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

At 12:10, the four arrived at the medium-sized supermarket called "Huimin Supermarket". The supermarket owner, a middle-aged woman in her forties, greeted the police officers as soon as they entered: "Officers, what can I do for you?" Wang Shuai took out his police ID and explained his purpose: "We are from the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment. We found a body in an unfinished building in the northern suburbs. We wanted to ask you if you have seen any strangers or suspicious individuals near the supermarket recently, especially between 8 pm last night and 9 am this morning."

The shop owner paused for a moment, then shook his head: "Strangers? Our supermarket is frequented by people from several nearby villages and construction sites. We see quite a few strangers around, but I haven't noticed anything suspicious. Last night around 8 PM, there were still quite a few customers, mostly villagers from the neighborhood. We closed promptly at 9 PM and went home after that. I haven't come out since, so I don't know what's going on outside." Wang Shuai asked Xiao Li to take out his body camera and inquired, "Do you recall any adult male wearing rubber-soled shoes, about 175-180 cm tall, who frequently comes to the supermarket to buy things recently? Or has anyone bought any sharp weapons like daggers?"

The shop owner thought for a moment, then shook his head: "There are too many men wearing rubber-soled shoes; it's impossible to notice them. As for the dagger, our supermarket doesn't sell those things; we only have fruit knives, but nobody's bought those lately." Wang Shuai had his team check the supermarket's security footage and found that the surveillance only covered the checkout area and the shelves, and the recordings were only kept for seven days. The team carefully reviewed the footage from 8 pm to 9 pm last night and found that most of the people entering and leaving the supermarket were nearby villagers; none matched the suspect's description. Subsequently, the four visited three small shops and two small restaurants around the supermarket, with similar results.

The owner of one of the convenience stores said that a strange man had indeed come to buy bottled water and bread several times recently, but he hadn't paid attention to his appearance or clothing. He only remembered that the man was quite tall and had a deep voice. Each time he finished buying his things, he would leave in a hurry and he didn't know where he went. "Can you describe his general characteristics? For example, his height, build, and any obvious markings?" Wang Shuai quickly asked. The owner frowned and thought for a long time before saying, "He's about 175 centimeters tall, of medium build, and I didn't see any obvious markings. He always comes around 7 pm, buys his things, and leaves. I didn't ask him any questions."

"When was the last time he came?" Xiao Li pressed. The shop owner thought for a moment, "About three nights ago, I can't remember the exact date." This clue cheered the four men up, but the owner couldn't provide any more detailed information, and there was no CCTV footage—this small shop was a family-run business with basic facilities and no security cameras. Wang Shuai had his team members record the shop owner's information and instructed him to contact the police immediately if he saw the strange man again.

At 1:30 PM, the four ate a quick boxed lunch and continued their search, visiting three villages, five small shops, three small restaurants, and one gas station within a 2-kilometer radius of the unfinished building, but without obtaining any valuable clues. A gas station employee stated that between 8 PM last night and 9 AM this morning, many vehicles came to refuel, but they were all from nearby villagers and construction sites; there were no unfamiliar or suspicious vehicles.

"Captain Wang, this kind of investigation isn't working," Xiao Zhang said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "The surrounding area is too large, and there are no security cameras. We're just wandering around like headless chickens, completely lost." Wang Shuai also felt the situation was getting tricky. He took out his phone and checked the time; it was already past 3 PM. "Indeed, without security cameras, the investigation is too inefficient," Wang Shuai said. "Let's go back and report the current situation to Captain Lu, and see how we can adjust our plan next."

At 4 PM, Wang Shuai led his team back to the command post at the unfinished building site. Yang Lin and Yang Sen had already finished their on-site investigation and were organizing the data before returning to their unit. Seeing Wang Shuai and his team return, Lu Chuan quickly approached and asked, "How did it go? Did you find anything?" Wang Shuai shook his head and said gravely, "Team Leader Lu, the situation isn't good. We checked on the eight homeless people inside the unfinished building, and visited five surrounding villages, one supermarket, eight small shops, five small restaurants, and one gas station, but we didn't find any valuable clues."

Subsequently, Wang Shuai reported the detailed investigation findings to Lu Chuan: "The homeless people in the unfinished building either said they went to bed early and didn't see anything unusual, or they said they weren't sure; the villagers in the surrounding villages all said they didn't dare to approach the unfinished building at night and didn't see any strangers or suspicious vehicles; the owners of the supermarkets and convenience stores didn't provide any useful information either. Only one convenience store owner said that a strange man had come to buy something three days ago, but he couldn't provide any detailed characteristics and there was no surveillance footage."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chuan's expression also turned serious. He walked to the location map of the scene, stared at it for a long time, and said, "It seems that this suspect is very cunning. He must have thoroughly researched the surrounding environment before committing the crime, knowing that the surveillance coverage here is low, which is why he chose to commit the crime here. The problem now is that the victim's identity cannot be confirmed, the suspect's clues have gone cold, and the case has reached a stalemate."

Yang Lin walked over and added, "Captain Lu, we've collected a lot of trace evidence from the scene, including bloodstains, fingerprints, fibers, and footprints. They've been sent to the forensic department for testing, and we expect preliminary results tomorrow. If we can extract the suspect's DNA and fingerprints from this evidence, it might provide a breakthrough in the case." Wang Shuai nodded, "That's all we can do. Also, we've registered information on eight homeless people in the abandoned building, and the vague description of the stranger provided by the convenience store owner. We can focus on investigating those later."

Lu Chuan pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, let's go back to the branch first. Once we get back, Wang Shuai, you'll be in charge of organizing the visit records, entering the information of the people we've investigated into the system, and comparing it. Yang Lin and Yang Sen will be in charge of organizing the on-site investigation data and cooperating with the technical department's inspection work. In addition, we'll arrange another team to continue retrieving surveillance footage from a wider area around the unfinished building. Don't overlook even the surveillance footage at intersections; you might be able to find the suspect's entry and exit routes."

At 5 p.m., the investigation and survey teams gradually withdrew from the scene, leaving only two members of the security team and one technical support staff to guard the site, awaiting the arrival of the forensic pathologist to conduct an autopsy. (End of this chapter)