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

Chapter 1016: Clues Disappear, Case Reaches a Deadlock

The workshop foreman quickly provided the emergency contact numbers for the two men. Xiao Wang dialed the number, his heart pounding uncontrollably. However, the reply on the other end of the line sent a chill down his spine.

Li Jianguo's wife said on the phone, "Officer, Jianguo suddenly came home a couple of days ago, saying that he was too tired at the factory and wanted to rest for a while. Didn't he tell the factory?"

Zhang Dahai's son said, "My dad went back to his hometown to build me a house. He left in a hurry and didn't have time to ask for leave."

Hope vanished instantly, and Xiao Wang's hand holding the phone trembled slightly. Seeing his expression, the team members knew without asking that this lead had gone cold again.

Night had fallen when he left Hengxing Ceramics Factory. The city lights gradually came on. Xiao Wang stood by the roadside, watching the bustling crowd, filled with confusion and resentment. The victim's identity remained a mystery, the murderer was still at large, and they had to continue searching for even the slightest possible clue in this vast sea of ​​people. But he knew that as a criminal investigator, no matter how difficult the road ahead, he could not give up, because the truth was always worth pursuing.

Xiao Zhou's work is not progressing very smoothly either.

On the large screen in the traffic control center, countless surveillance images flashed incessantly. Xiao Zhou stood before the screen, his brow furrowed, his eyes searching for the black SUV among the numerous vehicle images. Beside him, Traffic Police Captain Lao Chen pointed to one of the images: "Officer Zhang, on the morning of the incident, several black SUVs were indeed captured on the county road near Qinglan Mountain, but most of them belonged to local residents. Our initial investigation didn't find anything suspicious."

"We can't let go of even the slightest possibility." Xiao Zhou said firmly, "Old Chen, please pull up the detailed information and driving routes of these vehicles, and we will check them one by one."

Old Chen nodded, skillfully operating the computer. Soon, a thick stack of documents was placed in front of Xiao Zhou. "There are seven black SUVs in total. Three belong to nearby factory owners, two are private cars owned by residents, and the other two are rental cars," Old Chen explained as he flipped through the documents.

Xiao Zhou picked up the documents and immediately began to deploy the team: "Xiao Chen and Xiao Li, you two are in charge of investigating the factory owner's car; Lao Wang and I will investigate the private cars; the rental company's cars will be handled by Xiao Zhao and the others. Everyone pay attention to details, carefully check the vehicle's driving route and any traces inside the car."

Xiao Zhou and Lao Wang first arrived at the home of the first car owner. He was a timber businessman who lived in a grand villa. Hearing that the police had come, the owner was a little surprised, but still cooperated by taking out the car keys: "Officer, I usually use this car to discuss business. On the day of the incident, I was drinking with clients in the city and didn't leave the hotel all night."

Xiao Zhou and Lao Wang carefully inspected the vehicle. Upon opening the door, a faint scent of perfume filled the air. The seats and carpets were clean, without any suspicious traces. Lao Wang lay on the ground and shone a flashlight on the undercarriage: "Team Leader Zhang, the undercarriage is very clean, with no scratches or mud residue. It doesn't seem like a car that has been on mountain roads like Qinglan Mountain."

Xiao Zhou checked the vehicle's dashcam footage again, which showed that the car was indeed parked in the hotel parking lot on the night of the incident. "Thank you for your cooperation," Xiao Zhou said to the hotel owner before rushing off to the next car owner's house.

The second car owner was a retired teacher who mainly used the car to pick up and drop off his grandson at school. After Xiao Zhou explained his purpose, the old man became a little nervous: "Officer, this car is just a regular family car, there shouldn't be any problems, right?"

"Sir, we're just doing a routine check, don't worry," Xiao Zhou reassured him. He opened the trunk, which contained some daily necessities and his grandson's toys; nothing seemed amiss. While checking the tires, he found some small stones stuck in the treads, but they were just ordinary asphalt pebbles, not the gravel unique to Qinglan Mountain.

The situation became complicated when inspecting the rental company's vehicles. The first renter was a tourist who had already returned to his hometown in another province when Xiao Zhou contacted him. Through phone communication, the tourist stated that he was resting in a hotel on the night of the incident and provided his hotel check-in record. Xiao Zhou then contacted the local police to verify this, confirming the information was accurate.

The information for the second rental car was somewhat vague, and the registered ID card was forged. This discovery alerted Xiao Zhou, who immediately contacted the traffic police to retrieve the vehicle's driving trajectory. They found that the car had indeed appeared near Qinglan Mountain before and after the incident, but then disappeared into a blind spot of the surveillance cameras.

"Increase the search efforts. Check all the gas stations and auto repair shops in the area to see if anyone has seen this car," Xiao Zhou ordered his team. After two days of investigation, they finally found a clue at a remote gas station. The gas station owner recalled, "I did see a black SUV come in to refuel, but the driver was wearing a hat and a mask, so I couldn't see his face. After filling up the tank, the car drove off towards the city."

Following this lead, Xiao Zhou and his team continued reviewing city surveillance footage and finally located the vehicle's whereabouts—it was parked in an abandoned parking lot. When they arrived, the vehicle was empty. A careful inspection revealed cigarette butts and water bottles inside; DNA samples were taken for testing, but the results showed no connection to the case. There were drag marks on the trunk, but technicians determined these marks were from furniture deliveries.

"Team Leader Zhang, it seems this lead has gone cold again." Team member Xiao Zhao said, somewhat dejected.

Looking at the empty parking lot, Xiao Zhou pondered for a long time: "Don't be discouraged. Every possibility we eliminate brings us one step closer to the truth. Let's expand our investigation and pull up surveillance footage from surrounding counties and cities. I refuse to believe that this car can just disappear into thin air."

For the next two days, Xiao Zhou and the traffic police officers spent every day in the monitoring room, their eyes aching from staring at the screens, not missing a single suspicious image. They checked one black SUV after another, and interviewed one owner after another, but found no substantial clues.

The investigation seemed to have reached a dead end at this point, with all leads going cold and it appearing that the clandestine operation could no longer continue.

But often, the most desperate times are also the times when there is the greatest hope for a way out of a seemingly hopeless situation.

Xiao Wang continued to investigate the previous clues.

Xiao Wang clutched Zhang Dahai's resignation registration form, his fingertips repeatedly tracing the note on the paper: "Cousin Zhang Baohai, doing odd jobs in the west of the city." The setting sun cast slanting shadows on the registration form through the mottled glass windows of the police station; that seemingly insignificant piece of information felt like a thorn stuck in his heart.