The crackdown on organized crime began with the arrest of the mother-in-law.

Chapter 1236 The Identity of the Deceased Li Baoren

Wang Shufen wiped away her tears and recalled, "He left on the morning of August 14th, saying he was going to work on a construction site in a neighboring city. He was going with a man from a neighboring village named 'Old Zhou.' He didn't say the specific name of the construction site, only that Old Zhou would arrange it. When he left, he took a black canvas bag with a few changes of clothes and toiletries inside, and he was also wearing a black jacket—the one I bought for him last year for his birthday, it was cotton and the cuffs were a little worn."

"A black cotton coat with worn cuffs?" A thought struck Xiao Zhou. The forensic doctor had indeed found a black cotton coat on the body, with worn cuffs—a detail that matched perfectly. She took out her phone and pulled up the forensic doctor's drawing of the deceased's clothing features: "Sister, look, isn't this what Li Baoren's coat looks like?"

Wang Shufen took the phone, examined it carefully, and nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, yes! That's exactly it! It's black, the cuffs are slightly worn, and there's a small tear in the left breast pocket, from when it was snagged by a nail while we were working last time." This perfectly matched the detail Xiao Yang had discovered during his on-site investigation: "a torn left breast pocket on a black cotton jacket!"

To confirm further, Xiao Zhou asked, "Does Li Baoren have any special characteristics? For example, does he have any scars, wear any jewelry, or have any habits?" Wang Shufen thought for a moment and said, "He has a scar on the web of his left hand, which was cut by a chainsaw a few years ago when he was doing carpentry work. It's about two centimeters long. He doesn't wear jewelry, but he's a heavy smoker. He usually smokes 'Hongtashan' cigarettes, and he took two packs with him when he left."

“Hongtashan cigarettes?” Xiao Zhou immediately thought of the “Hongtashan” cigarette butts that Xiao Sun found at the scene. “Does he have a farm tricycle, or does he often use a tricycle to transport things?” Wang Shufen shook her head: “He doesn’t have a tricycle at home. He usually goes out either by bicycle or by hitchhiking.”

Although there was no connection to the tricycle, Li Baoren's age, height, clothing characteristics, smoking habits, and even the details of the torn coat matched the deceased closely. Xiao Zhou decided to collect DNA samples from Li Baoren's family members and compare them with the deceased's DNA to definitively confirm the identity. "Sister, in order to find Li Baoren's whereabouts as quickly as possible, we need to collect DNA samples from you and your child for professional comparison. Is that alright with you?"

Although Wang Shufen hesitated for a moment, she nodded in agreement in order to find her husband: "I will cooperate as long as Baoren can be found. My son Xiaobao is 8 years old and in the second grade of the village primary school. I will go and call him back now."

Half an hour later, Xiao Zhou brought Wang Shufen and Xiao Bao to the DNA laboratory of the Criminal Investigation Detachment. Following procedure, technicians collected a sample of Xiao Bao's oral mucosal cells—because the child was related to his father by blood, Y chromosome comparison could quickly confirm whether the deceased was Li Baoren.

"Officer Zhang, do you think Bao Ren... could something really have happened to him?" While waiting for the results, Wang Shufen sat on a bench outside the lab, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes, her voice trembling. Xiao Zhou held her hand, gently comforting her, "Sister, don't overthink it. We're just doing a preliminary investigation. Maybe Li Bao Ren's phone just ran out of battery. He'll be fine once we get in touch." Actually, she knew in her heart that all the clues pointed to Li Bao Ren possibly being the decomposed corpse, but she didn't want Wang Shufen to suffer such a blow before the results were in.

At 3 p.m., the technicians rushed out of the lab with the DNA comparison report: "Officer Zhang, the comparison results are in! Xiao Bao's Y chromosome profile is completely consistent with the deceased's Y chromosome profile, and the autosomal matching rate is 99.99%. It can be confirmed that the deceased is Li Baoren!"

Upon hearing the result, Wang Shufen's vision blurred, and she nearly collapsed. Xiao Zhou quickly caught her. "Impossible... This can't be... How could Baoren..." Wang Shufen broke down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably. "He said he would buy new clothes for me and the children when he left, how could he be gone..."

While calming Wang Shufen down, Xiao Zhou inquired in detail about Li Baoren's social connections: "Sister, do you know who Li Baoren has conflicts with? Or did he tell you before he left if he had offended anyone recently, or if he had any worries?"

Wang Shufen cried for a long time before slowly calming down: "Baoren is an honest person and has never made enemies with anyone. It's just that a while ago, he had a fight with Old Zhou from the neighboring village over some wages—Last year, Old Zhou asked Baoren to work for him for half a month and owed Baoren 3000 yuan in wages, which he never paid. Baoren asked him for it several times, but Old Zhou always said he didn't have the money. It wasn't until this time, when Old Zhou said that Baoren could go with him to work in a neighboring city, where the wages would be doubled and the previous wages could be paid at the same time, that Baoren finally agreed to go."

"Old Zhou? Is he the one you mentioned before, the one who went to work with Li Baoren?" Xiao Zhou pressed. Wang Shufen nodded: "That's him. His full name is Zhou Zhiqiang. He lives in Zhoujiazhuang in the neighboring village. He usually does odd jobs in the surrounding villages and towns. I heard that he's not very well-off and likes to gamble."

This information caught Xiao Zhou's eye—Zhou Zhiqiang not only had a financial dispute with Li Baoren, but was also the last person to have contact with Li Baoren, and Li Baoren disappeared while "working for him," making him a prime suspect! "Do you have Zhou Zhiqiang's contact information? Do you know where he is now?"

Wang Shufen shook her head: "I don't have his contact information. When Baoren left, he said that when he got to the construction site, Lao Zhou should contact me, but I haven't heard from him. I heard from Baoren that Lao Zhou has a black farm tricycle, which he usually uses to transport tools."

“A black farm tricycle!” Xiao Zhou immediately thought of the longitudinal tire tracks that Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun had found at the scene. “Sister, do you know if Zhou Zhiqiang’s tricycle has any distinctive features? For example, are there any scratches on the body, or what color is the canvas?”

“It seems there’s a scratch on the right side of the vehicle, which was from when we were hauling timber. The canvas is blue,” Wang Shufen said, trying to recall. “Baoren told me that Lao Zhou’s tricycle was a bit old, the engine was very loud, and it tended to emit black smoke when it was running.”

Xiao Zhou immediately decided to, on the one hand, contact the village secretary of Zhoujiazhuang, a neighboring village, to verify Zhou Zhiqiang's situation and investigate his whereabouts; on the other hand, he reported Zhou Zhiqiang's information to Li Ming and requested that police forces be arranged to investigate Zhou Zhiqiang, focusing on confirming his whereabouts on the evening of August 12, whether he owned a farm tricycle with tire tracks matching the characteristics at the scene, and whether he was related to Li Baoren's death.

When Xiao Zhou saw Wang Shufen off, whose emotions had gradually stabilized, and returned to the Criminal Investigation Detachment with the DNA comparison report and the clues she had gathered, Li Ming was waiting for her news. "Great! We've finally confirmed the deceased's identity!" Li Ming looked at the report, his voice trembling with excitement. "Zhou Zhiqiang had financial disputes, owned a farm tricycle, and was the last person to have contact with Li Baoren. This clue is crucial!"