frightfiction Chapter 1457 Readjusting the Investigation Strategy
Chapter 1457 Readjusting the Investigation Strategy
“Now, we’re readjusting our investigation strategy.” Li Ming’s gaze hardened. “First, we’ll expand the scope of our investigation into Zhang Tao’s debt relationships, not just his bank statements, but also his cash transactions. We’ll question all his relatives, friends, and colleagues to see if anyone knows anything about his debts. Second, we’ll focus on investigating all factories and construction sites in the city that produce, sell, or use industrial protective clothing. Combined with clues from the acrylic fiber samples, we’ll search for individuals matching the perpetrator’s characteristics. Third, we’ll re-examine the missing persons information throughout the city to see if anyone matches the perpetrator’s description. Fourth, we’ll release the acrylic fiber samples and stainless steel metal residue information collected at the scene to the national public security system, requesting assistance from police forces across the country. Fifth, we’ll intensify our investigation of blind spots in the surveillance system around Heping Road to find the location where the perpetrator might be hiding in a vehicle.”
“In addition, I have applied to my superiors for support, and two criminal investigation experts have been transferred from the Provincial Public Security Department to assist us in solving the case,” Li Ming added. “The experts will arrive in our city tomorrow. They have extensive experience in solving difficult cases, and I believe they can bring us new ideas and methods.” Hearing that experts were coming to help, a glimmer of hope finally appeared in the team members’ eyes. Xiao Wang looked up at Li Ming: “Captain Li, we will definitely persevere, never give up, and we must catch the murderer and bring justice to the deceased!”
"Yes! Never give up!" The other team members echoed, and the tense atmosphere finally eased. After the meeting, each group immediately resumed their investigation according to the new plan. Although the case investigation remained fraught with difficulties, the team members rallied their spirits and, with a glimmer of hope, continued to hold fast to their posts.
That afternoon, while investigating Zhang Tao's cash transactions, Xiao Wang's team made a small discovery. An elderly vendor at the market recalled seeing Zhang Tao talking to a strange man in a corner near the market entrance after closing up shop about a month prior. The man handed Zhang Tao a black plastic bag, and Zhang Tao gave him a wad of cash. "The man was rather overweight, wearing a black coat, a hat, and a mask, so I couldn't see his face. I found it a bit strange at the time; Zhang Tao rarely did private transactions with strangers, and that man seemed very mysterious," the vendor said.
"Can you be sure it was a month ago? What was the exact day?" Xiao Wang quickly pressed. The old merchant shook his head: "I can't remember the exact day, but it was probably late September or early October. The weather was a bit chilly that day, and I remember it clearly; the man was wearing a thick coat." This clue made Xiao Wang's eyes light up. Although there was no specific time or description of the man, it at least proved that Zhang Tao did have cash transactions, and it was very likely a transaction related to debt.
Xiao Wang immediately arranged for his team to investigate based on this clue, retrieving surveillance footage from the market entrance in late September and early October to search for the overweight man wearing a thick black coat. Simultaneously, they continued to interview other vendors in the market to see if anyone had witnessed a similar scene. However, due to the angle of the surveillance footage at the market entrance, it couldn't capture the scene in the corner, and interviewing other vendors yielded no further valuable information. This small discovery did not bring any substantial progress to the case investigation.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun also encountered significant difficulties while investigating factories and construction sites in the city that produce, sell, and use industrial protective clothing. The city has dozens of factories and hundreds of construction sites that all require industrial protective clothing, involving a large number of people, making the investigation extremely tedious. They visited each factory and construction site one by one, collecting information on relevant personnel and clothing samples, comparing them with acrylic fiber samples collected on-site, but so far, no matches have been found.
Zhang Lin then compiled detailed information on the acrylic fiber samples and stainless steel metal residues collected at the scene and reported it to the national public security system, requesting assistance from police forces across the country in the investigation. He also worked with technical personnel to conduct further examinations of these samples, hoping to find more characteristic information to provide a more precise direction for the investigation.
Night fell again, but the lights remained on in the Criminal Investigation Division's office building. The investigators were still working diligently, their faces showing fatigue, but their eyes were filled with determination. They knew that solving the case was still a long and arduous task, and they might encounter more difficulties and setbacks, but they would not give up. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, they would give 100% of their effort until the murderer was brought to justice, the victim was given justice, and society was restored to peace.
The following morning, two criminal investigation experts from the Provincial Public Security Department arrived at the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment as scheduled. Upon arrival, the experts immediately began their work, carefully reviewing all case materials, including crime scene investigation records, autopsy reports, surveillance footage, and interview transcripts. They also had in-depth discussions with Li Ming, Xiao Wang, Xiao Yang, Zhang Lin, and others, gaining a detailed understanding of the case's investigation process and current difficulties.
"This is a typical case of heinous dismemberment. The perpetrator was extremely cunning and had a strong sense of counter-investigation. His methods were cruel and he was very shrewd," said expert Li Jianjun in a deep voice after reviewing the case materials. "Based on the current clues, there is a clear conflict of interest between the perpetrator and the deceased, Zhang Tao, most likely a debt dispute. The reason the perpetrator dismembered and disposed of the body, and deliberately disguised the vehicle, was to conceal his identity and evade legal punishment."
“We believe that the previous investigation direction was basically correct, but there were some oversights in the details,” another expert, Wang Jianguo, added. “For example, when investigating white vans, we cannot only focus on vehicles with deformed left rear bumpers and license plates ending in ‘376’. We must also pay attention to white vans that had a history of using counterfeit license plates or were stolen during the time of the incident. In addition, after disposing of the body, the perpetrator may have destroyed the vehicle or hidden it in a very secluded place. We can expand our search to include abandoned vehicle processing plants, landfills, and remote mountainous areas in the city to look for suspicious vehicles.”
“When investigating Zhang Tao’s debt relationships, we can’t just limit ourselves to his bank statements and cash transactions; we also need to pay attention to his business dealings. Zhang Tao is a pork stall owner, and his business partners, suppliers, slaughterhouse workers, etc., may all have debt disputes with him. In addition, we can check Zhang Tao’s mobile phone call records and text message records to see if there is any contact with suspicious persons,” Li Jianjun said.