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

The bedroom was small. The desk against the wall was piled with renovation drawings and tool manuals. A few pieces of work clothes and everyday clothes were hanging in the wardrobe. No black jacket or items related to the crime scene were found. In the desk drawer, Xiao Chen found a work diary, which recorded Li Wei's recent work schedule. The diary entry for August 22 read: "Renovation of B1 floor of Haotian Building. Debugging the monitoring system at 4 pm. Working overtime to organize materials in the evening. Expected to be completed on the morning of the 23rd."

“The diary doesn’t mention any other plans for the evening, nor does it mention meeting with anyone else,” Xiao Chen handed the diary to Wang Shuai. “However, the diary entry for August 21 reads, ‘I checked the materials list with Brother Zhang. He said things are tense lately and I should be careful.’ I don’t know who this ‘Brother Zhang’ is. He might be related to the renovation team’s secrets.”

Wang Shuai nodded and continued searching the bedroom. In a box under the bed, he found a pair of size 42 sneakers; the soles were clean, without any dust or putty from the Haotian Building's underground parking lot. Next to the charger on the bedside table was a silver ring, completely different in style from the cufflinks recovered from the crime scene. "None of these items seem unusual, so we can't link Li Wei to the crime scene for now," Wang Shuai told Xiao Chen. "We need to further verify his whereabouts on the night of the 22nd and find witnesses who can prove he was working overtime at the construction site."

Afterwards, Wang Shuai and his team visited Li Wei's neighbors. Mr. Wang, who lived across the hall, recalled, "Around 7 pm on the 22nd, I saw Li Wei come back from outside, carrying a black bag, which looked like construction materials. He greeted me and said he was going to the construction site to work overtime, and I haven't seen him since." Ms. Li, who lived downstairs, also confirmed, "Around 8 pm, I went to take out the trash and saw Li Wei drive away from the community. It was a white van, not a black sedan. He usually drives that van to the construction site."

To verify Li Wei's vehicle information, Wang Shuai contacted Zhang Qiang, the head of the Haotian Building renovation team. "Li Wei does have a white van, which is the renovation team's official vehicle. He drove it to the Haotian Building construction site on the evening of the 22nd," Zhang Qiang said on the phone. "Five of our workers worked overtime with him from 8 p.m. until 3 a.m. on the 23rd. Li Wei never left the construction site during that time. We can testify to that."

Wang Shuai immediately instructed his team to retrieve the surveillance footage from the renovation team's construction site. The footage showed that at 8:15 PM on August 22nd, Li Wei arrived at the site in a white van. He then worked with other workers, moving materials and organizing tools, and did not leave the site until 3:20 AM on the 23rd. He remained within the surveillance range throughout the entire process. The surveillance footage also showed that the surveillance signal in the B1 floor renovation area was interrupted because the wiring was accidentally broken during construction, not due to sabotage.

“We found cigarette butts that Li Wei discarded on the night of the 22nd in the trash cans at the construction site. The brand was ‘Hongtashan,’ which is completely different from the ‘Zhonghua’ cigarette butts retrieved from the crime scene,” Zhang Qiang added. “Moreover, Li Wei is only 175cm tall and wears size 42 shoes, which does not match the suspect’s characteristics of ‘183-188cm tall and wearing size 44 shoes’ as speculated at the crime scene.”

At 2 p.m., Wang Shuai and his team returned to the Criminal Investigation Detachment and summarized the investigation results: "Through interviews with Li Wei's family, neighbors, and the person in charge of the renovation team, combined with surveillance evidence, it was confirmed that Li Wei had been working overtime at the Haotian Building renovation team's construction site from 8 p.m. on August 22 to 3 a.m. on August 23. Five workers and surveillance footage testified that he had no time to commit the crime; his vehicle was a white van, which did not match the black Toyota Camry driven by the suspect; his height and shoe size did not match the suspect's characteristics; the cigarette butts, cufflinks, and other physical evidence collected at the scene were also unrelated to Li Wei, and his suspicion of committing the crime was initially ruled out."

"Who is 'Brother Zhang' from the renovation team? What does 'the situation is getting tense' mean in Li Wei's diary?" Lu Chuan pressed. Wang Shuai replied, "We are investigating 'Brother Zhang's' identity. Our initial assessment is that he is a person in charge of the renovation team, possibly involved in illegal transportation or transactions. This requires further investigation. Li Wei is currently out of contact, possibly because he discovered 'Brother Zhang's' secret and is hiding out of fear of retaliation, or he may have already met with misfortune."

Lu Chuan nodded and deployed the follow-up work: "Now that Li Wei has been ruled out as a suspect, we should focus on investigating 'Brother Zhang's' identity, and at the same time expand the investigation of the property staff of Haotian Building, especially the 'sight of someone moving suspicious items on the B2 floor' mentioned by security guard Li Zhiguo, to see if we can find more clues; Wang Shuai, you continue to be in charge of tracking down Li Wei's whereabouts. He may have key secrets about the renovation team. Finding him may uncover the truth about Li Zhiguo's murder."

Wang Shuai stood up and said firmly, "We will find 'Brother Zhang' and Li Wei as soon as possible, and we will not let go of any clue." Although Li Wei was ruled out as a suspect, which temporarily put the investigation at a loss, Wang Shuai was not discouraged. He knew that every time a suspect was eliminated, they would be one step closer to the truth.

At 7 p.m., Wang Shuai sat in his office, organizing the investigation records, highlighting the clues about "Brother Zhang" as key points, while contacting police in surrounding cities to assist in tracking down Li Wei's whereabouts. The lights in the Criminal Investigation Division were still bright. Although the investigation was fraught with twists and turns, Wang Shuai and his team firmly believed that as long as they persisted in meticulous investigation and patient screening, they would eventually uncover the crimes hidden in the underground parking lot of Haotian Building and give Li Zhiguo's family an explanation.

Meanwhile, Li Zhiguo's body had been transported back to the Criminal Investigation Detachment, where forensic doctor Zhang Kai began the autopsy.

The temperature control system in the autopsy room of the Criminal Investigation Detachment was stable at 20°C. The metal autopsy table gleamed coldly, and Li Zhiguo's body was placed in the center, covered with a white shroud. Forensic doctor Zhang Kai, wearing double-layered latex gloves, lightly touched the surface of the shroud with his fingertips. Behind him, his assistant Xiao Lin had already arranged the autopsy instruments in order on the tray—scalpels, hemostatic forceps, skull saws, tissue scissors, and other tools were neatly arranged. The label on the edge of the tray clearly stated, "Deceased: Li Zhiguo, Autopsy Date: August 24."

"Begin the physical examination and record the basic data." Zhang Kai's voice came through the gas mask, carrying a slight muffled sound. Xiao Lin lifted the morgue sheet, picked up a ruler, and held it close to the body: "Male corpse, age 35, height 180cm, weight approximately 75kg, hair length 6cm, black, coarse hair; completely naked, no clothing or personal belongings found; 1×2cm old scar on the left cheek, 0.5×1cm brown birthmark on the inside of the right wrist, consistent with the previous witness description, confirmed identity as Li Zhiguo."

Zhang Kai's gaze fell on the corpse's left palm: "There is a 3×0.8cm sharp instrument mark on the palm, with neat edges, sharp corners, smooth wound walls, and no interstitial bridging, which is consistent with the characteristics of sharp instrument cutting." (End of this chapter)