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

"After that, I put his body in the trunk, drove to the garbage transfer station, and threw it in when no one was around... That 5 yuan was borrowed from a gambling friend. I originally wanted to pay Chen Gang back, but then I felt he was too heartless, so I thought I'd kill him and not have to pay him back..."

To confirm the details, Zhang Hui pressed, "Why did you take Chen Gang's phone and car keys? Where did you throw them?" Zheng Guobin lowered his head and said, "I was afraid that there were our call records on his phone, so I threw the phone and car keys into the river near the factory. His daughter had given him a lucky charm on the car keys..." This detail perfectly matched the statement from Chen Gang's family that "Chen Gang's keys had a lucky charm on them," further confirming his confession.

The interrogation lasted three hours. Zheng Guobin fully confessed to the entire process of murdering Chen Gang, disposing of the body, and cleaning up the evidence. Every detail precisely matched the crime scene investigation, autopsy results, and witness testimonies. When Zhang Hui asked him to sign the interrogation record, his hand trembled violently. After signing, he leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling, repeatedly muttering, "I'm sorry to Chen Gang, and I'm sorry to my family..."

As Zhang Hui stepped out of the interrogation room, dawn was breaking. Looking at the pale light of day in the east, he breathed a sigh of relief. Although the investigation had been fraught with twists and turns, the irrefutable evidence had ultimately forced the murderer to confess, giving Chen Gang's family closure. He took out his phone and sent a message to Lu Chuan: "Zheng Guobin has fully confessed to the crime; the chain of evidence is complete, and the case can be transferred to the procuratorate." Lu Chuan quickly replied: "Thank you for your hard work. Justice will prevail."

Sunlight streamed through the windows of the Criminal Investigation Division's corridor, dispelling the fatigue of the entire night. Zhang Hui knew that this investigation, which had lasted for several days, had finally come to a successful conclusion. Behind this success lay the dedication and hard work of every investigator, and the victory of evidence and justice.

At 9 a.m. on August 20, the smell of disinfectant was still strong at the Heping Road garbage transfer station. Sunlight streamed through the broken roof, casting dappled shadows on the ground. Zheng Guobin was helped out of the police car by two officers, his black work boots crunching on the scattered garbage. His head was bowed low, his hands were handcuffed, and the skin on his wrists was pale with tension. His gaze darted away, avoiding the sight of the body disposal site marked with white chalk.

"Is this where you disposed of the body?" Zhang Hui stood beside the chalk circle, his voice calm yet carrying an undeniable authority. Zheng Guobin's body visibly trembled, his Adam's apple bobbing, and after a few seconds he slowly nodded: "Yes... around 11 p.m. on August 15th, I threw Chen Gang's body next to this compression box." His voice was hoarse, his gaze drifting towards the distant wall, as if recalling that heinous night.

Zhang Hui gestured for the officers to loosen their restraints a bit, allowing Zheng Guobin more freedom to identify the body. "How did you transport the body here? What did you use to pack it?" Zheng Guobin raised his hand, pointing towards the transfer station's entrance: "I drove my black SUV from the neighborhood, along Heping Road, and it took about 20 minutes to get here. The body was in a black plastic bag, wrapped in a tarpaulin, to prevent it from falling off on the way." He paused, then added, "The tarpaulin was something I found at home; it was used to cover miscellaneous items, and it was covered in dust and brown dirt—the kind of dirt brought from an abandoned factory."

Technicians immediately sprayed luminol at the "SUV parking location" he pointed to. A pale blue fluorescence instantly appeared, perfectly matching the "size 43 work boot drag marks" found during the earlier investigation. "After you parked, how did you move the body to the compression box?" Zhang Hui pressed. Zheng Guobin gestured in the air with his fingers: "I first opened the trunk, then supported the body under the armpits with both hands and slowly dragged it towards the compression box. Because the body was a bit heavy, it was quite difficult for me, so there should be drag marks on the ground." He pointed to the fluorescent trail on the ground, "It was from next to the car all the way here, about 10 meters, and I even rested once along the way."

This description precisely matches the on-site investigation record that "the drag mark was approximately 10 meters long, and the width of the mark was consistent with Chen Gang's build." Even the detail of "pausing midway" matches the indentation characteristics at the point where the drag mark was interrupted. Technicians extracted a small amount of black fiber at the point where the drag mark was interrupted, which was completely consistent with Zheng Guobin's statement about "canvas material," and the fiber composition test results also matched the canvas sample.

Upon reaching the compression box, Zheng Guobin trembled even more violently. He pointed to a scratch on the inside of the box: "I leaned the body against the compression box to catch my breath, but the body slipped, and the plastic bag rubbed against the box, leaving this scratch." Technicians examined the scratch, which was about 15 centimeters long with obvious plastic friction marks at the edges. This perfectly matched the source of the "black plastic fibers" extracted during the earlier investigation, and the location of the scratch also closely corresponded to the wear marks on Chen Gang's jacket.

"What was Chen Gang's posture like when you disposed of the body?" Zhang Hui continued to press. Zheng Guobin lowered his head and recalled, "He was curled up, the plastic bag had a small tear, and his right hand was sticking out, clutching a few strands of white dustproof mesh fiber—I didn't pay attention at the time, thinking no one would notice, so I just threw him next to the compression box and covered him with a discarded cardboard box." This detail was completely consistent with the forensic examination's description of "the body curled up on its side, with its right hand clutching the dustproof mesh fiber," and even the location of the "small tear in the plastic bag" corresponded to the tear marks on the body's jacket.

The drive from the transfer station to the abandoned factory in the suburbs takes about 40 minutes. When the police car arrived at the factory, Zheng Guobin became even more distraught. He pointed to the corner of the wall on the east side of the main workshop: "It was here that I hit Chen Gang with a steel pipe." Several rusty steel pipes were scattered in the corner. Based on his identification, the technician picked up a steel pipe with a diameter of 3 centimeters and a length of 50 centimeters: "Is this it?" When Zheng Guobin saw the steel pipe, his body trembled violently, and tears instantly welled up in his eyes: "Yes...it's this one. I picked it up from the ground. At that time, Chen Gang took out his phone to call the police. I panicked and picked up the steel pipe and hit him on the neck. He screamed and fell to the ground."

Technicians sprayed luminol reagent onto the steel pipe, and the pale blue bloodstains clearly fluoresced, consistent with the blood loss characteristics of the "4×5cm subcutaneous hemorrhage on the right side of Chen Gang's neck" identified by the forensic examination. The diameter of the steel pipe also perfectly matched the shape of the contact surface of the blunt force injury. "What did you do after he fell?" Zhang Hui continued to ask. (End of this chapter)