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

Chapter 1307 The Deceased Bus Driver Chen Wannian

Xiao Zhou's own eyes were bloodshot. He hadn't even had a proper hot meal since he started visiting the area around the park that afternoon, but he still forced himself to stay alert and reassure his team: "I know you're all tired, but the identity of the deceased is crucial. The sooner we confirm it, the sooner we can find the suspect. Let's divide the work more finely, in pairs. One group will investigate those aged 45-50, and the other will investigate those aged 51-55. We'll focus on those whose occupation is manual labor and whose clothing includes a dark coat and light blue underwear. If there are any suspicious cases, we'll write them down first and then check them together at the end. That will be more efficient."

Despite their complaints, the team members refocused. The sound of keyboards clicking filled the silent verification room, and the clock on the wall slowly ticked past midnight. Xiao Zhou stared at the screen and suddenly pointed to a message, saying, "Look at this one. The missing person is named Liu Jianguo, male, 52 years old, 172 cm tall, a scrap metal collector. He was reported missing 6 days ago. He usually collects scrap metal by riding an electric tricycle and has old scars on his body."

Xiao Wang leaned over to take a look and shook his head: "The height, build, and occupation are quite similar, but the disappearance time was 6 days ago, and the deceased's time of death was about 8 days ago, which is two days apart. Also, Liu Jianguo's tug-of-war marks are on his face, while the deceased's scars are on his calves. The locations are wrong, so it shouldn't be him."

Xiao Zhou nodded and continued filtering: "That's right, the time and scar location don't match, so we can rule that out. Keep checking."

At 3 a.m., the verification room was filled with the strong smell of coffee, and the team members' eyelids began to droop. Xiao Li rubbed his sore eyes, his voice weary: "Brother Hui, we've checked 1200 records already, and still haven't found a perfect match. Should we take a break and check again when it's light?"

Xiao Zhou glanced at the dark night sky outside the window and shook his head: "No, Zhang Lin's autopsy is probably almost finished. We need to make progress before he gives his conclusion. Hang in there a little longer, we only have 300 more cases to investigate, and maybe the key clues are just ahead."

The team members gritted their teeth and continued until 5:3 a.m., when the last piece of information was verified. Looking at the records on the table, Xiao Zhou saw that only three pieces of information barely met the criteria, but all had issues with timing or characteristics. "Looks like a whole night wasted; not a single reliable lead," Xiao Wang slumped into a chair, his voice filled with frustration.

Xiao Zhou also felt a bit powerless, but still forced himself to say, "Everyone, take a break at the table for a while, and get up again at 8 a.m. to summarize. Maybe the technical department will send some good news."

At 8 a.m., the team members were woken up by their alarm clocks, each with dark circles under their eyes and a haggard look. Just as everyone was preparing to organize and verify the investigation records, the technical department sent a message: the deceased's DNA profile had been entered into the missing persons database, and four suspected matches had been found initially.

"We have a lead!" Xiao Zhou perked up immediately and quickly asked the technical department to send over four pieces of information. The first: Chen Wannian, male, 48 years old, 173 cm tall, bus driver, reported missing 8 days ago; his wife said he was wearing a dark coat and light blue underwear before he disappeared. The second: Zhao Zhiqiang, male, 50 years old, 174 cm tall, construction worker, reported missing 7 days ago; he usually lives in the construction site dormitory. The third: Sun Dayong, male, 46 years old, 171 cm tall, food delivery driver, reported missing 9 days ago; he delivers food by electric scooter. The fourth: Zhou Jianjun, male, 53 years old, 172 cm tall, security guard, reported missing 6 days ago; he has a history of hypertension.

Xiao Zhou immediately organized his team to investigate one by one: "Let's look at Zhao Zhiqiang first. He's a construction worker, which fits the description of manual labor, but he's been missing for 7 days, while the deceased died 8 days ago, a difference of one day. Also, he lives in the construction site dormitory and there's no mention of him having an electric tricycle, so we can rule him out for now; Sun Dayong is a food delivery driver who rides an electric bike, not an electric tricycle, and his height is also 2 centimeters different, so we can rule him out; Zhou Jianjun is a security guard with a history of hypertension, but the deceased had no signs of illness, so we can rule him out."

The last piece of information about Chen Wannian seemed increasingly suspicious to Xiao Zhou: "Chen Wannian, 48 years old, 173 cm tall, which matches perfectly; reported missing 8 days ago, which coincides with the time of death; occupation: bus driver, which, although not manual labor, is reasonable for bus drivers who sit for long periods; his wife mentioned that he was wearing a dark coat and light blue underwear before he disappeared, which is the same material as the deceased's clothing!"

Xiao Li excitedly added, "And there's more! His wife said that before Chen Wannian disappeared, he had an argument with a friend who rode an electric tricycle, saying that the other party owed him money that hadn't been paid back! This matches the traces of the electric tricycle found at the scene!"

Xiao Zhou immediately picked up his phone and dialed the number of Chen Wannian's wife, Wang Xiulan: "Hello, is this Ms. Wang Xiulan? We are from the Criminal Investigation Detachment. We have a few questions to verify with you regarding your husband Chen Wannian's disappearance."

On the other end of the phone, Wang Xiulan's voice was choked with sobs: "Officer, have you found my husband? How is he?"

"Please calm down. We'd like to confirm if Mr. Chen Wannian has a 2-centimeter-long old scar on the back of his left calf. Did he take any items with him before he disappeared?" Xiao Zhou asked, his heart pounding.

Wang Xiulan answered through sobs, "Yes! He has a scar on the back of his left calf, from when he was accidentally cut by a tool while driving! He didn't take any valuables with him before he disappeared, just his phone and wallet. He was wearing a dark cotton coat, a light blue synthetic underwear underneath, and a pair of black sneakers!"

All the characteristics match perfectly! Suppressing his excitement, Xiao Zhou continued, "Do you know the name of the friend he wanted to meet before he disappeared, the one on the electric tricycle? What did they argue about?"

“That friend’s name is Li Dahai. He’s in the fruit business. He borrowed 3 yuan from my husband and never paid it back. My husband urged him to pay it back several times, and the two of them argued about it. The night before my husband disappeared, he told me that he was going to go find Li Dahai to ask for the money back. After that, he never came back, and his phone was switched off.” Wang Xiulan’s voice became more and more choked up.

After hanging up the phone, Xiao Zhou immediately told his team members, "The deceased's identity has been confirmed! It's Chen Wannian, 48 years old, a bus driver! He went to ask Li Dahai, who was riding an electric tricycle, for money before he went missing, and it's very likely that he was murdered because of that! Contact the technical department immediately to confirm that Chen Wannian's DNA matches the deceased perfectly, and at the same time check Li Dahai's identity information and whereabouts!"

At 9:30 a.m., the technical department delivered the final confirmation: Chen Wannian's DNA matched the deceased's DNA perfectly, confirming that the deceased was indeed Chen Wannian. Xiao Zhou immediately took the verification results and rushed to Li Ming's office to report.

At this moment, Zhang Lin had just finished the autopsy and came over with the autopsy report.