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

“Last year, I lost 50,000 in Macau. Our boss paid for it, and now we owe 80,000 including principal and interest.” Tucked in the ledger was a photocopy of Li Youcai’s ID card. The person in the photo had shifty eyes and a noticeably bent left ring finger—a feature that perfectly matched the deceased.

Li Youcai's wife, Zhao Xiu, sold fruit at the entrance of the residential area, the apples in her bamboo basket glistening with morning dew. "He's a good-for-nothing," she said, her fingernails leaving white marks on the scale. "He gambles all day long; he stole all our savings and gambled it all away." She suddenly raised her voice, "He didn't come home on the night of July 12th. I thought he was gambling again, so I didn't pay any attention!" Wang Shuai noticed the dark blue fibers on her cuffs, the same material as Li Youcai's work clothes.

Neighbors said Zhao Xiu had been seeing a strange man frequently lately. "He drives a black sedan," the breakfast vendor gestured. "He even picked her up around 9 pm last Wednesday. The two argued downstairs for a long time, and the man yelled at her, 'If you can't pay back the money, you won't have a good life.'" This timeframe closely matched Li Youcai's time of death. Wang Shuai immediately checked the community's surveillance footage, and the man in the footage turned out to be one of Hu Zi's henchmen. The license plate number matched that of a suspicious vehicle near the farm.

Zhao Xiu's bank statements held an even bigger secret. "There was a deposit of 50,000 yuan on July 10th," Wang Shuai stared at the transfer record on the screen. "The remitter was a shell company, and the legal representative was Hu Zi's distant cousin." He had the technicians check where the money went and found that at 10:15 pm on July 12th, the money was withdrawn in cash from an ATM near the farm. The surveillance footage showed a woman wearing sunglasses whose figure was exactly the same as Zhao Xiu's.

Even more suspicious is Zhao Xiu's call record. At 9:30 p.m. on July 12, she called Li Youcai, and the call lasted for 1 minute and 23 seconds. "I told him to come home immediately," Zhao Xiu's voice was shaky. "He said he was asking Chen Jianfeng for money, and after he hung up, I couldn't get through to him anymore." However, cell tower location data showed that she was not at home at the time, but near a cornfield 3 kilometers away from the farm, which contradicts the content of the call.

Li Youcai's coworker suddenly remembered something: "Youcai bought an accident insurance policy half a year ago, with his wife as the beneficiary." He pulled out a photo on his phone, showing that the policy had a coverage amount of 2 yuan. "At the time, he joked that if he had an accident, his wife would be able to enjoy a life of luxury." The insurance company's records showed that the policy took effect on February 14, which happened to be the time when Li Youcai started gambling frequently.

Wang Shuai found a voice recorder under Li Youcai's bed, and the contents of the recording led to a breakthrough in the investigation. "Zhao Xiu, don't think I don't know about your affair with Hu Zi," Li Youcai's voice reeked of alcohol. "That 7 yuan was hush money, right? If you push me any further, I'll report you to the police!" The recording ended with sounds of fighting, and the time stamp showed 8:17 PM on July 12th, which matched the time Li Youcai was seen leaving the pharmacy as captured by the security camera.

When Wang Shuai found Zhao Xiu again, she was packing her luggage, the wheels of her suitcase screeching on the floor. "Li Youcai's motorcycle has been found," Wang Shuai pushed the photo in front of her. In a hidden compartment under the seat was an IOU, the borrower was Zhao Xiu, and the date was July 9th. "You owe Hu Zi money, and you'll pay it back with Li Youcai's life, right?" Zhao Xiu's face turned deathly pale instantly, and the photo frame in her hand fell to the ground. Amidst the shards of glass, her wedding photo with Li Youcai was broken in two.

The distant sirens grew closer. Wang Shuai stared at the dark blue fibers on Zhao Xiu's cuff, suddenly recalling the forensic doctor's words—the strangulation marks on the victim's neck showed greater force on the left than the right, consistent with right-handedness. And on the web of Zhao Xiu's right hand, there was a fresh bruise, its shape perfectly matching the fractured area of ​​Li Youcai's left ring finger. Sunlight streamed through the window onto the IOU; the words "Repaid on the evening of July 12th" were wrinkled and blurred by tears, like an unhealable wound.

The red stamp on the arrest warrant gleamed coldly under the fluorescent lights. Wang Shuai's finger paused for three seconds over the words "Zhao Xiu," the ink from his pen spreading beside the words "suspected of intentional homicide." "The application has been approved," he said into the walkie-talkie, his rubber boots clicking rhythmically on the stone pavement of the residential area. "Have you found Zhang Feng's address? It's right across from Zhao Xiu's apartment, 302. Be aware that he may be carrying a weapon."

As they burst through the door, Zhao Xiu was stuffing a black plastic bag deep into the wardrobe, revealing half of a dark blue work uniform—the same material as Li Youcai's clothes. "Police! Don't move!" The moment Wang Shuai's handcuffs locked her wrists, the photo frame on top of the wardrobe shattered on the floor. Amidst the broken glass, her photo of her and Zhang Feng was torn into a spiderweb pattern, with a brown shoelace stuck to the back, its fiber composition matching that of the livestock farm fence.

The incandescent light in the interrogation room cast Zhao Xiu's shadow on the wall. Her fingernails repeatedly dug into the wood grain of the interrogation chair, as if trying to dig a hole. "I didn't kill anyone," her voice was weak, her gaze darting away from the bank statement showing "50,000 yuan deposited." "That money was borrowed from Zhang Feng, it has nothing to do with Hu Zi."

“Zhang Feng is your neighbor across the hall, and also your lover, right?” Wang Shuai pushed a screenshot from the community’s surveillance camera in front of her. The footage showed the two walking side by side into the cornfield at 9 p.m. on July 12. Zhang Feng was carrying a black cloth bag in his left hand, the shape of which matched the steel pipe found at the scene perfectly. “He walked with a slight limp in his left leg, which matches the size 44 shoe print from the farm. Are you still going to deny it?”

Zhao Xiu's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and she suddenly raised her voice: "Li Youcai forced me to do this! He found out about my affair with Zhang Feng and used it to blackmail me, threatening to expose our affair!" Her fingernails scratched white marks on the table. "He also has a huge gambling debt, and people come to our door every day to collect the debts. I've had enough!"

"So you killed him?" Wang Shuai's pen tip traced over the words "recording pen content." "Li Youcai said he would sue you and Hu Zi. You were afraid of being exposed, so you conspired with Zhang Feng to kill him, right?" These words were like a key, suddenly unlocking Zhao Xiu's tense nerves. Her shoulders slumped instantly, and tears mixed with snot covered her face.

“It was Zhang Feng’s idea,” Zhao Xiu said, her voice trembling with tears, gesturing wildly in the air. “He said that if Li Youcai died, the 7 yuan accidental death insurance would be mine, and I could get rid of this good-for-nothing.” She suddenly grabbed the railing of the interrogation chair, the chains rattling loudly. “At 8 p.m. on July 12, we stopped Li Youcai in the cornfield. Zhang Feng said he wanted to ‘talk’ with him, but he had already prepared steel pipes.”

This statement perfectly matches Li Youcai's phone record—he was indeed near the farm at 8:23 PM on July 12th, and the sound of corn leaves rubbing together in the recording matches the location described by Zhao Xiu. (End of Chapter)