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

Chapter 948 Motive for Murder, Two People Committed the Crime

As the new round of interrogation began, Li Houde stared at the test report on the table, his fat fingers unconsciously picking at the seams of his trousers. "A coincidence!" His voice was weaker than before. "This factory has been running for over ten years; it's greasy everywhere!" Li Ming suddenly played the surveillance footage—during the search three days prior, Li Houde had kicked a cardboard box during the 23 seconds he lingered in the warehouse's mezzanine. The image froze on the unnatural, twisted movement of his ankle.

"Should we search the mezzanine again more thoroughly?" Li Ming's pen hovered over the notebook. Li Houde's breathing suddenly became heavy, the smell of sweat mixed with the stench of oil filling the cramped space. Just then, an officer pushed open the door, holding a newly extracted evidence bag—a mixture of linseed oil and industrial lubricant, identical to the skeletal remains, had been detected in the cracks of the mezzanine floor, and the dust in this area showed clear signs of having been wiped clean.

The air conditioner in the interrogation room hummed softly, mingling with Li Houde's heavy breathing, creating a stifling rhythm in the confined space. Li Ming pushed a stack of evidence photos onto the table; the top one was a close-up of a gold ring covered in grease, the "ZY" engraving on the inner band gleaming eerily under the cold light. "At 8:17 PM on November 3rd, you called Zhang Yuncai from the office landline, the call lasting 2 minutes and 14 seconds." Li Ming's pen nib slammed heavily into the photocopy of the call log. "Before that, you and Zhou Dehai drank for two hours at a small restaurant behind the textile factory."

Li Houde's Adam's apple bobbed, and his fat cheeks twitched uncontrollably. He reached for the enamel mug, but the handcuffs only allowed his fingertips to brush against the rim, the clanging of metal particularly jarring in the silence. "I...I just asked him to come and deliver the goods..."

Li Houde's behavior makes Li Ning highly certain that Li Houde is definitely related to Zhang Yuncai's death, but the other party is still denying it and is just one final push away.

"The delivery needs to be done in the abandoned workshop?" Xiao Zhang suddenly interjected, unfolding a floor plan of the old workshop. "The workshop's electrical circuit was cut off three years ago, and all the doors and windows were boarded up. The only entrance and exit is right in front of where your truck is parked." His finger traced the bloodstains circled in red on the drawing. "And Zhang Yuncai's phone location shows that his last known location was right here."

Sure enough, by this point, more and more clues were appearing, causing your emotions and rationality to nearly collapse.

Li Houde's back slammed heavily against the chair back, the metal frame groaning under the strain. Memories flooded back, the chill of that rainy night fifteen years ago creeping up his spine. "Zhou Dehai said he wasn't at ease," he suddenly said, his voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping against an iron pipe, "Zhang Yuncai accepted 50,000 yuan in hush money, yet he's still inquiring about the dye's whereabouts. That day at dinner, Zhou Dehai cracked his wine glass, saying, 'Some people won't shed a tear until they see the coffin.'"

Li Ming opened the yellowed notebook, between the pages of which was a dye composition test report found in the textile factory warehouse: "The missing batch of dyes contained special fluorescent agents. And we detected residues of the same substance on the inner wall of the oil tanker at your oil mill." He projected the two spectral images side by side on the wall. "Coincidentally, the time when the inner coating of the oil tanker was replaced was exactly three days after Zhang Yuncai disappeared."

“Zhou Dehai made me do it!” Li Houde suddenly screamed, tears and snot dripping onto the interrogation record. “He said that as long as Zhang Yuncai was dealt with, the dyes could be smuggled out of the factory without anyone noticing. He promised to give me 100,000 yuan and even help me take over the oil pressing plant…” His body trembled violently. “That night, I waited for Zhang Yuncai at the workshop entrance. He arrived on his motorcycle, raindrops still dripping from his helmet, and asked me as soon as he saw me, ‘Why did you call me here in such a hurry? What happened?’”

Xiao Zhang offered a tissue, but Li Houde brushed it away. "Zhou Dehai was hiding behind the door. Zhang Yuncai had just stepped across the threshold when he swung an iron rod..." Li Houde's voice trailed off, a gurgling sob escaping his throat, "The thud was incredibly clear, like smashing a watermelon. Zhang Yuncai didn't even utter a sound; he just collapsed to the ground. My legs went weak, and I wet myself..."

"How was the body disposed of?" Li Ming's voice was devoid of any warmth.

“Zhou Dehai was prepared.” Li Houde wiped his face, dark red bloodstains still clinging to his fingers (a hallucination). “He dragged out an iron barrel containing dye from the corner, saying that if we stuffed the body in it and sealed it with mud, no one would find out. We worked on it until the wee hours of the morning, burying the barrel at the base of the innermost wall in the basement. Before leaving, Zhou Dehai poured half a barrel of linseed oil on the body—he said the oil would speed up the decomposition.”

The clock in the interrogation room struck three in the morning. Li Houde's voice grew weaker, but his narration became increasingly clear. "Li Xiulan came to ask three times. The first time, her eyes were red, and she begged me to tell her where Zhang Yuncai had gone. I lied and said he was hiding from debt collectors in the south, but she didn't believe me, saying Yuncai never gambled." He suddenly let out a strange laugh. "The second time, she came with the police. I changed the ledgers beforehand and had Zhou Dehai find some thugs to scare her. The third time..." His laughter turned into sobs. "I followed her to the market and deliberately knocked over her vegetable basket from behind. She squatted down to pick up the vegetables, and I saw the scar on the back of her neck. Suddenly, I remembered the image of Zhang Yuncai lying in a pool of blood..."

Which stages did Zhou Dehai participate in?

"He's the mastermind!" Li Houde suddenly erupted, his handcuffs slamming loudly against the iron table. "He contacted the buyers for the dye, he arranged the truck route, and even chose the burial site! Every time the spoils were divided, he took the lion's share, and I only dared to ask for a fraction..." His body slowly went limp. "For years, I've had nightmares every day, dreaming of Zhang Yuncai covered in blood standing in front of the oil press, asking me why..."

The interrogation of Li Houde has made a breakthrough.

Interrogating Li Houde alone was not enough. Now that the truth had come out, in addition to Li Houde's confession, the police immediately summoned Zhou Dehai for questioning.

In fact, Zhou Dehai has been in detention the whole time.

Because the other party had no evidence to prove that their death was related to Zhang Yingcai, the police had high suspicions about him. With the arrest of Li Houde in the past two days, Zhou Dehai's crimes will soon be exposed to the world.

In the iron-gray interrogation room, Zhou Dehai was brought into this chilling space for the third time. His gold-rimmed glasses sat askew on his nose, and his eyes behind the lenses were bloodshot, his cloudy pupils reflecting despair and fear. When Li Ming slammed Li Houde's dozens of pages of confession onto the table, the sound of the papers hitting the table was particularly jarring in the silent space.