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

To further confirm, Wang Shuai sent Li Dahai and Zhao Gang to the Criminal Investigation Division to identify the deceased's photograph. Upon seeing the naked male corpse in the photo, Zhao Gang trembled violently: "It's...it's Li Zhiguo! The scar on his left cheek, and the birthmark on his right wrist, are exactly the same as the person in the photo!" Li Dahai's eyes also reddened: "That's right, it's him. We worked together for five years, I can't be wrong...How could he have become like this?"

After confirming the deceased's identity, Wang Shuai returned to Haotian Building to conduct an in-depth investigation into Li Zhiguo's social relationships and recent behavior. Through conversations with his security colleagues, Wang Shuai learned that Li Zhiguo's emotions had been unstable for the past two weeks. He often spaced out by himself and had mentioned to his colleagues that he had "discovered something he shouldn't have, which might be dangerous," but he did not specify what it was.

"Did he tell you anything? Did he discover anything? Or offend anyone?" Wang Shuai asked security guard Xiao Wang. Xiao Wang recalled, "About a week ago, he told me that when he was patrolling at night, he saw someone sneaking around in the B2 parking lot, like they were moving something. He wanted to go and check, but the other person drove off. The license plate was covered up, so he couldn't see it clearly."

Wang Shuai then questioned Li Zhiguo's girlfriend, Chen Yu. Chen Yu sat in her dormitory, holding Li Zhiguo's photo, tears streaming down her face: "He sent me a WeChat message on the evening of August 22nd, saying, 'If I don't contact you tomorrow, go to the building and find Manager Zhang. He knows what to do.' I thought he was joking at the time, but I didn't expect..." She choked up as she pulled up the chat history on her phone, "He also said that he had discovered the renovation team's secret. They seemed to be secretly transporting something, and he threatened him not to meddle."

Based on these clues, Wang Shuai sorted out the key information: Li Zhiguo was threatened after discovering the abnormal behavior of the B1 floor renovation team (especially Li Wei). On the evening of August 22, he may have been lured to the underground parking lot by the murderer under the pretext of "solving the problem" and was subsequently murdered. In order to cover up the crime, the murderer took away his clothes and personal belongings and staged the scene.

To find more evidence, Wang Shuai reviewed the surveillance footage from the underground parking lot again. In the footage from 11:30 PM on August 22nd, a black mid-size sedan entered the parking lot; none of its taillights were working, matching the vehicle's description given by cleaner Li Guiqin. At 12:15 AM, the car drove out of the parking lot; there appeared to be someone in the passenger seat, but due to the dim lighting, facial features were unclear.

“Although the license plate of this car is obscured, the model is a Toyota Camry, and the tire model is 215/55 R17, which matches the tire tracks extracted by Yang Lin and his team perfectly,” Wang Shuai pointed to the screen. “Moreover, the time when this car entered and exited is consistent with the timeline of Li Zhiguo’s disappearance, so it is speculated that this is the vehicle driven by the murderer.”

At 5 p.m., Wang Shuai summarized the investigation results and reported to Lu Chuan: "Through interviews with property staff and security guards, we have confirmed that the deceased is Li Zhiguo, a security guard at Haotian Building. Li Zhiguo was recently threatened after discovering unusual behavior from a renovation team on the B1 floor. On the evening of August 22, he was lured to the underground parking lot and murdered by the murderer. The murderer was driving a black Toyota Camry with one taillight not working and the license plate covered. Currently, construction worker Li Wei is missing and is a prime suspect. The cufflinks found in Li Zhiguo's dormitory match those retrieved from the scene, further confirming the deceased's identity."

After listening to the report, Lu Chuan immediately deployed follow-up work: "Wang Shuai, you continue to track down Li Wei's whereabouts, focusing on his relatives' homes, gambling friends, and places he frequents; at the same time, expand the scope of the surveillance investigation to find the driving trajectory of the black Toyota Camry; Yang Lin, the technical department should expedite the testing of the bloodstains from the utility knife and the DNA from the cigarette butts extracted at the scene to confirm whether they are related to Li Zhiguo and Li Wei; Zhang Hui, you are responsible for investigating the 'secret of the renovation team' that Li Zhiguo discovered, to see if they are transporting contraband or engaging in illegal transactions."

The setting sun cast long shadows through the glass curtain wall of the Haotian Building. Wang Shuai stood at the building entrance, watching the residents come and go. He knew that although the deceased's identity had been confirmed and suspicious persons and vehicles had been found, more evidence was needed to uncover the truth behind Li Zhiguo's murder. He took out Li Wei's photo and silently said to himself, "No matter where you are hiding, we will find you and give Li Zhiguo an explanation."

In the information query room of the municipal vehicle management office, the computer screen continuously refreshed the registration information of the black Toyota Camry. Wang Shuai sat in front of the computer, his fingers rapidly typing on the keyboard. According to Lu Chuan's plan, he needed to sift through the 2137 black Toyota Camrys registered in the city to find vehicles with "damaged taillights," "tire size 215/55 R17," and recent activity records around Haotian Building—these were the key clues to locking down the suspect's vehicle.

"Team Leader Wang, we've identified 386 black Camrys that match the 'tire size 215/55 R17' rule. Adding the repair record for 'damaged taillights,' we're down to just 12." Team member Xiao Chen pointed to the list on the screen, his voice tinged with anticipation. Wang Shuai leaned closer to the screen, examining the information for each of the 12 vehicles: "Get the owner information, contact details, and recent driving records for these 12 vehicles. Pay special attention to whether they were in the Haotian Building underground parking lot or surrounding areas between the evening of August 22nd and the early morning of August 23rd."

However, the investigation results disappointed the two. Of the 12 vehicles, 5 belonged to companies and were parked in the company parking lot on the evening of August 22, with evidence from surveillance cameras and on-duty personnel; 3 belonged to private owners who were on business trips or resting at home that night, providing clear alibis; for the remaining 4 vehicles, although the owners could not provide complete alibis, by retrieving the vehicles' GPS tracks and surrounding surveillance footage, it was found that none of them had approached Haotian Building during the time of the incident, and the repair records for the damaged taillights were all from six months ago, which did not match the characteristic of "recent damage".

"How could this happen? Did we make a mistake in our screening criteria?" Xiao Chen frowned, somewhat frustrated. Wang Shuai rubbed his sore eyes: "Let's broaden the scope further, not just limiting ourselves to vehicles with repair records. Some car owners might have broken taillights but didn't get them repaired, just taped them back on, or simply ignored them."

After adjusting the screening criteria, the number of eligible vehicles increased to 89. Wang Shuai and his team split into five groups to visit each of these car owners. Wang Shuai was responsible for visiting five car owners living in the western part of the city. The first stop was Mr. Liu's home. Mr. Liu's black Camry was parked downstairs in the community, its taillights intact. He explained with a smile, "I just replaced these taillights last month, how could they be broken? I took my family to see a movie on the evening of August 22nd, and the cinema's surveillance footage can prove it." (End of Chapter)