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

The investigation officially began that afternoon. Zhang Hui personally led a team to visit the three companies involved in the chemical product trade. The first company was Hengxin Chemical Trading Company, located in the city's science and technology park. The company's manager received them. "Tang Hu did indeed take a few orders from us, mainly helping to translate some English chemical product manuals and organize customs declaration documents," the manager said, showing them Tang Hu's work records. "He was very meticulous, and the documents were organized very neatly. We cooperated very well and there were no conflicts. Moreover, we deal in industrial chemical raw materials, such as methanol and ethanol. He was only responsible for the paperwork and shouldn't have directly handled these raw materials." The investigators checked Tang Hu's work records, which matched the manager's statement. Furthermore, all the company employees had a good impression of Tang Hu and no conflicts had occurred. Therefore, this company was temporarily ruled out as a suspect.

The second company was Shengtai Import & Export Co., Ltd., located in a suburban industrial park, which mainly deals in the export of chemical products. "Tang Hu only worked with us on one short-term project, helping to follow up on an order for chemical products exported to Southeast Asia," said the company's foreign trade manager. "This project ended two months ago, and there were no problems during the cooperation. However, he did go to our warehouse at that time, saying he wanted to understand the packaging and transportation requirements of the products. That's probably when he came into contact with the chemical raw materials." The investigation team retrieved the company's warehouse entry and exit records and surveillance footage, confirming that Tang Hu had visited the warehouse three times during the project, but each time he was accompanied by company employees. The surveillance footage showed that he only looked around the warehouse from the outside and did not enter the raw material storage area. After interviewing the company's employees, no one was found to have had any conflicts with Tang Hu, and this company was also ruled out as a suspect.

After failing to find anything at the first two companies, the team members were understandably discouraged. "Don't be discouraged, everyone. There's still one last company, Kaishengda Cosmetics Foreign Trade Company. We must investigate carefully and not overlook any detail," Zhang Hui encouraged them. Kaishengda Cosmetics Foreign Trade Company was located in an office building near Chuangtian Building, less than two kilometers from the crime scene, which gave Zhang Hui a glimmer of hope. At 9:00 AM the next morning, Zhang Hui led his team to Kaishengda Cosmetics Foreign Trade Company. Upon learning their purpose, the company's receptionist immediately contacted Manager Wang, the company's manager.

Manager Wang, a woman in her forties, looked surprised upon hearing the news of Tang Hu's murder. "Tang Hu? He did work with our company. Just two weeks ago, he had a fight with us over an order. I never expected him to get into trouble." Manager Wang's words instantly energized Zhang Hui and his team. This was the first time their investigation had uncovered any conflict between Tang Hu and a partner company. "Manager Wang, could you please describe the situation in detail? What caused the fight? Who did he clash with?" Zhang Hui asked quickly.

Manager Wang sighed and recalled, "About two weeks ago, Tang Hu helped our company follow up on an order for imported cosmetic raw materials from France, handling document preparation and customs clearance. The agreement was that we would pay him 5000 yuan after he completed all the work. However, after the order was completed, our salesperson, Chen Kaifeng, discovered that Tang Hu had written the wrong product specification in one of the customs documents. Although it didn't ultimately affect the customs clearance, it almost caused trouble. Chen Kaifeng went to Tang Hu, asking him to take some responsibility and deduct 2000 yuan from his payment. Tang Hu disagreed, and the two argued, eventually even getting into a fight."

"Chen Kaifeng? Is he in the company now? We'd like to ask him about the situation," Zhang Hui immediately pressed. Manager Wang nodded: "Yes, he's in the sales department. I'll call him over right away." A few minutes later, a man about 180cm tall and with a muscular build followed Manager Wang into the conference room. The man was wearing a white shirt with the cuffs rolled up, revealing his strong arms, and his eyes held a hint of wariness. "This is Officer Zhang from the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment. They want to ask you about the conflict you had with Tang Hu two weeks ago," Manager Wang introduced.

Zhang Hui carefully examined the man before him. He was about 180cm tall and weighed approximately 78kg, which closely matched the physique of the perpetrator deduced during the crime scene investigation: about 180cm tall and weighing 75-80kg. Furthermore, he appeared to be around 35 years old, consistent with the characteristics of an adult perpetrator. "Are you Chen Kaifeng?" Zhang Hui asked. The man nodded. "Yes, officer. What do you need me for? Tang Hu and I only had a minor disagreement, which we resolved a long time ago."

"Resolved? How was it resolved? Tell me in detail what happened, including the whole argument and fight, don't leave out any details." Zhang Hui's tone was serious. Chen Kaifeng frowned, seemingly reluctant to recall the scene, but under Zhang Hui's gaze, he still spoke up: "Half a month ago, Tang Hu helped our company with the customs declaration for imported cosmetic raw materials. He wrote down the wrong specification for one of the raw materials. Luckily, Chen Kaifeng discovered it when checking, otherwise there would definitely have been a problem with the customs declaration. It would not only have delayed the order delivery, but we might also have faced penalties from customs. I found him and told him about this, asking him to take some responsibility and deduct 2000 yuan from his payment. He disagreed, saying it was just a small mistake and that it didn't cause any loss in the end, so why should I deduct money? We started arguing, and he said some very rude things and even pushed me. I got angry and started fighting with him."

"How did you fight? Did anyone else see it?" Zhang Hui continued to press. Chen Kaifeng said, "It was in the sales department office. He pushed me, and I pushed him back. Then we started fighting and exchanged a few punches. There were other colleagues in the office at the time, and they quickly pulled us apart. In the end, Manager Wang mediated and we both compromised. We still gave Tang Hu the 5000 yuan reward as originally agreed, and that was the end of it." To verify Chen Kaifeng's account, Zhang Hui immediately asked Manager Wang to call over the colleagues who were present at the time.

Several colleagues' accounts largely corroborated Chen Kaifeng's. They all stated that Tang Hu and Chen Kaifeng did indeed have a heated argument over the order, which escalated into a physical altercation. The two men wrestled, Tang Hu's clothes were torn, and Chen Kaifeng sustained a cut on his face. "Tang Hu was very agitated at the time, accusing Chen Kaifeng of deliberately picking a fight and saying he wanted revenge," one colleague recalled. "Chen Kaifeng was also very angry, saying Tang Hu wasn't serious about his work and had the nerve to ask for payment. The two argued until they were red in the face; if we hadn't pulled them apart, the fight might have gotten even worse." (End of Chapter)