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

He put the fibers into an evidence bag and then carefully searched under the shelf. Soon, he found a cigarette butt on the ground next to the shelf leg. The cigarette butt was a "Hongtashan" brand, with obvious teeth marks on the filter and a small amount of damp dust on the surface—it looked like it hadn't been discarded for long and didn't match the long-term idle environment in the warehouse.

"Have you checked the warehouse doors and windows?" Yang Lin asked, and the two got up and walked towards the warehouse door. The lock cylinder of the door was intact, with no signs of being pried open, but the rust on the door hinges had fresh friction marks, as if it had been frequently opened recently; there was a crack in the glass of the ventilation window on the west side of the warehouse, and the dust on the window frame had traces of being wiped. On the ground below the window sill, a shoe print of a size 42 men's sneaker was found. The shoe print was clear and the edges were intact, suggesting that it was left recently.

“There were no signs of forced entry on the doors and windows. Either the suspect had the warehouse key or he entered through the ventilation window,” Yang Sen measured the size of the shoe print with a ruler. “The pattern of this shoe print is diamond, which is common on work shoes. Combined with the cigarette butt and drag marks, the suspect may be an employee of the logistics park or someone who is very familiar with the warehouse environment.”

At the same time, Wang Shuai led Li Zhiguo and Zhang Jianjun to the security room of the logistics park and handed them two bottles of mineral water. Li Zhiguo took the water, his hands still trembling slightly, his face pale: "Officer, I've been a security guard for so many years, and this is the first time I've encountered something like this. My nose is still full of that stench, it's terrifying."

"Don't be nervous, tell me slowly. How did you discover the anomaly in the warehouse? Was there anyone else around the warehouse when you discovered it?" Wang Shuai took out his notebook, pen hovering over the paper, his gaze fixed intently on Li Zhiguo.

Li Zhiguo took a sip of water, composed himself, and said, "I patrol every day from 2 to 4 pm. Today, when I got to the door of warehouse number 13, I smelled a stench. At first, I thought it was coming from the nearby garbage cans, but after going around to the side, I found that the stench was coming from the warehouse, and I could also hear flies buzzing inside. I quickly contacted Brother Zhang, and he brought the key to open the door. As soon as he opened the door, we saw... we saw a corpse on the ground, and we were so scared that we almost collapsed to the ground."

"During your patrols over the past two weeks, have you noticed anything unusual about warehouse number 13? For example, have the doors and windows been opened, have any strangers approached, or have you heard any noises inside the warehouse?" Wang Shuai pressed, afraid of missing any crucial details.

Li Zhiguo tried hard to recall, his brows furrowed: "When I was patrolling a few days ago, I didn't find anything unusual; the warehouse doors and windows were all locked. But yesterday afternoon, I saw a man in blue overalls loitering near warehouse number 13. He was wearing a baseball cap, his head was down, and I couldn't see his face. I thought he was a worker from the logistics park, so I didn't pay any attention. Now that I think about it, that man might be suspicious!"

"How old is that man? What is his height and build? Is he carrying anything?" Wang Shuai asked quickly, his pen scribbling rapidly on the paper.

“He looked to be in his 40s, about 170 centimeters tall, of medium build, and was carrying a black cloth bag. I don’t know what was in it,” Li Zhiguo added. “When he saw me patrolling, he quickly walked toward the exit on the east side of the logistics park. I found it strange at the time, because at that time, the workers were all working in the warehouse and very few people were wandering around the warehouse area.”

Wang Shuai then questioned Zhang Jianjun. Zhang Jianjun said, "Only I and the logistics park manager have the key to warehouse number 13. The manager went on a business trip out of town last week, and the key has been with me ever since. I haven't lent it to anyone else. After the warehouse was put out of service for half a month, I checked it once a week. When I checked it last week, the warehouse was still very clean, and I didn't find anything unusual. I don't know how a body suddenly appeared."

"Have any employees left the logistics park recently? Or have any outsiders registered to enter the warehouse area?" Wang Shuai continued to ask. Zhang Jianjun thought for a moment and said, "Last month, a porter named 'Old Chen' left. He was fired because he argued with a colleague. I heard he caused a scene when he left. As for outsiders, only two freight company drivers have come in the last three days. They were loading and unloading goods in the freight area on the east side. No one has registered to enter the warehouse area on the west side."

At this moment, Yang Lin's voice came from inside the warehouse: "Team Leader Wang, come here for a second, I've made a new discovery!" After settling Li Zhiguo and Zhang Jianjun in, Wang Shuai quickly walked to the warehouse door. Yang Lin pointed to the ventilation window on the west side of the warehouse: "There's a small amount of paint residue in the crack of the ventilation window, and it matches the paint color on the window frame, indicating that the crack was formed recently; next to the shoe print below the window sill, we found a small amount of brown soil, which is different from the soil at the entrance of the logistics park, so it seems to have been brought in from outside."

Yang Sen added, "We also found a white plastic bottle on the shelf next to the body. The bottle had no label and contained a small amount of clear liquid. We don't know what it is and we need to take it back for testing. In addition, the surveillance cameras in the warehouse have been out of service for half a month due to wiring upgrades, so we can't retrieve the previous footage, which is very detrimental to the investigation of suspects."

Lu Chuan walked to the warehouse door and looked at the preliminary investigation results: "Based on the initial assessment, warehouse number 13 is not the primary crime scene. The body was moved here from elsewhere. The suspect may have entered the warehouse through a ventilation window or with a key. Judging from the traces at the scene, the suspect is about 170 centimeters tall, wearing size 42 work shoes, and smoking 'Hongtashan' cigarettes. He may be an employee of the logistics park or an outsider familiar with the warehouse environment. The identity of the deceased is currently unknown. The clothing and personal belongings need further examination to determine the identity information."

He turned to Wang Shuai: "Confirm with Li Zhiguo again whether the man in blue overalls we saw yesterday could be the former 'Old Chen'? Also, contact the logistics park manager to verify the safekeeping of the keys and check for the possibility that the keys have been lost or copied; at the same time, retrieve the surveillance footage from the logistics park entrance for the past three days, focusing on suspicious individuals wearing blue overalls and carrying black cloth bags, as well as those wearing size 42 safety shoes."

Wang Shuai returned to the security room and continued to ask, "Mr. Li, could the man in blue overalls you saw yesterday be 'Old Chen,' the mover who left last month? Have you seen Old Chen?"

Li Zhiguo shook his head and said definitively, "It wasn't Lao Chen! I know Lao Chen. He's shorter than that guy, and Lao Chen was wearing red overalls, not blue! That guy was wearing blue overalls, and there seemed to be a white logo on the chest, but it was too far away to see what the design was."

This information startled Wang Shuai. He immediately instructed his team to record the characteristics of the person in the blue overalls and send the information to the local police station near the logistics park to assist in the investigation. Simultaneously, he contacted the logistics park's human resources department to obtain Lao Chen's contact information and photo to rule him out as a suspect. (End of Chapter)