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

Chapter 1135 Arrest of Li Xiaodong

Li Xiaodong's call records show that at 9:03 PM on July 14th, he called a number with the contact name "Brother Leopard" for 47 seconds. "Brother Leopard is a loan shark," Xiao Wang said, referring to the files retrieved from the anti-gang squad. "Li Xiaodong owes him 50,000 yuan, and July 15th is the final repayment date." More importantly, the call records show that Li Xiaodong called Li Jun at 10:15 PM, a call lasting 1 minute and 23 seconds. "He probably asked Li Jun if he had borrowed a motorcycle; if not, he'd have to find a way himself."

Although the security camera at the warehouse entrance was broken, the traffic camera at the intersection captured a blue Qianjiang motorcycle coming from the direction of the bearing factory at 22:40 on July 14th. The rider was wearing a black jacket and a helmet, and a black cloth bag was strapped to the back seat. Xiao Wang zoomed in on the screenshot, and a faded cartoon sticker could be vaguely seen on the motorcycle's fuel tank—exactly the same sticker as the one on Li Jun's motorcycle. "Xiao Dong definitely rode my motorcycle secretly," Li Jun pounded the table in his supplementary statement, "That sticker was put on by my son, and it's the only one on it in the whole factory area!"

At the casino Li Xiaodong frequented, Xiao Wang found a gambler nicknamed "Rat." He was huddled in a corner, twirling cards between his fingers: "Brother Dong came to borrow money on the night of the 14th, saying he had a 'big deal' that would pay off Brother Leopard's debt." Rat suddenly lowered his voice, "He said he knows a warehouse keeper who has a batch of valuable bearings, and he's going to 'take' some tonight. He also said if the guy doesn't know what's good for him, he'll teach him a lesson."

The most crucial evidence came from the missing 6205 model bearing. Xiao Wang found it under the bed in Li Xiaodong's rented room. The dark red stains on the raceway tested positive for Zhang Jianguo's DNA, and a silver-white hair was found inside the bearing—a perfect match for Zhang Jianguo's hair sample. "The bearing steel powder under the deceased's fingernails was likely left when he grabbed this bearing," Zhang Lin wrote in the supplementary forensic report. "The wear marks on the bearing raceway match the metal scratches in the deceased's right ventricle, suggesting that this bearing was likely used as an auxiliary weapon in the struggle."

Although Li Jun was cleared of suspicion, he was administratively detained for five days for concealing crucial information about Li Xiaodong borrowing the car. Standing at the entrance of the bearing factory warehouse, Xiao Wang looked at the bearing found under the bed board, its surface gleaming coldly in the sunlight, and suddenly understood why Zhang Jianguo had clung to it so tightly—it not only bore the murderer's fingerprints, but also the remnants of his own final struggle. In the distance, the tower crane continued its slow rotation, as if silently recounting this bloody tragedy stemming from gambling debts.

At four in the morning, the urban village was still shrouded in darkness. Xiao Wang's police car was parked next to the scrap metal recycling station at the alley entrance, the engine off, with only the occasional crackling of the walkie-talkie. According to the informant "Rat," Li Xiaodong was hiding in a tin shack deep inside the recycling station. The windows of that room were covered with plastic sheeting, and at that moment, a dim yellow light was shining through. The faint sound of mahjong tiles clattering could be heard.

"One group, flank from the back door; two groups, follow me through the front." Xiao Wang rubbed his tactical gloves against the doorknob, the cold metal gleaming on his fingertips. In the recycling center, mountains of scrap metal formed bizarre silhouettes under the moonlight, shards of beer bottles reflecting fragments of light. As they approached the tin shack, a stench of sweat and cheap tobacco wafted from the crack in the door, and Li Xiaodong's laughter, mingled with the clatter of mahjong tiles, drifted out: "This time I'm definitely winning, Leopard!"

The moment the door was breached, the blinding flash of the riot lights pierced the darkness, and the four men inside the tin shack froze simultaneously. Li Xiaodong was stuffing a wad of crumpled banknotes into his pocket, a red ace still clutched in his left hand. Seeing the figure in police uniform, he instinctively ducked under the table, his knee slamming against the metal leg with a dull thud. "Li Xiaodong! Don't move!" Even as Xiao Wang pressed his pistol against the back of Li Xiaodong's head, his shoulders heaved violently, and beads of sweat on the back of his neck clung stickily to Xiao Wang's gloves.

During the body search, the technician pulled a 6205 model bearing from the back pocket of his work pants. The dark red stains on the raceway gleamed under the light. "What's this?" Xiao Wang held the bearing up to his face. Li Xiaodong's pupils suddenly contracted, and he struggled violently like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "It's not mine! I found it!" But his struggles weakened, and when the cold handcuffs locked his wrists, he suddenly slumped down, repeatedly muttering, "It's over, it's all over..."

When the other three gamblers in the tin shack were apprehended, mahjong tiles were scattered on the floor. One tile was stuck on the heel of Li Xiaodong's shoe—a size 43 diamond-patterned work shoe, the wear on the left forefoot matching the shoe print found at the warehouse. Xiao Wang asked the technician to photograph the shoe. The moment the flash went off, Li Xiaodong suddenly slammed his head against the metal table. A nearby officer held him down firmly, and a drop of blood from his forehead dripped onto the oily floor, spreading into a small dark red patch.

As Li Xiaodong was being escorted onto the vehicle, his feet left two shallow marks on the gravel road. His black jacket cuffs were stained with rust, and a broken cigarette was tucked into his collar, the tobacco spilling into his prison uniform. Passing the scales at the scrap metal yard, he suddenly turned and stared at the rusty machine, making a strange, hoarse sound in his throat—it was later learned that Zhang Jianguo had worked at the scrap metal yard in his youth, and that scale was one he had personally calibrated.

The incandescent light in the interrogation room was blindingly bright, casting Li Xiaodong's long shadow against the wall like a twisted rag. Xiao Wang placed the bloodstained bearing on the interrogation table; the crisp metallic clang made Li Xiaodong's shoulder tremble. "Do you recognize this?" Xiao Wang's pen tapped rhythmically on the notebook, the nib hovering above the date "July 14th."

Li Xiaodong's gaze lingered on the bearing for three seconds before he suddenly lowered his head, his bangs falling to cover his eyes, revealing only the slight twitching of his tightly pursed lips. "I...I found it." His voice sounded like it had been sanded, and his right index finger unconsciously dug into the plastic armrest of the interrogation chair, his fingernail still embedded with some dark green grass clippings—the same composition as the weeds outside the warehouse wall.

Xiao Wang pushed over the surveillance screenshot; the cartoon sticker of the blue Qianjiang motorcycle was still clearly visible on the black and white print. "At 10:20 pm on the 14th, you rode this motorcycle into the bearing factory," he pointed to the rider's back with the tip of his pen, "The seat was lowered by 3 centimeters, which matches your height of 170cm perfectly. Although the surveillance camera at the warehouse entrance was broken, you forgot about the traffic camera outside the wall."

Li Xiaodong's Adam's apple bobbed violently. He suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, like a wild beast trapped in a cage. "He attacked first!" His voice rose abruptly, spittle flying onto the table.