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

Zhang Hui's fingers tapped rhythmically on the table as his gaze swept across the dense text on the screen. "Focus on men aged 40-45, 175-180cm tall, with recent outdoor activity records," his voice hoarse from staying up all night, the strong tea in his thermos now cold. "Combined with the diesel smell at the scene and the work boot prints, their occupations are likely related to transportation or construction." In the corner, veteran detective Zhou Jianguo suddenly yawned, the case file sliding at an angle on his lap: "Of the 500+ records I've checked, 12 match the height and age, but none of them have an interest in outdoor activities. There are three recently missing truck drivers, but none of them are under 175cm tall."

The investigation was like searching for water in the desert; every piece of information seemed promising, only to be dashed after careful comparison. At 3:15 a.m., Xiao Zhao suddenly raised his voice: "This one's a bit suspicious! Liu Zhiqiang, male, 43 years old, truck driver, went missing on July 17th, 176cm tall, enjoys fishing, somewhat of an outdoor enthusiast." He zoomed in on the photo; the man on the screen was wearing blue overalls, a cigarette dangling from his lips. "Look, his build is about the same as the estimated weight of the deceased, and he was also a driver, possibly exposed to diesel fuel."

Zhang Hui leaned closer to the screen, pointing to the wrist in the photo: "But he had a Rolex watch on his wrist. There was no evidence of him wearing a watch at the scene, and the reason for his disappearance was listed as 'leaving home after arguing with family.' His family has already reported him missing, and they even received his spending records from a neighboring city yesterday afternoon." Zhou Jianguo added, "I checked his vehicle's tracking data. He unloaded goods in another city on July 18th. The timing doesn't match, so we can rule him out." Xiao Zhao's shoulders slumped, and he slammed the mouse on the table: "How many have we ruled out already? Isn't this the 18th suspicious case?"

“Don’t rush,” Zhang Hui pulled a bag of mints from his drawer and handed one to each person. The cool taste stimulated their numb nerves. “Let’s expand the search to include those who have a truck driver’s license but haven’t driven recently, or those who are registered members of outdoor clubs.” He asked the technical department to retrieve the DNA profile of the deceased’s teeth. “We’ll do an automatic comparison with the missing persons database, and we’ll manually check the information. We’ll do it both ways.” The printer suddenly whirred and spat out a stack of automatic comparison results. Most of the red matches were below 60%.

At four in the morning, the office was filled with the sounds of snoring. Zhou Jianguo dozed off, his drool smearing the words "reason for disappearance" on the case file; Xiao Zhao rolled up his coat into a pillow and curled up in his chair; Zhang Hui stood by the window, watching the first light of dawn on the horizon, his phone vibrating in his pocket—it was a message from forensic doctor Zhang Kai: "The metal 'W' on the piece, compared to outdoor brands, could be an abbreviation of 'Wolfskin,' a brand that has a jacket that matches the one the deceased was wearing."

This clue pierced Zhou Jianguo's fatigue like a needle. Zhang Hui slapped Zhou Jianguo awake: "Check all membership registrations for outdoor clubs called 'Wolfskin,' especially for recently missing men." Zhou Jianguo's fingers tapped on the keyboard. The system showed three clubs of this brand in the city, with a total of 437 member records. "Filter by birth date, 40-45 years old," Zhang Hui's eyes lit up, "Height 175-180cm, occupation field containing keywords like 'driver' or 'transportation.'"

The screening results are in: 17 records. The first one is Li Jianfeng, male, 44 years old, a freight company driver, who went missing on July 18th. His membership number is W-732. The man in the registration photo is wearing a fluorescent green windbreaker, which matches the clothing of the deceased at the scene perfectly. "That's him!" Xiao Zhao suddenly jumped up from his chair, the chair legs scraping the ground with a screeching sound. "Look at his membership information; his hobbies are listed as 'hiking and camping.' Three days before he disappeared, he was still talking in the club's group chat about going to the southern suburbs to photograph the starry sky!"

Upon closer inspection of the enlarged photo, a mole was visible on Li Jianfeng's left eyebrow bone. Although the deceased's face was highly decomposed, the autopsy report mentioned "a skin protrusion on the left eyebrow bone, possibly a mole." Zhang Hui instructed the technical department to retrieve Li Jianfeng's household registration information. The ID photo perfectly matched the club's registration photo. He was 178cm tall and weighed 76kg, only 1kg different from the post-mortem measurements. "Check his vehicle information," Zhang Hui said, his fingers tapping rapidly on the table. "The freight company registered him with a Jiefang brand truck, license plate number Yu A37291, and there are no ETC passage records after July 18th."

Zhou Jianguo suddenly pointed to the emergency contact listed in the member's registration: "His wife, Wang Li, phone number 138xxxx5621, registered address in Xingfu Road Community." He tried dialing, but the call was disconnected after five rings, and the phone was switched off the next time he tried to call. "Maybe they don't know he's missing yet?" Xiao Zhao guessed. Zhang Hui shook his head: "He disappeared on July 18th, today is the 22nd, he hasn't been home for four days. It's impossible for his family not to report him missing, unless..." He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood—perhaps his family had something difficult to say, or perhaps they already knew the bad news but dared not report it to the police.

Comparing Li Jianfeng's driver's license photo with the fingerprints stored in the system, they matched the deceased's fingerprints perfectly at 12 points, especially the whorl pattern on his left index finger, which matched the incomplete fingerprints found on the carabiner at the scene with a 90% match. "His occupation was a long-haul truck driver, who frequently came into contact with diesel fuel, which matches the test results of the oil stains on his cuffs," Zhang Hui listed the chain of evidence on the whiteboard. "His love for the outdoors explains why he appeared on a remote hiking route; his height, weight, and age all match; the brand of his clothing, the time of his disappearance, and his occupation all point to him."

But one last point of doubt remained—Li Jianfeng's membership records showed he had a severe lumbar disc herniation, yet the autopsy report made no mention of any related pre-existing injury. Zhou Jianguo suddenly remembered something: "Most truck drivers have lumbar spine problems, but decomposition might mask the degenerative changes in the bones," he said, pulling out Li Jianfeng's medical examination report. "Last year's examination showed an L4-L5 disc herniation, which requires further skeletal examination by forensic doctor Zhang for confirmation." Zhang Hui immediately messaged Zhang Kai, who replied: "The lumbar spine is being examined. Preliminary findings indicate osteophyte formation at the edge of the L4 vertebral body, consistent with degenerative changes caused by prolonged sitting."

As dawn broke, the first rays of sunlight streamed through the window and shone on the three characters "Li Jianfeng." The snoring in the office turned into suppressed cheers. Zhou Jianguo rubbed his aching shoulders: "Over 1000 pieces of information, finally not in vain," he said, counting the names on the eliminated list. "Of these 20-odd suspects, there were 5 truck drivers and 3 outdoor enthusiasts, but only Li Jianfeng matched all the characteristics." Xiao Zhao pasted Li Jianfeng's photo in the center of the whiteboard, connecting it with the diesel smell, work boot prints, and outdoor gear at the scene with red lines: "Now we can confirm that the deceased is Li Jianfeng. Next, we need to investigate his social connections and his whereabouts on July 18th."

Looking at the gradually brightening sky outside the window, Zhang Hui suddenly remembered a sentence from Li Jianfeng's club group chat: "The starry sky in the southern suburbs is brightest at two in the morning." (End of this chapter)