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

“We expanded our search area and investigated villages within 5 kilometers of Qinjiagou, but found no missing persons matching the characteristics of the deceased. In addition, several villagers near the barren slope at the east end of Qinjiagou Village reported that around 8 p.m. three days ago, they heard a faint car engine noise coming from the direction of the barren slope, which lasted for more than ten minutes. An elderly villager also heard a brief argument, but the sound was muffled and the specific content could not be heard, nor could the gender and number of the people arguing be determined.”

Lu Chuan looked up, his gaze falling on Wang Shuai, and asked, "Can you pinpoint the exact direction of the car's roar? Did any villagers see what the car looked like, what its color was, or what its model was?" Wang Shuai shook his head, his tone slightly helpless: "The villagers all live far from the barren slope. It was already dark at the time, and the area around the barren slope was overgrown with weeds, making visibility poor. No one could see the car clearly. We can only confirm that the roar came from the direction of the barren slope and then disappeared towards the dirt road outside the village. We speculate that it was the sound of a small car, not a farm tricycle or a truck."

Lu Chuan sighed softly, his expression growing increasingly grave. "The clues are still too vague. We don't have the victim's identity, a clear direction for the suspect, or information about the killer's means of transportation. Solving this case will be quite difficult." Just then, the office door opened, and Zhang Kai and Xiao Lin walked in, carrying the autopsy report and a list of evidence. "Captain Lu, we're back. The autopsy is complete, and we'd like to report the details to you now," Zhang Kai said, handing the autopsy report to Lu Chuan.

Lu Chuan quickly took the autopsy report and began to peruse it intently, pausing occasionally to ask about key details. Zhang Kai stood beside him, methodically reporting the core findings of the autopsy: "Team Leader Lu, after a comprehensive autopsy, the deceased has been confirmed as male, aged 38 to 40, 173 cm tall, of medium build. The direct cause of death was a stab wound to the chest from a single-edged sharp weapon that pierced the heart, resulting in excessive blood loss. The time of death is estimated to be approximately three days before the incident, either at night or early morning three days ago."

"The deceased had been beaten with bare hands or a blunt object before his death, with injuries to his head, arms, and legs. There were ligature marks on his neck, caused by being restrained by a soft fabric, indicating that a struggle had taken place between the perpetrator and the deceased. In order to control the deceased, the perpetrator used methods such as strangulation and beatings, and then stabbed him with a single-edged sharp weapon," Zhang Kai continued to report. "Soil, weed fragments, and a small amount of fiber were extracted from under the deceased's fingernails and sent to the laboratory for comparison. In addition, there were traces of resin filling on the deceased's left upper second molar. Only two dental clinics in the city use this resin material, which can serve as an important clue to confirm the deceased's identity. There were no signs of poisoning throughout the body, ruling out the possibility of poisoning as the cause of death."

Lu Chuan put down the autopsy report, tapping his fingers lightly on the table as he fell into deep thought. After a moment, he looked up at Zhang Kai and Xiao Lin and said, "Very good. Your autopsy work was very thorough. These findings are crucial, especially the characteristics of the filling and the wound from the single-edged sharp instrument, which have pointed the way for our subsequent investigation." Then, he turned to Wang Shuai and continued, "Wang Shuai, arrange for a team to immediately investigate the two dental clinics in the city that used this resin filling material. Retrieve the medical records from the past five years, focusing on male patients aged 38 to 40 and 170 to 175 centimeters tall, to find people who match the deceased's characteristics and try to identify the deceased as soon as possible."

"Understood, Captain Lu! I'll arrange for people to go to the two dental clinics to investigate immediately!" Wang Shuai quickly agreed, turned and left the office to begin deploying the investigation. Lu Chuan then looked at Zhang Kai: "Zhang Kai, you arrange for the laboratory to speed up the examination of all trace evidence, focusing on comparing the fibers in the victim's fingernails with those extracted from the scene, analyzing the DNA information of the hair, and further analyzing the wound characteristics of the single-edged weapon to deduce the approximate shape and length of the murder weapon, providing a basis for subsequent investigation of the murder weapon."

“Don’t worry, Captain Lu, I’ve already spoken to the lab. All samples will be prioritized for testing, and we should have preliminary results by tomorrow morning at the latest,” Zhang Kai replied. Xiao Lin added, “Captain Lu, we’ve also extracted blood and muscle tissue samples from the deceased for DNA testing. If we can find any suspects, we can confirm their identity through DNA comparison or rule them out.” Lu Chuan nodded and said, “Okay, thank you for your hard work. Report any further progress to me immediately. Everyone, please take turns on duty tonight. We can’t let any clue slip by.”

Afterwards, Zhang Kai and Xiao Lin left the office to go to the laboratory to supervise the testing work, while Lu Chuan remained in the office, sorting through all the clues in the case and repeatedly deducing the murderer's modus operandi: the murderer knew the victim and had some conflicts with him, otherwise he would not have deliberately controlled the victim, stabbed him, disposed of the body, and taken all the items on the victim's body that could prove his identity; the murderer was familiar with the environment around Qinjiagou Village and knew that the farmland at the east end of the village was remote and sparsely populated, making it suitable for disposing of the body; the murderer had a small car as a means of transportation, which he used to transport the body and escape from the scene; the murderer had a strong sense of counter-investigation, premeditated the crime, and cleaned up the scene and hid traces after the crime—considering these characteristics, the murderer was most likely a resident of the surrounding villages or someone who had been active in the area for a long time, and had economic, emotional, or personal grudges with the victim.

As night deepened, the city's criminal investigation team's office building remained brightly lit. Investigators were busy with their respective duties: some were organizing interview records, others were checking dental clinic records, and still others were overseeing the examination of trace evidence in the laboratory. Everyone was giving their all to solve this body-dumping case. Lu Chuan sat at his desk, gazing at the dark night sky outside the window, and silently resolved: he must find clues as soon as possible, identify the deceased, apprehend the murderer, bring justice to the dead, and put the surrounding villagers at ease.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking and the first rays of sunlight streamed through the window into the city's criminal investigation team office, Lu Chuan, who hadn't slept all night, had bloodshot eyes, but his expression remained resolute. Just then, the office door was flung open, and Yang Lin, the technical team leader, strode in, holding a test report and his face beaming with barely concealed excitement: "Team Leader Lu! A major breakthrough! A crucial lead!"

Lu Chuan suddenly stood up, strode over to Yang Lin, and asked anxiously, "Yang Lin, what's wrong? Is there a result from the trace evidence examination? Or has the deceased's identity been confirmed?" Yang Lin nodded vigorously, handed the examination report to Lu Chuan, and said excitedly, "Captain Lu, the deceased's identity has been confirmed! We entered the deceased's DNA sample into the national DNA database for comparison, and the result is a perfect match with the DNA information of Tian Xuewen, the village party secretary of Zhangjiagang Village, the neighboring village of Qinjiagou! In other words, the unidentified male corpse in the pit is Tian Xuewen!" (End of Chapter)