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

Yang Sen crouched down and carefully examined the bottom and sides of the shelves. Suddenly, he pointed to a shelf leg: "There are impact marks here! A piece of paint has chipped off the shelf leg, exposing the metal underneath. And the marks are very fresh, as if it was recently hit by a heavy object!"

Yang Lin leaned closer and touched the impact marks: "The marks are about 1 meter high, which is about the same height as the deceased. It is very likely that when the suspect dragged the body, the head or back hit the shelf leg, making a 'clang' sound—which perfectly matches the time and location of the strange noise that Li Wei heard!"

The two men then found a blurry shoe print on the ground near the shelf leg. It was size 42 and had a diamond pattern, exactly matching the suspicious shoe print they had previously found in warehouse number 13. “This shoe print is clearer than the previous one,” Yang Sen measured with a ruler. “We can extract a complete sample of this shoe print and send it to the technical department for more detailed analysis. Maybe we can determine the brand and model of the shoe and narrow down the scope of our investigation.”

At this moment, Lu Chuan also arrived at the logistics park. After listening to the three men's report, he said, "Li Wei's suspicion has been eliminated. Although it made our investigation take a detour, it also gave us a crucial clue—the suspect was active near warehouse number 13 at 3:10 pm and left new shoe prints. Now we are readjusting our investigation direction and focusing on finding people who fit the following characteristics: about 170 cm tall, wearing size 42 diamond-patterned safety shoes, smoking 'Hongtashan' cigarettes, wearing cotton-polyester blend work pants, living near the abandoned fertilizer plant, familiar with the logistics park environment, and having time to commit the crime around 3 pm yesterday."

"In addition," Lu Chuan added, "Although Li Zhiguo said that the person wearing blue overalls was not Lao Chen, the former mover we investigated earlier, Lao Chen fits the characteristics of 'living near the abandoned fertilizer plant, being familiar with the logistics park environment, and having worked in the freight area.' Moreover, we have not yet verified his whereabouts yesterday afternoon, so we need to focus our investigation on Lao Chen."

Yang Sen nodded: "We'll go to the urban village near the abandoned fertilizer plant to find Old Chen, extract his footprints and DNA, compare them with the shoe prints and cigarette butts found at the scene, and verify his whereabouts yesterday afternoon."

The three drove to an urban village near an abandoned fertilizer plant. The car wound its way through narrow alleys before finally stopping in front of a dilapidated residential building—Old Chen's home. They went up to the third floor and knocked on Old Chen's door.

A few minutes later, the door slowly opened, and a short, stout middle-aged man poked his head out—it was Old Chen. Old Chen's face instantly changed when he saw the police officers at the door: "You...what do you want with me? I haven't worked at the logistics park for a long time, I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Old Chen, we're from the Criminal Investigation Division. We need your cooperation in an investigation," Wang Shuai said, flashing his police ID. "We want to ask you, where were you around 3 p.m. yesterday? What were you doing? Did you go near the west wall of the South Suburb Logistics Park?"

Old Chen's eyes flickered, and he subconsciously took a step back, wanting to close the door: "I...I stayed home watching TV all afternoon yesterday and didn't go to the logistics park...You can leave, I have nothing to say!"

Yang Sen pressed down on the door, preventing Old Chen from closing it: "Old Chen, we've already gathered some clues. If you tell the truth, it'll be good for everyone; if you deliberately conceal things, it will only make matters worse. Did you go to the logistics park yesterday afternoon? Did you see any suspicious people or things?"

Old Chen's shoulders trembled violently. He lowered his head, his voice filled with fear: "I...I went to the logistics park...but I didn't kill anyone! I just...just went to see if I could find another job, I didn't do anything bad!" "What did you go to the logistics park for? Where exactly did you go? Did you see anyone else near the west wall?" Yang Lin pressed, his eyes fixed on Old Chen, trying to find a clue in his expression.

Old Chen took a deep breath and slowly raised his head: "Yesterday afternoon at 2:30, I left home for the logistics park, intending to ask a former colleague if there were any job opportunities. Around 3 o'clock, I walked to the vicinity of the west wall and saw a man in blue overalls pushing a handcart towards warehouse number 13. The man was wearing a baseball cap and had his head down, so I couldn't see his face. I didn't pay any attention at the time and continued walking to chat with my colleague... I really didn't kill anyone, and I didn't see any other suspicious people!"

Old Chen's confession gave the three men a glimmer of hope—the "man in blue overalls, pushing a handcart towards warehouse number 13" that Old Chen saw was very likely the real suspect! Moreover, the time Old Chen saw the suspect was around 3 o'clock, which coincided with the time Li Wei heard the "clanging" sound at 3:10, further confirming that the suspect was indeed active near warehouse number 13 around 3 o'clock.

"What's the height and build of that man in the blue overalls? Is there anything on his handcart?" Wang Shuai asked hurriedly, afraid of missing any crucial details.

Old Chen tried hard to recall: "The man was about 170 centimeters tall, of medium build, and there was a black cloth covering the handcart. I didn't know what was inside. He walked very fast and seemed to be in a hurry. I also heard him cough once, and his voice was a little hoarse... That's all. I didn't see his face clearly, and I don't know his name."

"A cough? A hoarse voice?" Yang Sen took out his notebook and quickly jotted down these details. "Think carefully again, are there any distinctive features about that man's work pants? Like the color, or if there's a logo?"

Old Chen thought for a moment, then shook his head: "His work pants were blue, and I didn't see any logo. His shoes were black, and they looked like work boots. I really can't remember anything else..."

To verify Lao Chen's confession, Wang Shuai arranged for his team to collect Lao Chen's footprints and DNA, comparing them with the size 42 shoe print and cigarette butt found at the scene. They also reviewed the surveillance footage at the logistics park entrance to check Lao Chen's entry and exit records from the previous afternoon. Soon, the team reported back: Lao Chen's footprints were size 40, which did not match the size 42 shoe print found at the scene; Lao Chen's DNA also did not match the DNA on the cigarette butt; and the surveillance footage at the logistics park entrance showed that Lao Chen entered the logistics park at 2:50 PM and left at 3:40 PM, consistent with his confession.

“Old Chen’s suspicion has also been ruled out,” Yang Lin said as he put away his investigation tools. “But he provided a crucial clue: the suspect was wearing blue overalls and a baseball cap, was about 170 centimeters tall, of medium build, had a hoarse voice, and had a black cloth covering his handcart. These characteristics can further narrow down our investigation scope.”

After listening to the three men's reports over the phone, Lu Chuan said, "Now we have more detailed characteristics of the suspect. Next, we'll focus on investigating people living near the abandoned fertilizer plant who match these characteristics, especially those who have recently had coughs or hoarseness. Also, expand the scope of our surveillance coverage around the logistics park to see if we can find the suspect." (End of Chapter)