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

“Look at this one: missing person Li Jianjun, 45 years old, 174cm tall, occupation is ‘worker’, but it doesn’t say what kind of worker, or whether he took any tools. How can you judge this information? And this one: Wang Jianguo, 48 years old, construction worker, but he went missing half a month ago, which doesn’t match the time of death. What a disappointment.”

“What’s most annoying is this kind of ‘incomplete information’,” team member Xiao Wang pointed to a blurry record on the screen. “The missing person is Zhang Wei, 43 years old, 175cm tall, occupation ‘maintenance-related’, missing for 7 days, all other information is ‘unknown’, and the family’s phone number cannot be reached. How can we verify it? Half of the information in this system is like this, it’s as if we didn’t check at all.”

Complaints echoed throughout the office, but the clatter of keyboards and mouse clicks never ceased. The clock ticked away, from 8 PM to 11 PM, the city outside gradually shrouded in darkness, except for the Criminal Investigation Division's office building, which remained lit. Team member Xiao Zhao yawned, tears welling in his eyes: "My wife just messaged me saying our child has a fever of 39 degrees Celsius and is crying for his father, but all I could tell her was, 'Wait a little longer, Dad will be back as soon as I'm done.'" His voice choked with emotion. "It's almost midnight, and we've checked nearly half of the 1000+ messages, not a single one even remotely relevant. I really don't know when this will end."

“Who says otherwise?” Xiao Chen said with a wry smile. “It’s my mom’s birthday today. She specially made my favorite braised pork and asked me to come home for dinner. But then she called, and I had to tell her to save the pork and heat it up when I got home. Now, I didn’t get to eat the pork, and I have to sit here staring at all this stupid information. My eyes are about to go blind.”

Seeing his team members' exhausted appearance, Zhang Hui felt bad too. He knew they were all pushing themselves, but the case was stuck on the victim's identity, and they had to investigate. "How about this, everyone take turns resting for 10 minutes," he suggested. "Xiao Li, go to the rest room and lie down for a while. I'll keep an eye on things for you. After 10 minutes, it'll be Xiao Wang's turn. Don't push yourself too hard; it'll be more troublesome if you break down."

Time ticked by, and by 2 a.m., when the information on the screen had reached item 823, the atmosphere in the office had become extremely tense. Everyone stared silently at the screen, their fingers mechanically moving the mouse, too exhausted even to complain. The ashtray on the desk was overflowing with cigarette butts, and the air was thick with the mingled smells of caffeine and tobacco.

"I can't take it anymore, I need to wash my face, or I'll really fall asleep." Xiao Zhao stood up and headed to the bathroom. The cold water splashed on his face woke him up a bit, but as soon as he returned to his seat and looked at the dense text on the screen, drowsiness washed over him again.

At 4 a.m., just when everyone was about to give up hope, team member Xiao Wang suddenly shouted, "Team Leader Zhang! Come and see this!" His voice, filled with barely suppressed excitement, broke the silence of the office. Everyone instantly perked up and crowded around Xiao Wang's computer.

The screen displayed information about a missing person: "Zhang Wanli, male, 46 years old, mechanic at Tongda Auto Repair Shop, 175cm tall, went missing 6 days ago after leaving home one evening. His family said he was carrying a toolbox and wearing a brass repair watch on his wrist. He had recently had a dispute with his boss over wages. Contact person: wife Liu Fang, phone number 138XXXX5678."

"Are there any other similar clues?" Zhang Hui asked quickly, his heart pounding. Xiao Wang continued searching and found four more suspicious clues: "Of these four, three are men aged 40-50, between 173-177cm tall, who went missing 6-8 days ago, but either their occupation is not repair or construction, or there is no record of them 'carrying tools' or 'wearing metal jewelry'; the other one, although a car mechanic, went missing 10 days ago, which doesn't match the time of death, but all of them are somewhat suspicious and need further verification."

"Immediately contact the contacts for these five leads and focus on verifying Zhang Wanli's situation!" Zhang Hui decided decisively. "Xiao Li, contact Zhang Wanli's wife, Liu Fang, and ask her about Zhang Wanli's specific clothing when he went out six nights ago, what his toolbox looked like, and the specific model of his brass watch, and whether there were any special markings; Xiao Chen, contact the contacts for the other four leads and confirm the detailed information of their missing family members to rule them out as suspects; the rest of you, continue to organize Zhang Wanli's relevant information and see if there is any other related information."

Xiao Li immediately dialed Liu Fang's number. The phone rang for a long time before being answered. Liu Fang's voice was sleepy and anxious: "Hello? Who is this? What's wrong so late?"

"Hello, we are from the Municipal Criminal Investigation Division. We would like to inquire about your husband, Zhang Wanli," Xiao Li said, trying to soften her tone. "What clothes was he wearing when he went out six nights ago? What did his toolbox look like?"

Liu Fang was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone, then her voice suddenly choked up: "Yes... that night he said there was an urgent job at the factory and he had to go repair a truck for a customer. He was wearing the blue work clothes from Tongda Auto Repair Shop and was carrying a black canvas toolbox with wrenches, pliers, and other repair tools. The brass watch he was wearing was one I bought for him last year. It had 'Repair Only' written on the dial, and the strap was made of individual links, so it was easy to break."

These details perfectly matched the autopsy findings: the blue overalls (although the deceased's clothing was decomposed, the remaining fibers were consistent with those of auto repair shop work clothes); the black canvas toolbox (the brown fibers under the deceased's fingernails likely came from the toolbox); and the brass watch (the brass fragments on the deceased's left wrist matched the watch's material). Zhang Hui instructed Xiao Li to continue questioning: "Has Zhang Wanli recently had any conflicts with anyone? Besides the wage dispute with his boss, are there any other disputes? Do you know which customer's truck he repaired that night?"

“He hasn’t had any conflicts with anyone recently, except for arguing with his boss,” Liu Fang’s voice grew increasingly agitated. “That night, he didn’t say which customer he was repairing a truck for, only that the customer was in the suburbs and asked him to go there that night. I even advised him that it wasn’t safe at night and to go the next day, but he said, ‘The customer urgently needs the truck, and I’ll have to pay compensation if I’m late,’ and insisted on going. In the end, he never came back. Have you found him? Has something happened to him?”

Zhang Hui took the phone and gently reassured her, "Ms. Liu, please don't get agitated. We need to verify further. Could you please provide a recent photo of Zhang Wanli? Also, we need to collect your DNA sample to compare with the deceased's DNA in order to finally confirm his identity."

After hanging up the phone, Liu Fang quickly sent Zhang Wanli a photo. (End of Chapter)