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

Chapter 1268 Tire Tracks Found at the Scene

"These are tire tracks!" he exclaimed excitedly. "They look like they were left by a car tire. The treads are still very clear, so they must have been left recently."

Xiao Yang immediately came over, took out a ruler and measured it against the ground: "The tire is about 18 centimeters wide, which is the size of a compact car. The tread pattern is horizontal, and there is slight wear on the edge, which means that the tire has been used for quite some time. Look, the marks extend from the corner towards the elevator entrance without interruption. It should have been left by the suspect when he drove away from here after committing the crime."

"Could it be a car belonging to a building employee? After all, this is an employee parking lot, and many cars come and go every day," Xiao Sun asked doubtfully. Xiao Yang shook his head: "The tire tracks of employee vehicles are usually quite messy, and there are traces of repeated driving. This track is very continuous, without overlap, and looks more like it was left by a single drive. It's highly suspicious. Let's take pictures of the track to document it first, and then compare it with the tire information of the employee vehicles registered in the building to see if there's a match."

Continuing towards the elevator, about 10 meters from the elevator entrance, Xiao Yang noticed something unusual on the ground. "There's a fingerprint here!" He shone his investigation light on the ground and saw a faint fingerprint on the tile, its edges somewhat blurred, but the pattern was still visible. "It should have been left by the suspect while walking along the wall. The tile surface is smooth, so the fingerprint adhered well. Although it's a bit worn, we should be able to extract a complete fingerprint through technical processing when we get back."

Xiao Sun immediately took out a fingerprint extraction tool, carefully sprinkled silver powder on the fingerprint surface, and then gently picked it up with transparent tape: "This fingerprint is from the right index finger, and the clarity of the pattern is moderate. It needs to be taken back to the branch for processing with professional equipment. If we can find matching information in the fingerprint database, we can quickly identify the suspect."

On the fire hydrant next to the elevator, Xiao Sun also found several black fibers. "These fibers are different from the fibers on the deceased's coat," he said, picking up the fibers with tweezers and examining them against the light. "The fibers on the deceased's coat are coarser, while these fibers are finer, like they came off a sweater or sweatshirt."

Xiao Yang took the fibers and examined them carefully: "It's very likely that the suspect's clothes got caught on a fire hydrant while he was fleeing in a hurry. We'll collect these fibers as well, and test their composition when we get back to see if we can determine the material and brand of the clothing and narrow down the scope of our investigation."

The two continued to expand their search area and found a discarded mineral water bottle at another corner on level B2. "There are obvious fingerprints on the mineral water bottle," Xiao Yang said, picking up the bottle and examining it against the light. "There is saliva residue at the bottle opening, which may have been left by the suspect. We'll take the bottle back to the branch office to test the fingerprints and DNA; we might make a major discovery."

"Do you think the suspect might be someone working inside the building?" Xiao Sun asked while putting the mineral water bottle into the evidence bag. "After all, he's so familiar with the parking lot, and even knowing the security cameras were broken, he still managed to get in and out of the fire exit smoothly."

Xiao Yang nodded: "That's possible, but we can't rule out the possibility of an outsider committing the crime, such as someone who had business dealings with the deceased and knew about the parking lot beforehand. However, based on the clues we've found so far, an insider is more likely to be the culprit. When we get back, we'll first compare the employees' fingerprints and DNA information, and then investigate any outsiders who have had recent contact with the deceased. That should give us some leads."

As the two organized all the clues they had found and prepared to return to the Criminal Investigation Division, dawn was breaking. The underground parking lot lights still flickered, as if telling the story of the heinous crime that had occurred the previous night. Xiao Yang looked at the evidence bag in his hand, which contained photos of tire tracks, fingerprints, black fibers, and a mineral water bottle. Although these clues could not directly identify the suspect, they had provided important directions for solving the case.

“When we get back, we’ll first test the fingerprints and DNA, then analyze the composition of the fibers and the characteristics of the tire tracks,” Xiao Yang told Xiao Sun. “As long as we can make a breakthrough with these clues, we can quickly find the suspect and give the deceased an explanation.”

Xiao Sun nodded, his eyes resolute: "Don't worry, we will complete the testing as soon as possible and not let the murderer get away with it."

The two men, carrying their investigation kits, emerged from the underground parking lot, greeted by the first rays of morning sunlight. Although there has been no major breakthrough in the case yet, they believe that as long as they persist in meticulous investigation and careful analysis, they will eventually uncover the truth and bring justice to the victims sooner.

Just as Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun were expanding their investigation in the underground parking lot, Xiao Wang led two team members into the monitoring room of the Oriental Building. The monitoring room was filled with monitors, and the clock on the wall pointed to 2 p.m. Sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting shadows on the screens. Old Zhang, the security guard in charge of monitoring, sat in front of the computer, his fingers rapidly typing on the keyboard, bringing up the surveillance footage from the B2 level parking lot and the various entrances and exits of the building.

"We started adjusting the surveillance footage at 8 PM last night, focusing on the B2 elevator entrance, parking lot entrance, and the main entrance of the building, especially the period between 9 and 10 PM, around the time Li Baocun discovered the body." Xiao Wang stared at the monitor, his tone serious. Lao Zhang nodded and switched the surveillance footage to fast-forward mode. The figures and vehicles on the screen moved quickly, and the image occasionally froze—some of the building's surveillance equipment was old, resulting in blurry images and occasional static.

Time passed slowly, and the surveillance footage flashed by images of employees working overtime and vehicles coming and going, but nothing seemed amiss. Then, at 4 PM, when the footage reached the 9:15 PM showing from the previous night, Xiao Wang suddenly told Lao Zhang to pause: "Rewind, slow down! Look at this black sedan at the parking lot entrance!"

Old Zhang immediately adjusted the playback speed. In the video, a black sedan slowly drove into the parking lot entrance. The license plate on the front of the car was covered by a dark cloth curtain, and only part of the number on the rear of the car could be vaguely seen. "There's something wrong with this car!" Xiao Wang pointed at the screen. "Normal vehicles don't cover their license plates, and it entered the parking lot at this time, exactly 45 minutes before Li Baocun found the body. It's too suspicious."

He asked Lao Zhang to track the car's route, but they discovered that the surveillance camera at the corner of B2 level was broken. It only showed the car entering B2 and heading towards the location where the body was found, after which it disappeared. "Can you find out the car's model and brand?" Xiao Wang asked. Lao Zhang zoomed in on the image and examined it carefully: "Judging from the car's outline, it looks like a Volkswagen Lavida, but the image quality is too blurry to be sure. Also, this car left the parking lot around 9:50 PM last night, and the exit surveillance camera didn't capture the complete license plate either; it only showed it heading west."