kingnovel Chapter 1289 The Lost Vehicle
Chapter 1289 The Lost Vehicle
“I was hauling goods at the building materials market that day, working from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The market's surveillance cameras and the other drivers who were hauling goods with me can prove that I never went to Beishan Park!” Zheng Bin said excitedly, showing his delivery records and the driver's contact information on his phone. “You can check if you don't believe me. I really didn't lie. I'm already unlucky enough that my car was stolen, and I don't want to get involved in any cases!”
Xiao Wang immediately arranged for his team to go to the building materials market to verify Zheng Bin's whereabouts, and at the same time contacted the local police station to confirm the authenticity of Zheng Bin's police report. Soon, the team members reported back: the building materials market's surveillance footage showed that Zheng Bin had indeed been hauling goods in the market on the day the body was found and had not left; the police station also confirmed that Zheng Bin's police report was authentic and valid, and that they had indeed received a report of his vehicle being stolen a week earlier, and had opened a case for investigation.
"It seems Zheng Bin is indeed innocent. His vehicle was stolen and used to transport and bury the body." Xiao Wang walked out of Zheng Bin's residence, feeling somewhat disappointed. The hard-won clue about the electric tricycle had just ended. Team member Xiao Li also frowned: "What do we do now? The suspect stole Zheng Bin's vehicle to commit the crime, and after using it, he must have hidden it or destroyed it. Finding the vehicle and the suspect will be difficult again."
Undeterred, Xiao Wang took out his phone and dialed Li Ming's number: "Captain Li, we've found the owner of the electric tricycle, Zheng Bin. But his vehicle was stolen a week ago. We've already reported it to the police, and we have the police report and an alibi, so he's ruled out as a suspect. The red shovel found at the scene is the one stolen from his vehicle, and the crack in the wooden handle matches. Now the leads point to the car thief, so we need to readjust our investigation and check the surveillance footage from the scene where Zheng Bin's vehicle was stolen a week ago to find the thief's trail."
Li Ming on the other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Okay, go to the entrance of Heping Residential Area immediately and retrieve the surveillance footage from the day Zheng Bin's vehicle was stolen to find the thief's characteristics. At the same time, contact the traffic police department to expand the search area for the 'Jinpeng' electric tricycle with the license plate ending in '36,' focusing on its driving trajectory around Beishan Park after the theft to see if we can find the thief's hideout. In addition, the technical department is still working on recovering the fingerprints on the shovel and comparing the DNA of the cigarette butt. We will notify you as soon as we have the results."
After hanging up the phone, Xiao Wang looked at the security camera at the entrance of Heping Residential Area and thought to himself: The car thief who stole Zheng Bin's car must have left traces in the surveillance footage. As long as we find the car thief's features, we can follow the clues to find the suspect. He turned to his team members and said, "Let's go to the Heping Residential Area property management office and retrieve the surveillance footage from a week ago. We must find the car thief!"
In the property management monitoring room of Heping Residential Community, Xiao Wang and his team reviewed frame by frame the entrance surveillance footage from 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM a week prior. At 7:05 AM, Zheng Bin parked his blue electric tricycle on the roadside at the community entrance, locked it, and went into a nearby breakfast shop. At 7:10 AM, a man wearing a black jacket and a baseball cap walked to the vehicle, looked around, took out tools from his pocket, quickly pried open the lock, and then rode off towards the suburbs. The man's height, build, and clothing perfectly matched the description of the "suspicious person" given by Deng Guojun and Lao Zhang!
"It's him!" Xiao Wang said excitedly, pointing at the surveillance footage. "Although the brim of his hat was pulled low so I couldn't see his face clearly, he was wearing a black jacket and a baseball cap, which perfectly matched the previous clues! He stole Zheng Bin's car and then used it to transport and bury the body. The shovel at the scene was also from the car!"
The team members quickly took screenshots of the surveillance footage and carefully observed it. The thief was wearing a black watch on his left wrist, and his black backpack swayed violently while riding, as if it were carrying something heavy. "His backpack looks very heavy; maybe it contained a corpse?" Xiao Li guessed.
Xiao Wang shook his head: "The vehicle was stolen a week ago, and the body died about 3-4 days ago. It's likely that the car thief stole the car first and then used it to transport the body. However, this car thief is the suspect we're looking for. Now that we have his surveillance footage and characteristics, we can further narrow down our search!"
Although the trail to the electric tricycle owner had gone cold, the appearance of the thief provided a new breakthrough in the case. Xiao Wang immediately sent the surveillance screenshots to the other team members, arranging for them to search around Beishan Park, the vicinity of Heping Community in the eastern suburbs, and scrap yards and used car markets in the suburbs for suspicious individuals who were "wearing black jackets, baseball caps, black watches on their left wrists, and carrying black backpacks."
As the sun set, Xiao Wang stood at the entrance of Heping Residential Area, watching the direction the car thief had disappeared in the surveillance footage, his heart filled with determination. Although the clues were winding, each investigation brought him closer to the truth. He believed that as long as he followed the leads of the car thief, he would eventually find the suspect, uncover the truth behind the Beishan Park burial case, and give the deceased justice.
At 8 p.m. that evening, the decomposing body found in Beishan Park was carefully carried into the forensic autopsy room of the Criminal Investigation Detachment by two forensic assistants. The cold lights in the autopsy room were as glaring as daylight, the stainless steel autopsy table gleamed with a cold metallic luster, and the ventilation system hummed, yet it still couldn't completely dispel the putrid smell emanating from the body. It was the smell of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia produced by the decomposition of proteins mixed with the earthy stench, sharply irritating the nasal mucosa. Forensic doctor Zhang Lin, wearing a dark blue autopsy coat and double-layered latex gloves tightly fitting his fingers, stood beside the autopsy table, his gaze solemn as he examined the outline of the body covered by a white sheet. His fingertips unconsciously caressed the handle of the scalpel, his brain already rapidly processing the preliminary information from the scene investigation: the shallow burial pit, the red shovel, the "Yellow Crane Tower" cigarette butt, the traces of the electric tricycle... These fragmented clues all needed to be connected through autopsy.
"Li Ran, proceed with the physical examination step by step. First, record the basic characteristics of the body, then focus on checking the degree of decomposition and external injuries, especially areas like the neck and wrists where signs of violence are easily left." Zhang Lin's voice came through his protective mask, as calm as if he were disassembling a precision instrument. His assistant, Li Ran, was already prepared, his camera and autopsy notebook ready at any moment. Upon hearing the instructions, he immediately nodded and carefully lifted the white sheet covering the body.
The stench of decay intensified the moment the body was exposed. The deceased was male, lying supine with limbs outstretched. He was approximately 170 cm tall, of medium build, with clearly defined bones, and preliminarily estimated to have weighed between 65 and 70 kg. His skin exhibited typical signs of post-mortem decomposition.