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

His face was pale, his eyes wide open, and he was so frightened that he dropped his shepherd's staff with a clatter. He staggered out of the pasture and, trembling, dialed the police number by the roadside.

Fifty minutes later, Lu Chuan's police car arrived along the winding grassland road, the sound of its wheels crushing gravel particularly jarring on the silent grassland. "Immediately cordon off the scene, put up a warning tape, and prevent unauthorized personnel from approaching!" Lu Chuan opened the car door, his black leather shoes stepping on the soft grass, and gave instructions to his team members behind him, "Yang Lin and Yang Sen are responsible for the initial on-site investigation, focusing on checking footprints, tool marks, and leftover items around the body; Wang Shuai, come with me to question the person who reported the case; the rest of you patrol the grassland area to prevent sheep or villagers from disturbing the scene."

Yang Lin and Yang Sen, carrying their exploration bags, hurried towards the body at the foot of the earthen slope. The body lay in a shady spot deep within the grassland, surrounded by waist-high weeds. The body was dressed in dark blue overalls and a gray short-sleeved T-shirt, its feet bare. An empty mineral water bottle and a half-smoked cigarette butt lay scattered around it. "Don't rush to get close to the body. Use the exploration light to check the surrounding traces first." Yang Lin squatted three meters away from the body. The beam of the powerful exploration light pierced through the morning mist and fell on the grass surface—about two meters to the east of the body, there was a set of size 44 men's leather shoe prints. The edges of the prints were covered with fresh soil. The stride length was 88 centimeters, the stride width was 21 centimeters, and the stride angle was 4 degrees outward, estimating the height to be 180-185 centimeters.

Yang Sen then began searching to the west of the body. The beam of his footprint lamp swept across the grass, revealing a half-finished tire track near a sloping hillside. "The tire track is about 25 centimeters wide, a common motorcycle tire size," he measured with a ruler close to the ground. "The edges of the track are slightly worn, and the soil it's attached to is consistent with the black soil of the grass, indicating it was left recently, possibly related to the suspect transporting the body." In the grass next to the tire track, he also found a black nylon rope, about 1.5 meters long, with worn ends, as if it had been pulled forcefully; it was unclear at this time whether it was related to the case.

Below the earthen slope, Yang Lin carefully parted the weeds around the body. The collar of the gray short-sleeved T-shirt had a tear, as if it had been pulled by external force; the pockets of the work pants were turned inside out and empty, containing no items that could identify the victim. "There are no obvious drag marks on the body, and the weeds haven't been extensively trampled, so we suspect this might be the primary crime scene," Yang Lin reported into the walkie-talkie. "On the grass beneath the body, we found several long black hairs, about 12 centimeters long, possibly left by the deceased or suspect; there were no obvious fingerprints on the mineral water bottle, the cigarette butt was a 'Liqun' brand, and there were bite marks on the filter."

Yang Sen walked to the north side of the body and found something unusual in the soil of the embankment: "There are fresh trampling marks here, and several depressions in the ground, as if someone had squatted here and stayed." He carefully picked up some grass leaves from the depressions with tweezers and put them into an evidence bag. "Judging from the freshness of the grass leaves, the trampling should have happened within 24-48 hours. It is possible that the suspect stayed here after committing the crime or observed the surrounding environment."

On the other side, Wang Shuai led Li Jianshe to an open area outside the cordon and handed him a cup of warm water: "Brother, take your time, don't be nervous. Tell me in detail how you found the body." Li Jianshe held the cup in both hands, his fingertips still covered in grass clippings, his voice filled with lingering fear: "I herded the sheep out around 5 a.m., usually grazing them on the east side of the pasture. Today, the sheep were disobedient and ran deeper into the grassland. They wouldn't leave once they reached that embankment. When I went over, I saw that person lying in the grass, eyes open. I was terrified and immediately ran out to call the police."

"When you lifted the grass, did you see any other features of the body? For example, were there any wounds on his body, any jewelry he was wearing, or anything else around him?" Wang Shuai took out his notebook, his pen moving quickly across the paper. Li Jianshe frowned as he recalled, "I saw he was wearing blue pants and a gray shirt, and his feet were bare. There was an empty water bottle and a half-smoked cigarette next to him. I was too scared to look too closely, and I didn't pay attention to whether there were any wounds. I just remember that his hands seemed to be clutching something, buried in the grass, so I couldn't see clearly." He pointed to his chest. "Also, I felt like he had been lying there for a while. His body seemed a little cold, and the grass was covering him."

Wang Shuai pressed further, "When you came to the pasture to graze your livestock these past few days, did you see any suspicious people or vehicles? For example, unfamiliar motorcycles, or people dressed strangely loitering deep in the pasture?" Li Jianshe thought for a moment and said, "Yesterday afternoon when I came to the pasture, I saw a black motorcycle wandering around on the west side. The rider was wearing a helmet and a mask, so I couldn't see his face. There seemed to be a heavy black bag tied to the back seat. I thought he was there to fish, so I didn't pay any attention. When I came this morning, I didn't see that motorcycle."

"Was there anything special about that motorcycle? Like stickers, license plate number, or obvious scratches on the body?" Wang Shuai continued to ask. Li Jianshe scratched his head: "The motorcycle was black, looked pretty new, and had a red helmet hanging on the handlebars. I didn't notice anything else. I was far away, and he was driving fast, so it quickly disappeared west of the grassland."

At that moment, Yang Lin's voice came from the direction of the earthen slope: "Team Leader Wang, come here for a second, we've made a new discovery!" Wang Shuai settled Li Jianshe down and quickly walked towards the earthen slope. Yang Lin pointed to the corpse's right hand: "We just examined it carefully and found that he was clutching a small piece of black cloth in his right hand. The cloth is rough in texture, like it was torn from some kind of tool bag, and there are still some dirt and grass clippings stuck to it." He carefully unfolded the cloth with tweezers. "There are white stitches on the cloth, and obvious tear marks on the edges. It's possible that the deceased tore it off from the suspect during the struggle."

Yang Sen added, "We found more motorcycle tire tracks by the path on the west side of the grassland. The tire tread pattern is exactly the same as the tire tracks by the embankment, and the tire tracks extend to the road outside the grassland and then disappear—the road has heavy traffic, so the tracks are covered and cannot be traced for the time being. In addition, we found a silver button in the grass next to the tire tracks. The button has no markings and is made of metal. It may have fallen from the clothes of the deceased or suspect."

Lu Chuan walked to the edge of the earthen slope, reviewing the progress of the investigation: "Preliminary assessment suggests this may be the primary crime scene. The deceased is male, unidentified, and may have had an argument with the suspect before his death. The black cloth clutched in his right hand, along with the nylon rope and buttons found at the scene, could be key clues. The suspect may have been driving a black motorcycle, carrying a black bag, and operating around the grassland." He turned to Wang Shuai, "Confirm with Li Jianshe again about the shape of the black bag on the back seat of the black motorcycle they saw yesterday. Is it possible it contained tools used in the crime or other items?" (End of Chapter)