frightfiction Chapter 1194 Division of Forces for Investigation
Chapter 1194 Division of Forces for Investigation
Xiao Zhou then reported on the investigation into the deceased's identity. A social relationship diagram of Zhang Juan appeared on the screen, with red lines marking "conflict parties" and black lines marking "normal relationships." "Zhang Juan, 32 years old, cashier in the finance department of the East Suburb Cement Plant, has been with the company for 5 years. She is meticulous in her work and has no bad habits," Xiao Zhou pointed to the relationship diagram. "The core conflict party is Zhao Lei, the plant manager's nephew, who is in charge of raw material procurement for the cement plant. The two had a fierce conflict over 800,000 yuan of abnormal procurement expenses. When Zhang Juan was checking the documents, she found that Zhao Lei had 5 procurement expenditures in June and July 2024, with only internal approval forms and no invoices or delivery notes, totaling 800,000 yuan. She repeatedly asked Zhao Lei for the vouchers but was refused. On the afternoon of August 14, they were still arguing in the corridor. Zhao Lei threatened, 'If you dare to report this, I'll make sure you regret it.'"
He added, “Zhang Juan’s husband reported that on the evening of August 14, Zhang Juan called him and said, ‘I’ve found evidence that Zhao Lei embezzled public funds and I’ll report it tomorrow.’ This was the last time she contacted her family. Colleagues in the finance department confirmed that there were incomplete financial audit records in Zhang Juan’s desk drawer, which detailed the abnormal expenditures of Zhao Lei. A red cotton rope was also found in the drawer, which perfectly matched the shape of the ligature marks on the ankle of the body. After testing, Zhao Lei’s fingerprints were found on the rope.”
As Xiao Wang reported on the progress of the video investigation, surveillance footage of a silver minivan and a black sedan simultaneously appeared on the screen. "The silver minivan (with a fake license plate, Beijing A·XX36) entered the cement plant at 4:05 PM on August 14th. The driver was wearing a black jacket and a baseball cap, his face was covered, only his single eyelid and a mole at the corner of his eye were visible, and he was about 175 cm tall," Xiao Wang zoomed in on the footage. "The vehicle stayed at the material pile for 10 minutes before leaving. The sun visor on the passenger side was closed, and there appeared to be a black object in the back seat (presumably a corpse); at 8:20 PM, a black Volkswagen Lavida (license plate unidentified) parked outside the wall for 20 minutes, following the same trajectory as the minivan, presumably as a pick-up vehicle."
He pulled up the highway exit surveillance footage: "The minivan refueled at a gas station on the East Suburbs Expressway at 3:15 PM on August 14th. The driver bought Hongtashan cigarettes, the same brand as the cigarette butts found at the scene. At 10:05 PM, the minivan appeared on Jianshe Road in the city center and then disappeared into the blind spot of the surveillance cameras. The black sedan left the cement plant area at 8:40 PM, heading towards the city center, and no follow-up trajectory was found." Xiao Wang shook his head helplessly, "Zhao Lei's mobile phone has been switched off since 9 PM on August 14th. The communication records show that his last call was to an unregistered virtual number, lasting 1 minute, with the base station location near the cement plant."
Zhang Lin gave his final report on the autopsy results. An autopsy diagram of Zhang Juan appeared on the screen, with red arrows marking the locations of the fatal injuries. "The cause of death was determined to be respiratory failure," Zhang Lin said, pointing to the contusion area on her chest. "A 5x6cm contusion in the lower lobe of her left lung, with hemorrhage and swelling of the lung tissue leading to pulmonary dysfunction; a 2x3cm subcutaneous hemorrhage on the right side of her neck, caused by blunt force trauma. It is presumed that the suspect first struck her neck to incapacitate her, then struck her chest, causing the fatal injury."
