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

Tang Hu's body trembled slightly: "I...I'll go to the mountains to clear my head, is that not allowed?"

"You need to go for a walk at 7 a.m. and then again at 8 p.m.?" Wang Shuai pulled out the coal mine safety production log and compensation list. "The roof collapse accident a year ago was caused by your failure to conduct safety inspections as required, and you are responsible for it. After Li Jianjun was injured, you not only refused to cooperate with the compensation but also threatened him, didn't you?"

Tang Hu's face grew paler and paler. After a long silence, he said in a low voice, "The accident was indeed my responsibility, but I was just doing what the boss asked me to do. The boss ran away, and there was nothing I could do. Li Jianjun asked me for compensation, and I could only send him away. Threatening him was just a momentary impulse."

"So when you went to the coal mine last Wednesday, did you go to see Li Jianjun?" Wang Shuai pressed. "The 'Hongtashan' cigarette butts extracted from the mine are the same brand of cigarettes you usually smoke, and the metal powder from the scratches on the rock wall is the same material as the wrench in your van. What else do you have to say?"

Upon hearing "cigarette butt" and "metal powder," Tang Hu's body instantly slumped into his chair, tears streaming down his face: "I...I didn't mean to kill him, he forced me to!"

"What exactly happened? Tell us the truth!" Wang Shuai said sternly.

Tang Hu wiped away his tears and slowly said, “After the accident a year ago, I was always worried that Li Jianjun would expose the accident and affect my work. Last Tuesday, I ran into him at the construction site entrance and said to him, ‘There’s scrap metal in the mine, let’s go take a look and we can split the money with him.’ I wanted to take this opportunity to talk to him and ask him to stop pursuing the accident. At 7 a.m. on October 11, I drove to pick up Li Jianjun and we went to the Dongshan Coal Mine. In the mine, I told him, ‘Don’t mention the accident anymore, I’ll give you 20,000 yuan in compensation,’ but he disagreed and said, ‘I don’t want the money, I want you to admit responsibility for the accident and give the other injured miners an explanation.’ We argued, and he became very agitated and threatened to report me. I panicked and picked up a piece of discarded rock in the mine, smashing it against his left rib. He fell to the ground and stopped breathing. I was terrified, so I covered his body with slag and drove away. At 8 p.m., I went back to check on him, afraid that the body would be discovered, and only returned after confirming that everything was alright.”

"Why did you choose to commit the crime in the mine?" Wang Shuai asked.

“The mine is remote, nobody goes there, and it's not easy to be discovered.” Tang Hu lowered his head. “I know Li Jianjun is honest and trusting, so I tricked him into going to the mine by saying I was looking for scrap metal. I didn’t expect him to insist on reporting me, so I acted impulsively…”

Thus, the truth behind the Dongshan Coal Mine underground murder case was finally revealed. Tang Hu, responsible for a work safety accident a year prior and fearing Li Jianjun would report him, lured him to the mine, where an argument ensued, and he murdered Li Jianjun, dumping his body inside the mine.

At 10 p.m., Wang Shuai reported the interrogation results to Lu Chuan. Lu Chuan looked at the interrogation record and breathed a sigh of relief: "Finally, the case is solved. Li Jianjun can rest in peace now."

The turning point in the case stemmed from Wang Shuai's investigation into the coal mine safety accident. From a yellowed safety logbook to blank spaces on the compensation list, and then to conversations with veteran miners, he gradually unraveled the mystery of the accident a year prior, ultimately identifying the suspect as Tang Hu. Solving this case not only brought justice to Li Jianjun but also ensured accountability for the safety accident a year ago, demonstrating the fairness and justice of the law. On Friday morning, Tang Hu was formally arrested on suspicion of intentional homicide, and the case entered the review and prosecution stage. After learning the truth, Li Jianjun's wife, Wang Li, came to the Criminal Investigation Detachment to thank Wang Shuai and others: "Thank you, Jianjun can rest in peace now." Looking at Wang Li's haggard face, Wang Shuai was filled with emotion—the solving of every case is a consolation to the deceased, an explanation to the living, and also the responsibility and mission of criminal investigation police officers.

Sunlight streamed through the windows of the Criminal Investigation Division, illuminating the case files on the desks. The case of the "Dongshan Coal Mine Corpse Case" had finally come to a successful conclusion. But Wang Shuai knew that this was just one of many cases; there were still many clues to follow and many more truths to uncover. He would continue to carry this responsibility and forge ahead firmly on the path of criminal investigation.

At 9 a.m. on Friday, the fog at Dongshan Coal Mine had not yet completely dissipated, and the air was filled with the damp smell of coal dust. Tang Hu, escorted by two police officers, was handcuffed and shackled as he walked step by step toward the main entrance of the abandoned mine shaft. He was wearing prison clothes, his head bowed low, his face pale, and his legs trembling slightly—eight days had passed since he murdered Li Jianjun, and returning to the place where he had hidden the body, fear and remorse were intertwined on his face.

Wang Shuai and his survey team were already waiting outside the mine. The area was cordoned off with caution tape. Yang Lin and Yang Sen, holding the on-site investigation records and photos, were preparing to verify the details identified by Tang Hu one by one. "Tang Hu, what you need to do now is to truthfully identify the specific location and process of how you murdered Li Jianjun and disposed of the body. Not a single detail can be omitted." Wang Shuai walked up to Tang Hu, his tone serious. "Every trace at the scene has been recorded. If you conceal or fabricate anything, it will only aggravate your crime."

Tang Hu raised his head, his eyes darting away from the darkness of the mine entrance, nodded, and said in a hoarse voice, "I...I know, I will tell the truth."

Escorted by police officers, Tang Hu entered the mine. The mine was still dimly lit; the beams of his survey lamp cast flickering shadows on the rock walls, and water droplets dripped from them, the "drip-drip" sound particularly clear in the silence. He walked slowly, each step seeming to be under immense psychological pressure, until he reached a point about 50 meters from the main entrance. Suddenly, he stopped and pointed to a disturbed pile of slag on the ground: "It's...it's here. I hid Li Jianjun's body here."

Yang Lin immediately compared the scene investigation photos with the actual photos, finding that the shape of the slag heap matched perfectly with the "moved slag around the body" in the photos. "How did you cover the body? What tools did you use?" Yang Lin asked, while instructing his team to measure the area of ​​the slag heap with a ruler.

Tang Hu's gaze fell on a worn-out wooden plank beside the slag heap, his voice trembling: "That morning, I tricked Li Jianjun into going to the mine entrance in a van, saying, 'The scrap metal is inside, come in and take a look.' He was carrying a black canvas bag containing a wrench and a flashlight, and he walked in front, with me following behind. When we got here, I brought up the matter of compensation with him, but he disagreed and even said he would report me, so we started arguing."

He pointed to his left ribcage and recounted the action: "He was very agitated and reached out to push me. In my haste, I saw a fist-sized piece of discarded rock on the ground nearby—the kind with sharp edges and covered in mineral dust. I bent down, picked it up, and smashed it against his left ribcage." This location perfectly matches the site of injury found in the autopsy: "5-centimeter subcutaneous bruising on Li Jianjun's left ribcage and a ruptured spleen." (End of Chapter)