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

At 2 PM that afternoon, the team members who went to Wang Cheng's home to inquire returned to the scene with the results of their questioning and reported to Zhang Hui: "Brother Zhang, we found the car owner, Wang Cheng. After detailed questioning and verification, Wang Cheng's suspicion has been cleared. He said that the van was stolen three days ago, on the evening of the 12th of this month, when it was parked downstairs in the community. Around 10 PM that night, after discovering that the vehicle was missing, he immediately called the police. The local police station has accepted the case, and there is a police report available."

"Tell me the details of the inquiry, Wang Cheng's recent whereabouts, interpersonal relationships, and whether there are any abnormalities," Zhang Hui pressed, his gaze focused.

“Wang Cheng had been delivering goods out of town recently. He set off for a neighboring city on the morning of the 12th and returned to Jiangcheng on the afternoon of the 14th. When the vehicle was stolen, he was delivering goods in the neighboring city. There are freight documents, highway toll records, and hotel accommodation records to prove this, so he had no opportunity to commit the crime,” the team member reported clearly. “He had no connection with the deceased, did not know the deceased, and had never been to Factory Building No. 3 of Sanliqiao Logistics Park. He had not had any conflicts or disputes with anyone recently, had a simple social circle, and had no motive for committing the crime. In addition, he stated that after the vehicle was stolen, he did not disclose any vehicle information to anyone and had no intention of recovering the vehicle.”

After hearing the report, Zhang Hui frowned even more deeply. He had initially thought the van would be the key to solving the case and identifying the perpetrator, but unexpectedly, the van turned out to be a stolen vehicle, and the owner, Wang Cheng, was not a suspect. The investigation had once again reached a dead end. "Retrieve the surveillance footage from Wang Cheng's residential area to verify the time and process of the theft, and investigate suspicious individuals involved in vehicle thefts. Let's see if we can find any information related to the perpetrator from the vehicle theft clues."

"Understood. We have contacted the local police station and retrieved the community's surveillance footage. We are doing our best to investigate the car thief," the team member replied.

Meanwhile, the forensic center reported preliminary results: the three fingerprints extracted from the van did not match the six unfamiliar fingerprints found at the scene; DNA testing of the black hair, clothing fibers, and clothing fragments extracted from the van confirmed they belonged to the deceased, further confirming that the deceased had ridden in the stolen van. However, due to the lack of matching fingerprint samples and the unknown identity of the thief, the van lead could not be pursued further, and the investigation stalled.

Zhang Hui stood beside the van, staring at the dilapidated gray-white vehicle with a grave expression. He knew that all leads had gone cold; the van was stolen, the owner was not a suspect, the evidence at the scene couldn't identify the killer, and the victim's identity remained unknown. To advance the case, he needed to find a new breakthrough.

"Notify all team members to temporarily halt the investigation around the van, assemble, and adjust the direction of the investigation," Zhang Hui said in a deep voice. "Since the van lead is not progressing, we will focus on identifying the deceased. Once we confirm the deceased's identity and examine his interpersonal relationships and social interactions, we can find the killer's motive and thus pinpoint the killer."

The team quickly assembled and, following Zhang Hui's instructions, adjusted their investigation direction to focus entirely on identifying the deceased. Zhang Hui personally led the team, concentrating on the area surrounding the Sanliqiao Logistics Park, conducting a comprehensive search for recently missing persons. The area around the Sanliqiao Logistics Park is home to multiple industrial parks, freight stations, and rental housing clusters, resulting in extremely high population mobility and making the search for missing persons a massive undertaking with exceptionally high difficulty.

"We divided the work and compiled all the missing persons reports within a five-kilometer radius of the logistics park over the past month, checking them one by one." Zhang Hui convened an emergency investigation meeting to clarify the division of labor. "We will focus on investigating male missing persons who are between 25 and 45 years old, 170 to 180 centimeters tall, engaged in manual labor, and have a recent record of activity around the logistics park. We will compare their physical characteristics and clothing with those of the deceased to eliminate and identify suspects one by one."

The investigation was fully launched, with team members divided into several groups. One group contacted various police stations in the jurisdiction to retrieve missing persons reports from the past month; another group visited industrial parks and freight stations around the logistics park, interviewing company leaders and workers to investigate recently missing workers; another group visited rental housing areas in the surrounding area, contacting landlords and tenants to understand the situation of recently missing persons; and a third group was responsible for compiling all missing persons information, establishing an investigation ledger, and comparing the characteristics of the deceased one by one.

Zhang Hui personally led a team to visit freight stations and sorting centers around the Sanliqiao Logistics Park. He knew that the deceased was wearing work clothes and protective clothing, and had calluses on his hands from manual labor, so he was most likely a manual laborer. The sorting workers, porters, and truck drivers around the logistics park were the key targets for investigation.

That afternoon, Zhang Hui led his team to Hengtong Sorting Center, the closest cargo sorting center to Sanliqiao Logistics Park. This sorting center was small, mainly responsible for sorting and transferring goods from the surrounding logistics park. It regularly hired temporary sorting workers, resulting in extremely high staff turnover. Zhang Hui found Mr. Li, the person in charge of the sorting center, identified himself, and explained his purpose: to request Mr. Li's cooperation in locating the recently missing sorting workers.

Upon learning of the murder at the Sanliqiao Logistics Park, Mr. Li became extremely nervous and immediately cooperated with Zhang Hui's work: "Officer, we do have a sorting worker at our sorting center who hasn't come to work for two days and we can't contact him. We were just about to call the police."

Zhang Hui's eyes lit up, and a glimmer of hope arose in his heart. He quickly asked, "Tell me more about this sorting worker: his name, age, height, physical characteristics, clothing, family situation, interpersonal relationships, and whether there have been any recent abnormalities?"

“His name was Wang Kui, 32 years old, from a county town near Jiangcheng City. He was about 1.75 meters tall, of medium build, with short hair, dark skin, and thick calluses on his hands from manual labor. He was not talkative and had a rather introverted personality.” Mr. Li recalled carefully and said clearly, “He worked in our sorting center for half a year, mainly responsible for sorting and moving goods. He usually wore a dark-colored work jacket, dark gray work pants, and black safety shoes, which is basically consistent with the clothing you described for the deceased.”

"When was the last time he came to work? Where did he go after get off work? Did he have any conflicts with his colleagues?" Zhang Hui pressed, his tone urgent, afraid of missing any crucial details.

"His last day at work was the 13th of this month, the day before the incident. He left work at 6 PM and hasn't come back since. We can't reach him by phone, and he doesn't reply to WeChat messages," Mr. Li said. (End of Chapter)