frightfiction Chapter 1458 A Turning Point Arrives in the Case, New Clues
Chapter 1458 A Turning Point Arrives in the Case, New Clues
The experts' suggestions brought new ideas to the investigation. Li Ming immediately arranged for his team to adjust their investigative direction and restart the investigation, following the experts' advice. The team's morale was reignited, and they threw themselves into the intense work with renewed hope. Although the case was still at a dead end, the arrival of the experts gave everyone hope for a breakthrough. They firmly believed that, under the experts' guidance and with the joint efforts of all team members, they would definitely find the real murderer and solve this difficult case.
The turning point in the case ultimately came from the most basic interpersonal relationship investigation. Under the guidance of experts from the provincial department, Li Ming readjusted the investigation framework, refining the investigation of Zhang Tao's social relationships into three dimensions: his circle of relatives and friends, his business circle, and his social circle. Experienced veteran investigator Xiao Zhou led the effort, specifically responsible for tracing Zhang Tao's business dealings. Xiao Zhou knew that for a pork stall owner like Zhang Tao, who had been rooted in the market for many years, business disputes were often the easiest trigger for escalation, especially core issues like unpaid wages, which could potentially become the cause of a murder.
Xiao Zhou led his team into the Heping Road farmers' market. Instead of rushing into inquiries, they spent two days meticulously recording the product categories and trading methods of every vendor, down to the procurement cycles and settlement habits of different types of ingredients. He believed that to uncover hidden business disputes, they needed to immerse themselves in this small commercial ecosystem to find clues from subtle anomalies. During this time, they repeatedly visited stalls adjacent to Zhang Tao's, and also held in-depth interviews with market management staff and the truck drivers responsible for transporting meat, gathering a wealth of firsthand information about Zhang Tao's business operations.
“Zhang Tao is a fairly honest businessman. He closes his stall on time and is fair to his regular customers when weighing their goods. It’s just that he seems to have been short of money in recent years,” recalled Old Wang from the market management office. “About two years ago, I passed by his stall and heard him arguing with a man with a non-local accent. They were arguing quite fiercely. It sounded like he was saying things like, ‘I’ve sold all my goods, why are you still delaying payment?’ ‘If you don’t pay, don’t even think about getting any more goods.’ I don’t remember exactly who he was arguing with, but I remember that the man was short, overweight, and wearing a black jacket. He looked like a wholesaler.”
Old Wang's words caught Xiao Zhou's eye, and he immediately pressed, "Are you sure it was two years ago? Are there any other details, like whether the man said what he did, or mentioned any specific place names or company names?" Old Wang frowned and thought for a long time before shaking his head: "It's been too long, I can't remember the exact month, but I remember it was autumn, because it was already a bit chilly, and the man was wearing a thick jacket. I really didn't notice any other details. I had other things to do at the time, so I left after listening for a couple of sentences."
Despite the limited clues, the keywords "two years ago," "out-of-town accent," "overweight," "black jacket," and "payment dispute" echoed the previously known clue of "the man in black arguing with Zhang Tao." Xiao Zhou immediately decided to focus his investigation on "Zhang Tao's pork supplier from two years ago." They first found several old ledgers at Zhang Tao's rented residence. The ledgers recorded his purchases and sales details for the past five years. Among the dense handwriting, the name "Liu Jun" appeared multiple times, all corresponding to pork purchases, totaling over 80,000 yuan. The last transaction was recorded on October 17th, two years ago, with a note stating "owed 52000 yuan."
"Found him!" Xiao Zhou pointed to the records in the ledger, his voice brimming with excitement. "This Liu Jun is very likely the wholesaler Lao Wang mentioned who had a dispute with Zhang Tao!" He immediately arranged for his team to search for information about "Liu Jun" through the household registration system and business registration information. They quickly identified the target: Liu Jun, male, 42 years old, from a neighboring city, runs a business called "Junji Meat Wholesale Department" in this city, mainly selling pork wholesale. His registered address and business address are both in the agricultural product wholesale market near Heping Road, only 1.5 kilometers away from the vegetable market where Zhang Tao works. More importantly, the Liu Jun in the household registration photo is overweight and has short hair, which highly matches the characteristics of the "man in black" described by the witness.
Xiao Zhou immediately reported this discovery to Li Ming, who promptly ordered: "Conduct a comprehensive investigation into Liu Jun, focusing on verifying the details of his debt dispute with Zhang Tao, his activity trajectory during the time of the incident, and whether he owned or had contact with the white van!" Upon receiving the order, Xiao Zhou's team split into three groups: one went to "Junji Meat Wholesale Department" to verify its business operations, another retrieved Liu Jun's household registration information and recent activity trajectory, and the third conducted interviews focusing on Liu Jun's social relationships.
The team investigating "Junji Meat Wholesale Department" quickly reported back: the wholesale department was indeed run by Liu Jun, whose main customers were stall owners in the surrounding vegetable market and small catering establishments. Zhang Tao had been a long-term customer. A clerk at the wholesale department revealed that Liu Jun had a rather volatile temper, especially regarding payments, and frequently argued with customers. "About two years ago, Brother Zhang Tao did buy a batch of pork from us, worth over 50,000 yuan, but he hasn't settled the account. Boss Liu approached him several times, and each time they argued fiercely; once, they almost came to blows. After that, Brother Zhang Tao never came to us again, and Boss Liu told us we were not allowed to supply Zhang Tao anymore," the clerk recalled. "Recently, for the past two weeks, Boss Liu seems to be in a bad mood. He often smokes alone and stares blankly, and sometimes he'll ask us, 'Has Zhang Tao come to the market recently?'"
Another team of officers discovered a crucial clue while reviewing Liu Jun's movements: By comparing surveillance footage from Heping Road and the surrounding area, it was found that at 9:05 PM on October 25th, Liu Jun drove a white van to the alleyway behind the Heping Road vegetable market, lingered for about 15 minutes, and then drove away. At 11:20 PM, the same white van reappeared in front of a convenience store on the south side of Heping Road, lingered for 5 minutes, and then continued westward. This time and location perfectly matched the description of the "suspicious white van" given earlier by the convenience store owner, Ms. Zhao! More importantly, the left side of the white van's rear bumper was visibly deformed, and the last three digits of its license plate were also "376"—exactly identical to Zhou Qiang's vehicle characteristics. Clearly, Liu Jun deliberately used a fake license plate to mislead the police.