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

Chapter 1227 Arrest of Liu Jun

In response to potential emergencies, Li Ming added: "Liu Baijun has violent tendencies and may resist arrest with tools. All arresting personnel must wear stab-proof vests and helmets, and carry batons and shields. If Liu Baijun is found, a warning should be given first. If he resists, restraining police equipment may be used in accordance with the law, but unnecessary casualties must be avoided. Body cameras will be on throughout the arrest process to ensure that the procedure is legal."

Once the plan was finalized, each team immediately took action. By 2 PM, all police forces were in place, and the abandoned Dongfeng factory was quietly sealed off. Xiao Zhou's team at the main gate disguised themselves as nearby villagers, chatting idly on the stones at the factory entrance, while constantly keeping an eye on people entering and leaving; Xiao Wang's team on the west side hid in the bushes outside the wall, their thermal imaging cameras constantly scanning the area inside the wall, searching for human heat sources.

At 2:30 p.m., the mobile team entered the factory through the small south gate. The abandoned factory building was covered in dust, with rusty machine parts scattered all over the ground. Sunlight shone through the broken roof, casting dappled shadows on the ground. Li Ming held a walkie-talkie and directed in a low voice: "Search by area, focusing on the No. 3 factory building on the east side. Qin Huaili said that Liu Baijun used to live there."

Inside Factory Building No. 3, piles of discarded excavator parts lay stacked high. Suddenly, a faint red dot appeared on the thermal imaging camera's screen. "There it is!" a technician whispered, pointing to a metal cabinet in the corner of the factory. Li Ming signaled his team members to spread out and surround the cabinet. He then slowly approached the cabinet and shouted, "Liu Baijun, we are from the Criminal Investigation Division. You are surrounded. Come out and surrender immediately for leniency!"

There was no movement inside the metal cabinet, only the faint sound of breathing. Li Ming warned again, "I'm giving you one last chance. If you don't come out, we'll force the door open!" A few seconds later, the door of the metal cabinet slowly opened, and Liu Baijun was curled up inside, his face pale, his eyes unfocused, and he was still wearing the black coat he had worn at the time of the crime, with faint brown stains visible on it.

"Don't move! Hands behind your head, squat down!" Xiao Wang led his team forward quickly, subduing Liu Baijun and snapping the handcuffs onto his wrists. Liu Baijun didn't resist, only muttering to himself, "I didn't mean to... He owes me money and won't pay it back..."

At Liu Baijun's temporary residence, police found crucial evidence: a black jacket stained with blood (testing showed the blood matched Zhang Dianquan's DNA perfectly), a black nylon rope (its fiber composition matched that extracted from the sewer, and it contained traces of Zhang Dianquan's skin tissue), and half a silver Zippo lighter (the same model as the lighter Zhang Dianquan carried, with the character "Quan" engraved on the bottom). Furthermore, an empty 50-liter gasoline can was found in a corner of the residence, consistent with Qin Huaili's account of Liu Baijun borrowing the car to transport goods and his speculation about burning the vehicle.

At 4 PM, Liu Baijun was escorted into a police car and driven towards the Criminal Investigation Division. Outside the car window, the setting sun cast long shadows of the abandoned factory. Sitting in the passenger seat, Xiao Zhou looked at the list of evidence in his hand, knowing that the investigation surrounding Liu Baijun had finally come to an end. He took out his phone and reported to Li Ming: "Liu Baijun has been successfully apprehended. We found the tools used in the crime and related evidence at the scene. There were no injuries."

Li Ming replied over the phone: "Okay, thank you for your hard work. Arrange the interrogation immediately, focusing on breaking through the details of his crime, confirming whether he has accomplices, and at the same time contact the technical department to conduct further testing on the evidence found to complete the chain of evidence."

The police car drove away from the suburbs and headed towards the city. Liu Baijun sat in the back seat, his head resting against the window, staring blankly out the window. He probably never imagined that a mere 5 yuan economic dispute would not only take another person's life but also push him into the abyss of the law. For Zhang Dianquan's family, this belated arrest finally gave them hope for justice.

The lights in the Criminal Investigation Division shone brightly at dusk. The interrogation room was ready, and an interrogation to uncover the details of the crime was about to begin. Xiao Zhou and Xiao Wang stood outside the interrogation room, nodding to each other—although the case had made significant progress, they knew that only by getting Liu Baijun to confess to all his crimes could they give the deceased and his family a complete explanation and ensure that this tragedy caused by an economic dispute received a fair trial.

The incandescent lights in the criminal investigation detachment's interrogation room were blindingly bright, casting Liu Baijun's long shadow onto the cold wall. He sat in a metal interrogation chair, his hands handcuffed to the armrests. His black jacket had been taken as evidence, and he had been replaced with a gray prison uniform from the detention center. From the moment he was brought in, he kept his head down, his eyes darting around, occasionally glancing up at Xiao Zhou and Xiao Wang behind the interrogation table before quickly lowering them again, as if desperately trying to hide his inner turmoil.

"Name, age, occupation." Xiao Zhou's voice was calm yet carried an undeniable authority. He tapped his pen lightly on the record paper, breaking the silence of the interrogation room. Liu Baijun's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice hoarse as if sanded: "Liu Baijun, 35 years old, excavator driver." His fingers rubbed repeatedly on the handrail, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. He had already devised his strategy—as long as he didn't confess to murder, the police wouldn't have enough evidence to convict him.

"Where were you from the afternoon to the evening of August 22nd? What were you doing?" Xiao Wang went straight to the point, his gaze fixed on Liu Baijun's face, not missing a single subtle expression. Liu Baijun suddenly looked up, a flicker of panic in his eyes, which he quickly suppressed, his tone deliberately angry: "I was at home! What right do you have to arrest me? Just because I borrowed my brother-in-law's car? I did borrow the car, but I just drove it around for a bit, nothing else!" His shoulders were tense, as if ready to resist at any moment. "Zhang Dianquan's death has nothing to do with me, I never even saw him!"

"Never seen him?" Xiao Zhou took out a statement and pushed it in front of Liu Baijun. "Your brother-in-law, Qin Huaili, said that at 3 pm on August 22, you borrowed a black Chang'an Star minivan from him, along with a black bag, saying you were going to pick up something. Surveillance footage shows that you drove that car to Jiefang West Road at 4 pm, near the location where Zhang Dianquan was murdered. How do you explain that?"

Liu Baijun's body visibly stiffened, his eyes darting away, unable to look at the statement, and his voice weakened: "I... I went to Jiefang West Road to find a friend, but I didn't see Zhang Dianquan. That black bag contained excavator parts. I wanted to ask my friend to help me fix the machine, but he wasn't there, so I came back." His lies were full of holes, yet he still tried to struggle, comforting himself: as long as he didn't admit to seeing Zhang Dianquan, the police couldn't directly link him to the corpse.