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

Chapter 1378 Submitting the Autopsy Report

At 4 PM, Zhang Lin submitted the complete forensic autopsy report to Li Ming. The report detailed the external examination of the body, the autopsy process, the basis for the inferences regarding the cause and time of death, and information on the various samples collected. After carefully reading the report, Li Ming said to Zhang Lin, “Forensic Doctor Zhang, thank you for your hard work! This autopsy report is crucial. It confirms the cause of death as a ruptured heart caused by a single-edged sharp instrument, and the time of death as between 8 AM and 12 PM on September 11th. This provides important evidence for narrowing down our investigation. Once the technical department's test results are available, we will combine them with clues from the on-site investigation and interviews to further advance the case investigation.”

Zhang Lin nodded: "We will closely monitor the progress of the sample testing, and we will notify you as soon as there are any new discoveries. In addition, the identification of the deceased cannot be relaxed. We suggest expanding the scope of the investigation and contacting nearby labor markets, construction sites and other places to release information on the deceased's physical characteristics, which may lead to new clues."

At this time, the technical department reported that the black fibers extracted from the scene, after being tested with a spectrometer, were identified as ordinary cotton fibers, consistent with the fiber composition of the deceased's work clothes; no valid fingerprints were extracted from the surface of the brass-colored metal buttons, and metallographic analysis showed that the buttons were made of ordinary brass without any special production markings, making their origin temporarily undetermined; the comparison of the suspect's footprints was still ongoing, and no relevant personnel information had been found yet. This meant that although the autopsy and preliminary physical evidence examination had made some progress, the case investigation still faced many difficulties, and identifying the deceased and identifying the suspect remained the two major challenges facing the investigation team.

In the conference room of the Criminal Investigation Detachment, Li Ming was organizing a case analysis meeting for the investigators. On the table were the crime scene investigation report, the forensic autopsy report, and preliminary interview records. Everyone wore a solemn expression. "The core difficulty of the case right now is the unknown identity of the deceased and the lack of direct leads pointing to the suspect," Li Ming said seriously. "Next, we will divide into three groups: First, we will continue to expand the scope of our investigations, focusing on Wangjia Village and surrounding villages, labor markets and construction sites in the town, and releasing information on the deceased's physical characteristics to try and confirm the deceased's identity; second, the technical department will expedite the sample testing process, especially the DNA and fingerprint comparison of the deceased, as well as in-depth analysis of the suspect's footprints, to find possible matches; third, we will focus on investigating the murder weapon, focusing on nearby knife shops and hardware stores, understanding the recent sales of single-edged sharp weapons, and also investigating individuals with criminal records, especially those imprisoned for intentional injury, robbery, etc., comparing these with the suspect's footprint characteristics."

As night deepened, the Criminal Investigation Division's office building remained brightly lit. Forensic pathologists Zhang Lin and Xiao Lin were still organizing the details of the autopsy, trying to find more clues from the existing information; the technical staff were working overtime to examine the samples; and the investigators had prepared their investigation materials, planning to begin a new round of work early the next morning. This murder case in the cornfield was like a complex web, and they were painstakingly untangling the clues, striving to find the key to unraveling it.

At 6 a.m. the next morning, as dawn broke, the sound of orderly footsteps echoed in the Criminal Investigation Detachment compound. Xiao Wang led his five investigators to their positions, each carrying a summary of the victim's physical characteristics and a summary of key clues from the crime scene investigation—information such as 41 yards of grid-patterned footprints, a single-edged sharp weapon, and the victim's suspected manual laborer were already etched into their minds. "As per Captain Li's plan, our core task today is to focus on Wangjia Village, radiating out to the three surrounding administrative villages, and to investigate missing persons from the past three years, especially men aged 35-45 who are engaged in manual labor," Xiao Wang said solemnly, standing beside the police car. "You'll split into two groups. One group will liaise with the Wangjia Village Committee to retrieve all village household registration information and missing persons records; the other group will visit each household, focusing on whether villagers know anyone whose physical characteristics match the victim's, or if any migrant workers have recently gone missing. Remember, be sincere during the visits, ask detailed questions, and don't overlook any suspicious clues."

At 7:3 AM, both teams began their work simultaneously. Xiao Wang personally led one team to the Wangjia Village Committee, where Village Secretary Wang Changfu was already waiting at the door, his face filled with anxiety and gravity. "Officer Wang, you've finally arrived! With this happening in the village, everyone's panicked and afraid to go out at night," Wang Changfu said, leading the group inside. "Secretary Wang, thank you for your hard work," Xiao Wang said, shaking his hand and getting straight to the point. "We're here today mainly to investigate missing persons in the village and surrounding areas, to see if we can identify the deceased. Could you please provide us with the village's household registration records and missing persons reports from the past three years? Also, could you please gather the leaders of each villager group to understand the specific situation in each group?"

Wang Changfu didn't dare delay and immediately had someone retrieve the thick stack of household registration files and village records from the archives. The investigation team members had clear divisions of labor: some reviewed the household registration files, screening for males who met the age requirements; others checked missing persons records, highlighting the time, cause, and physical characteristics of disappearances; while Xiao Wang sat with Wang Changfu and several village group leaders, inquiring in detail about the village's population movement. "Our village has a total of 216 households and more than 870 people, most of whom are locals who make a living by farming," Wang Changfu explained. "In recent years, most of the young people in the village have gone out to work, leaving mostly the elderly and children behind. There have been a few missing persons, but most of them lost contact after going out to work, so they can't be considered truly missing."

"Are there any cases of people suddenly disappearing without any notice or warning? Especially men aged 35-45?" Xiao Wang pressed. Wang Jianguo, the group leader responsible for the western village group, thought for a moment and said, "Speaking of sudden disappearances, last month Wang Baojun's son, Wang Hao, seemed to have vanished without a trace. He was 38 years old and worked odd jobs at a construction site near the village. He seemed quite strong and didn't have any enemies." This immediately caught Xiao Wang's attention: "Tell me in detail how he disappeared? Do his physical characteristics match the information we provided about the deceased?"

“Around the 12th of last month, Wang Hao got into a fight with some people from other villages at a restaurant in town and was taken away by the police for mediation,” Wang Jianguo recalled.