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

Chapter 1322 Case Progress Report

"Team Leader Li, we conducted a second investigation of the crime scene yesterday, focusing on the west-facing room on the second floor of the vacant building—the place where Old Li, the scavenger, mentioned smelling the strange odor. Underneath the pile of wooden planks in the room, we extracted a small amount of dark red stains. Preliminary testing by the technical department showed that although it wasn't blood, it contained skin tissue fragments that matched Chen Gang's DNA. In addition, we found several blurry size 42 shoe prints in the corner of the room. The wavy pattern on the soles partially matches the pattern left on the handle of the shovel found at the scene, suggesting that they were left by the suspect when he moved the body."

He clicked the mouse and switched to a close-up photo of the shoe print: "Although the shoe print is blurry, it can be seen that it is a common style of work shoes, widely used by construction sites, decoration teams, and other groups. Combined with the previously found blue polyester fabric and rusty shovel, it can be basically determined that the suspect may have been engaged in manual labor and was familiar with the environment of the shantytown in the north of the city. It is highly likely that he lured Chen Gang to the empty building and murdered him when Chen Gang was delivering his last takeout order."

"Any progress in tracing the origins of the blue fabric and the shovel?" Li Ming asked, his fingers quickly jotting down key information in his notebook.

Xiao Yang shook his head, his tone tinged with regret: "The blue fabric is ordinary polyester, a common material used in many work clothes and protective suits on the market. It doesn't have any special brand or place of origin markings, so we can't trace its origin for now. The shovel is a common cast iron flat-blade type, with no fingerprints or engravings on the handle. Our technical team compared it with the sales records of hardware stores in the city over the past three years. This type of shovel has a very large sales volume, and most transactions are in cash, making it impossible to determine the buyer's identity. However, in the gaps of the shovel head, in addition to detecting soil from the crime scene, we also found trace amounts of cement powder, suggesting that the suspect may have been engaged in construction or decoration-related work."

Li Ming nodded, gesturing for Xiao Yang to sit down, then turned to Zhang Lin: "Zhang Lin, is there any additional information regarding the autopsy, subsequent toxicology tests, and DNA comparisons?"

Zhang Lin opened the autopsy report, his voice steady: "Team Leader Li, the toxicology test results for the deceased Chen Gang are clear. No toxic components were detected in his blood, liver, or kidneys, completely ruling out the possibility of death by poisoning. In addition to confirming the deceased's identity, DNA comparison also yielded trace amounts of skin tissue fragments deep under his fingernails. These fragments did not belong to Chen Gang and did not match any known individuals in the database. This indicates that Chen Gang had physical contact with the suspect before his death, and the suspect may have been scratched by Chen Gang during the struggle. However, we currently do not have a DNA sample from the suspect available for comparison."

He paused, then added, "Further analysis of the injuries to Chen Gang's neck and mouth and nose, combined with the extracted blue polyester fibers, confirmed that the suspect used that piece of blue cloth as the murder weapon—the fibers on the edge of the cloth are exactly the same as the fibers remaining at Chen Gang's mouth and nose, and the saliva components detected on the cloth also belong to Chen Gang, proving that the suspect did indeed use this piece of cloth to suffocate Chen Gang's mouth and nose, causing him to die of mechanical asphyxiation."

"Are there any more details about the resistance wounds on Chen Gang's body that could point to the suspect's characteristics?" Xiao Zhou asked. He was in charge of investigating Chen Gang's interpersonal relationships and paid special attention to clues that could narrow down the suspects.

Zhang Lin immediately retrieved the autopsy photos: "The cut on Chen Gang's right palm had clean edges, and there was rust residue inside the wound cavity, consistent with the rust composition of the shovel at the scene. It is speculated that he was cut when he reached out to grab the shovel while resisting; the wound on the right side of his head had serrated edges, and there were small brick and stone particles inside the wound cavity, which should have been caused by the suspect hitting him with bricks or the handle of a shovel. Judging from the extent of the injuries, the suspect's strength was moderate, and the attack method was rather chaotic, not like a premeditated professional crime, but more likely a spontaneous act or a crime of passion caused by a conflict."

After Zhang Lin finished his report, all eyes in the conference room turned to Xiao Wang. Xiao Wang took a deep breath and picked up the visit log: "Team Leader Li, yesterday afternoon and evening, we focused on visiting residents, shops, and scavengers around the shantytown in the north of the city, and we obtained some additional information. At a small shop on the south side of the shantytown, the owner recalled that around 8 p.m. on the night of Chen Gang's disappearance, 12 days ago, he saw a middle-aged man wearing blue overalls, about 175 centimeters tall, riding an old bicycle from the direction of the vacant building. There seemed to be something tied to the back of the bicycle, wrapped in a black plastic bag, which looked heavy."

He clicked the mouse and brought up a screenshot of the convenience store's surveillance footage: "This is the convenience store's surveillance footage. Although the image is blurry, you can see the man's general outline—he's rather muscular, has short hair, and is wearing a baseball cap, but you can't see his face clearly. In addition, we visited the food delivery station where Chen Gang worked. His colleagues said that Chen Gang had a mild personality and rarely had conflicts with others. Only a week before he disappeared did he argue with a customer about the food being late, and he even said that the customer was 'deliberately picking a fight and never wanted to take his orders again.'"

"Do you have any specific information about that troublemaking customer? Like their address, contact information, or physical characteristics?" Li Ming pressed, leaning forward slightly, clearly paying close attention to this clue.

Xiao Wang shook his head helplessly: "The delivery station's system doesn't have that customer's detailed information. Chen Gang didn't write down the order number at the time. He only said that the customer lived in the northern part of the city and used a different virtual phone number each time he placed an order. Moreover, the address he noted was very vague, such as 'near the shantytown' or 'next to a certain intersection,' which made it impossible to pinpoint the location accurately. None of my colleagues have seen that customer either. They've only heard Chen Gang say that the person's voice was hoarse, like someone who has been having eye problems for a long time."

Li Ming frowned slightly and turned to look at Xiao Zhou: "Xiao Zhou, what new developments have you made in the investigation of Chen Gang's interpersonal relationships and the last food delivery?"

Xiao Zhou stood up and projected Chen Gang's interpersonal relationship chart and delivery records onto the screen: "By analyzing Chen Gang's interpersonal relationships, we found that his social relationships are simple, mainly involving family members, colleagues at the delivery station, and customers. His wife, Li Mei, said that Chen Gang rarely goes out except for work, has no bad habits such as gambling or debt, and has not made enemies with anyone; we checked Chen Gang's bank statements and call records, and there have been no large financial transactions in the past three months, and the people he called were all family members and colleagues, with no suspicious numbers."

He paused, then continued, "Regarding Chen Gang's last delivery, the food delivery platform's records show that the order was placed 12 days ago at 7:15 PM, with the delivery address being 'near Building 3 in the Chengbei shantytown,' the orderer's name being 'Zhang Wei,' and the phone number being a virtual number that cannot be reached."