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

Lu Chuan listened quietly without interrupting him. He waited until the man finished speaking before asking questions slowly, his tone remaining calm so as not to put any pressure on him.

"Think about it carefully again. When you went out in the morning, it was around five o'clock, just as dawn was breaking. How was your visibility? Could you see things around you clearly? For example, the branches at the entrance of the cave, the grass on the ground, could you see them clearly?"

Zhang Baolu thought for a moment and said, "I can see roughly what's going on. Although it's not fully light yet, it's not pitch black. I can make out the outlines of the distant mountains and the nearby trees. I can see the branches at the entrance of the cave very clearly. Three jujube branches are broken, and the cuts are white and very fresh. They must have broken recently, not old ones. Also, a patch of grass on the ground at the entrance has been trampled down. I didn't trample it. I just walked to the side of the entrance and didn't dare to get close or step on it."

"Can you see that drag mark clearly? Where did it go from to where? How wide is the drag mark? Did you see any traces of what was dragged, like pieces of clothing or bloodstains?"

“I can clearly see the drag marks. They started from the grass outside the cave entrance and went all the way into the cave, about two or three meters long. The drag marks weren’t very wide, about half a meter, about the width of a person’s body. I didn’t see any pieces of clothing or bloodstains. The ground was covered with mud and weeds. The drag marks were just grass that had been flattened and tilted in one direction, as if some heavy object had been dragged over it, bending and flattening the grass. Moreover, the drag marks were very fresh, and the grass hadn’t withered yet, so it must have been dragged there not long ago.”

"When you smelled the stench, you were about ten steps away from the cave dwelling. Think back, what was the wind direction at that time? Was it a tailwind or a headwind? Did the stench come all at once, or did it gradually intensify?"

"The wind was blowing from the cave dwelling, so I smelled the stench as soon as I took a dozen or so steps. At first, the smell wasn't too strong, but it got stronger as I walked. When I got to the cave entrance, the stench was the strongest, and it was so strong that I could hardly breathe. I took a breath and then quickly covered my nose, not daring to inhale any more."

"Think again. In the past few days, especially in the past week, when you were herding sheep in these mountains, have you seen any strangers? Not from our village, not from the surrounding villages, people you don't know. Whether they are men or women, old or young, as long as they are strangers, you can tell me."

Zhang Baolu frowned, recalling intently, muttering "recent days, stranger" to himself. After a few minutes, his eyes lit up, and he said, "Yes, I saw a stranger, about three or four days ago, also in the morning, when I was herding sheep halfway up the mountain. I left home around 5 a.m. that day, and when I got to the halfway point, it was around 6 a.m., and it was already light. I saw a man standing at the foot of the mountain, at the entrance to the path leading to our village."

“Tell me more about this stranger. How old is he? What is his height and build? What color clothes is he wearing? Is he wearing a hat, mask, glasses, or anything like that? What does he look like? Did you see his face clearly?” Lu Chuan pressed, his tone slightly more forceful. He knew that this stranger was likely the key to the case.

Zhang Baolu closed his eyes, trying hard to recall what the stranger looked like. After a while, he slowly said, "He didn't look very old, probably in his thirties or forties. Not too old, not too young. He was about 1.7 meters tall, not too tall or short, and had a strong build. He looked very sturdy, not like a thin person."

"He was wearing dark-colored clothes, I couldn't tell if it was black or dark blue because we were quite far apart, about several dozen meters away, and he had his back to me, so I could only see his back. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and dark-colored pants, and his shoes looked thick, like hiking boots with high soles. His footsteps sounded very heavy when he walked."

"He was wearing a hat, a baseball cap, with the brim pulled down low, covering most of his face. I couldn't see his face clearly, so I don't know what he looked like, whether he had a beard, or what his eyes and nose looked like. He wasn't wearing a mask or glasses, but because the brim was pulled down so low and the distance was far, I could only see his chin. His chin looked very pointed, and he didn't have much of a beard. His skin seemed a bit pale, unlike the skin of people from the mountains, who are usually dark-skinned. His skin looked quite pale, like someone from the city, or someone who didn't do much farm work."

“He was standing alone at the entrance of a small path at the foot of the mountain, looking around as if he was looking at something or waiting for someone. I found it strange at the time. There are no scenic spots or fun places in our mountain, and few outsiders come here. What is he doing in our mountain, a stranger? So I called out to him and asked him who he was looking for and if he wanted to go to the village to rest and have a drink of water.”

"When he heard me shout, he was startled, paused for a moment, and then, without turning around or paying attention to me, turned and walked up the mountain very quickly, heading towards the halfway point, which is the direction of that cave dwelling. I thought it was a bit strange at the time, thinking how rude this person was, not responding when I called him, and walking so fast, as if he was afraid of being seen."

“I stood there and watched him walk up the mountain. He walked very fast and his steps were heavy. He didn’t look back or stop along the way. Soon he walked into the woods and disappeared. Because the trees in the woods were very dense, I couldn’t see where he went after that, and I didn’t know if he went to that cave.”

"Was he carrying anything? Like a bag, a box, a rope, a stick, or something?" Lu Chuan continued to press, not letting any detail slip by.

"He took it. He was carrying a bag, a big black plastic bag, which looked heavy. I didn't know what was inside. The bag was black and opaque, so I couldn't see what was inside, but judging from the way he was carrying it, it seemed very heavy. He was carrying it with one hand, and his arm was a little bent. The shape of the bag was a bit irregular, as if it contained something soft, or maybe something hard. I couldn't say for sure."

"Besides carrying this black plastic bag, he wasn't holding anything else in his hands—no rope, no sticks, no knives, or anything like that. He kept the bag close to his side as he walked, as if afraid of dropping it, or perhaps afraid that others would see what was inside." (End of Chapter)