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

Zhang Kai continued: "Secondly, there were three abrasions on the palm of his right hand. The brass powder extracted from the abrasions was consistent with the composition of Li Shengli's watch strap. Combined with the brick fragments found under his fingernails, it proves that Li Shengli had a fierce struggle with the suspect before his death and had tried to resist and come into contact with the bricks carried by the suspect and his own watch."

Wang Shuai then reported on the surrounding investigation. The investigation area map on the screen marked the eliminated clues with red crosses: "We focused on visiting three residential areas, two waste recycling stations, and one demolition site around the drainage ditch. We interviewed a total of 42 residents and staff. Only two people reported hearing the sound of a car starting up by the ditch two nights before the incident, but they could not describe the car model or license plate number. The staff at the demolition site all denied knowing Li Shengli or having any unusual people coming and going recently. Due to a line failure, the site's surveillance camera only retained the record of one day after the incident, and it was impossible to trace the previous footage."

"Regarding the surveillance investigation," Wang Shuai said with a hint of regret, "we retrieved data from 12 traffic and private surveillance cameras within a 5-kilometer stretch upstream and 3-kilometer downstream of the drainage ditch. Only one camera captured a black van passing by the ditch at 11 p.m. the night before the incident. However, the vehicle's rear bumper was crooked, the red stickers on the body were unclear, and the license plate was obscured, making further tracking impossible. The other cameras either had poor angles or were malfunctioning, and they did not capture any suspicious individuals matching the description of 'wearing brown cotton overalls and size 43 sneakers.' The surrounding investigation has not yet yielded any effective leads."

Zhang Hui then reported on the deceased's identity and related clues. A diagram of Li Shengli's social relationships appeared on the screen, with red lines highlighting "wage dispute" and "suburban smoke extraction equipment": "Through interviews with Li Shengli's family and staff at 'Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant,' we have identified two key conflicts. The first is a wage dispute—restaurant owner Zhou Ming owed Li Shengli three months' wages, totaling 15,000 yuan. Li Shengli had repeatedly demanded payment. Three days before the incident, i.e., three days before Li Shengli's disappearance, the two had a heated argument at the restaurant. Li Shengli threatened, 'If you don't pay my wages, I'll report you to the labor department and expose the restaurant's hygiene problems.' Five restaurant employees witnessed the argument. Zhou Ming said at the time, 'If you dare to report me, you'll be in big trouble.'"

“The second category is the suspicious point about the ‘suburban smoke exhaust equipment’,” Zhang Hui paused for a moment, and pulled up Li Shengli’s call records. “Six days before the night of Li Shengli’s disappearance, at 7:10 pm, he had a 15-minute call with Zhou Ming. According to the restaurant’s employees, Zhou Ming lured Li Shengli to the suburbs by claiming that ‘the smoke exhaust equipment at the suburban branch was malfunctioning and urgently needed repair, and that he would be paid 5000 yuan immediately after the repair.’ However, after our investigation, we found that Zhou Ming’s ‘Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant’ only has one store in the south of the city and no suburban branch. The so-called ‘suburban smoke exhaust equipment’ was a lie fabricated by Zhou Ming to lure Li Shengli to a remote location.”

"Has Zhou Ming's whereabouts been preliminarily verified? Does he have a black van or size 43 sneakers?" Lu Chuan pressed. Zhang Hui nodded: "We have arranged for our team to conduct a preliminary verification: Zhou Ming owns a black van, registered two years ago. The rear bumper has obvious collision marks, matching the 'crooked rear bumper' feature captured by surveillance cameras. There is a red 'Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant' promotional sticker on the right side of the vehicle, which is completely consistent with the 'black van' features described by Zhang Bin. Zhou Ming is 176 cm tall, weighs 73 kg, and wears size 43 sneakers, which perfectly matches the suspect's height, weight, and shoe size. He has recently been in debt for nearly 100,000 yuan due to poor restaurant management, and there is a strong motive for him to commit the crime out of fear of being reported."

"Did Zhou Ming admit to the phone call with Li Shengli? How does he explain his lie about the 'suburban branch'?" Lu Chuan continued to press, and Zhang Hui shook his head: "Zhou Ming denied 'speaking with Li Shengli before the incident,' saying that 'he had no contact with Li Shengli after an argument three days before the incident.' Regarding the 'suburban branch,' he argued that 'Li Shengli misheard him and said 'a friend's restaurant,' not 'a branch,' but he could not provide specific information about 'a friend's restaurant.' His wife said that 'Zhou Ming left at 10 p.m. on the night of the incident and returned home at 1 a.m., saying he was going to 'take care of some personal matters,' but she could not provide any corroborating evidence. Zhou Ming's suspicion has increased significantly."

After the report, a brief silence fell over the meeting room as everyone sorted through the connections between the clues. Lu Chuan spoke first: "Now all the clues have formed a preliminary closed loop—Zhou Ming, fearing that Li Shengli would report unpaid wages and sanitation issues, fabricated the lie of 'repairing the smoke extraction equipment in the suburbs,' luring Li Shengli to the vicinity of a demolition site upstream of the drainage ditch. He then struck Li Shengli on the head with a brick from the construction site, causing him to lose consciousness, and strangled him to death with a cotton strip or the sleeve of his own coat. Afterwards, he transported the body to the drainage ditch in a black van, wrapped it in a canvas bag, and threw it into the ditch, leaving behind traces of wrench fragments, cigarette butts, and fibers. Zhou Ming's height, weight, shoe size, and vehicle characteristics all perfectly match the results of the on-site investigation and autopsy, making him a prime suspect."

“I agree with Captain Lu’s assessment,” Yang Lin continued. “The key now is to secure evidence against Zhou Ming. I suggest the technical department prioritize three tests: First, compare the tire treads of Zhou Ming’s black van with the size 43 shoe print found at the scene. If they match, it can directly link him to the act of disposing of the body. Second, test the ‘brown cotton work clothes’ in Zhou Ming’s home or restaurant and compare the fiber composition with the coarse fibers found at the scene. Third, extract Zhou Ming’s DNA and compare it with the DNA on the cigarette butts at the scene. If they match, it can identify him as the person who disposed of the body.”

“In addition,” Yang Lin added, “it is recommended to expand the scope of the investigation of the demolition site to find the possible primary crime scene. Li Shengli’s tool bag, wrench, and screwdriver have not yet been found, but they were likely discarded by Zhou Ming in the construction waste at the demolition site. Finding these items can further strengthen the chain of evidence and prove that Li Shengli stayed at the construction site and fought with Zhou Ming.”

Wang Shuai offered supplementary suggestions: "We can conduct an in-depth investigation focusing on 'Zhou Ming's funds and whereabouts.' First, we should examine Zhou Ming's financial records before the incident to see if there are any records of 'withdrawing 5000 yuan in advance' that correspond to the lie of 'receiving 5000 yuan in wages after the incident'; second, we should retrieve the location and call records from Zhou Ming's phone to confirm whether he was active around the drainage ditch between 10 PM and 1 AM on the night of the incident; third, we should interview Zhou Ming's relatives and friends to see if anyone 'received gifts from Zhou Ming after the incident' or 'heard Zhou Ming mention anything related to Li Shengli,' in order to find possible witnesses or physical evidence." (End of Chapter)