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

Chapter 1323 Judgment of a Crime Committed on a Whim

“We retrieved Chen Gang’s food delivery route and found that he arrived near the shantytown at around 7:40 p.m., after which his cell phone signal disappeared – we speculate that he was lured to an empty building by the suspect and murdered during this period.”

Xiao Zhou clicked the mouse and switched to a map: "Based on the area where the signal disappeared, we delineated the area where Chen Gang was last active, mainly concentrated around buildings 2, 3, and 4 in the shantytown, which is near the vacant building where the crime scene is located. We also investigated the temporary residents in this area and found that more than 10 construction workers and decorators rented rooms here, but most of them moved away a week ago due to demolition. So far, we have only found 3 people and are questioning them further."

After the report, a brief silence fell over the meeting room. Everyone was sorting through the clues they had, trying to find the key to connect all the suspicious points. Xiao Yang spoke first: "I think all the clues point to the suspect's 'customer relationship' with Chen Gang—Chen Gang's last delivery was to a customer with a virtual identity, and before his disappearance, he had a conflict with a customer who was causing trouble. These two customers are very likely the same person. The suspect lured Chen Gang to a secluded, empty building by placing an order, and then killed Chen Gang because of the previous conflict or on a whim, then buried the body with a shovel, and used a blue cloth as a murder weapon."

“I agree with Xiao Yang’s opinion,” Zhang Lin added. “Judging from the autopsy results, the suspect acted on impulse, and the root of the conflict was likely the previous food delivery dispute. Moreover, the suspect was familiar with the shantytown environment and may have worked in construction or decoration, all of which highly match the characteristics of ‘manual laborers living in the shantytown.’ Next, we should focus on investigating the customers Chen Gang had contact with before his disappearance, especially the customer who caused the trouble, as well as manual laborers in the vicinity of the shantytown.”

Xiao Wang then offered specific investigative suggestions: "We can expand the scope of our investigation of food delivery orders, not just those Chen Gang took, but also those placed with virtual phone numbers and vague addresses in the area around the shantytown in the north of the city within the past month, to see if we can find any clues related to 'Zhang Wei'; in addition, we can revisit the construction workers and renovation workers who moved out of the shantytown, and find their contact information through their landlords and coworkers to learn about their whereabouts 12 days ago."

Li Ming listened attentively to everyone's suggestions, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. Finally, he looked up and said firmly, "Based on all the clues, I've decided that the core investigation will focus on Chen Gang's interpersonal relationships, particularly 'customer relationships.' This will be pursued in three directions:"

First, Xiao Zhou led a team to continue investigating Chen Gang's customer base. On one hand, they collaborated with the food delivery platform's technology department to retrieve all orders Chen Gang had received in the past three months from the northern part of the city, especially those with vague notes or placed using virtual phone numbers, verifying the recipient's identity one by one. On the other hand, they expanded their search to find the "troublemaker" who had previously clashed with Chen Gang; regardless of whether he was the perpetrator, he could provide more information about the suspect's characteristics. Simultaneously, they continued to examine Chen Gang's other interpersonal relationships, ruling out potential sources of conflict besides family and colleagues.

Secondly, Xiao Wang was in charge of focusing on the manual laborers in and around the shantytown in the north of the city. On the one hand, he was to find the more than 10 construction workers and decorators who had moved out as soon as possible, verify their whereabouts 12 days ago, and focus on checking whether anyone was wearing blue overalls and size 42 safety shoes, as well as whether they had shovels, blue polyester fabric, or other items. On the other hand, he was to investigate the "man in blue overalls" seen by the convenience store owner, retrieve surveillance footage from the shantytown and surrounding roads, track his movements, confirm the characteristics and destination of his bicycle, and try to find more details about his appearance.

Third, Xiao Yang and the technical department continued to delve deeper into the physical evidence. On one hand, they used technical methods to reconstruct the shoe prints extracted from the scene, attempting to obtain clearer information on the sole patterns and sizes to narrow down the range of shoe brands and models. On the other hand, they performed gene typing on the unfamiliar skin tissue fragments found under Chen Gang's fingernails, entered them into the national DNA database, and continuously compared them, reporting any matching information immediately. Simultaneously, they further examined other residues on the blue fabric to see if they could find any biological traces such as the suspect's hair or skin flakes.

He stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, his tone resolute and unwavering: "Chen Gang, as an ordinary food delivery worker, suffered a tragic accident at work. We have a responsibility to find the murderer as soon as possible, to give her family an explanation, and to bring justice to society. All departments must cooperate closely, share information, summarize progress every night, and report any major clues immediately. We must not let the murderer escape justice."

"Yes!" Everyone responded in unison, their voices strong and clear, their tired faces regaining their fighting spirit.

After the meeting, everyone immediately sprang into action—Xiao Zhou led his team to the food delivery platform's technology department to retrieve Chen Gang's order data; Xiao Wang continued visiting landlords in the shantytown to find contact information for the vacating workers; Xiao Yang and the technical staff remained in the lab to conduct more in-depth testing of the physical evidence. On the screen in the conference room, Chen Gang's photo and case clues were still clearly visible, as if silently urging everyone to uncover the truth as soon as possible and allow the life buried under the rubble to rest in peace.

At noon, Xiao Zhou brought initial news: the food delivery platform had provided Chen Gang's orders from the northern part of the city over the past three months, 15 of which used virtual phone numbers and had vague address notes. They were verifying the actual delivery addresses and contact persons for these orders one by one. Xiao Wang had also found two construction workers who had moved away and was going to their new residence to inquire. Everything was moving in a positive direction, and everyone firmly believed that as long as they followed the main thread of "Chen Gang's interpersonal relationships," they would soon find the murderer and bring justice as scheduled.

At 1 p.m. on Wednesday, police cars drove out of the Criminal Investigation Detachment building in different directions—Xiao Zhou led his team to Chen Gang's home to further interview his relatives and delve deeper into hidden interpersonal relationships; Xiao Wang led a team to the food delivery station where Chen Gang worked, talking to his colleagues one by one, trying to find a breakthrough from the details of their daily interactions. Following the main investigative line determined at the case analysis meeting—"focusing on Chen Gang's interpersonal relationships"—the two investigation lines proceeded simultaneously, and an investigation centered on "familiar relationships" officially began.

When Xiao Zhou and his entourage arrived at Chen Gang's home, Chen Gang's wife, Li Mei, was sitting on the sofa in the living room, clutching a photo of Chen Gang in her hand, her eyes red-rimmed. Seeing the police visit again, she forced back her tears and stood up: "Officer, is there any new information?"