the recording had a metallic tint, but it was clear enough. Wang Shuai pressed the pause button: "You had Wang Lei dispose of the ledgers, and then you had Song Yao lure Li Yunfeng to the garage. This whole charade was quite impressive." He pointed to a photo of the lock cylinder on the garage side door, "Your fingerprints are on this, and they match perfectly with the teeth marks on the spare key in your office drawer."

Zhao Jianguo suddenly slumped into his chair, his gold ring clattering to the floor. "He threatened me first," his voice trembled with tears, the vein on his right eyebrow throbbing. "Li Yunfeng demanded 500,000 yuan from me in the account books to keep quiet, and said he'd report me to the tax bureau if I didn't give it to him." He gestured wildly in the air. "I just wanted Wang Lei to teach him a lesson, not to make them kill anyone… It was Song Yao who said she wanted to eliminate the root of the problem, and Wang Lei said it would be a good way to solve his brother's troubles…"

These words perfectly matched the chat logs that the technicians recovered from Zhao Jianguo's computer. A message he sent to Wang Lei on the evening of July 10th was clearly visible: "Li Yunfeng knows too much. Find a chance to shut him up." Attached was a map of Li Yunfeng's route home from get off work, marked with the location of the "garage surveillance blind spot." "You not only instigated the murder, but also provided a detailed route," Wang Shuai pushed the printed chat logs in front of him. "This constitutes complicity in intentional homicide."

Zhao Jianguo's mental defenses completely crumbled. He grabbed Wang Shuai's arm, his nails almost digging into the other's flesh: "I really didn't mean to kill him," tears and snot streamed down his face, "I just acted impulsively... The company's cash flow was already cut off, and if the tax bureau finds out I've evaded taxes, I'm finished." He suddenly laughed, a laugh filled with despair, "Li Yunfeng even said he'd sue me for embezzlement. That money was for my daughter's medical treatment; I can't let him ruin my family..."

Wang Shuai watched him sign the confession, the sound of the pen tearing through the paper eerily echoing Li Yunfeng's handwriting on the ledger. A technician entered, his report showing that the dark blue fibers on Zhao Jianguo's suit cuffs were identical in composition to the construction site safety net, and the wear marks on the fibers matched the friction characteristics of handling the body. "There's one last question," Wang Shuai's gaze fell on Zhao Jianguo's gold ring, "Why did you give Song Yao that side door key?" (End of Chapter)