"The time of death is accurate to around 1 a.m. on August 15th," he said, pulling up the biochemistry report. "The blood potassium concentration was 9 mmol/L. Combined with the degree of digestion of the stomach contents (last meal 4-6 hours ago, corresponding to the cafeteria dinner at 7 p.m. on the 14th) and the development of cadaveric spots, the three pieces of evidence cross-validate, and the error in the time of death is no more than 30 minutes." Zhang Lin emphasized, "Red cotton fibers were extracted from the ankle ligature marks on the body, which are consistent with the composition of the red rope on Zhang Juan's desk, and also have Zhao Lei's fingerprints; the reddish-brown soil under the fingernails contains humus and sand, which, after testing, came from an abandoned construction site in the northern suburbs of the city, matching the location of an undeveloped plot of land under Zhao Lei's name."
A brief silence fell over the meeting room. Sparrows outside the window perched on the branches, their chirping unable to penetrate the heavy atmosphere. Li Ming's fingers tapped lightly on the table, his gaze fixed on the name "Zhao Lei": "Now all the clues point to Zhao Lei. He has a motive (to cover up the embezzlement), the means to commit the crime (familiarity with the cement plant environment, and a vehicle for backup), and direct evidence (the red string fingerprints, the unusual phone calls). Finding him will solve half the case."
“I think we should trace Zhao Lei’s whereabouts in three directions,” Xiao Zhou spoke first, pointing to Zhao Lei’s social relationship diagram. “First, investigate his circle of relatives and friends, especially his contacts around the abandoned construction site in the northern suburbs—the soil evidence points there, and Zhao Lei may be hiding in a temporary prefabricated house at the construction site; second, track his fund flows, the 80 yuan of abnormal funds may have been transferred by him, check his bank statements and third-party payment accounts to see if there are any large withdrawals or transfers; third, visit his card-playing friends and drinking buddies, Zhao Lei usually likes to go to card rooms in the city, maybe someone knows his whereabouts.”
Xiao Yang offered additional suggestions: "The palm prints and cigarette butt DNA extracted from the scene should be compared with Zhao Lei's biological sample as soon as possible—although there are his fingerprints on the red rope, the palm prints and DNA can directly confirm whether he is the suspect at the body disposal scene; in addition, the abandoned construction site in the northern suburbs needs to be investigated immediately, focusing on whether there are signs of a struggle, bloodstains, or Zhang Juan's personal belongings, such as her pink pen or black folder."
“We can expand the scope of the video surveillance,” Xiao Wang said, opening the computer map. “The silver van was last seen on Jianshe Road. There are three urban villages nearby with low surveillance coverage, making it a good place to hide the vehicle. Although we didn’t capture the license plate of the black sedan, the black roof rack is a key feature. Among the black Volkswagen Lavida registered in the city, 12 have the same roof rack. We have already arranged for team members to check the owner information one by one to see if they are related to Zhao Lei.”
Zhang Lin focused on the completeness of the evidence chain: "It is necessary to confirm whether Zhao Lei has any accomplices—who is the driver of the black sedan? Why did they pick him up? Were there any other people involved in the whereabouts of the 80 yuan of public funds? In addition, the 'evidence of embezzlement' mentioned by Zhang Juan has not been found yet. It may have been destroyed by Zhao Lei, or it may be hidden in some secret location. It is necessary to search Zhao Lei's office and residence."
After listening to everyone's opinions, Li Ming drew three core investigation directions on the whiteboard, circling "tracing Zhao Lei's whereabouts" in red as the top priority: "First team, led by Xiao Zhou, will focus on Zhao Lei's circle of relatives and friends and abandoned construction sites in the northern suburbs. In conjunction with the local police station, they will conduct a comprehensive search of the area around the construction sites, focusing on hiding places such as temporary prefabricated houses and abandoned factories. At the same time, they will retrieve Zhao Lei's financial records for the past three months to trace the whereabouts of 80 yuan. Second team, led by Xiao Wang, will expand the video surveillance range to the urban villages around Jianshe Road, investigate the final destination of the silver minivan and the black Volkswagen Lavida, and verify the owner information of 12 Lavida cars with roof racks to confirm whether they are Zhao Lei's accomplices."