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

"The stellate hemorrhage extended to the conjunctiva of the fornix, and the cardiac blood oxygen saturation was 42%, with a carbon dioxide partial pressure of 89 mmHg, all consistent with death by asphyxiation." He paused, his tone grave, "But there is a contradiction—no pig feed residue was found in the trachea, indicating that the deceased had already stopped breathing when thrown into the pigpen, and the pig feed entered the body after death."

Wang Shuai opened the investigation notebook for the pig-collecting truck; the edges of the pages were curled and frayed. "Liu Yong's alibi is valid," he said, pointing to a screenshot from the dashcam. From 8 PM to midnight on July 12th, the truck's GPS track remained at the Lijiazhuang pig farm in a neighboring county. "The surveillance footage showed him helping with piglet births at 1 AM, completely different from the deceased's time of death." He pulled up a 3D comparison image of the tire treads. "The angle of the diamond pattern on the truck differs from the tire tracks at the scene by 3 degrees, and the wheelbase is 1.5 meters, which doesn't match the characteristics of the vehicle used in the crime."

But Wang Shuai's pen suddenly stopped at the words "Hongwei Building Materials": "Liu Yong mentioned that he saw a man wearing 'Hongwei Building Materials' work clothes at the farm last Wednesday. He was arguing with Chen Jianfeng about wages, and the argument even escalated into a physical fight." His laser pointer touched the farm's attendance sheet. "Chen Jianfeng's attendance record shows that he took leave on the night of July 12, but a neighbor saw him return home at 3 a.m., covered in pig manure and dark blue fibers."

Zhang Hui's missing persons comparison report gleamed white under the light, like pulp. "Out of more than 1200 pieces of information, Chen Tianming's characteristics matched the best," he circled the driver's license photo in red pen, "Height 176cm, weight 72kg, old fracture on the left ring finger, completely consistent with the deceased." Chen Tianming's call records popped up on the screen. At 9:30 pm on July 12, the base station location showed that he was near the farm, "The last call was to the boss of 'Hongwei Building Materials', the call lasted 2 minutes and 17 seconds, after which the signal disappeared."

“But he had a mole on his left eyebrow, which the deceased didn’t,” Zhang Hui drew a line on the photo with his pen. “Moreover, social security records show that he was a construction supervisor, not a frontline worker, and the fabric density of his work clothes was 15% lower than the fiber density on site.” He pulled up the vehicle trajectory map. “Although the motorcycle appeared nearby, its fuel tank capacity was only 12 liters. The surveillance footage showed that he refueled at 8 pm on July 12, so it was impossible for him to have driven all the way back to the city after dumping the body.”

Zhang Kai suddenly interjected, "The pig hair in the deceased's stomach still had follicles, indicating it was freshly shed. Have the pigs at the farm been shedding hair recently?" Wang Shuai immediately replied, "Chen Jianfeng said he gave the pigs deworming shots last Wednesday, and several pigs started shedding hair. He also complained that the pig hair was too difficult to clean." This detail silenced the meeting room. Lu Chuan's fingers tapped lightly on the table, the rhythm matching the clock on the wall.

Yang Lin pointed his laser pointer at the scale in the feed warehouse: "238 kilograms minus 188 kilograms of feed equals 50 kilograms, which matches the deceased's weight." He suddenly stood up, "The murderer likely hid the deceased in the feed warehouse first, and then dragged the body to the pigsty and disposed of it late at night. Therefore, the 238 kilograms in the warehouse is the total weight of the deceased plus the feed!" This deduction made everyone's eyes light up, and Zhang Kai immediately added: "The deceased's muscle tissue glycogen content was 1.2 mmol/kg, which is consistent with the characteristics of being moved after death."

“There are three directions for the next step in the investigation,” Lu Chuan’s voice broke the silence, water droplets from the rim of his enamel cup dripping onto the case file. “First, Yang Lin will lead the technical team to re-examine the feed warehouse, focusing on fingerprints and biological samples, especially the display screen and buttons on the scales; second, Wang Shuai will delve into Chen Jianfeng’s social connections, find out his whereabouts on the night of July 12, and why he concealed the fact that he returned home at 3 a.m.; third, Zhang Hui will expand the scope of the missing persons comparison, investigating employees of ‘Hongwei Building Materials’ in the three surrounding counties and cities, especially the workers who participated in the construction of the farm in 2022.”

Zhang Kai drew an arc on the autopsy report with his pen: "I recommend cranial reconstruction of the deceased," he said, pointing to the facial contours in the photo. "Based on the shape of the brow bone and jawbone, the reconstructed appearance may help in identifying the victim. In addition, the AB bloodstains on the steel pipe need to be DNA-generated and compared with the samples of Chen Tianming and Chen Jianfeng."

Wang Shuai suddenly remembered something: "The pig truck owner said that Chen Jianfeng's farm owed workers wages three years ago. The one who led the disturbance was a worker with a broken left ring finger. He was beaten and injured in the left leg while demanding his wages, and then disappeared." This detail perfectly matched the "old left leg injury" and "left-handed" characteristics found during the on-site investigation. Lu Chuan immediately decided: "Check the farm's labor dispute files from 2022, and focus on finding workers who match the characteristics!"

Suddenly, sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone on Chen Tianming's photograph. The smoke in the meeting room gradually dissipated, and the clues before each person began to connect with keywords like "Hongwei Building Materials," "labor dispute," and "old injury to the left leg." While sorting through the scene photos, Yang Lin discovered a blurry shoe print on a sack in the feed warehouse. The wear marks on the forefoot perfectly matched the size 44 shoe print found in the pigpen, and the feed particles on the sack were identical to the contents of the deceased's stomach.

“Summarize all new clues by 2 PM,” Lu Chuan said, grabbing the file. A tea stain from the bottom of his enamel cup left a light brown mark on the table. “The identity of the deceased and the relationship with the murderer are key. There’s definitely something hidden between Chen Jianfeng and ‘Hongwei Building Materials.’” As he walked out of the meeting room, the clock in the corridor pointed to 10 PM. Forty-eight hours had passed since the body was discovered, and every minute that passed could allow the evidence hidden in the feed warehouse to be wiped away.

Wang Shuai wrote the last line in his notebook: "Check Chen Jianfeng's bank statements to see if he transferred large sums of money to unknown accounts in 2022." He looked up at the window and saw the construction site crane slowly turning in the distance. The sunlight reflected off the blue protective netting, creating a dazzling effect, much like the dark blue fibers extracted on-site under multi-band light sources.

An investigation into Chen Jianfeng began quickly.

Zhang Hui's fingers traced fine lines on Chen Jianfeng's household registration file. The fluorescent lights in the information center hummed, as if echoing the clues he was piecing together in his mind. "Check his bank statements and communication records for the past five years," he said into the walkie-talkie, his fingertip pointing to the file on "Labor Dispute in 2022." "Focus on the financial transactions with Hongwei Building Materials, and the worker with the broken left ring finger." Technician Xiao Ma's keyboard clattered, and transaction records on the screen flowed by like water. In March 2023, there was an anonymous remittance of 3 yuan. The recipient was a shell company, and the legal representative was Chen Jianfeng's distant cousin.

"This money is suspicious," Xiao Ma suddenly exclaimed, pulling up the surveillance video from the day the remittance occurred. (End of Chapter)