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

Chapter 1075 The Deceased's Identity Confirmed

The air conditioner in the Criminal Investigation Detachment's information center emitted an old, labored groan, its cold air carrying a rusty smell, yet unable to dispel the palpable anxiety filling the room. Xiao Zhou draped his coat over the back of his chair; the back of his shirt was soaked with sweat, leaving dark stains. He stared at the scrolling missing persons information on the computer screen, his eyes dry as if rubbed with sandpaper.

“This is the 1386th one,” team member Xiao Ma slammed the mouse on the table, the plastic casing hitting the edge of the keyboard with a screeching sound. “Can’t this system be a little more user-friendly? Besides gender and age, can’t you add ‘old fracture of the left leg’ as a filter condition?” He pointed to the information “Wang Xiulian, 52 years old, retired teacher” on the screen, took a big gulp of iced tea, and water droplets from the bottle dripped down his fingers onto the keyboard. “Now every name looks the same to me. If I keep looking, I’ll go blind.”

Xiao Zhao next door was sighing at the printer. An A4 sheet of paper slowly emerged from the output tray, containing a summary of the autopsy report sent by forensic pathologist Zhang Lin. "The print quality is terrible," she said, holding the paper up to the light. "'Left wrist ligature mark' is printed as 'right wrist ligature mark.' I almost got the orientation wrong, wasting over twenty comparisons." The printer suddenly clicked. She yanked hard, and half a sheet of paper got stuck in the roller. "Ugh, I have to take the machine apart again. This piece of junk is harder to handle than a corpse."

Xiao Zhou's gaze lingered on the words "mechanical asphyxiation," his fingertips tapping lightly on the table. The forensic examiner estimated the time of death to be approximately 14 days prior, and noted an old fracture of the left femur. These characteristics acted like thumbtacks, pinning the search to the criteria of "male, 30-50 years old, recently missing, with a previous leg injury." "Single-list missing persons in the construction industry," he nudged Xiao Ma's shoulder, "The deceased's stomach contents contained meat fibers and rice, likely from the construction site canteen."

Xiao Ma scrolled through the screen with his mouse, the information flowing by like water: "I checked, most of the missing people in the construction industry are migrant workers, the registration information is incomplete, many don't even have photos." He clicked on a record for "Zhang Qiang, 41 years old, bricklayer," he said, "Look at this one, the date of disappearance matches, but the ID photo is blurry like a mosaic, and the place of origin is listed as 'unknown,' how can we compare them?"

The door to the information center opened, and auxiliary police officer Xiao Lin entered carrying a stack of case files, bringing in a blast of hot air from outside. "Construction accident records for the past six months in the city," he said, placing the files on the table, the edges of the pages fluttering. "There are 27 cases of fractured left legs. Eleven of them have been located, and of the remaining 16, nine happened while working in other cities." He pulled out the top file. "This Li Jiansheng is a bit suspicious. He's the director of Huihuang Construction. Three months ago, he fell from scaffolding at a construction site, fracturing his left leg, and disappeared after being discharged from the hospital."

Xiao Zhou took the file. The man in the photo was wearing a suit, his tie impeccably tied, his eyes sharp—completely different from the dusty construction worker he had imagined. "The date of disappearance was 15 days ago," he pointed to the registration information, "right within the timeframe estimated by the forensic examiner." He suddenly noticed the words in the remarks column: "'Carried a black leather notebook containing engineering records'—how come I hadn't seen this detail before?"

Xiao Zhao suddenly jumped up from beside the printer: "I think I just crossed this out!" She rummaged through the wastebasket for a while, then picked up a crumpled piece of paper. "Look, the photo was overcompressed when it was sent, and the face was blurred into a color block. I thought it was duplicate information, so I deleted it." She opened the original file in the system, and the pixel blocks gradually became clear. The mole behind the man's left ear matched the trace left behind the corpse's ear perfectly.

"Check his social security records," Xiao Zhou said, his voice tinged with barely perceptible excitement, "and see if there were any unusual changes before he disappeared."

Xiao Ma's fingers flew across the keyboard, and a series of transaction records appeared on the screen: "His social security contributions were not interrupted, but there was a large withdrawal from his housing provident fund account, dated three days before he disappeared." He zoomed in on the transfer record, "The recipient is a private account, the account holder is named 'Zhao Liqiang,' and the registered address is an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city."

“Zhao Liqiang?” Xiao Zhou frowned. This name had appeared in previous cases. “Check the factory’s business registration information and Li Jiansheng’s call records to see if the two have been in contact.”

The clock in the information center struck three in the morning, the fluorescent lights began to flicker, and everyone's eyes were bloodshot. Suddenly, Xiao Zhao shouted, "Found him! In Li Jiansheng's call log, he made three calls to Zhao Liqiang the day before he disappeared. The last call lasted 47 minutes and the location was near that abandoned factory."

Xiao Ma opened the satellite map of the factory, and the cursor moved over a cluster of gray buildings: "It's less than five kilometers from the garbage collection station, separated by a demolition zone." He pulled up a street view photo, "There's a silver-gray van parked at the entrance, with a dent in its left rear bumper, exactly as Lao Li described!"

Xiao Zhou grabbed the autopsy report on the table and pointed to the "ligature mark on the left wrist": "Li Jiansheng's file says 'left-handed,' and the location and direction of the ligature mark match perfectly." He placed the photos and the reconstruction of the body side by side in the file, "The mole behind the left ear, the location of the fracture in the left leg, the height and weight, all the characteristics match up."

The information center suddenly fell silent, with only the whirring of the air conditioner echoing in the air. Xiao Ma slumped in his chair and let out a long sigh: "Finally found it. I was going to throw up if I kept looking at it." Xiao Zhao rubbed his aching shoulders and threw the misprinted A4 paper into the wastebasket: "This system should have been upgraded a long time ago. It almost let the real culprit get away with it."

Xiao Zhou picked up Li Jiansheng's photo. The man in the photo was still smiling, completely unaware of his impending fate. He recalled the forensic doctor's description of a "fracture of the greater horn of the hyoid bone," and imagined that moment of suffocation, feeling a weight pressing on his heart. "Notify Captain Li," he said into the walkie-talkie, his voice trembling slightly with excitement, "The deceased's identity confirmed: Li Jiansheng, director of Brilliant Construction. Focus the investigation on Zhao Liqiang and that abandoned factory."

The sky outside the window was turning a pale white, and the first rays of sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting long, thin patches of light on the screen. As Xiao Zhou watched the name "Li Jiansheng" marked with a red checkmark, he suddenly felt that all the torment of the night had finally gained meaning. The scrolling messages, the blurry photos, the repetitive complaints—all had finally converged into a clear thread, like a beam of light in the darkness, illuminating the path to the truth.