sbdcsierra Chapter 1398: Clues to a Turning Point Appear
Chapter 1398: Clues to a Turning Point Appear
He paused, then continued his instructions: "Xiao Wang, your team should rest for a day and adjust. Next, you should focus on following up on the forensic examination results from the technical department, especially the comparison of fingerprints, footprints, and DNA samples extracted from the scene; at the same time, expand the scope of the surveillance and investigation, and retrieve surveillance footage from all intersections and shops within 10 kilometers of the North Suburb Landfill, and be sure to find that suspicious person driving the tricycle."
Xiao Wang nodded, his fighting spirit rekindled. Although the investigation hadn't yielded any major breakthroughs yet, he firmly believed that as long as he persisted and searched for clues from the smallest details, he would eventually find a breakthrough. The lights of the Criminal Investigation Division remained bright, like a lighthouse in the darkness, guiding the investigators forward through the fog.
Xiao Wang's team's investigation reached a stalemate, and the criminal investigation team's work temporarily hit a bottleneck. Days passed, and a full week had gone by since the murder at the northern suburban landfill. The victim's identity remained a mystery, and crucial clues pointing to the suspect made no progress. A tense atmosphere pervaded the entire investigation team. Li Ming convened several case analysis meetings, re-examining all the clues, and ultimately decided to shift the focus of the investigation to surveillance footage review and evidence tracing. Xiao Zhou led a team to retrieve and analyze surveillance footage from the area surrounding the northern suburban landfill, determined to find a breakthrough from the smallest clue.
“The area around the North Suburbs Landfill is remote and has extremely low surveillance coverage. We can only expand our investigation scope and retrieve surveillance footage from all intersections, shops, and repair shops within a 10-kilometer radius. We will focus on investigating suspicious individuals who drove pedicabs between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. three days before and after the incident,” Xiao Zhou instructed at the team meeting. “We will divide into three groups. One group will be responsible for retrieving traffic surveillance footage from main roads and intersections, another group will be responsible for checking civilian surveillance footage from nearby shops and convenience stores, and I will lead a group to visit nearby repair shops and scrap yards to inquire if any suspicious individuals have recently repaired pedicabs.”
The surveillance investigation proved far more difficult than anticipated. The main roads surrounding the northern suburbs had only two traffic cameras, both outdated with extremely low image quality. The civilian surveillance cameras in the surrounding shops were even more varied; some had been automatically overwritten due to insufficient memory, while others were unusable for extended periods due to line faults. Xiao Zhou's team spent two days and two nights immersed in a massive amount of surveillance footage, their eyes bloodshot, yet they still couldn't find a vehicle matching the characteristics of the abandoned tricycle. "Team Leader Zhang, this can't go on. There are too many cameras, and the footage is too messy. We need to change our approach," said team member Xiao Li, rubbing his sore eyes.
After a moment's thought, Xiao Zhou said, "The tricycle found at the scene showed obvious signs of use, and there were traces of blood on the bottom of the cargo bed, indicating that the suspect may have treated the tricycle before and after dumping the body, such as patching the tire or cleaning it. We should focus on checking the surrounding repair shops, especially small ones that can repair pedicabs; we might find something unexpected." Subsequently, Xiao Zhou led his team to visit and investigate all repair shops within a 10-kilometer radius of the northern suburban landfill.
On the morning of the third day, Xiao Zhou's team arrived at "Old Yang's Auto Repair Shop," about 5 kilometers from the landfill. This small repair shop mainly handled bicycles, pedicabs, and small motor vehicles. The owner, Mr. Yang, had been in the auto repair business for over twenty years. After explaining their purpose, Mr. Yang warmly greeted them: "Officer, I repaired one of those dilapidated pedicabs you mentioned recently." This immediately perked Xiao Zhou and his team up.
"Mr. Yang, think carefully, when was it repaired? What did the tricycle look like? What were the characteristics of the repairman?" Xiao Zhou quickly asked. Mr. Yang lit a cigarette and recalled, "It was about three days ago, around 8 pm. It was already dark when a man pushed a dilapidated pedicab over, saying his tire was flat and asking me to fix it. The tricycle looked very old, covered in rust, and the tires had a serrated tread pattern, very similar to the one in your photo." Xiao Zhou immediately took out a photo of the abandoned tricycle. Mr. Yang looked at it carefully and said confidently, "That's right, it's this kind of tricycle. There's a noticeable dent on the side of the cargo bed. I even told him at the time, 'This vehicle is really dilapidated.'"
This information thrilled Xiao Zhou. Three days ago, around 8 PM, exactly before the forensic doctor's estimated time of death (around 9 PM three days prior), it was highly likely that the suspect discovered the tricycle had a flat tire before dumping the body and came to get it repaired. "Mr. Yang, do you remember what the repairman looked like? His height, build, and clothing? Did he say anything unusual?" Xiao Zhou continued to press. Mr. Yang frowned and thought for a moment: "The man was wearing a black baseball cap, his head was down, and he was wearing a mask, so I couldn't see his face. He was about 175 centimeters tall, of medium build, wearing a black jacket, and spoke in a low voice. He didn't say much; after fixing the tire, he paid and pushed the tricycle away."
"Which direction did he go? Was there anything in the truck bed when he pushed it away?" team member Xiao Wang asked. "He went north, which is the direction leading to the northern suburban landfill," said Mr. Yang. "There was a tarpaulin covering the truck bed, it was bulging, I didn't know what was in it, I thought it was scrap metal." Xiao Zhou immediately asked the team members to retrieve the surveillance footage from the entrance of the auto repair shop. Fortunately, there was a civilian surveillance camera at the entrance of the auto repair shop, although the image quality was average, it was enough to capture the general outline of the mechanic and the characteristics of the tricycle.
Back at the Criminal Investigation Division, Xiao Zhou immediately organized his team to conduct a detailed analysis of the surveillance footage. The footage showed that three days prior, at 8:15 PM, a man wearing a black jacket, a baseball cap, and a mask pushed a pedicab to the auto repair shop, the cargo bed covered with a dark tarpaulin. At 8:40 PM, after repairing the tire, the man pushed the pedicab northwards. Through technical analysis and magnification, it was discovered that the tire treads, rust, and dents on the side of the cargo bed perfectly matched the characteristics of the abandoned pedicab at the scene! "This is the pedicab from the scene!" Xiao Zhou exclaimed excitedly. "The repairman is very likely the suspect. He was pushing the pedicab to the landfill to dispose of the body, and came to repair the tire midway due to a flat tire. This explains the continuous tire tracks left at the scene."
However, the man's face in the surveillance footage was completely obscured, making it impossible to identify his appearance. Only his height and build matched the information speculated about the owner of the 42-yard footprint extracted from the scene.