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

During the investigation, some villagers reported that three nights before the incident, they saw a black car without license plates driving on the road between Nangou Village and the logistics park. The car was traveling at a relatively high speed and behaving suspiciously. However, due to the darkness, they could not see the driver's appearance or the specific features of the vehicle, nor could they determine whether the car was related to the case.

Wang Shuai immediately noted down the clue and inquired in detail about the vehicle's travel time, route, and approximate model. Villagers recalled that the vehicle appeared around 9 PM, which roughly coincided with the deceased's time of death, between 8 PM and 10 PM, and that it was traveling from Nangou Village towards Dongfang Logistics Park. "This clue is very important; we need to thoroughly investigate it in conjunction with surveillance footage," Wang Shuai instructed his team members to make a record. He also arranged for someone to contact the traffic management department overnight to retrieve recent traffic surveillance footage of that section of road to search for suspicious vehicles.

At 10 PM, Wang Shuai and his team completed a comprehensive search of five surrounding villages, summarizing all findings: A total of 31 male villagers aged 34 to 36 were investigated across the five villages. Of these, 15 worked outside the village, 10 worked in the city, and 6 were engaged in farming, animal husbandry, or odd jobs. None of them were reported missing, and none matched the deceased's physical characteristics, occupation, or missing person criteria. Only one villager in Nangou Village reported seeing a suspicious black car without license plates three nights before the incident; no other valuable clues were found at this time. With the village search temporarily stalled, Wang Shuai decided to shift his focus to reviewing CCTV footage, hoping to find more clues from the blurry images.

The next morning, Wang Shuai led his team to the security department of Dongfang Logistics Park to retrieve video footage from all the surveillance equipment in and around the park. At the same time, they contacted traffic management departments, surrounding businesses and farmers to collect video footage from 12 surveillance cameras around the logistics park, including roads, village entrances, and company gates, forming a complete surveillance coverage network. They focused on reviewing the video footage before and after the time of the victim's death in the three days prior to the incident.

The surveillance review work was tedious and monotonous. Wang Shuai divided his team into three groups, each responsible for four surveillance cameras. They reviewed each frame, focusing on individuals matching the suspect's description: 178-182 cm tall, slender build, wearing a black wool-polyester blend coat, and slightly pigeon-toed left foot; as well as the unlicensed black sedan reported by villagers in Nangou Village. Due to the aging of some surveillance equipment, blurry images, and insufficient lighting at night, the investigation was extremely difficult. The team members needed to be fully focused and not miss any suspicious footage.

Wang Shuai personally oversaw the review of surveillance footage outside the west wall of the logistics park. This was the area where the surveillance team had previously discovered the suspect climbing over the wall, and it was also a key area for investigation. Sitting in front of the computer in the monitoring room, he slowed the recording down to its slowest speed, reviewing frame by frame the footage from 8 PM to 11 PM on the three nights prior to the incident, carefully comparing every person and vehicle that appeared. Around 10 AM, Wang Shuai spotted the suspicious man again in the footage from 9:15 PM on the three nights prior to the incident: the man was wearing a black coat, a black hat, and a mask, obscuring his face. His height and build were largely consistent with the previously analyzed suspect characteristics. He was walking along a path outside the wall, and his gait showed a slight left-foot pigeon-toed turn, matching Yang Sen's conclusions based on footprint analysis.

Wang Shuai immediately paused the footage and zoomed in, trying to find a breakthrough in the details. However, due to the low resolution of the surveillance equipment, the image was blurry, and he could only make out the man's general outline and clothing features. He could not identify his facial features, nor could he see if he was carrying any tools or a black package. After walking along the outside of the wall for about 20 minutes, the man stopped at a relatively secluded spot on the west side of the logistics park's wall. After observing the surrounding environment for about 5 minutes, he climbed over the wall and entered the park, consistent with what the surveillance team had previously discovered.

To track the man's movements, Wang Shuai immediately retrieved surveillance footage from inside the wall and within the park. However, due to the lack of surveillance coverage in the idle factory area on the west side of the park, only the man's back could be seen as he climbed over the wall and entered the park before disappearing in the direction of the factory area. It was impossible to trace his specific route within the park or his departure path. "The suspect is clearly very familiar with the park environment and deliberately chose an area without surveillance coverage to commit the crime. He has a strong sense of counter-surveillance," Wang Shuai said, frowning, somewhat disappointed.

Subsequently, Wang Shuai focused on reviewing the clues about the unlicensed black sedan reported by the villagers of Nangou Village. He retrieved surveillance footage from the road between Nangou Village and the logistics park. In the footage from 9:05 PM three days before the incident, a black sedan was found driving through the section of road. The vehicle had no license plate and was a common Volkswagen Lavida. However, due to insufficient lighting at night, the driver's appearance and the number of people in the car could not be clearly seen. The vehicle was traveling at a relatively high speed and heading towards the logistics park. This time and route basically matched the man's appearance, leading him to speculate that the vehicle might be related to the suspect.

To further track the black sedan's trajectory, Wang Shuai led his team to retrieve surveillance footage from upstream and downstream sections of the road and surrounding intersections. However, due to the lack of surveillance coverage at some intersections in the area, and the fact that the black sedan had no license plate and disappeared after driving onto a rural road, its final destination and parking location could not be determined. "This small road leads to several villages and abandoned factories, with many forks and no surveillance cameras, making it extremely difficult to track the vehicle's trajectory," team member Xiao Li said helplessly.

Over the next day, Wang Shuai led his team to continue reviewing the remaining surveillance footage, checking every suspicious person and vehicle one by one, but found nothing new. During this time, they also shared the suspect's clothing characteristics, walking posture, and information about the black sedan with villagers in the surrounding villages and logistics park staff, mobilizing the public to provide clues. However, by 3 p.m., they had only received three reports from the public, all of which, after verification, involved unrelated individuals and vehicles and were of no practical value.

To broaden the scope of the investigation, Wang Shuai led his team to small processing plants, hardware stores, safety supply stores, and scrap metal collection stations around the logistics park, focusing on checking if anyone matching the suspect's description had recently appeared or purchased items such as single-edged sharp weapons, wool-polyester blend jackets, and size 42 plaid leather shoes. During the investigation, several safety supply stores stated that wool-polyester blend jackets were popular winter items and had been purchased by many people recently, but the identities of the specific buyers could not be determined. Hardware stores all sold single-edged sharp weapons, but the sales records were incomplete, and there were many buyers, making it impossible to identify the suspect.

At a scrap metal recycling station located near the logistics park, the manager reported that four days before the incident, a stranger wearing a black jacket and a mask had come to sell a small amount of scrap metal. (End of Chapter)