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

Chapter 1293 Suspected Car Thief

“We retrieved surveillance footage from the entrance of Heping Residential Area and surrounding areas where Zheng Bin’s vehicle was stolen. We captured the thief – the man in the black jacket and baseball cap, wearing a black watch on his left wrist and carrying a black backpack. After stealing the vehicle, he drove an electric tricycle towards the suburbs, but due to the low surveillance coverage in the suburban areas, the subsequent trajectory was lost. We also checked nearby scrap yards, used car markets, and parking lots, but found no trace of the stolen vehicle. The suspect may have hidden the vehicle in a secluded place or destroyed it.”

Li Ming frowned, circling the notes on "Car Thief Characteristics": "The car thief's characteristics are clear: male, 25-40 years old, about 170 cm tall, wearing a black jacket, a baseball cap, a black backpack, and a black watch on his left wrist. He's physically fit, familiar with Beishan Park and the eastern suburbs, and has some counter-surveillance awareness, but we don't have any direct clues about his identity yet. Next, Zhang Lin, it's your turn. Report the detailed results of the autopsy, especially the key information related to the victim's identity, cause of death, and time of death. This is the point we need to break through most now."

Zhang Lin picked up the autopsy report in front of him, and the projector screen switched to photos and data charts related to the autopsy. "Team Leader Li, colleagues, after a detailed autopsy of the body, the following key information has been clarified: First, the time of death. Combining the characteristics of putrefaction on the body surface—the skin was pale green all over, the putrefactive veins were obvious, the abdomen was slightly distended, and the degree of digestion of the stomach contents—semi-liquid food such as noodles and green vegetables, which entered the antrum of the stomach but not the small intestine—and considering the recent ambient temperature of 25-28°C, the time of death has been determined to be between 7 and 9 pm on the 18th of this month, 3 days ago. The deceased was murdered within 1-2 hours after eating dinner."

The screen switched to a photo of the neck autopsy, and Zhang Lin's tone became serious: "Second, the cause of death. The autopsy revealed ante-mortem hemorrhage in the left sternocleidomastoid muscle of the deceased's neck, a minor fracture of the greater horn of the hyoid bone, asphyxial edema in the lungs, and scattered hemorrhages in the eyelids and bulbar conjunctiva. No toxic substances were detected. Therefore, the cause of death was determined to be mechanical asphyxiation, specifically strangulation with bare hands. The suspect used both hands to compress the deceased's neck, causing oxygen deprivation and asphyxiation, without using any other tools."

"Most importantly, the third point is the characteristics related to the deceased's identity." Zhang Lin clicked on the screen, and photos of the deceased's old hand injury and clothing appeared. "The deceased was male, aged 35-40, about 170 cm tall, weighing 65-70 kg, of medium build; there was an old scar about 1 cm long on the joint of his right index finger, with neat edges, presumably a mark left after being cut by a sharp object such as a blade or glass; he was wearing a dark gray cotton jacket and black work pants, the collar of the jacket was stained with mud from the scene, and the edges of the trousers were obviously worn. Combining the material and wear of the clothing, as well as the marks left by the hands from long-term physical labor, the skin on the palms was relatively rough, and the finger joints were slightly deformed, it is inferred that the deceased engaged in physical labor, most likely a construction worker, porter, decorator, or logistics loading and unloading worker, a profession that requires long-term manual labor and walking."

He added, "In addition, there was no identification in the deceased's pocket, and the clothing had no obvious brand logos or special markings. However, we extracted a small amount of skin fragments and fibers from under the deceased's fingernails. We are currently conducting DNA and component testing in the hope of finding clues to the suspect. At the same time, we have entered the deceased's DNA into the missing persons database for comparison, but there are no matching results yet."

After Zhang Lin finished his report, a brief silence fell over the conference room as everyone digested the key information in the autopsy report, especially the description of the deceased's identity. Li Ming broke the silence first, his gaze falling on the "deceased's occupational characteristics": "Zhang Lin, you just said that the deceased was most likely a manual laborer. Besides the wear and tear on the clothing and the marks on the hands, are there any other anatomical features that support this judgment? For example, the condition of the bones and joints?"

Zhang Lin nodded in response: "Yes, Captain Li. Through autopsy observation, the deceased had slight bone hyperplasia in his lumbar spine and a small amount of cartilage wear on the inner side of his knee joint. These are common strain injuries caused by long-term physical labor, prolonged standing, or lifting heavy objects. In addition, the deceased's right wrist joint showed traces of old ligament damage, which is presumably due to an accidental sprain or strain during previous physical labor that was not treated in time. These bone and joint characteristics further confirm the possibility that the deceased engaged in physical labor."

"Could the old injury on the deceased's right index finger narrow down the range of occupations? For example, what kind of manual labor makes one prone to cutting fingers with sharp objects?" Xiao Wang asked. He was in charge of the investigation and paid special attention to the direction of the investigation based on occupational characteristics. Zhang Lin thought for a moment and replied, "It can narrow down the range to some extent. If he was a construction worker, he might have been cut by tools while cutting steel bars or wooden boards; decorators are prone to injury when handling tiles or glass; porters might have been cut by sharp parts of packaged goods; and logistics loading and unloading workers might have been injured by sharp objects while loading and unloading hardware or machinery. However, this old injury has been healed for a long time, about 1-2 years, so it can only be used as a supplementary characteristic and cannot completely pinpoint the specific occupation."

Xiao Yang then joined the discussion, pointing to a photo of the deceased's clothing on the screen: "Judging from the deceased's clothing, the dark gray jacket and black work pants are relatively durable and resistant to dirt, which is very suitable for the clothing habits of manual laborers, especially since construction sites and renovation sites are dirty environments, and these kinds of clothes are easier to wash and change. Moreover, we checked the sales channels for this style of jacket on the market and found that it is mainly sold in labor protection supply stores and hardware markets in the suburbs, and the buyers are mostly manual laborers. This may be a direction for our investigation, such as investigating people who have recently purchased this style of jacket through these sales channels, especially missing persons whose age and body type match the deceased."

“This idea is feasible.” Li Ming wrote down “investigate labor protection supply stores and hardware markets” in his notebook, then looked at Xiao Wang. “Xiao Wang, your team should focus on investigating labor protection supply stores and hardware markets around Beishan Park and the Heping Community in the eastern suburbs, especially customers who have purchased dark gray jackets and black work pants in the past six months. Check sales records and surveillance footage to see if there are any people whose characteristics match the deceased. At the same time, contact construction sites, decoration companies, logistics companies, and moving stations in the area to investigate whether there are any male manual laborers aged 35-40 who have gone missing in the past three days, paying special attention to people with old injuries to their right index finger, or strain on their lumbar spine or knee joints.”