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

"Zhang Feng, is he home?" Zhang Jianjun stepped forward, gently knocked on the courtyard gate, and called out a few times, but there was no response from inside. Lu Chuan gestured to Yang Lin to carefully check the gate. Yang Lin stepped forward and gently pushed open the slightly ajar gate. The courtyard was empty; no one was there. The door to the house was also ajar, and through the crack, one could see that the furnishings inside were simple and somewhat cluttered. "Captain Lu, there's no one in the courtyard, and no one in the house. It seems Zhang Feng might not be home," Yang Lin said in a low voice, cautiously observing the surroundings of the courtyard, searching for any relevant traces or evidence.

Lu Chuan nodded and said, "Be careful. Go in and check. Don't disturb the scene. Focus on checking the yard and house for traces of blood, hair, fibers, etc., especially for weapons like a single-edged dagger. Also, check Zhang Feng's shoes to see if they match the size 42 sneaker footprints found at the scene." Yang Lin and Zhang Kai then put on gloves and carefully entered the yard to begin a detailed investigation. Lu Chuan and Zhang Jianjun stood at the yard entrance, vigilantly observing the surroundings to prevent Zhang Feng from suddenly returning or villagers from gathering and disturbing the scene.

Yang Lin first examined the small car in the yard. This black car had a local license plate and was an old model. The doors were unlocked. Yang Lin carefully opened the door and checked the interior. The seats and floor mats were dirty and covered in dust and dirt. Yang Lin carefully examined every corner of the car and found a black hair, about 4 centimeters long, under the passenger seat. It was basically the same color and thickness as the unknown male hair found at the scene. He carefully used tweezers to remove the hair, put it in a sealed evidence bag, and marked it.

"Captain Lu, we found a black male hair under the passenger seat of the car. Its characteristics are basically consistent with the unknown male hair found at the scene. We'll send it to the lab for DNA comparison to confirm if it belongs to the same person," Yang Lin reported to Lu Chuan in a low voice. Lu Chuan nodded and said, "Okay, continue the investigation. Be careful and don't overlook any details." Then, Yang Lin found a black jacket covered in mud in the trunk of the car. There was a small tear at the cuff of the jacket, and the fibers from the tear were basically the same material as the fibers found at the scene. He carefully extracted the fiber sample and put it into the evidence bag.

Meanwhile, Zhang Kai was examining Zhang Feng's house. The furnishings were simple: a bed, a table, a chair, and a wardrobe. Scattered on the table were some odds and ends, including an empty wine bottle. There were traces of mud on the floor, seemingly brought in recently; the mud was similar in color to the yellow soil from the crime scene in Qinjiagou Village. Zhang Kai carefully examined the items on the table but found nothing suspicious. He then opened the wardrobe and checked Zhang Feng's clothes. In the corner, he found a pair of black men's sneakers, size 42, matching the size of the footprints found at the scene. The tread pattern on the soles also largely matched the footprints. The soles still had some yellow mud on them, the color and texture of which were similar to the mud at the crime scene.

"Captain Lu, we've found a major clue!" Zhang Kai shouted excitedly to Lu Chuan. "In Zhang Feng's wardrobe, we found a pair of size 42 black men's sneakers. The pattern and size of the soles are basically consistent with the footprints of the murderer found at the scene. The soles also have yellow mud on them, which is basically consistent with the characteristics of the mud at the crime scene. In addition, we found some traces of yellow mud on the floor of the house, which are suspected to be the mud from the crime scene."

Lu Chuan strode into the room, walked to Zhang Kai's side, and carefully examined the pair of black men's sneakers and the mud marks on the ground. His expression became increasingly serious: "Great! This is another crucial clue! Immediately, extract all the sneakers and the mud marks on the ground and send them to the laboratory for testing. Compare the tread pattern of the soles to see if it is completely consistent with the footprints at the scene, and compare the mud to the mud at the crime scene to see if it comes from the same source. In addition, extract trace amounts of residue from the sneakers to see if there is any bloodstain or traces related to the deceased, Tian Xuewen."

"Understood, Captain Lu!" Zhang Kai quickly replied, taking out professional extraction tools and carefully extracting the sneakers and mud traces, his movements gentle, as if afraid of damaging the evidence. Yang Lin also walked over from beside the car, went into the house, and said, "Captain Lu, in addition to extracting a black male hair and some fiber samples from inside the car, we also found a single-edged dagger hidden in the seat crevice. The dagger is about 18 centimeters long, with a sharp blade, which is basically consistent with our deduced characteristics of the murder weapon. There are some dark red stains on the blade, suspected to be bloodstains. We have carefully extracted them and sent them to the laboratory for testing to confirm whether they are the bloodstains of the deceased, Tian Xuewen."

"What?! We found the dagger?" Lu Chuan was overjoyed and quickly went to Yang Lin's side to examine the single-edged dagger hidden in the seat crevice. The dagger had a black hilt, a metal blade, and was about 18 centimeters long. The edge was sharp, and the dark red stains on the blade had turned black, looking like congealed blood. There were some blurry fingerprints on the hilt, indicating that someone had used the dagger. "Great! Yang Lin, immediately send this dagger to the lab to extract the bloodstains from the blade for DNA comparison to confirm if it's Tian Xuewen's blood. At the same time, extract the fingerprints from the hilt for comparison to confirm if they are Zhang Feng's fingerprints," Lu Chuan said firmly.

“Don’t worry, Captain Lu, I’ve already marked it. I’ll arrange for someone to send the dagger to the lab immediately for priority testing and get the results as soon as possible,” Yang Lin replied. Zhang Jianjun stood to the side, looking at the retrieved sneakers and dagger, a look of shock on his face: “I can’t believe it really is Zhang Feng! He actually dared to kill Xuewen, that’s too cruel! Xuewen was wholeheartedly dedicated to the development of the village, how could he do such a thing!”

Lu Chuan patted Zhang Jianjun on the shoulder and said in a heavy tone, "Deputy Director Zhang, don't get too agitated. Currently, all the clues point to Zhang Feng, but we still need to further examine the evidence to confirm that he is the murderer. We cannot draw conclusions before we have conclusive evidence. Also, do you know where Zhang Feng is now? Does he have any relatives or friends in the nearby villages or the city? He is most likely hiding in those places." (End of Chapter)