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

"Oh my god!" Old Zhou was terrified, his phone falling to the ground with a thud, the beam of light flashing wildly on the ceiling. He scrambled out of the attic, gasping for breath as he gripped the stair railing. It took him a while to recover before he shakily pulled out his phone and dialed 110. "Hello! Officers! Someone's dead in the attic of the third floor of the old dormitory building at Shengli Fertilizer Plant! Come quick!"

Forty minutes later, Lu Chuan arrived at the fertilizer plant gate in his Criminal Investigation Team vehicle. The red police lights were still blinding under the blazing sun. The team members, carrying investigation kits and cordon tape, hurried towards the dormitory building, attracting a crowd of onlookers from the departing workers. "Zhang, Liu, cordon off the area. Prevent unauthorized personnel from approaching, especially the dormitory residents. Register their information one by one and don't let them leave the factory area for now," Lu Chuan instructed as he walked, his black police uniform soaked with sweat and clinging to his back.

In the third-floor hallway, Old Zhou was squatting in the corner smoking, oblivious to the ash that had spilled all over his pants. Seeing Lu Chuan, he quickly stubbed out his cigarette and approached, his voice still trembling: "Officer Lu, it's upstairs. I didn't dare touch anything, so I locked the door."

“You did the right thing.” Lu Chuan patted him on the shoulder, then turned to Yang Lin and Yang Sen behind him and said, “You two go in first to conduct a preliminary investigation. Focus on recording the location of the body, the scene environment, and whether there are any obvious signs of a crime. Be careful to protect the scene and don’t destroy any physical evidence. Wang Shuai, you stay here and question Lao Zhou. Find out the details of the discovery of the body and any recent unusual events in the dormitory.”

Yang Lin and Yang Sen put on gloves and shoe covers, and entered the attic with their investigation lights and notebooks. The attic was unbearably hot and stuffy, filled with a suffocating stench of fertilizer dust. Yang Sen turned on a small fan he carried to circulate the air slightly, while Yang Lin carefully scanned the surroundings with his investigation light. "The body is located at the innermost part of the attic, about five meters from the iron door, in a left lateral position, covered with a blue canvas, which shows obvious drag marks," Yang Lin reported, while drawing the outline of the body on the ground with chalk. "Several empty fertilizer bags are scattered around, and there are irregular dust wiping marks on the ground, as if someone deliberately cleaned it."

Yang Sen crouched down and carefully lifted a corner of the canvas—the body was male, wearing blue fertilizer factory work clothes, with oil stains on the collar and cuffs, disheveled hair, and his face obscured by long hair. He used tweezers to pick up a dark fiber from the cuff of the work clothes and put it into the evidence bag: "The clothes are intact, with no obvious tears, but there are a few unidentified fibers on the cuffs, which need to be tested when we get back." He then examined the debris around the body, "These old bed boards are all neatly stacked, but one of the bed boards near the body shows signs of having been moved, and the floor underneath is cleaner than the rest, as if it had been recently moved and put back."

"Check for any leftover tools or personal belongings." Yang Lin's investigation light swept across the cracks in the ground and found a cigarette butt next to a pile of broken cardboard boxes. "There's a cigarette butt here, the filter is facing outwards, it looks like it was just thrown away recently. The cigarette is a 'Liqun' brand, let's take it back for DNA comparison." He then noticed the attic window, the frame was rusty, and there was a new crack in the glass. "The window is locked from the inside, but the glass is broken, the edges of the break are sharp, and there is no obvious dust covering it, so it may have been broken recently."

Meanwhile, in the hallway, Wang Shuai was holding a notebook, asking Lao Zhou detailed questions. "Master Zhou, how often do you patrol the dormitory building? Has anyone ever been to this attic area before?"

Old Zhou took a sip of mineral water, and his emotions calmed down a bit: "I and two other security guards take turns patrolling twice a day, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The attic is usually locked, and only the three of us security guards and Director Zhang from the logistics department have the key. In the past, some workers would occasionally try to go in and steal old bed boards, but after we chased them away, no one dared to come."

"Have you noticed anything unusual recently? For example, strangers entering or leaving the dormitory building, or someone loitering near the attic?" Wang Shuai pressed, his pen moving quickly across the notebook.

Old Zhou frowned as he recalled, "There weren't any strangers. The factory is strictly managed, and outsiders can't get in. But about a week ago, when I was on patrol in the early morning, I saw a dark figure flash by on the third floor. I thought it was a worker coming back from the night shift. I called out, but no one answered. When I chased after him, he was gone. Also, Director Zhang from logistics came to me three days ago and said that the lock on the attic wasn't working well and asked me to replace it. I haven't had time to replace it yet because I've been busy with the safety inspection in the workshop."

"What's Director Zhang's name? Why did he suddenly want to change the lock on the attic?" Wang Shuai keenly grasped this detail.

“His name is Zhang Jianguo, and he’s in charge of the dormitories and logistics.” Old Zhou scratched his head. “He didn’t say the specific reason, just that the lock cylinder was a bit loose and not safe. By the way, about half a month ago, Li Dahai, a worker who lives on the third floor, complained to me that he could always smell a strange odor at night, like it was coming from the attic. But when I went up to check, I didn’t find anything unusual, so I thought he was mistaken.”

"Which room does Li Dahai stay in? Who is he usually on good terms with? Has he ever made enemies with anyone?"

“He lives in room 302. He’s an operator. He’s not very talkative and is close to Old Wang from the workshop. I’ve never heard of him making enemies, but he’s a bit stubborn. He had a fight with Director Zhang over attendance last time,” Old Zhou added. “However, Li Dahai hasn’t come to work for three days. I heard he took leave and went back to his hometown.”

Wang Shuai's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly wrote down the names "Li Dahai" and "Zhang Jianguo": "Do you have Li Dahai and Zhang Jianguo's contact information? Also, show me the dormitory entry and exit register for the past month."

The initial investigation of the attic was now complete. Yang Lin and Yang Sen came out and reported the situation to Lu Chuan. "Captain Lu, the preliminary assessment of the scene is that it was a homicide. The identity of the body is yet to be confirmed, and the estimated time of death is approximately 3-5 days. A cigarette butt and some unidentified fibers were recovered from the scene. There were signs of cleaning on the floor, and the window glass was broken, so the possibility that the murderer escaped through the window cannot be ruled out." Yang Lin handed over the preliminary investigation report. "In addition, the lock cylinder of the attic was intact, but the keyhole showed signs of recent insertion and removal, suggesting that the murderer used a key to open the attic door, or had a key made."

Lu Chuan took the report, his brow furrowed. "Contact the technical department immediately and send the extracted evidence for testing as soon as possible. Wang Shuai, take some men to find Zhang Jianguo and Li Dahai right away and verify their identities and recent whereabouts, especially Li Dahai. He hasn't been to work for three days and then took leave to go back to his hometown; there's a lot of suspicion there." He then looked at Old Zhou, "Master Zhou, could you please provide us with a list of people who have the attic key and their contact information? We need to verify them one by one." (End of Chapter)