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

Wang Shuai personally led a team to inspect surveillance cameras along and around Jianshe Road. Jianshe Road, located in the southern part of the city, is one of the main roads in the urban area, and has numerous surveillance cameras along its route, including traffic cameras, shop cameras, residential area cameras, and cameras installed by construction sites themselves. However, due to the impact of subway construction, some surveillance cameras on certain sections have been temporarily removed or obstructed, and some older cameras have blurry image quality and poor angles, posing considerable difficulties for the inspection work.

The team members split into several groups and went to different areas to retrieve surveillance footage. Wang Shuai stayed at the temporary command post, reviewing each piece of footage retrieved by the team members, leaving no detail unchecked. Starting at 12 noon, they reviewed the surveillance footage frame by frame, focusing on people and vehicles passing by the construction site fence, especially men of medium build wearing black jackets, and strangers who entered the construction site without registering.

"Team Leader Wang, look at this surveillance footage. Around 12:30 PM, a white van parked on the side of the road west of the construction site fence for about 10 minutes, and then left. No one got out of the vehicle, and there was no unusual behavior. Should we focus our investigation on this vehicle?" A team member approached Wang Shuai with a tablet computer and pointed to the surveillance footage.

Wang Shuai leaned closer to the tablet and carefully examined the surveillance footage. The white van was quite old, its license plate was obscured and illegible, and there were no markings on the vehicle. When parked on the roadside, the windows were closed, making it impossible to see the occupants inside. "Immediately trace the white van's route, retrieve other surveillance footage from the surrounding area, and see if we can find its license plate number, as well as its origin and destination. At the same time, investigate any white vans that have recently appeared around Jianshe Road and verify their identities one by one," Wang Shuai said firmly.

The team members immediately sprang into action, retrieving traffic and shop surveillance footage from the surrounding area to track the white van's route. However, due to blind spots in the surveillance system and the van's relatively remote route, it quickly disappeared from sight, and no further useful clues could be found.

Meanwhile, the team members responsible for interviewing residents also reported that they had visited more than 20 shops and over 100 households around the construction site. Most residents stated that they were either at work or resting at home during the afternoon and had not noticed anything unusual around the construction site, nor had they seen the deceased. Several shop owners stated that construction workers did enter and leave the construction site in the afternoon, but they did not see any strangers or hear any unusual noises. Several residents also stated that they occasionally saw some unfamiliar people loitering around the construction site fence, but these were mostly salespeople or homeless people, and they did not observe any obviously suspicious behavior.

Wang Shuai reviewed the surveillance footage while keeping track of the interviews, his anxiety growing. Time ticked by, night deepened, and the surveillance investigation and interviews yielded no substantial progress. No clues were found regarding the deceased's identity, nor were any suspicious individuals identified. The team members were exhausted, their eyes bloodshot. Some even leaned back in their chairs for brief naps, but quickly rallied and returned to their work.

"Team Leader Wang, we've checked all the available surveillance footage. Apart from that white van, we haven't found any other suspicious persons or vehicles. We also didn't get any useful clues from interviewing the public. Nobody knows the deceased, and we haven't found anything unusual," a team member reported, his tone tinged with frustration.

Wang Shuai rubbed his throbbing temples, took a deep breath, and said, "I know everyone is exhausted, but we can't give up until we make a breakthrough in the case. Let's review the surveillance footage again, focusing on the blind spots around the construction site fence to see if we've missed any details. The interview team should expand their search area, going to more distant residential areas and shops to continue questioning, making sure no corner is overlooked. Also, contact the transportation department to retrieve traffic flow data along Jianshe Road and check for information related to that white van, hoping to find a breakthrough."

The team members immediately resumed their work as instructed by Wang Shuai. However, no matter how hard they tried, they found no significant clues. The deceased did not appear in the surveillance footage, nor were any suspicious individuals identified as related to the traces and evidence collected at the scene. Interviews with members of the public yielded no valuable information. The white van remained nowhere to be found, as if it had vanished into thin air.

It was past 23 PM, and the city was gradually falling asleep, except for the detectives who were still busy. Wang Shuai looked at the surveillance footage, his heart filled with helplessness. He knew that the surveillance investigation and interviews had reached a stalemate; finding clues through these methods would be extremely difficult. He immediately dialed Lu Chuan's number to report: "Captain Lu, we've conducted a comprehensive review of the surveillance footage around the crime scene and interviewed local residents, but we haven't found any major clues. We haven't tracked the deceased's movements, haven't identified any suspects, and haven't found any leads about the white van. The people we interviewed didn't recognize the deceased and haven't provided any useful information."

On the other end of the phone, Lu Chuan's voice remained calm and composed, without the slightest hint of impatience: "I know you've worked hard. Surveillance and interviews are inherently difficult, especially in construction areas where the population is diverse and surveillance has blind spots. It's normal to have no leads. You should return to the branch office and rest for a few hours. Tomorrow morning, expand the search area, focusing on that white van. Also, contact the missing persons registration department to further compare missing persons information and try to confirm the deceased's identity as soon as possible. In addition, the body has been transported to the provincial criminal investigation branch's autopsy room. Forensic doctor Zhang Kai will conduct an autopsy overnight to determine the time and cause of death. Once the autopsy results are available, we will adjust our investigative approach."

"Understood, Captain Lu! We'll retreat to the branch immediately and continue our work first thing tomorrow morning," Wang Shuai replied. He then led his team to pack up their equipment, leave the scene, and return to the Dongcheng Criminal Investigation Branch to rest.

Just as Wang Shuai led his team to evacuate the scene, a special vehicle marked "Criminal Investigation" slowly drove away from the subway construction site on Chengnan Construction Road. In the trunk of the vehicle lay a body bag containing the deceased's body, sealed tightly to prevent contamination. The vehicle sped towards the Provincial Criminal Investigation Detachment, its headlights piercing the night sky, standing out starkly. It carried the hope of uncovering the truth of the case, and also the weight of the deceased's injustice. (End of Chapter)