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

At 5 p.m. on Wednesday, a cool breeze rustled the roadside weeds as the wind blew down from the foot of Dongshan Coal Mine. Wang Shuai, along with his team members Xiao Li and Xiao Zhang, walked along the winding mountain road towards nearby Dongshan Village—the closest village to the abandoned mine. It had about 50 households, mostly families of former coal mine workers. After the mine closed, some remained in the village to farm or do odd jobs. As arranged by Lu Chuan, they were to conduct interviews there, searching for clues related to the case.

“Let’s split up. I’ll go to the east end of the village, Xiao Li to the west end, and Xiao Zhang to the middle. Focus on asking if anyone has seen a strange man enter the village in the past two weeks, or if anyone has frequently traveled to or from the coal mine, especially those wearing black coats and of a strong build. If anything is unclear, contact us by phone immediately,” Wang Shuai said to his team, pointing in three directions from the village entrance. The three then headed off towards their respective target areas, their shadows long in the setting sun.

Wang Shuai first arrived at the first house at the east end of the village. An elderly woman was tidying up dried corn in the yard. "Hello, ma'am, we're from the police station. We'd like to ask you about something," Wang Shuai said gently, showing his identification.

The old woman stopped what she was doing, looked up and sized up Wang Shuai: "Officer, what's wrong? Is there some trouble in the village?"

“It’s not about the village. It’s about the abandoned mine shaft at Dongshan Coal Mine. A body was found there today. We’d like to ask you if you’ve seen any strange men around the mine shaft in the past two weeks, or if you’ve seen anyone heading towards the mine shaft?” Wang Shuai asked.

The old woman paused for a moment, then her face lit up with surprise: "Someone died in the mine? Oh dear, that place has been abandoned for years, how could someone have died there!" She put down the corn she was holding, sat on the stone bench in the yard, and began to recall carefully, "For the past two weeks... I go to the mountain to collect firewood every morning. About ten days ago, I saw a man walking towards the mine. He was wearing dark blue overalls, carrying a black bag, and walking very fast, looking like he was in a hurry. I was wondering what was so interesting about going to the mine, so I glanced at him a few more times. He seemed to notice me looking at him, and he turned around and glared at me, which scared me so much that I quickly left."

"Do you remember the man's height and build? Were there any other obvious features, such as a scar on his face or wearing a hat?" Wang Shuai's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked, while signaling Xiao Li to take notes.

The old woman frowned and thought for a moment: "He's about 170 centimeters tall, of medium build, not wearing a hat, his hair is a bit long and covers his forehead, I didn't see any scars on his face, but his complexion wasn't good, he looked very haggard. Oh, and the black bag he was carrying looked heavy, I wonder what was in it."

"When you saw him, around what time in the morning? Which direction did he come from, and which entrance of the mine did he go towards?"

"It was probably around 7 a.m., not long after dawn. He came from the road at the foot of the mountain, heading towards the main entrance of the mine," the old woman replied.

Wang Shuai jotted down this information in his notebook, wondering: Could this man in dark blue overalls and carrying a black bag be connected to the body in the mine? Could the black bag contain tools used in the crime, or something used to move the body? But so far, there was only the old woman's testimony, without any other corroborating evidence, so his identity and motives remained uncertain. After leaving the old woman's house, Wang Shuai visited three other households at the east end of the village. Two of the households said they hadn't been to the area around the mine for nearly half a month and hadn't seen any strange men. Only the male head of one household mentioned that about a week ago, while smoking in front of his house one evening, he saw a white van parked on the side of the road at the foot of the mountain with its lights off. About 20 minutes later, the van drove away, heading towards the town. "The van looked old, and there seemed to be scratches on the body, but I didn't see the license plate number clearly, and I didn't see anyone get out of the car," the man said.

Wang Shuai pressed further, "Are you sure it was a week ago last night? Around what time?"

"I'm sure, it was my son's birthday that day. I was at home with him blowing out the candles, around 8 o'clock, when I went out for a smoke and saw it," the man of the house said with certainty.

A white van? Wang Shuai wondered to himself, could the suspect have used the van to transport the body to the vicinity of the mine, and then carried it on foot into the mine to dispose of it? But the van had no license plate number, and there were no other witnesses, so this lead could not be investigated further for the time being.

At 6:5 PM, Wang Shuai arrived in the middle of the village and met up with Xiao Zhang. Xiao Zhang said dejectedly, "Brother Hui, I visited 10 households in the middle of the village, and most said they hadn't seen any strange men. Only one child said that about five days ago, he saw two men arguing at the village entrance. One man was wearing a black coat, and the other a gray shirt. He couldn't hear what they were arguing about, and then the two men walked in different directions. But the child is too young, only 8 years old, and can't describe the men's features clearly, nor does he know if they went towards the mine."

"Could the two men the child mentioned arguing be the same two strangers Zhou Mingqiang saw?" Wang Shuai frowned. "If it really is them, were they arguing at the village entrance because of a dispute over the division of the loot, or because of a conflict that arose during the crime?" But these are all just guesses, without any actual evidence to support them, making it difficult to advance the case.

Afterwards, the two visited several households at the west end of the village and met Mr. Zhang, an old miner who used to work at the Dongshan Coal Mine. Mr. Zhang is 65 years old and has been living in the village since retirement. He is very familiar with the area around the coal mine. Upon hearing that a body had been found in the mine, Mr. Zhang sighed: "That mine used to be the livelihood of many people in our village. It closed down due to an accident and has been abandoned ever since. In recent years, occasionally scavengers have gone in to look for scrap metal, and some mischievous children have gone in to explore, but nothing like this has ever happened before."

"Uncle Zhang, you must be very familiar with the structure of the mine when you worked there, right? Besides the main entrance, are there any other hidden entrances, or places suitable for hiding things or dumping bodies?" Wang Shuai asked.

Grandpa Zhang nodded: "The mine's structure is very complex. Besides the main entrance, there are three secondary entrances, but they've all been sealed off for several years. I don't know if they've been opened yet. Also, there are many abandoned tunnels inside the mine. Some of these tunnels are very deep and well-hidden; if someone wanted to hide something or dump a body, it would be easy to find a place. However, most of those tunnels are unsafe and could collapse at any time." (End of Chapter)