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

As the sun set, the lights of the Criminal Investigation Division gradually came on. The identifications by Li Lijuan and Zhao Haifeng not only brought this dismemberment case to a close, but also served as an irrefutable warning to the world: any illegal or criminal act will ultimately be exposed in the face of evidence, and the justice of the law will never be absent.

Less than five days after the case of the corpse was closed, the Criminal Investigation Division received another report that a body had been found at the garbage transfer station on Heping Road.

The morning air at the Heping Road garbage transfer station was thick with a pungent, putrid stench, mixed with the smell of disinfectant, making one want to vomit. Sanitation worker Li Baojun had just arrived at the station with his sweeper cart when he saw a dark figure huddled next to a large garbage compactor on the west side. Thinking it was a homeless person seeking peace and quiet, he approached to ask the person to leave, only to find the figure motionless. Reaching out to touch the person—the body was already cold and stiff—he was so frightened that he dropped his sweeper cart and, trembling, pulled out his phone to dial the police.

When Lu Chuan's police car arrived, the transfer station was already packed with early-rising residents. The sounds of discussion, taking photos, and the rumble of garbage trucks created a chaotic scene. "Immediately set up a cordon, seal off the transfer station and the surrounding 20-meter area, and prohibit unauthorized personnel from approaching!" Lu Chuan pushed open the car door, his brow furrowed as he walked through the crowd, the hem of his police uniform sweeping across the scattered garbage debris on the ground. "Notify the sanitation department to suspend transfer operations and preserve the original state of the scene."

Yang Lin, carrying his investigation bag, was the first to crawl into the cordon. The beam of his investigation light pierced through the morning mist, landing precisely on the body. "Male body, estimated age 40-50, height approximately 175cm," he said, crouching beside the body, carefully avoiding the garbage and stains on the ground. "Wearing a dark gray jacket with obvious tear marks at the collar, a ripped left cuff, and a circular indentation on the exposed wrist; wearing dark blue work pants with a lot of brown mud on the cuffs, clearly different from the black garbage stains at the transfer station; wearing black leather shoes with clear tread patterns on the soles and fresh wear on the heels, suggesting that the person had walked for a long time before death." The body was in a prone position, the right hand pressed under the body, the left hand outstretched, the fingertips clutching half a piece of yellow plastic rope, the end of which had obvious cut marks.

Yang Sen examined the cement ground around the body with a footprint light. The ground was covered with oil and stains from long-term garbage accumulation, but multiple sets of footprints were still clearly preserved. "I found a set of size 42 men's leather shoe prints," he measured with a ruler close to the ground. "Stride length 73 cm, stride width 17 cm, stride angle 3 degrees outward, consistent with the gait characteristics of a man around 175 cm tall. The edges of the shoe prints are covered with brown soil, consistent with the soil composition on the body's trouser legs. The tread pattern on the soles perfectly matches the tread pattern of the shoes worn by the body, suggesting that they were left by the deceased before death." Five meters away from the body, next to a garbage compactor, he found another set of size 43 men's work boot prints. "Stride length 76 cm, stride width 18 cm, stride angle 5 degrees outward, estimating a height of 178-183 cm. The forefoot of the shoe prints showed concentrated pressure, and there were drag marks on the heel. The edges were also covered with brown soil, suggesting that the man had carried heavy objects at the scene."

There was an irregular scratch on the surface of the garbage compactor at the transfer station. Yang Sen used tweezers to pick up the fibers from the edge of the scratch: "The compactor is made of stainless steel, and there are obvious metal fragments falling off at the scratch, which is not natural wear and tear." He compared the fibers with those on the body's jacket. "The two are made of the same material, polyester fiber, which suggests that the body was leaned against the compactor or rubbed against the box during transport." He also found a few drops of light brown liquid in the gap at the bottom of the compactor. After testing with test strips, it showed a positive reaction, suggesting blood. "Samples need to be taken and sent to the laboratory for testing to confirm whether it is related to the deceased."

Wang Shuai placed the interrogation record book on the police car. Li Baojun sat in the passenger seat, his hands still trembling uncontrollably, his knuckles white from clenching his fists. "I arrive at the transfer station at 5:30 every morning, check the equipment first, and then start cleaning the surrounding streets," his voice trembled with tears, the chattering of his teeth particularly clear in the enclosed vehicle. "I just arrived here today and saw someone lying next to the compression box. I thought it was a homeless person asleep, so I called out twice but got no response. When I went over to check, his face was pale, and his hands were ice cold to the touch, so I immediately called the police!"

"Did you see this person or hear any unusual noises when you left work last night?" Wang Shuai's pen slid quickly across the paper. Li Baojun tried hard to recall: "When I left work at 8 p.m. last night, the transfer station was already locked. I didn't see anyone or hear any strange noises. However, around 10 p.m. last night, I saw a black SUV drive past in the direction of the transfer station from my window at home. It was going very fast, and I couldn't see the license plate clearly. I only remember that the taillights were a bit damaged."

Yang Lin's investigation light found something in the pocket of the body's jacket: a deformed cigarette box containing two unopened cigarettes. The box was printed with the words "Double Happiness" and had brown dirt stuck to its edges. "The cigarette box had obvious crush marks, suggesting the deceased had been holding it in his hand," he said, carefully putting it away in an evidence bag. "A fragmented fingerprint was extracted from the inside of the cigarette box; it was a whorl pattern with only nine characteristic points remaining, and it needs to be sent to the lab for enhancement." Among the debris beneath the body, he also found a silver button, round, 1.5 cm in diameter, with signs of oxidation. "The button's style matches the one on the deceased's jacket, suggesting it was dropped during the body's transport."

"Are the surveillance cameras at the transfer station working properly? Can you retrieve last night's footage?" Wang Shuai continued to ask. Li Baojun shook his head: "The surveillance cameras have been broken for almost a month, and no one has repaired them. Only the municipal surveillance cameras outside the main gate might capture something." He pointed to the intersection on the east side of the transfer station, "That surveillance camera should be able to capture vehicles entering and leaving the transfer station, but I don't know if we can see the license plates clearly."

Yang Sen discovered new clues at the base of the transfer station's wall. The wall was 2 meters high, with multiple footprints on its surface, the highest point being 1.8 meters above the ground, consistent with the climbing characteristics of someone 178-183 centimeters tall. Brown soil was embedded in the brickwork, matching the soil composition found on the body's trousers and work boot prints. "In the soil outside the wall, there was a size 43 men's work boot print," he said, fixing the print with plaster. "The stride length was 78 centimeters, 2 centimeters longer than the print inside the transfer station, indicating that the man walked faster after climbing the wall, possibly fleeing the scene." In the grass next to the print, he found a half-smoked cigarette butt; the tobacco matched the brand of cigarettes in the deceased's pack, and there were saliva stains on the filter.

As the technicians prepared to secure the evidence around the body, Lu Chuan's gaze fell upon the alleyway north of the transfer station. (End of Chapter)