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

While the forensic autopsy continued, Wang Shuai led the third investigation team, following Lu Chuan's instructions, to fully dedicate themselves to the surveillance and interviews with residents around the crime scene. Around 1 p.m., Wang Shuai divided the team into two groups: one group visited residential areas and shops within a 500-meter radius of the crime scene, asking early risers, shop owners, and sanitation workers if they had seen any suspicious persons or unusual circumstances before or after the incident; the other group went to the Chengbei District Traffic Police Brigade and the property management offices of surrounding communities and shops to retrieve surveillance footage from the area around the crime scene and Zhang Tiancheng's last known route, focusing on suspicious persons and vehicles between 11:30 p.m. the previous night and 5:00 a.m. on the day of the incident.

Wang Shuai personally led the team to oversee the surveillance investigation. Upon arriving at the Chengbei District Traffic Police Brigade, he explained the situation to the brigade leader and requested assistance in retrieving relevant surveillance footage. "Officer Wang, rest assured, we will fully cooperate." The head of the traffic police brigade's monitoring center immediately arranged for staff to retrieve surveillance footage from the intersection of Binhe West Road and Chaoyang North Road, as well as several other major intersections in the surrounding area. Wang Shuai's team members quickly imported the surveillance footage into their laptops and began reviewing it frame by frame.

"Focus on the crime scene 50 meters west of the intersection of Binhe West Road and Chaoyang North Road, as well as the surrounding surveillance footage of the destination where Zhang Tiancheng last picked up passengers. The time frame is from 10 pm the night before last to 2 am yesterday," Wang Shuai told his team. "Each person is responsible for a surveillance point. Carefully observe every person and vehicle entering and leaving the area, especially the taxi's driving trajectory and passenger pick-up and drop-off. Don't overlook any detail."

The surveillance investigation was tedious and meticulous. The team members kept their eyes glued to the computer screens, afraid of missing any crucial information. Time ticked by, and three hours passed in the blink of an eye. The team members had already reviewed nearly four hours of surveillance footage but had not found any valuable clues. "Team Leader Wang, the surveillance footage at the main intersections around the crime scene between 00:30 and 02:00 yesterday showed no suspicious persons loitering or behaving abnormally, except for the occasional night taxi and private car passing by," a team member reported to Wang Shuai, rubbing his sore eyes.

Wang Shuai frowned slightly. He knew that haste was the worst thing in surveillance investigations; one had to remain calm and focused. "Don't rush," Wang Shuai said. "Expand the scope of the investigation. Go back to 9 p.m. the night before last, and extend the timeframe to 3 a.m. yesterday. Focus on surveillance footage at intersections of side streets and alleys that are far from the crime scene. The suspect is likely to avoid surveillance at major intersections." He then personally reviewed the surveillance footage, adjusting the playback speed to 0.5x and carefully examining every detail frame by frame.

At 3:20 PM, Xiao Li, the team member responsible for reviewing the surveillance footage at the intersection of Binhe West Road and Wanghe South Road, about 800 meters from the crime scene, suddenly shouted, "Team Leader Wang, we've found something!" Wang Shuai immediately went over, and Xiao Li paused the surveillance video, pointing to the screen and saying, "Look, at 11:28 PM the night before last, a green Jetta taxi appeared at this intersection. The license plate number is 京A·8X726, which is the taxi of the deceased Zhang Tiancheng!"

Wang Shuai perked up and asked Xiao Li to slow down the surveillance footage. The footage showed that at 11:28 PM the night before last, Zhang Tiancheng's green Jetta taxi was traveling from east to west along Binhe West Road. After reaching the intersection of Binhe West Road and Wanghe South Road, it stopped beside the non-motorized vehicle lane on the west side of the intersection. About a minute later, a man got out of the taxi from the right rear door and casually closed the door. Because the surveillance camera was far from where the taxi stopped and it was dark at the time, it could only be seen that the man was wearing a dark shirt and dark pants, was about 178-183 cm tall, and of medium build, which basically matched the information of the owner of the 43-yard footprint found at the scene.

“Continue tracking the taxi’s route!” Wang Shuai said. Xiao Li immediately retrieved the subsequent surveillance footage from the intersection. The footage showed that after the man got out of the taxi, Zhang Tiancheng continued driving west along Binhe West Road. About 12 minutes later, at 11:40 PM the night before last, the taxi arrived at the crime scene and stopped on the side of the road, never moving again. “That’s it!” Wang Shuai said excitedly. “Combined with the taxi receipt retrieved from the scene, Zhang Tiancheng last picked up a passenger at 11:30 PM the night before last, with the destination near the intersection of Binhe West Road and Chaoyang North Road. This man was Zhang Tiancheng’s last passenger and is a prime suspect!”

Subsequently, Wang Shuai instructed his team to focus on the man's movements after he got out of the car. The surveillance footage showed that after getting out, the man did not leave immediately but stood by the roadside looking around for about half a minute before walking south along Wanghe South Road. Because Wanghe South Road is a side street surrounded by older residential areas, surveillance cameras were only installed at the intersections; there was no coverage within the residential areas. The man disappeared from the surveillance footage after reaching the intersection of Wanghe South Road and Xingfu Street.

"Immediately retrieve the surveillance footage from the intersection of Wanghe South Road and Xingfu Street and the surrounding area to track the man's whereabouts!" Wang Shuai ordered. The team members quickly retrieved the surveillance footage from the area, only to find that the man disappeared after the intersection of Wanghe South Road and Xingfu Street and never appeared in the footage from any of the surrounding surveillance points again. "Team Leader Wang, this man is very cunning. He seems to know the layout of the surrounding surveillance cameras very well and deliberately chooses to walk in alleys without surveillance coverage," said team member Xiao Li.

Undeterred, Wang Shuai instructed his team to print out screenshots of the man's back from the surveillance footage. Simultaneously, they processed the footage to enhance clarity and capture more detail. "Use image enhancement software to process the man's back, focusing on his clothing, hairstyle, and belongings," Wang Shuai explained. The team immediately began processing the screenshots using professional image enhancement software. After more than half an hour of effort, the image clarity improved. The man was clearly wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a black baseball cap, and carrying a black backpack, walking with a slightly hurried gait.

“Although only his back is visible, his clothing and build are already quite clear,” Wang Shuai said. “Immediately distribute the surveillance screenshots of this man to the teams conducting door-to-door inquiries, asking residents if they have seen a man with these characteristics. At the same time, expand the scope of the surveillance search, retrieving all surveillance footage within a 3-kilometer radius of the intersection of Wanghe South Road and Xingfu Street, including all possible surveillance points such as residential areas, shops, and gas stations, to ensure we find the man’s whereabouts.” (End of Chapter)