frightfiction Chapter 1027 Clues in the Van
Chapter 1027 Clues in the Van
Meanwhile, the technician found a gas receipt in the visor compartment of the passenger side, dated the day of the incident. The gas station was located on the main road between Li Baocun's home and the machinery factory.
When the investigation focused on Wang Gang's wife, Liu Mei, surveillance footage from the nail salon showed that at 6:20 PM on September 8th, she used Wang Gang's phone to call a mysterious number. Call records showed that this number had contacted Wang Gang 27 times in the past three months, but the phone number was a fraudulently registered and invalid number.
“When we were checking Wang Gang’s call records, we found that he and Zhou Jianguo’s wife, the warehouse manager of the machinery factory, were junior high school classmates.” Xiao Wang projected a yellowed graduation photo onto the screen, showing two girls with ponytails standing in the third row. “Although the two had not been in contact for nearly ten years, last Wednesday, Zhou Jianguo’s wife suddenly went to Wang Gang’s seafood stall and bought two hundred yuan worth of shrimp—and that day was the last time Li Baocun withdrew money from the bank.”
The atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly became tense. Li Ming drew a relationship diagram on the whiteboard, circling Wang Gang, Zhou Jianguo, and the mysterious number in red: "This van is the key to our breakthrough. Continue to investigate Wang Gang's financial records, focusing on any unusual expenditures before and after the incident. At the same time, monitor Zhou Jianguo 24 hours a day. They thought they could get away with borrowing the van without any problems, but they left too many loopholes in the details."
Outside the window, torrential rain poured down, washing over the whiteboard covered with clues. Meanwhile, the silent white van, with its fluorescent bloodstains inside, silently spoke of a truth yet to be revealed.
A light autumn rain was falling. Xiao Wang, wearing a baseball cap pulled low, sat in an inconspicuous gray sedan, his eyes fixed on the back door of the machinery factory warehouse. He had long since figured out Zhou Jianguo's daily routine: he rode his electric bike to work promptly at 7:30 every morning, ate lunch at the factory canteen, and went home at 6:00 in the evening—a life as regular as a wound-up alarm clock. But today, Xiao Wang keenly sensed something was amiss.
Zhou Jianguo usually goes straight home after get off work, but today he lingered at the factory gate for a long time, frequently taking out his phone and looking around anxiously. After a while, a black SUV slowly drove up and stopped beside Zhou Jianguo. Xiao Wang immediately perked up and picked up his high-powered binoculars to observe, but unfortunately the windows were tinted dark, making it impossible to see the person inside. He saw Zhou Jianguo quickly open the passenger door and get in, and the vehicle then drove off towards the outskirts of the city.
"Follow!" Xiao Wang whispered into the walkie-talkie. Several plainclothes police cars quietly followed, maintaining a safe distance. The vehicles drove along winding country roads, eventually stopping in front of an abandoned brick kiln. Xiao Wang watched from afar as Zhou Jianguo and the person in the car got out. The man was wearing a mask and hat, completely covered up, but judging from his build, he was clearly taller and stronger than Zhou Jianguo. The two stood at the entrance of the brick kiln, cautiously looking around to make sure no one was nearby before entering the dilapidated factory buildings.
Xiao Wang signaled his team members to spread out and surround the factory, while he cautiously approached. Through the broken window, he saw Zhou Jianguo and the mysterious man standing in front of a pile of debris, seemingly arguing fiercely about something. The mysterious man was agitated, waving his arms from time to time, while Zhou Jianguo kept his head down, looking timid and fearful.
"You fucking incompetent cop, the police are practically after you!" The mysterious man's menacing voice could be faintly heard. "You'd better tell me the truth about that money, or you'll be sorry!"
“I really didn’t take much, I just shared a little…” Zhou Jianguo’s voice trembled, “I never expected the police to investigate so thoroughly!”
Xiao Wang's heart sank. His intuition told him that this was the key clue. He quickly took out his phone and reported the situation to Li Ming, while arranging for his team to guard all the exits to prevent the two from escaping.
Just then, the mysterious man seemed to sense something was wrong. He suddenly stopped arguing and looked warily out the window. "Something's wrong!" he shouted, turning and running towards the back of the factory. Zhou Jianguo panicked and stumbled after him as he fled.
"Action!" At Xiao Wang's command, the team members rushed into the factory. During the pursuit, the mysterious figure was extremely cunning, constantly evading the crowd by utilizing the complex terrain of the brick kiln. However, Xiao Wang and his team worked seamlessly together, relentlessly pursuing him. Finally, they successfully cornered the mysterious figure inside an abandoned kiln.
Seeing no way to escape, the mysterious man suddenly pulled out a dagger from his pocket, brandishing it and threatening, "Don't come any closer, or I'll fight you to the death!" Xiao Wang, undaunted, rushed forward, skillfully dodging the dagger, and with a chokehold, pinned the mysterious man to the ground. His teammates quickly moved in and subdued him.
Meanwhile, Zhou Jianguo was apprehended by other team members not far away. During the search of the mysterious man, Xiao Wang found a mobile phone and several bank cards on him. The phone contained numerous call records and chat messages with Zhou Jianguo, including some sensitive content related to Li Baocun's case. The bank statements showed that a large sum of money had been deposited into his account after the incident.
Faced with irrefutable evidence, Zhou Jianguo quickly broke down and confessed to the crime of colluding with the mysterious man, Zhao Gang, to murder Li Baocun.
The interrogation room was brightly lit and glaringly white. Zhou Jianguo sat on an iron chair with his head down, his hands cuffed, his shoulders trembling slightly. Li Ming and Xiao Wang sat opposite him on either side. On the table were photos of physical evidence seized from the brick kiln, as well as the cell phone containing the incriminating evidence.
“Zhou Jianguo, now that things have come to this, don’t hold onto any illusions.” Li Ming’s voice was deep and powerful, echoing in the small interrogation room. “We have enough evidence to convict you. Confessing and seeking leniency is your only way out.”
Zhou Jianguo slowly raised his head, his face full of despair and regret, tears welling up in his eyes: "I...I really didn't want this to happen, I was forced into it!" He took a deep breath and began to recount that sinful past.
“Three months ago, I met Zhao Gang at a party. At that time, I didn’t know he was a gambler. We hit it off and exchanged contact information. Then one day, he suddenly called me and said he had a good opportunity to ‘make money’ and asked me to help him. I didn’t take it seriously at first, but he said that as long as I revealed some information about my colleagues in the factory, he could give me a lot of money.” Zhou Jianguo choked up. “I had also lost a lot of money gambling during that time, and my family was arguing with me every day. I was blinded by greed and agreed to his request.”
"The colleague you mentioned, is it Li Baocun?" Xiao Wang stared at him, his eyes sharp.