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

Zhao Weiguo nodded, walked to the gap in the wall, and pointed to the ground: "I pushed the cart in from here. I cut the barbed wire at the gap a few days ago to make it easier to get in and out. When the cart reached the door of warehouse number 13, the wheels got stuck on the threshold. I kicked the cart to push it in. I even heard a 'bang,' like the cart hit the warehouse door frame..."

The technical team immediately checked the warehouse door frame and found a minor collision mark on the right side, with slight paint peeling off, exactly matching Zhao Weiguo's description of "the cart hitting the door frame." "During the previous investigation, we found drag marks inside the warehouse. Were those left when you moved the body from the cart to the center of the warehouse?" Wang Shuai asked.

“Yes…” Zhao Weiguo’s voice trailed off. “After I pushed the cart into the warehouse, I dragged Pang Yun’s body out of the truck bed and to the center of the warehouse. Because there was dust on the ground, I left a trail. I also checked the doors and windows of the warehouse to make sure they were locked before I pushed the handcart back to the machinery factory warehouse. Then I drove home and covered the license plate with tape on the way, afraid of being caught on camera.”

This detail perfectly corroborated the clues discovered in the earlier investigation, such as "arc-shaped drag marks in warehouse No. 13", "the wheel marks of the handcart match the passage marks", and "the wire mesh in the gap of the wall was newly cut". The technical team members recorded these correspondences one by one, and the last few gaps in the chain of evidence were completely filled in by Zhao Weiguo's identification.

Finally, Wang Shuai led Zhao Weiguo to the riverbank on the outskirts of the city—the location Zhao Weiguo had indicated where he had "discarded the black canvas bag." The river water was murky, and the reeds on the bank rustled in the wind. Several team members had already prepared their retrieval tools and were waiting near the area Zhao Weiguo had pointed out.

“This is the place where I threw Pang Yun’s black canvas bag into the river…” Zhao Weiguo stood on the riverbank, pointing to the middle of the river. “That night, after I finished disposing of the body, I drove by here, stopped the car, and threw the bag out the window. The bag splashed water when it hit the water. I watched it sink before driving away. I didn’t expect you to find it.”

The team members immediately boarded a boat and headed to the area pointed out by Zhao Weiguo, carefully searching the water with a net. About 20 minutes later, a team member shouted, "Found it! It's here!" In the net, a black canvas bag was entangled in water plants. Although swollen from being soaked in the river, its original outline was still faintly discernible. The team members carefully retrieved the canvas bag onto the boat, brought it back to shore, and opened it. Inside, sure enough, was a tattered fragment of an ID card—the name "Pang Yun" and date of birth were still legible—as well as several similarly tattered pay slips, with the words "Chang Sheng Machinery Factory" clearly visible.

The technical team members photographed the fragments of the ID card and pay slip as evidence, comparing them with the photocopies of the ID card and pay slip samples provided by Pang Yun's wife, Liu Mei, and confirmed that they were completely consistent. "The location where Zhao Weiguo discarded the canvas bag and the contents of the bag, as described, completely match the actual retrieval results, further confirming his criminal facts," the technical team members wrote in their investigation log.

By the time the identification was finished, it was getting dark, and a light rain was still falling. Zhao Weiguo was escorted back to the police car by the officers. He glanced back at the riverbank, his eyes filled with despair—he thought he could escape legal punishment by destroying evidence and hiding the body, but he never expected that every detail of the crime would leave indelible traces at the scene, ultimately becoming irrefutable evidence against him.

Standing by the river, Wang Shuai watched as his team packed the salvaged tarpaulin into evidence bags, finally letting out a sigh of relief. From discovering the body to identifying the suspect, from interrogation and confession to on-site identification, every step was fraught with challenges. But ultimately, every detail of Zhao Weiguo's crime perfectly corroborated the on-site investigation, autopsy, and witness testimonies, constructing an irrefutable chain of evidence.

“Captain Wang, all the identification details match the chain of evidence. Zhao Weiguo didn’t lie.” A member of the technical department walked up to Wang Shuai and handed him the investigation report. “The ID card and pay slip fragments in the canvas bag have been sent to the technical department for final identification. Once confirmed, the evidence in this case will be completely solid.”

Wang Shuai nodded, took out his phone and dialed Lu Chuan's number: "Captain Lu, Zhao Weiguo's on-site identification is complete. Every detail of the murder of Pang Yun and the disposal of the body matches our investigation and autopsy results. The canvas bag has also been retrieved, and the ID card and pay slip fragments inside can be confirmed to belong to Pang Yun. The chain of evidence is complete, and it can be transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution."

Lu Chuan's relieved voice came from the other end of the phone: "Good! Thank you all for your hard work. This case was solved so quickly thanks to your meticulous investigation and interrogation. Organize all the materials as soon as possible to give Pang Yun's family a complete explanation and let the deceased rest in peace."

After hanging up the phone, Wang Shuai looked up at the distant sky. The light rain had gradually stopped, and a faint sunset glow appeared on the horizon. He knew that this tragedy, stemming from a wage dispute, had finally come to an end, and the justice of the law would ultimately bring all those involved to justice—Zhao Weiguo had paid the price for his impulsiveness, Pang Yun's injustice had been redressed, and all the sweat and effort shed during the investigation had transformed into the warm glow on the horizon, illuminating the path of justice.

Less than a week after the Pang Yun case was closed, the Criminal Investigation Detachment received another report that a body had been found in an unfinished building on the north side of Huijiayuan Community.

At 2 p.m. on Wednesday, a frantic emergency call shattered the afternoon tranquility in the unfinished building area north of Huijiayuan residential complex. "Hello... Officer! There's a dead body in that unfinished building in Huijiayuan! It's on the third floor of Building 3. I saw it when I went in to look for something. It's terrifying!" The homeless man's voice trembled noticeably on the other end of the line, and the whistling of the wind could be heard in the background.

Forty minutes later, Lu Chuan's police car drove along the potholed construction road into the unfinished building area. This area consisted of five unfinished high-rise buildings, their exterior walls revealing exposed steel and concrete, windows without glass, and the ground littered with discarded bricks, steel bars, and plastic sheeting. Only the occasional scavenger would venture there; it was rarely visited. "Immediately cordon off the area!" Lu Chuan opened the car door, his black leather shoes clicking on the gravel ground, and gave orders to his team behind him. "Use caution tape to cordon off Building 3 and the surrounding 20-meter area, prohibiting unauthorized personnel from entering; Yang Lin and Yang Sen are responsible for the on-site investigation, focusing on the location of the body, surrounding traces, and any items left behind. Be careful of the complex environment inside the unfinished buildings, with lots of gravel on the ground, and avoid disturbing any possible footprints; Wang Shuai and I will go and question the person who reported the incident. The rest of you will stand guard at the entrance of the unfinished buildings, registering recent visitors, especially scavengers and homeless people, to see if anyone has seen any suspicious individuals." (End of Chapter)