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

Yang Lin leaned against the wall to rest, wiping the sweat from his brow. Yang Sen pulled out photos from the factory's personnel register: "Judging from the distribution of footprints and the tools used, the suspect was familiar with the factory layout, knew there were saw blades in the carpentry workshop and paint in the paint shop, and also knew the locations of blind spots in the surveillance system. It's more likely that he was an insider." He paused, "But the shoe prints outside the wall suggest that the suspect may have already fled the factory, or that he had external assistance."

The two returned to the woodworking workshop and conducted a detailed examination of the saw blade they had found earlier. "There are obvious traces of human tissue on the saw blade's edge," Yang Lin said, shining a strong flashlight on it. "There are tiny muscle fibers and bone fragments embedded in the gaps between the saw teeth. It needs to be sent to the laboratory for histopathological examination to confirm whether it is of the same origin as the body parts." In the saw's drawer, he found a tool requisition logbook. "On the afternoon of July 11, carpenter Lao Li requisitioned an 18cm hand saw blade, registering its purpose as 'cutting pine wood,' but it has not been returned to this day."

“Old Li’s basic information matches the height range estimated from the shoe print,” Yang Sen pulled up Old Li’s registration information. “Height 176 cm, weight 70 kg, old injury on right lower limb, consistent with the gait characteristic of ‘walking with the center of gravity shifted to the right’.” He then changed the subject, “But Old Zhang from the paint shop is also a suspect. He took leave on the afternoon of July 11 and his whereabouts are unknown. He was wearing blue overalls, which matches the description of the man ‘wearing blue overalls and slightly hunched’ as described by Jia Qingwu.”

While investigating the western side of the raw material warehouse, Yang Lin discovered two more sections of human torso tissue under a pile of discarded sponge pads. These were the upper chest and abdominal sections, respectively. The skin surface showed obvious signs of blunt force trauma, and the edges also had saw marks. "The degree of decomposition of the body parts is consistent with that of the lower leg tissue," he noted. "There was a 3×4cm subcutaneous hemorrhage in the chest tissue, and an irregular laceration in the abdominal tissue, suggesting that the person suffered blunt force trauma before death, and the cause of death may be related to mechanical injury."

“Five body parts have been found so far, but none of them are complete,” Yang Sen said, looking at the collected body parts. “No head, hands (except for the severed finger in the garbage room), or feet have been found, so we cannot identify the deceased through facial features or fingerprints.” He sighed. “Although we have extracted a large amount of trace evidence such as fingerprints, palm prints, shoe prints, and fibers, we have not yet found any clues that directly point to the suspects—both Lao Li and Lao Zhang are suspects, but we lack key evidence to lock them down.”

As the sun set, the two completed their investigation of the entire factory area, collecting a total of 3 fingerprints (including 1 complete palm print), 28 rubbings of size 43 work boot prints, 5 human remains, 12 fiber samples, 15 biological samples (bloodstains, hair, tissue fragments), and 6 tools (saw blade, paintbrush, buttons). Yang Lin categorized and boxed all the evidence, labeling them with detailed information about the location, time, and characteristics of each item; Yang Sen then organized the investigation records, drawing a site plan showing the distribution of footprints and traces.

“These pieces of evidence need to be sent to the lab for further testing,” Yang Lin said, looking at the box full of evidence. “Fingerprint comparison, DNA typing, paint composition analysis, and histopathological examination—only with these results can we confirm whether the body parts belong to the same person and whether they are related to Lao Li and Lao Zhang.” Yang Sen nodded. “For now, we can only prioritize Lao Li and Lao Zhang, retrieve their attendance records and recent whereabouts, and expand our search to find witnesses around the factory area.”

By the time they returned to the Criminal Investigation Division, it was already dark. Lu Chuan looked at the investigation report and evidence list submitted by the two men, his brows furrowing slightly: "Although we found more body parts and traces, the identity of the deceased and clues to the suspect are still unclear." He pointed to the "blue fiber" in the report: "Factory workers all wear blue overalls, which makes it impossible to narrow down the possibilities; size 43 work boots are also very common in the factory area, and many workers have the same style."

Yang Lin and Yang Sen knew that the upcoming laboratory tests were crucial—only through scientific testing, linking together evidence such as body parts, bloodstains, hair, and fibers, could they identify the deceased and pinpoint the suspect. Sitting in the conference room, looking at the crime scene photos and evidence on the table, they mentally reviewed the details of the investigation: the saw blade in the carpentry workshop, the palm prints in the paint shop, the body parts in the warehouse, the shoe prints outside the wall… These fragmented clues, with the help of scientific testing, would ultimately piece together the truth of the case.

As night deepened, the lights of the Criminal Investigation Division remained bright. Yang Lin and Yang Sen were still sorting through the investigation data; every piece of data, every trace, could be the key to solving the mystery. Although the victim's identity had not yet been confirmed or any clues about the suspects had been found, they believed that as the test results came out, the truth behind this furniture factory dismemberment case would eventually surface.

While Yang Lin and Yang Sen expanded the scope of the on-site search and found some clues, Wang Shuai also systematically reviewed the furniture factory's video surveillance system.

In the temporary monitoring and analysis room of the furniture factory's office building, seven monitors were lit up simultaneously, displaying a loop of images of sawdust, machines, and workers coming and going. Wang Shuai rubbed his sore eyes and tapped on the keyboard, freezing the surveillance footage from 3 p.m. on July 11—at the entrance of the woodworking workshop, a figure in blue overalls was bent over fiddling with something, the saw at the edge of the screen was still humming, and the sawdust shimmered in the sunlight.

"Starting at 8 a.m. on July 11, focus on monitoring the woodworking workshop, paint shop, and the area around the garbage room," Wang Shuai ordered his team members behind him, his voice hoarse from staying up all night. "Each person is responsible for two time periods, checking frame by frame, don't miss any suspicious persons or vehicles." The team members immediately took action, the sounds of keyboards typing and monitors humming in the small room, the air filled with the mixed smell of instant coffee and instant noodles.

Team member Xiao Li was responsible for reviewing the surveillance footage from the afternoon of July 11th. He suddenly pressed the pause button and pointed to the monitor: "Team Leader Wang, look here!" In the footage, at 4:15 PM on July 11th, a silver-gray van slowly pulled up in a concealed spot near the factory's back gate. The windows were tinted dark, making it impossible to see anyone inside. "This vehicle isn't registered in the factory's vehicle register," Xiao Li said, pulling up the factory's vehicle register. "And it's parked right at the edge of the surveillance blind spot; only the side of the vehicle can be captured."

Wang Shuai leaned closer to the screen, zooming in on the van's details: "The van is about 4.6 meters long and 1.8 meters wide, which matches the specifications of the Wuling Hongguang PLUS," he said, pointing to scratches on the door. "There's a 15-centimeter-long horizontal scratch on the right front door, the tires are 195mm wide, and there are wood chips embedded in the tread pattern—the same composition as the wood chips on the factory floor, indicating that this vehicle has been in the factory area." (End of Chapter)