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

The blinds in the Criminal Investigation Division's meeting room weren't fully closed, and sunlight slanted across the case file of the "corpse case in the abandoned parking lot." Lu Chuan's enamel mug tapped softly on the corner of the table, and tea stains dripped down the rim onto the date "July 23." "Everyone's here," he tapped the table with his knuckles. The notebooks in front of the attendees were all open, their edges dusted with rust powder brought back from the scene. "As usual, Yang Lin will first report on the scene investigation, focusing on the new discoveries made after expanding the scope."

Yang Lin lifted the projector screen, and a 3D model of the abandoned parking lot instantly filled the wall. The blue van looked like a floating block in the point cloud data. "The wavy shoe print of size 42 extracted from the site has a stride length of 65 cm and a stride width of 8 cm, which calculates to a height of 165 ± 3 cm," he said, pointing his laser pointer at the drag marks on the east side of the model. "It connects with the tire tracks outside the wall. The tire width is 225 mm and the spacing is 1550 mm, which matches the parameters of the Haval H6. However, there are three differences in the wear characteristics compared to the white sedan captured by surveillance cameras—the wear angle of the right front tire, the distribution of cracks on the tire shoulder, and the depth of the drainage grooves. None of these match the same vehicle."

The screen switched to a 3D scan of the steel pipe, with rust appearing as bright orange-red highlights on the model. "Raman spectroscopy shows rapeseed oil residue on the surface of the steel pipe," Yang Lin pulled up the chromatographic analysis chart. "It's unrelated to the diesel components in the parking lot ditch; it's more likely from the perpetrator's living environment. The steel pipe is 5 centimeters in diameter, and the deformation arc at the impact end perfectly matches the dent in the van's exhaust pipe, confirming it as the murder weapon. However, no fingerprints were found; it had been deliberately wiped clean." He suddenly zoomed in on a corner of the model. "On the grass in the abandoned oil tank area, dark brown cotton-polyester fibers were found, with a cotton content of 65%, consistent with the fiber twist coefficient on the steering wheel, but no DNA profile was found."

As Zhang Kai opened the autopsy report, the paper made a dry, crisp sound. "The deceased was male, aged 35-40, with an old fracture in his right ring finger, healing time over two years," he circled key data in red pen. "The estimated time of death is between 8 PM on July 18th and 2 AM on July 19th, based on: gallbladder fullness 80%, bile bilirubin 12 mg/dL; complete relief of rigor mortis, corneal opacity grade II; the degree of digestion of gastric contents indicates death 4-6 hours after eating, and hypothermia correction has been performed considering the parking lot's nighttime temperature of 18°C." He paused, then pointed the laser pointer at the CT scan of the brain injury. "A linear fracture of the right temporal bone extending to the skull base, a 30ml subdural hematoma—this is the fatal injury; the abrasions and contusions on the back are consistent with dragging before death."

In Wang Shuai's notebook, the key points of security guard Lao Li's testimony were highlighted in red. "At 3 pm on July 21, Lao Li noticed that the rear license plate of the white sedan was covered by mud," he projected a blurry surveillance video from the parking lot entrance. "The car model matches a Haval H6, and the deformed features of the roof rack and rear bumper, compared with surveillance footage from nearby gas stations, identified a similar car refueling in the suburbs at 9 am on July 20. The person paid in cash, and the surveillance footage showed a mole on the side of the face." He suddenly raised his voice, "Most importantly, Lao Li heard the sound of a car being pried open at 11 pm on July 22, which contradicts the estimated time of death of 'murder on July 18,' indicating that the murderer returned to the scene after disposing of the body!"

Zhang Hui pushed the missing persons comparison list to the center of the table, crossing out 1231 of the 1247 records in red pen. “There are 16 people who match the description of ‘male aged 35-40, fractured right ring finger’,” he pointed to the reasons for exclusion, “of whom 8 were excluded due to inconsistent registered addresses, 5 had activity records after July 18th, 2 had DNA mismatches, and the last one…” He paused for half a second, “Zhao Zhiqiang, missing in 2022, characteristics perfectly match, but there’s no record of him in the fingerprint database, so we can’t compare the blurry fingerprint on the steering wheel.” He pulled up Zhao Zhiqiang’s social security record, “His last social security employer was Hongwei Building Materials, which suddenly stopped paying in July 2022. The rice grain shape compared to the deceased’s stomach contents matches the rice variety used in the company’s canteen.”

Lu Chuan's fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, resonating with the ticking of the clock on the wall. "Now there are three key directions," he said, counting on his fingers, the tea foam in the enamel mug rippling. "First, who is the real owner of this white Haval H6? Why is the license plate covered? Second, is Zhao Zhiqiang's relationship with Hongwei Building Materials related to the case three years ago? Third, why did the murderer return to the scene after disposing of the body? Was it because he missed some evidence, or did he have other motives?"

Yang Lin immediately chimed in, "I suggest using big data analytics to trace the Haval H6's movements." He pulled up the vehicle's surveillance timeline. "After refueling on July 20th, it disappeared on a freight route in the suburbs. There are no cameras there, but nearby freight stations have weighbridge records. We can check Haval H6s that weighed vehicles after 9 a.m. on the 20th, focusing on those with a load exceeding 2 tons—including the body and the steel pipe, the total weight would be close to that." He added, "The rapeseed oil content on the steel pipe can be used to investigate restaurants and grain and oil shops within a 5-kilometer radius, especially businesses that use the same brand of bottled oil."

Zhang Kai opened the supplementary autopsy report: "The DNA profile from the deceased's fingernails indicates male, which does not match the DNA database of Zhao Zhiqiang's relatives." He circled the words "mixed profile" in red pen. "It contains genetic information from two men. Besides the deceased, the other man's STR profile matches in the criminal record database—Li Weiguo, who was convicted of theft in 2018 and whose registered residence is in an urban village near the parking lot." He suddenly looked up. "Li Weiguo's height is 165cm, which is exactly the same as the height calculated from the size 42 shoe print!"

Wang Shuai underlined the words "car-breaking sound" with a wavy line: "The murderer returned to the scene, possibly to retrieve personal belongings he had left behind." He pulled up a photo of the van's interior. "There's a rusty key in the passenger-side storage compartment. It's not a car key; the teeth match an old-style security door, which could help us check old-style residential buildings in urban villages." He suggested, "Considering Li Weiguo's criminal record, focus on investigating his social connections, especially his cellmates from 2018, who might have accomplices."

Zhang Hui suddenly remembered something. He pulled out Zhao Zhiqiang's bank statements: "Before his social security payments stopped in July 2022, there was an anonymous remittance of 50,000 yuan. The recipient was a shell company, and the legal representative was Li Weiguo's cousin!" His voice was excited. "This shows that the two were already connected. Zhao Zhiqiang's disappearance is likely related to this money, and Li Weiguo's motive may have been to keep the money for himself."

The discussion continued until noon, the sunlight shifting three inches across the case file. Lu Chuan summarized four directions for the investigation: first, to pinpoint the exact location of the Haval H6 using weighbridge data and retrieve private surveillance footage from the freight corridor; second, to detain Li Weiguo for fingerprint comparison and search his residence for tools matching the steel pipe. (End of Chapter)