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

"What was his reaction after he was hit?" Wang Shuai pressed, while also having his team extract rock samples to compare with the characteristics of "uneven surface of blunt force" observed in the autopsy.

"He let out a soft 'Ah!', clutching his left ribs with both hands, and slowly collapsed to the ground. The flashlight fell from his hands and lay beside him, its beam flickering a few times against the rock wall before going out." Tang Hu's voice trailed off. "I panicked. I knelt down and touched his nose; he was already dead. Afraid of being discovered, I grabbed some slag from the side and piled it over his body, covering him until only a sliver of his clothing was visible—what you saw later was probably what it looked like when I hadn't covered him properly." This perfectly matched the on-site investigation's conclusion that "the body was simply covered with slag, not completely hidden."

Yang Sen, holding a photo of a cigarette butt, walked to the other side of the mine, about 2 meters away: "Tang Hu, look here, isn't this where you smoked back then?" The location of the cigarette butt in the photo was exactly where Tang Hu was looking at at that moment.

Tang Hu nodded, his eyes becoming even more evasive: "After I finished covering the slag heap, I was scared, so I came here, squatted down, took out a cigarette, and lit it. I just threw the cigarette butt on the ground... I usually smoke 'Hongtashan,' the same as this one." He pointed to the cigarette butt in the photo, which perfectly matched the brand and location of the "Hongtashan" cigarette butts extracted from the mine.

Tang Hu was then taken to a spot on the rock face with scratches. Yang Lin pointed to an irregular 10-centimeter-long scratch and asked, "How did you get this scratch? Did you leave it?"

“It was… I made this when I was moving slag.” Tang Hu lowered his head. “I was trying to find a larger rock to weigh down the slag. When I was moving the rock, I wasn’t paying attention, and the edge of the rock scraped against the rock wall, leaving this mark.” He gestured with his hand to show the movement he was making. The direction of the scratch matched the “rock scraping” trajectory he described. Furthermore, the metal powder extracted from the scratch on the rock wall was later tested and found to be of the same origin as the iron material of the wrench in Tang Hu’s van—further confirming his confession.

"After you hit Li Jianjun, did he struggle? Did he inhale any mineral dust?" Wang Shuai recalled the key finding in the autopsy that "there was a small amount of mineral dust in his trachea" and continued to ask.

Tang Hu recalled for a moment, his tone filled with guilt: "After he fell to the ground, he seemed to take a few more breaths, his chest rose and fell a couple of times, and his mouth was open, probably because he inhaled the mineral dust on the ground... I was too scared at the time, I didn't dare to look any longer, and I left as soon as I finished covering the slag." This is completely consistent with the autopsy's conclusion that "the deceased was still breathing in the mine and had inhaled mineral dust into his trachea," and it also confirms the judgment that "the mine was the primary crime scene."

The identification process lasted for more than an hour. Tang Hu confirmed one by one the route he took to lure Li Jianjun into the mine, the location of the rock that hit Li Jianjun, the slag heap that covered the body, the location where he discarded the cigarette butt, and the cause of the scratches on the rock wall. Every detail corresponded precisely with the results of the previous on-site investigation and autopsy: the location of the body and the traces of slag covering, the injury to the left rib and the rock hitting, the brand of the cigarette butt and the location of its disposal, the scratches on the rock wall and the carrying action, the mineral powder in the trachea and the state of breathing before death. All the clues formed a complete chain of evidence, which completely reconstructed the entire process of Tang Hu killing Li Jianjun and dumping the body in the mine.

When Tang Hu walked out of the mine, his clothes were soaked with sweat. He slumped down on the open ground outside the mine, tears streaming down his face: "I'm sorry to Li Jianjun, and I'm sorry to his family... If I had been calmer at the time, I wouldn't have made such a big mistake."

Looking at the densely packed verification results in the on-site logbook, Wang Shuai breathed a long sigh of relief. From the discovery of the body in the mine, to the deadlock in the investigation, to finding a breakthrough through the safety accident, and finally to Tang Hu's identification confirming all the clues, the investigation of this case was full of twists and turns, but the precise correspondence of every detail made the truth clearer. "Take Tang Hu back to the branch, and proceed with the evidence collection and case transfer according to procedure," Wang Shuai said to his team. The police officers escorted Tang Hu into the police car, and the siren gradually faded into the distance, disappearing into the mountains of Dongshan Coal Mine.

Yang Lin put away the investigation record and said to Wang Shuai, "All the identification details are consistent with the investigation and autopsy results. The chain of evidence is complete, and the case can be closed."

Wang Shuai nodded, looking towards the mine entrance: "Li Jianjun's family can finally get an explanation, and this case can be considered to have come to a satisfactory conclusion."

Sunlight gradually dispelled the fog, casting its rays onto the warning tape outside the mine. This tragedy, stemming from a workplace safety accident, finally came to a close with the detailed reconstruction of the scene. The fairness and rigor of the law not only comforted the souls of the deceased but also provided a clear answer to everyone who followed the case—any attempt to cover up a crime will ultimately be exposed in the face of evidence.

Less than a week after the Tang Hu case was closed, the administrative branch received another report that a body had been found in the attic of the fertilizer plant dormitory.

The initial investigation into the case of the body found in the attic of the Shengli Fertilizer Plant has fallen into mystery.
At three o'clock on Saturday afternoon, the dormitory building of Shengli Fertilizer Plant was scorching hot under the blazing sun. The walls, covered with fertilizer dust over the years, were an uneven grayish-white. Security guard Lao Zhou, gripping his patrol baton, trudged heavily up the stairs to the third floor—this dormitory building was the oldest in the factory, housing shift workers. Most of them were at work at this moment, and the corridor was so quiet that only the sound of his own footsteps and the distant roar of machines from the workshop could be heard.

"Strange, what's that smell?" Just as he reached the corner on the third floor, Old Zhou suddenly frowned, a faint, foul odor lingering around his nose, like rotten vegetables mixed with some kind of putrid smell. He followed the scent and finally stopped in front of the iron door to the attic—this door was usually locked, and inside were piles of discarded old bed boards and broken cardboard boxes, only opened during the monthly deep cleaning.

A thin layer of dust covered the padlock, but the keyhole was unusually clean. Old Zhou's heart tightened. He took the spare key from his waist and inserted it into the lock. With a soft "click," the lock opened. A stench instantly rushed out, causing him to take two steps back, his stomach churning. He covered his mouth and nose, pulled his phone from his pocket, and turned on the flashlight. The beam of light trembled as it swept into the attic.

The attic was cramped, with a sloping ceiling, and a narrow passageway, barely wide enough for one person, was left between piles of clutter. The source of the stench was at the very back—there lay a person, curled up on their side, covered by a tarpaulin stained with oil, the edges of which were soaked with dried, scabbed dark brown stains. Old Zhou's flashlight beam rested on the person's exposed ankle; the skin was an unnatural bluish-gray, lifeless. (End of Chapter)