funbook-pk Chapter 1327 The Basement of the Northern Building
Chapter 1327 The Basement of the Northern Building
“That day I placed an order using a virtual phone number because I wanted to talk to him and tell him to stop stealing my orders. But he not only disagreed, he also argued with me, saying I was incompetent and could only make a living by stealing orders. I couldn't take it anymore, so… I covered his mouth with my work clothes. I didn't expect it would suffocate him…”
His voice grew increasingly choked as he recounted the entire incident in broken sentences: "I saw him stop moving, and my legs went weak with fear. I just wanted to hide him. I remembered there was an empty little building nearby, so I dragged him inside, dug a hole with the shovel I usually use for gardening, and buried him. Afterward, I hid the shovel at home, washed my work clothes, and wore them a few more times. I thought no one would find out, but I never expected you guys to find him anyway..."
As Xiao Wang listened, he jotted down key information in the case file, occasionally asking for details: "When you dragged Chen Gang into the small building, did you encounter anyone else? After burying the body, what did you do?"
“I didn’t encounter anyone else. It was already dark, and there weren’t many people in the shantytown. After burying the body, I pushed Chen Gang’s electric bike into the woods some distance away, and then rode away on my own electric bike. I even turned off my phone on the way, afraid that someone would locate me.” Li Zhijie confessed truthfully, without hiding anything further.
At 11 p.m., the interrogation finally ended. Li Zhijie signed his name on the statement record and pressed his fingerprint on it, his fingers still trembling slightly. As the team members led him out of the interrogation room, he glanced back at Xiao Wang, his eyes filled with regret and despair.
After tidying up the case file, Xiao Wang walked out of the interrogation room and saw Xiao Zhou and Li Ming waiting outside. "Have you confessed everything?" Li Ming asked.
"Yes, he's confessed everything, and it all matches the results of the crime scene investigation and autopsy." Xiao Wang nodded, a tired but relieved smile on his face. "This case is finally over, and Chen Gang can finally rest in peace."
As night deepened, the lights of the Criminal Investigation Division remained bright. Li Zhijie's confession was added to the case file, forming a complete chain of evidence along with the crime scene investigation report, autopsy report, and DNA identification report. This tragedy, stemming from an order dispute, finally came to an end with the perpetrator's confession and acceptance of punishment, and the light of justice finally illuminated that once shadowed corner of the shantytown in the north of the city.
Less than a week after the Li Zhijie case was closed, the Criminal Investigation Division received another report.
At 2:17 a.m., the duty phone at the Municipal Criminal Investigation Division suddenly rang, its sharp ring shattering the silence of the duty room. Li Ming, who had just finished processing a case file for a theft, rubbed his throbbing temples as he answered the phone. Immediately, he heard rapid, panting breaths on the other end: "Is this the Criminal Investigation Division? Northern Building… Northern Building, B2 basement, I found a body!"
"Stay calm, secure the scene, we're on our way." Li Ming's voice was as steady as a bell. The moment he hung up the phone, he grabbed his police uniform from the back of his chair. Under the light of the duty room, the gray hair at his temples was more noticeable than it had been three months ago, but his eyes remained as sharp as an eagle's. "All personnel assemble! Northern Building murder case, departing in five minutes!"
The sirens pierced the early morning night as three police cars sped through the empty streets. The Northern Building, a long-established office building in the city center, was twenty years old. At this moment, the main structure was completely dark, with only a dim yellow light illuminating the security booth at the entrance. As soon as the police cars came to a stop, a middle-aged man in a dark blue security uniform stumbled over, his face ashen and his hands trembling uncontrollably.
"Captain Li, you've finally arrived!" The man's voice was choked with sobs, cold sweat trickling down his wrinkled forehead. "I... when I was patrolling the basement, I saw... I saw someone lying there, unresponsive no matter how I called him. When I got closer, he was completely cold..."
Li Ming patted him on the shoulder, his gaze quickly sweeping across the building entrance: "Don't rush, first tell me your basic situation and how the body was discovered. Xiao Wang, you're in charge of taking the statement, make sure you get all the details."
"Yes!" Xiao Wang responded and stepped forward, taking out a notebook and pen from his briefcase. "Sir, what's your surname? How long have you been working as a security guard here?"
“My surname is Liu, Liu Jianguo, and I’ve been working here for five years.” Liu Jianguo swallowed and followed Xiao Wang to the security booth. “Our building has two basement levels. B1 is a parking lot, and B2 is an equipment room and storage area. Usually, few people go there, only we security guards patrol it every two hours. Tonight it’s my turn to work the night shift. At 1:50, I was walking down from B1 to check the pump room on B2 when I saw a dark figure on the ground as soon as I turned the corner.”
At this moment, Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun had already donned their investigation uniforms and carried their heavy investigation kits to the basement entrance. The basement passageway was narrow and dark, with most of the tiles on the walls missing, revealing mottled cement underneath. The air was filled with a damp, musty smell and a faint odor of machine oil. Li Ming turned on his powerful flashlight, the beam cutting a bright line through the passageway: "Xiao Yang, Xiao Sun, focus your investigation on the area within three meters of the body. Pay attention to collecting footprints, fingerprints, and any suspicious evidence. Also, immediately retrieve the surveillance footage from both sides of the passageway."
"Understood!" Xiao Yang replied, taking the lead into the passage. His steps were light, each step landing on the edge of the passage to avoid disturbing any possible traces. Xiao Sun followed closely behind, opening his investigation kit and placing tools such as a UV lamp, footprint fixative, and tweezers on the makeshift folding table with practiced precision.
The body lay supine on the open ground outside the equipment room on level B2. The dark red liquid seeping from beneath the body was half-dried, congealing into irregular shapes on the ground. The deceased was wearing a dark gray jacket, his jeans were covered in dust, and he wore a pair of well-worn sneakers. Xiao Yang crouched down and shone a UV lamp on the ground around the body. He quickly made a discovery: "Old Yang, there's a footprint here, size 43, sneaker tread, very clear."
Xiao Sun immediately came over and carefully measured the length and width of the footprints with a ruler: "The stride is about 70 centimeters, and the gait is steady. It should be a male who is about 180 centimeters tall." As he spoke, he took pictures of the footprints from different angles with his camera. "The edges of the footprints are intact, and there are no drag marks, which means that the person who left the footprints was in a stable state at the time, and it does not seem like they left them in a panic."
Meanwhile, Xiao Wang's questioning continued. "Did you approach the body at the time? Did you touch anything at the scene?" He kept writing, his eyes fixed on Liu Jianguo's face, observing his micro-expressions.