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

Chapter 1287 A Shovel

Opposite the park's main entrance is a breakfast shop, where the owner is tidying up tables and chairs. "Boss, have you seen a man recently wearing a black jacket, a baseball cap, and a black backpack, around 30 years old, and about 170 centimeters tall?" Xiao Wang showed a screenshot of an electric tricycle. "And this electric tricycle, have you seen it? The last four digits are '36'."

The breakfast shop owner looked at the screenshot carefully and shook his head: "Many people come here for breakfast every day, and I haven't noticed the kind of person you're talking about. Electric tricycles are common, though; they're used for food delivery and hauling goods. But I don't remember the one with the last three digits '36,' since who would bother to remember license plates?"

Walking down the street, there was a convenience store where the owner was tidying up the shelves. "Have you seen this person?" Xiao Wang asked again, pulling out the description of the suspicious person. The owner thought for a moment, "It seems like last Wednesday afternoon, a man in a black jacket came in to buy cigarettes, the 'Yellow Crane Tower' brand. He was wearing a baseball cap, pulled low, so I couldn't see his face clearly. After buying the cigarettes, he walked towards the park. I forgot if he was carrying a backpack; there were a lot of people in the store at the time, so I didn't pay much attention."

"Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes!" Xiao Wang's eyes lit up. The cigarette butts found on the spot were "Yellow Crane Tower" brand, which could very well be from the same person! "Do you remember when he bought the cigarettes? Around what time?" The shop owner recalled, "It should have been around 3 pm. I was watching a TV series at the time, and I went to the shelf to get cigarettes during the commercial break. He just happened to come in."

This time coincided with the time Deng Guojun saw the suspicious person. Xiao Wang quickly asked his team to record the location of the convenience store and the owner's contact information: "If you see this person again, be sure to contact us immediately."

Continuing on, in a small square on the east side of the park, several elderly people were practicing Tai Chi. "Excuse me, sirs and ma'ams," Xiao Wang approached and presented the description of the suspicious person, "You often come here for your morning exercise, have you seen the man wearing a black jacket and a baseball cap recently near the back hill of the park?"

An elderly man with white hair put down his Tai Chi sword and said, “We rarely go to the back mountain. We’re too old to climb it. We usually stay in the small square and near the main gate. But I heard from Lao Zhang that last week when he went to the back mountain to chop firewood, he saw a man in a black jacket wandering around the bushes and digging something in the ground with a shovel. Lao Zhang thought it was a park worker fixing something and didn’t pay any attention.”

"Where is Old Zhang now?" Xiao Wang asked hurriedly. The old man pointed to a bench not far away: "He's sitting right there, go ask him."

Xiao Wang quickly walked to the bench and found Lao Zhang. Lao Zhang, who is over 70 years old, goes to the back hill to chop firewood every day. "Last Thursday afternoon around 3 o'clock, I went to the back hill to chop firewood. When I got near the bushes on the north side, I saw a man wearing a black jacket and a baseball cap, holding a shovel and digging a hole in the ground," Lao Zhang recalled. "I asked him what he was doing, and he said that the park was going to plant trees, and he was there to dig holes. I didn't ask any more questions, and I left after I finished chopping firewood. Now that I think about it, who plants trees at 3 pm? And the hole he dug looked very deep; it didn't look like it was for planting trees."

"Was the hole he dug next to the bushes, about 30 centimeters deep?" Xiao Wang asked. Lao Zhang nodded: "Yes! It was right next to the bushes. The hole was just big enough to bury a person. I thought it was strange at the time, that you don't need such a big hole to plant a tree."

This information perfectly matched the location and depth of the pit found during the on-site investigation! Xiao Wang excitedly asked, "Do you remember what his shovel looked like? Was there any distinguishing feature?" Lao Zhang thought for a moment and said, "The shovel was red, and there seemed to be a crack on the wooden handle, but I couldn't make out the brand."

The red shovel with a cracked wooden handle matches the characteristics of the "Deli" shovel found at the scene! Xiao Wang quickly had his team record Lao Zhang's testimony and asked Lao Zhang if he had seen the direction the suspicious person left in: "After he finished digging the pit, which direction did he go? Did he drive or ride a bicycle?"

Old Zhang shook his head: "I went down the mountain after I finished chopping firewood. I didn't see him leave. But there's a small path on the back of the mountain that leads to the nearby urban village. You don't have to take the winding mountain road. Many people take that shortcut."

Xiao Wang immediately arranged for his team to investigate in the urban village, while continuing to visit residents in the surrounding area. However, the subsequent visits yielded no further results. Other elderly people who exercised in the morning either had not seen the suspicious person or only remembered a vague figure and could not provide more details; most of the shop owners on the roadside also said that they had not noticed the electric tricycle with the license plate ending in "36".

At 6 p.m., as darkness fell, Xiao Wang led his team back to the Criminal Investigation Detachment. "Team Leader Li, the results of the surveillance investigation and interviews with the public are not ideal," he handed the investigation report to Li Ming. "The surveillance cameras at the back of the park and the exit of the mountain road are malfunctioning. We only saw a suspicious electric tricycle on the main gate camera, but we couldn't see the license plate or the driver's face clearly. In our interviews with the public, only the convenience store owner and Old Zhang, who was chopping wood, provided some clues. They confirmed that the suspicious person had bought 'Yellow Crane Tower' cigarettes, and the shovel he used matched the one found at the scene. They also knew that there was a small path on the back of the mountain leading to the urban village, but we haven't found any more witnesses yet."

Li Ming took the report, carefully reviewed it, and said, "Although there are no major discoveries yet, these clues have narrowed down the scope of the investigation. The suspect is likely to have fled to Chengzhong Village via the back mountain path. Tomorrow, we will focus our investigation on Chengzhong Village, especially on households with electric tricycles, those who have recently purchased 'Yellow Crane Tower' cigarettes, and those with red shovels at home. In addition, we will contact auto repair shops and gas stations to ask if anyone has seen an electric tricycle with the license plate ending in '36', or if anyone wearing a black jacket and a baseball cap has recently come to repair their car or fill up their gas tank."

Xiao Wang nodded, feeling a little anxious, but he also understood that criminal investigations require patience: "We'll go to the urban villages to investigate first thing tomorrow morning, and at the same time contact the surrounding auto repair shops and gas stations. We'll definitely find more clues as soon as possible."

At this time, Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun also arrived from the technical department, bringing the preliminary identification results of the on-site samples: "Some fingerprints were extracted from the shovel, but they are not complete and need further repair; the DNA on the cigarette butt has been extracted and is being compared with the database; the wheel tracks have been confirmed to be left by an electric tricycle, and are consistent with the tire treads of the commonly seen 'Jinpeng' brand electric tricycles on the market."

“Alright!” Li Ming stood up, his gaze firm. “Although the clues are limited at the moment, we have already grasped some of the suspect’s characteristics and escape route. As long as we continue to follow these clues, we will definitely find a breakthrough. Everyone, take a rest first. Tomorrow morning, we will devote all our efforts to the investigation in the urban village and the identification of samples, and strive to identify the deceased and lock down the suspect as soon as possible.”