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

"Understood!" Wang Shuai responded at attention, then immediately gathered his team members to assign tasks. "Xiao Li and Xiao Zhang will be in my group, responsible for checking the homeless people inside the unfinished building; Xiao Liu and Xiao Chen will be in the other group, first visiting the nearest Beixiang Village and Xijiao Village, focusing on asking villagers if they saw any strangers or suspicious vehicles near the unfinished building between 8 pm last night and 9 am this morning; after the two groups finish their investigations, they will meet up and visit the surrounding supermarkets and convenience stores to check if any people matching the suspect's characteristics have recently appeared." After the assignments were completed, the two groups immediately carried body cameras, interrogation notebooks, flashlights, and other equipment, and began their investigations separately.

Wang Shuai led Xiao Li and Xiao Zhang back to the entrance of the unfinished building. By then, the security team had already set up a cordon around the building, prohibiting unauthorized personnel from entering or leaving. "We'll start our search from inside the unfinished building. The homeless people living there are most likely to have witnessed anything suspicious," Wang Shuai instructed his team. "Be vigilant once inside. Homeless people are mostly withdrawn and wary, so be careful with your approach when questioning them to avoid causing resistance." Subsequently, the three of them entered the lobby on the first floor of the unfinished building, guided by the security team.

At this moment, Yang Lin and Yang Sen were conducting an investigation on the west staircase. Upon seeing Wang Shuai and his team, Yang Lin raised his hand in greeting. The two nodded briefly and then continued their work. The unfinished building was dimly lit, filled with the smells of mold, dust, and a faint odor of excrement. The first-floor lobby was littered with construction debris, and several makeshift shacks made of tattered quilts and plastic sheeting stood in the corners, clearly the dwellings of homeless people. Wang Shuai signaled to his team members to turn on their flashlights and move slowly along the edge of the lobby, carefully avoiding disturbing the investigation.

"Is anyone there? We're police officers, here to gather some information. We won't hurt you," Wang Shuai called out in a low voice, trying to be as gentle as possible. After calling out several times, a slight noise came from a shack, and then a middle-aged man with messy hair and a stubble-covered face poked his head out, looking at the three men warily: "Police? What are you doing here?" The man wore a tattered cotton-padded coat, covered in dirt, and his eyes were full of suspicion.

Wang Shuai slowed his pace, took out his police ID and flashed it: "We are from the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment. We found a body in this building and wanted to ask you if you have seen any strangers come in recently, or heard any strange noises?" Upon hearing the word "body," the man was clearly startled, shrank back, and shook his head: "No... I didn't see anything. I went to bed very early last night and didn't hear anything."

"What's your name? How long have you lived here? What time did you go to bed last night?" Wang Shuai took out the interrogation record book and asked Xiao Li to turn on the body camera to start recording. The man hesitated for a moment and said, "My name is Li Laosi. I've lived here for more than half a year. I went to bed around 7 o'clock last night. This place is cold and dark, and there's nothing to do, so I go to bed very early every day."

"Your shack is very close to the west staircase. Did you hear any footsteps or voices on the stairs last night?" Wang Shuai pressed. Li Laosi frowned, thought for a moment, and shook his head. "No, I'm a heavy sleeper, and there's often a whistling sound in the building, along with the noise of rats running around. Even if there were footsteps, I couldn't hear them clearly." He paused, then added, "There are about seven or eight people living in this building, mostly garbage collectors like me. Everyone lives separately, rarely talks, and nobody cares about anyone else's business."

Wang Shuai had Li Laosi point out the other homeless people's residences, and then the three of them checked them one by one. The second homeless person they found was named Zhang Erzhu, a man in his fifties who had some difficulty walking and lived in a latrine on the second floor. "I went to bed around 9 p.m. last night. Because of my leg problems, I rarely go downstairs," Zhang Erzhu said, sitting on the straw-covered floor, rubbing his hands, which were red from the cold. "I didn't hear any strange noises last night, but in the middle of the night I thought I heard a few dogs barking downstairs. I don't know if they were stray dogs outside."

"Are you sure it was late at night? Around what time?" Wang Shuai pressed. Zhang Erzhu shook his head: "I don't know the exact time. I don't have a watch. I woke up, turned over, and went back to sleep." The three continued their search and found five homeless people. Two of them hadn't stayed in the unfinished building last night; they had gone to a nearby bridge underpass to take shelter from the wind. The other three's accounts were basically consistent with Li Laosi and Zhang Erzhu's. They all said they went to bed early last night, didn't see any strangers enter, and didn't hear any obvious unusual noises. Only one person mentioned hearing a vague "dragging sound" in the middle of the night, but he wasn't sure where it came from or if he had misheard.

“The testimonies of these homeless people are of little practical value,” Xiao Li said somewhat dejectedly after the investigation. “They either said they went to bed early and didn’t see anything, or they said they weren’t sure; they can’t be used as clues at all.” Wang Shuai frowned, looking at the structure of the unfinished building, and said, “That’s normal. The environment in this building is complicated, the soundproofing is poor, and most of the homeless people have irregular schedules and are very vigilant. Even if they saw something, they might be too scared to say anything. Let’s register their identity information and contact details first, and we can verify them further if needed later.” Afterward, the three of them registered the information of the eight homeless people they had investigated one by one, had them sign to confirm, and then left the unfinished building to head to the meeting point agreed upon with Xiao Liu and Xiao Chen.

At 11:30, the two groups met at the entrance of Beixiang Village. Xiao Liu and Xiao Chen walked over, looking exhausted, and shook their heads: "Team Leader Wang, we've visited both Beixiang and Xijiao Villages, but we didn't find any valuable clues." Wang Shuai gestured for the two to rest and have some water before reporting back. Xiao Chen took a sip of water and said, "We went to Beixiang Village first, visiting 12 households at the village entrance, as well as the village secretary. Most of the villagers said they closed their doors and went to bed very early last night. Because the village is close to the unfinished building, few people usually go there, and no one dares to approach at night, so we didn't see any strangers or suspicious vehicles."

“The village party secretary said that after the unfinished building project was halted, homeless people occasionally begged for food in the village, but we haven’t seen them much in the last six months,” Xiao Liu added. “We also asked the owner of the village store, who said he closed the store around 8 p.m. last night and didn’t see any suspicious people before closing. In addition, the situation in Xijiao Village is similar to that in Beixiang Village. The villagers all said they were unaware of the situation near the unfinished building and had not witnessed anything unusual.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Shuai frowned even more deeply: "These two villages are the closest to the unfinished building, yet we haven't found any clues there. It seems we need to expand our search area and check out villages and shops further away." The four then adjusted their route, deciding to first visit a medium-sized supermarket about 1 kilometer south of the unfinished building, and then visit several small shops and restaurants in the surrounding area. (End of Chapter)