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

He picked up the phone and dialed Lu Chuan's number: "Captain Lu, Zhao Weiguo has confessed and explained the whole process of killing Pang Yun. The details of the body transfer and evidence destruction also match up. The next step is to arrange to retrieve the black canvas bag and secure the last piece of evidence."

Lu Chuan's tired but gratified voice came from the other end of the phone: "Good! You've worked hard. Let the team members rest first. We'll start the follow-up procedures first thing tomorrow morning. We must handle the case thoroughly and give Pang Yun's family an explanation."

After hanging up the phone, Wang Shuai walked to the window of the interrogation room and looked out at the dark night sky. The streetlights in the distance shone faintly, as if guiding the way for this belated justice. He knew that although the case was solved, Pang Yun's life could not be brought back, and Zhao Weiguo would pay a heavy price for his impulsiveness—legal punishment and a lifetime of conscience.

The next morning, members of the Criminal Investigation Detachment rushed to the riverbank on the outskirts of the city to begin retrieving Pang Yun's black canvas bag. After three hours of effort, the canvas bag was finally retrieved. Although it was swollen from being soaked in the river water, the fragments of the ID card and pay slip inside were still identifiable, becoming the last crucial piece of evidence to prove Zhao Weiguo's crimes.

When Liu Mei learned that Zhao Weiguo had confessed, she was sitting in the convenience store, holding Pang Yun's photo. Tears blurred her vision again, but this time, the tears contained not only sorrow but also a sense of relief—the murderer who killed her husband had finally been brought to justice, and Pang Yun's spirit could finally rest in peace.

On the afternoon of the second day after Zhao Weiguo's arrest, a light drizzle fell over the southern suburbs, the air thick with the earthy smell of rain. Two police cars slowly pulled up beside an abandoned fertilizer plant in the southern suburbs, the flashing red lights casting dappled shadows on the wet ground. Wang Shuai and two officers got out of the car, opened the back door, and Zhao Weiguo, handcuffed and shackled, was helped out by the police. He was wearing a prison uniform, his hair disheveled, his eyes vacant, a stark contrast to his appearance as the factory owner two days prior. Only the faint scar on the second joint of his right index finger remained clearly visible on his skin.

“Zhao Weiguo, I’m taking you to the scene where Pang Yun was murdered and the body was disposed of. You must tell the truth about every detail and not hide anything.” Wang Shuai walked up to Zhao Weiguo and said in a serious voice, “Every trace at the scene has been recorded. What you say will be checked against our previous investigation results. If you tell even one lie, it will only increase your crime.”

Zhao Weiguo nodded slightly, making a muffled "hmm" sound in his throat, and staggered as he followed Wang Shuai toward the open space. The open space had already been cordoned off, and several members of the technical department were waiting with cameras and survey notebooks. White chalk lines marked during the previous survey remained on the ground—marks of where the "Hongtashan" cigarette butt and size 42 work shoe prints were found.

"This is where you killed Pang Yun, isn't it?" Wang Shuai asked, standing in the center of the open space and pointing to the chalk lines on the ground.

Zhao Weiguo's body jolted, his eyes instantly filled with terror, as if he were back on that night five days ago. He stared at the ground, his lips trembling, and after a long while, he finally spoke: "It's...it's here. That night at 8 o'clock, when I arrived, Pang Yun was already waiting here. He was standing under that tree, holding his pay slip, and he started cursing at me as soon as he saw me..." He raised his hand and pointed to an old locust tree on the east side of the open space, with a few withered yellow leaves still hanging on its branches. "He said, 'Zhao Weiguo, if you don't give me my wages today, I'll go to the labor department and sue you, and make your factory go bankrupt.' I told him, 'Give me another half month, and I'll give you my wages once the cash flow improves.' He disagreed and even rushed over and pushed my shoulder, almost making me fall."

The technical team members immediately went to the old locust tree and compared it with Zhao Weiguo's description and record: "The identified scene is under the old locust tree on the east side of the open space, which is consistent with the location of the cigarette butts and shoe prints found in the previous investigation, and is consistent with the characteristics of the core area of ​​the crime scene."

Wang Shuai pressed on, "And then? How did you lay a hand on Pang Yun?"

Zhao Weiguo's breathing became rapid, his hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white from the force: "I got angry and started arguing with him. He kept hurling insults at me, calling me a 'heartless boss who'd get his comeuppance sooner or later,' and even bent down to pick up a stone from the ground to throw at me. I was afraid he'd really hit me, so I rushed over and grabbed his neck with both hands, trying to stop him from cursing..." He raised his hands, making a choking motion, his right index finger involuntarily bending. "I was so angry at the time that I couldn't control my strength. He struggled fiercely, his hands flailing wildly, and he even scratched my arm, leaving several scratch marks..."

Wang Shuai immediately had his team examine Zhao Weiguo's arm. Sure enough, they found several shallow scars on the inside of his left arm. Although they had healed, the marks were still clearly visible. "Were these scratches left by Pang Yun when he struggled?" Wang Shuai asked.

“Yes…” Zhao Weiguo’s voice was choked with sobs. “He struggled for about a minute, then his body went limp and his head tilted to one side. When I let go, he was already dead, but his eyes were still open. I was so scared that my legs went weak, and I sat on the ground stunned for a long time before I remembered to hide the body.”

This detail perfectly matched the autopsy report by forensic pathologist Zhang Kai—Pang Yun's neck muscles showed obvious strangulation marks, and her hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage were fractured, consistent with the characteristics of "death by strangulation with both hands." The scratch marks on Zhao Weiguo's left arm also confirmed that Pang Yun had struggled violently before her death. The technical team members photographed and recorded the scratch marks, corroborating the note in the autopsy report that "the deceased showed signs of struggling before death," and ticked it off in the evidence book.

Afterwards, Wang Shuai led Zhao Weiguo to warehouse number 13 in the South Suburb Logistics Park. The police car drove along a familiar road, and Zhao Weiguo's head remained pressed against the car window, watching the trees flash by outside, his eyes filled with remorse. "That night, I stayed in the open space for about an hour, and after making sure no one was passing by, I went to the machinery factory's warehouse and got a handcart..." he suddenly began, his voice low, "The handcart was red, and it was usually kept at the warehouse entrance. I pushed the handcart back to the open space, and loaded Pang Yun's body onto the cart. His body was very heavy, and it took me a lot of effort to lift it up. I also accidentally dropped his black canvas bag on the ground. When I picked it up, his ID card fell out. I was afraid of being recognized, so I stuffed the ID card and pay slips into the bag, thinking I would throw them away later."

The police car arrived at the entrance of warehouse number 13 in the logistics park. The warehouse door was still locked, and tire tracks from the previous investigation remained on the ground in front of the entrance. "You used a handcart to push the body through the gap in the west wall and then carried it into the warehouse, right?" Wang Shuai asked, pointing to the gap in the wall. The barbed wire there was still cut, and the brown soil below the gap contrasted sharply with the concrete of the logistics park. (End of Chapter)