Phi-Fic Chapter 1124 Discovery of a Major Suspicious Clue
Chapter 1124 Discovery of a Major Suspicious Clue
“He said his old injury on his right leg was inflamed and he needed to go to the community hospital for an IV drip. I saw that he was limping, so I gave him leave. But when I asked the community hospital later, there was no record of him there at all. This guy was obviously lying.”
Xiao Zhou noticed the canvas shoes Zhao Gang was wearing. The uppers were worn and frayed, and the serrations on the soles varied in depth, reaching a depth of 3 millimeters at their deepest point. "Size 42, perfectly matching the shoe print in Zhang Lei's living room," he said. He had the technician take photos for comparison. The pressure distribution area on the forefoot of the shoe print matched the gait characteristics of Zhao Gang due to his right leg disability—the pressure on the left forefoot was 15% greater than that on the right, creating a unique asymmetrical wear. Even more suspiciously, the grass clippings stuck in the shoe seams were found to be exactly the same type of grass as those in the flower bed downstairs from Zhang Lei's house.
In the construction site's makeshift shed, Zhao Gang's bed was covered with a blackened straw mat, and half a steel pipe protruded from under his pillow, the rust on its surface leaving brown marks on the mat. "He used this steel pipe to pry up floor tiles," his roommate pointed to the pipe, "but I haven't seen him use it since last Wednesday. When I asked him where he put it, he stammered and couldn't give me a clear answer." The steel pipe was 8 centimeters in diameter, matching the width of the blunt force trauma wound on Zhang Lei's head. The dark red stains on the inner wall, after testing, contained a DNA profile consistent with Zhang Lei's.
When we visited the mahjong parlor Zhao Gang frequented, the proprietress was wiping the greasy mahjong table with a rag, the mahjong tiles clattering in the drawer. "Zhao Gang was gambling here on the night of July 2nd," she said, pouring strong tea into an enamel mug. "He lost over three thousand yuan. Leopard's men blocked him at the door and slapped him twice before letting him leave. He threatened to pay back the money within three days, or else Leopard would have to wait and see." The proprietress remembered that when Zhao Gang left, he was clutching a bulging black cloth bag. "He walked with a limp, but very quickly, as if he was in a hurry."
Xiao Zhou retrieved Zhao Gang's call records. At 9:04 AM on July 3rd, he called a number saved as "Brother Leopard," a call that lasted 27 seconds. "It was definitely a debt collection call," Xiao Zhou analyzed. "This call was very likely the direct trigger for his crime." At 2:11 PM, Zhao Gang's cell phone signal appeared at a base station near Zhang Lei's house, overlapping with Chen Mei's cell phone signal in the area at the same time.
When Xiao Zhou found Zhao Gang again, he was squatting in a corner of the construction site, smoking, cigarette butts piled up at his feet. "Where were you on July 3rd?" Xiao Zhou placed the shoe print comparison report in front of him. Zhao Gang's fingers suddenly began to tremble, cigarette ash falling onto his ripped trousers. "I... I just stayed at a friend's house for two days," his voice trailed off, "I was afraid Brother Leopard would cause me trouble, so I didn't dare tell the truth." But when asked about his friend's name and address, he stammered and couldn't utter a single word.
These clues, like a net, gradually enveloped Zhao Gang: the lie he gave for taking leave, the shoe prints matching the scene, the missing steel pipe, his movements coinciding with Chen Mei's... Every detail pointed to his connection to Zhang Lei's death. Looking at the construction debris being loaded onto trucks in the distance, Xiao Zhou suddenly realized that the tools Zhao Gang used to cover up his crime might be hidden among these soon-to-be-delivered waste items.
A major turning point came on the third day of the investigation into Chen Mei.
On the computer screen in the technical department, the data stream from Chen Mei's phone was scrolling in green code. When the timestamp "July 3, 17:02" appeared, the technician suddenly stopped typing, his fingertips zooming in on the deeply deleted chat history on the touchscreen. "Team Leader Zhang, found it!" His voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement. The text in the chat box gradually became clear in the recovery software—a message Chen Mei sent to Zhao Gang: "Did you get Zhang Lei's money? Let's make our move tonight?" It was followed by a cleaver emoji, the time of sending accurate to the second.
Zhao Gang's reply popped up three minutes later, the text in the gray bubble exuding a ruthless edge: "Don't worry, he'll definitely come. I'll be waiting downstairs. He said he's interested in the building materials business I mentioned to him last time. Tonight, I'll have Chen Mei invite him to my house to talk. We'll lock him up and beat him to a pulp." A follow-up message followed: "Prepare some rat poison at home. If he resists fiercely, use this to make him behave. Clean up the mess afterwards, don't leave any trace."
Xiao Zhou pressed his finger heavily against the words "rat poison," leaving a shallow dent in the plastic mouse pad. "No wonder she bought rat poison; it wasn't really to get rid of rats," he suddenly recalled the convenience store owner's words. "Combined with Chen Mei saying she bought Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) to soak medicinal wine, it's clear she wanted to cover up her intention to dilute the rat poison with liquor!" He instructed the technician to expand the search area, and sure enough, at 4:18 PM on July 3rd, Chen Mei sent Zhang Lei a text message: "Brother Zhang, come to my house at 7 PM tonight. I have a batch of cheap steel bars, the price is absolutely preferential. Bring the contract to discuss the details."
When the time in the bottom right corner of the screen jumped to 19:47, Chen Mei's phone location suddenly moved from her own neighborhood to near Zhang Lei's house, completely overlapping with Zhao Gang's phone trajectory at 19:53. "That's when they met," Xiao Zhou drew a route on the electronic map, "It takes 12 minutes to drive from Chen Mei's house to Zhang Lei's house, which matches this time difference perfectly." He suddenly grabbed the case file on the table. In the photo of Chen Mei on the cover, the scar on the woman's wrist was particularly glaring under the flashlight—the 3-centimeter-long arc-shaped wound had obvious tear marks at the edges, which could not have been caused by cutting vegetables.
“This injury wasn’t caused by chopping vegetables,” Xiao Zhou suddenly stood up, the wheels of his office chair scraping the floor with a screeching sound. “It was from Zhang Lei’s scratch when he resisted!” He flipped to page 17 of the forensic report. The DNA typing profile of the skin tissue fragments under the deceased’s fingernails unfolded under the light, and it perfectly matched Chen Mei’s gene sequence at 16 STR loci. The repetition count at locus D8S1179 was 14, and at locus D21S11 it was 30, indicating a probability of over 99.99% that they belonged to the same person.
As the arrest warrant was issued, the setting sun bathed Chen Mei's floral curtains in a vibrant orange hue. Xiao Zhou led the team upstairs; the motion-activated lights in the hallway flickered on with each footstep, illuminating a half-dried blade of grass still clinging to the doormat at apartment 302—the same species of grass found in the flowerbed below Zhang Lei's apartment. "Police, open the door!" Xiao Zhou slammed his hand on the steel plate of the security door, the chain rattling loudly. The noise inside abruptly ceased, followed a few seconds later by the sharp crack of shattering porcelain.
The door battering rammed open the lock on the third strike, and Xiao Zhou rushed into the living room. Chen Mei was squatting beside the coffee table, frantically wiping something with a wet cloth. White powder floated in the water stains on the floor. "Don't move!"