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

After handling Chen Gang's case, Zhang Hui and his team quickly threw themselves into their new work. The duty of criminal investigation police is to step forward after each case, dispel the fog of mystery, uncover the truth, and safeguard the peace of the community. This murder case, triggered by emotions and greed, ultimately ended with justice, but the lessons it left behind are worth pondering for everyone: betrayal of emotions, entanglement of interests, and momentary impulses can all lead to irreparable tragedies. Only by upholding the bottom line of law and morality, and respecting life, can we protect our own lives and avoid falling into an abyss of no return.

The late autumn sunlight streamed through the windows of the Criminal Investigation Division office, falling on the mountain of case files and on Zhang Hui's resolute face. He picked up a new case file, his eyes sharpening again, as if ready to face a new challenge. For him and all the criminal investigation officers, solving every case is a fulfillment of responsibility, and upholding justice is a demonstration of reverence for life. The road ahead is long, and they will continue to stand firm in their posts, using a rigorous attitude and professional skills to combat crime, safeguard peace, and ensure that justice is never absent.

A week later, the criminal investigation team received another report.

Investigation Report and Initial Report on the Case of the Corpse in the Vacant Farmhouse in Luchagou

On a crisp early autumn morning, the mist had not yet completely dissipated over Lucao Gou, and the air was thick with the damp smell of earth and decaying crops. The quiet village was shattered by a frantic emergency call. At 7:15 a.m., the city's Criminal Investigation Detachment Command Center received a report from Li Feng, a villager in Lucao Gou, stating that he had found a male corpse in his vacant farmhouse at the western end of the village. The corpse was in an unusual state, suggesting a possible homicide. The Command Center immediately dispatched a team led by Detachment Leader Lu Chuan, including the Criminal Investigation Technical Team and the Investigation Group, to the scene to conduct on-site investigation, interviews, and initial case handling.

Upon receiving the order, Lu Chuan quickly assembled his team, carrying investigation kits, site protection equipment, communication devices, and other supplies, and drove to Lucao Gou Village. Lucao Gou Village is located in a suburban area, with relatively remote transportation. The village consists mostly of old farmhouses, and many villagers have moved to the city, leaving many farmhouses vacant for extended periods. The vacant farmhouse where Li Feng discovered the body was one of these. At 8:05 AM, Lu Chuan led his team to the western end of Lucao Gou Village. From afar, they saw Li Feng standing in front of a dilapidated mud-brick house, looking panicked, his hands trembling uncontrollably. A small number of villagers who had heard the news had already gathered around, discussing the situation.

"Everyone, step back and don't go near the house entrance. Protect the scene!" After getting out of the car, Lu Chuan immediately instructed the investigation team to set up a cordon, designating the vacant farmhouse and a 5-meter radius around it as the core investigation area, prohibiting unauthorized personnel from entering. He also assigned two team members to guard the area around the scene and disperse onlookers to prevent the destruction of traces and evidence. Then, Lu Chuan walked up to Li Feng and asked in a calm tone, "When did you discover the body? What was the state of the scene when you found it? Did you touch any items at the scene?"

Li Feng composed himself and said in a hoarse voice, "I... I came here around 6 a.m. this morning. This house has been empty for almost two years. I thought I'd come over to check if there were any leaks and to clean it up, in preparation for storing grain here in the winter. When I opened the door, I saw a person lying on the ground, motionless, with blood on him. I was so scared that I quickly backed out, not daring to touch anything or go back in. I immediately called the police."

"How often do you usually come here? Have you seen any strangers around here recently? Or heard any unusual noises?" Lu Chuan continued to press, while signaling his team members to take notes. Li Feng recalled, "I rarely come here. The last time was three months ago, and everything was normal at the time. I haven't seen any strangers recently. Our village is quite remote, and not many outsiders come here usually. But a few nights ago, I vaguely heard arguing coming from the west end of the village, but it was too far away to hear the specifics, and I don't know if it was coming from here."

After the initial questioning, Lu Chuan walked over to Yang Lin, the captain of the technical team, and patted him on the shoulder: "Yang Lin, the scene is now in your technical team's hands. Yang Sen will cooperate with you to conduct a comprehensive and meticulous investigation, from indoors to outdoors, from the center to the perimeter. Don't overlook any traces or physical evidence. Focus on finding crime traces around the body, items left by the suspect, and passages and traces leading to and from the scene. Make sure to keep detailed records, take photos, and record videos throughout the investigation to ensure that every step is done in a standardized and compliant manner."

"Understood, Captain Lu!" Yang Lin nodded solemnly, then turned and summoned the technical team members to assign tasks and deploy the investigation work. As the captain of the technical team, Yang Lin had long been engaged in crime scene investigation and was very experienced, adept at reconstructing the crime process through subtle traces; Yang Sen was a backbone member of the technical team, proficient in footprint and fingerprint extraction and crime scene trace analysis. The two worked together seamlessly and had successfully completed the crime scene investigation tasks of many major cases.

Preparations before the investigation proceeded smoothly: team members donned investigation suits, shoes, gloves, and masks, and wore their on-site investigation badges; Yang Lin checked the equipment in the investigation kit to ensure that the footprint light, fingerprint brush, magnetic powder, developer, tweezers, measuring tape, sealed bags, and on-site investigation notebook were complete and in good condition; Yang Sen adjusted the on-site investigation camera and video camera to ensure that the photos and videos were clear and could completely record the entire investigation process and the location and condition of every trace and piece of evidence.

At 8:20 a.m., the on-site investigation officially began. Following the principles of "static investigation first, then dynamic investigation; central site first, then peripheral site; ground investigation first, then three-dimensional investigation," Yang Lin and Yang Sen led the technical team members to enter the vacant farmhouse and conduct a central on-site investigation. The vacant farmhouse was a single-story adobe structure, facing south, with a building area of ​​approximately 60 square meters. It consisted of a main house and a small wing room on the east side. The main house was the primary activity area; the body was located on the ground in the center of the main house. The wing room was empty and no abnormalities were found.

The main house door is a single wooden door. Both the door frame and door panel show varying degrees of decay. A simple latch is installed on the inside of the door panel, and the latch is in the open position. There is no lock on the outside of the door panel, suggesting that the house has been unlocked for a long time, allowing anyone to enter at will. Yang Lin first conducted a static examination of the door and door frame. Using a footprint lamp to illuminate the surface of the door panel, he found two fresh wiping marks on the inside of the door panel near the latch. The marks were irregular strips, about 5-8 cm long and 1-2 cm wide, and the wiping direction was from top to bottom. It was initially determined that these were wiping marks left by the suspect when touching the latch. Using magnetic powder to reveal the area, no clear fingerprints were extracted. It is speculated that the suspect may have worn gloves when committing the crime, or that the wiping marks were destroyed. (End of this chapter)