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

The air in the meeting room instantly tensed. Sparrows hopped and chirped outside, their sounds unable to penetrate the heavy atmosphere. "There are three core questions now," Lu Chuan said, tracing three lines on the table with his finger. "First, who is the mysterious man? What was the content of his argument with Zhang Baode? Are the three unexplained expenses related to him? Second, can we rule out carpenter Lao Li as a suspect? Do his old injuries match his footprints and gait? Can we verify his exact whereabouts on the night of July 11th? Third, who owns the silver-gray van? Is he the same person as the suspicious man and the mysterious man?"

“I tend to focus on Zhang Baode’s interpersonal relationships,” Zhang Hui spoke first, pointing to a social relationship diagram. “The mysterious man is key—Zhang Baode is honest and wouldn’t make enemies unintentionally. The three unexplained expenses are likely hush money or extortion money. The argument on July 10th might have been a conflict stemming from an unsuccessful extortion attempt.” He paused, “I suggest focusing on investigating Zhang Baode’s fellow villagers, former colleagues, and connections in his hometown of Nanhe. The mysterious man might be an old acquaintance who knows his weaknesses.”

“But we can’t ignore Lao Li’s suspicion,” Yang Lin countered. “He had the time to commit the crime. The old injury on his right lower limb matches his footprints and gait. Also, on the night of July 11, when he was working overtime, a worker saw him loitering near the scrap pile in the woodworking workshop, looking flustered.” He pulled up Lao Li’s attendance record. “Lao Li clocked out at 10 p.m. on July 11, an hour later than usual. He claimed he was ‘organizing tools,’ but there were no witnesses to corroborate that. This time was enough for him to assist in dismembering the body or cleaning up the scene.”

Wang Shuai offered a different opinion: "The surveillance footage shows that the suspicious man acted alone. He dismembered the body, disposed of it, and escaped by climbing up. If Lao Li was involved, there was no need for him to take the risk alone. Moreover, Lao Li and Zhang Baode only had a dispute over tools. The conflict was not enough to lead to murder and dismemberment. On the contrary, the mysterious man's extortion behavior was more likely to lead to extreme conflict."

“From an autopsy perspective, the killer was very aware of counter-surveillance,” Zhang Kai added. “When dismembering the body, the killer avoided major blood vessels and chose to cut at joints to reduce blood residue; the body disposal locations were scattered and hidden, taking advantage of blind spots in the factory’s surveillance system, indicating that the killer was familiar with the factory environment and may have been an insider or colluded with an insider—Old Li, as a long-time employee, was familiar with the tools and surveillance layout in the carpentry workshop and had the opportunity to cooperate in the crime; if the mysterious man was an outsider, it would be difficult for him to dismember and dispose of the body in a short time without being discovered.”

"Could it be a two-person operation?" Xiao Zhang suddenly interjected, pointing to the surveillance screenshot. "The mysterious man was responsible for extortion and murder, while Lao Li was responsible for dismembering and disposing of the body. They worked together, and Lao Li agreed to help because of an old grudge, with the mysterious man promising him a reward." This guess caught everyone's attention, and Zhang Hui immediately added, "Zhang Baode's salary card had three outflows. If each outflow of 5000 yuan was extortion money, the total amount would be 15,000 yuan, which could have been split between the two. This also explains Lao Li's recent unexplained income—his usual salary is 4000 yuan, but in July he suddenly sent 8000 yuan back to his hometown, the source of which is unknown."

Lu Chuan paused for a moment, then tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table: "Now we've determined two main directions of attack, both revolving around Zhang Baode's interpersonal relationships. The first team, led by Zhang Hui, will conduct an in-depth investigation into Zhang Baode's fellow villagers and his hometown of Nanhe, focusing on finding suspicious individuals 'wearing black hoodies and slightly hunched over,' verifying the whereabouts of three unexplained expenditures, confirming the identity of the mysterious man and his motive for extortion; at the same time, we'll examine Lao Li's bank statements and communication records to see if he has any financial or telephone dealings with the mysterious man."

"The second team, led by Wang Shuai, will expand the scope of vehicle inspection, focusing on the silver-gray Wuling Hongguang with a 15-centimeter scratch on the right front door and a license plate ending in 28. They will contact the vehicle management office to retrieve the registration information for this model from the past three years and investigate whether the owner has any dealings with Zhang Baode and Lao Li. At the same time, they will review the factory's surveillance footage, especially the footage of Lao Li working overtime on the evening of July 11, to look for traces of the two working together."

"The third team, consisting of Yang Lin and Zhang Kai, will re-examine the carpentry workshop, focusing on bloodstains from the dismemberment (using luminol reagent) to verify if there are any traces of two people committing the crime; at the same time, they will compare Lao Li's palm prints and fingerprints with those extracted from the scene and the work boot prints to confirm whether they belong to the same person." Lu Chuan emphasized, "All investigations must revolve around the core of 'interpersonal relationships'—whether it's the mysterious man's extortion or Lao Li's old grudges, the essence is the escalation of conflicts in Zhang Baode's interpersonal relationships. Finding the root of the conflict will lead to finding the murderer."

As the morning light gradually crept across the conference table, casting golden dapples on Zhang Baode's photograph, Zhang Hui folded up the social relationship chart and put it in his bag, Wang Shuai organized the surveillance screenshots, and Yang Lin took out the crime scene investigation records. Everyone knew that the next step of the investigation would focus on Zhang Baode's interpersonal relationships before his death—those overlooked disputes, hidden grudges, and mysterious contacts might all hold the key to the murderer.

"Meeting adjourned. We'll summarize the progress at 6 PM." Lu Chuan picked up the DNA report, his fingertips gently tracing the three characters "Zhang Baode." The sunlight outside the window grew increasingly dazzling, illuminating the four gilded characters "Enforcing the Law for the People" on the conference room wall, and also the unwavering determination in everyone's eyes—no matter how deeply the murderer hid, as long as they followed Zhang Baode's network of connections layer by layer, they would eventually expose the evil and give this honest painter a long-overdue justice.

As they left the meeting room, Zhang Hui called Zhang Baode's wife, needing more information about Zhang Baode's fellow townsman; Wang Shuai contacted the transportation department to expedite the retrieval of checkpoint surveillance footage; Yang Lin and Zhang Kai, carrying their investigation bags, prepared to return to the furniture factory—the woodworking workshop there might still hold undiscovered traces, waiting to be uncovered.

When Zhang Hui and his team were conducting a door-to-door investigation in an urban village where many migrant workers from Henan Province lived, the midday sun made the asphalt road scorching hot. Based on clues provided by Zhang Baode's wife, the "man in a black hoodie" who argued with Zhang Baode on July 10 was likely Zhao Jianjun, Zhang Baode's fellow villager—the two had worked at the same furniture factory and had a conflict over wages three years ago.

In a run-down hardware store, Zhang Hui finally found Zhao Jianjun. He was wearing a faded blue T-shirt, his back was indeed slightly hunched, and he was about 180 centimeters tall, a physical description that closely matched the suspicious man in the surveillance footage. "I did see Zhang Baode on July 10th," Zhao Jianjun said, his fingers repeatedly tracing the counter, "but I just asked him to lend me some money. He wouldn't lend it to me, we argued a bit, and then I left. That's all."

To verify Zhao Jianjun's statement, Zhang Hui retrieved his whereabouts records. (End of Chapter)