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

Chapter 1219: Performing an autopsy and analyzing clues.

However, when the van reached the intersection of Jiefang West Road and Binhe Road, it suddenly disappeared into a blind spot of the surveillance cameras. "The municipal surveillance cameras at this intersection have been broken for almost a month and haven't been repaired yet," Xiao Li said helplessly. "We can only check the private surveillance cameras of the surrounding shops to see if we can fill in the missing data."

The three men split up and contacted nearby shops, finally spotting the van again on the surveillance footage of a supermarket. At 8:40 PM, the van stopped in a temporary parking space in front of the supermarket. The driver didn't get out, only stayed for about 3 minutes, before turning and driving towards the east side of Binhe Road. "The cover on the back seat was still there, and the scratches on the right side of the vehicle were clearer," Xiao Wang pointed to the screen. "The supermarket owner said he didn't notice the van that night, only remembering a black van parked here, seemingly waiting for someone, but he didn't see anyone get in or out."

Continuing the surveillance along the east side of Binhe Road, at 9:05 PM, the van appeared at the intersection of Binhe Road and Dongfeng Road. At this point, the cover over the back seat seemed to have disappeared. "Could they have disposed of the body on this stretch of road?" Xiao Chen speculated. Xiao Wang shook his head: "The body disposal point on Jiefang West Road is on the west side of Binhe Road. It's unlikely they turned back to dispose of the body midway if they're heading east now. Maybe they went somewhere else first and then circled back to the disposal point."

Just as the van was about to enter the surveillance range of Dongfeng Road, it suddenly turned into an unnamed alley—an alley with no surveillance coverage, lined with abandoned factories on both sides. The only way to spot the vehicle was through another surveillance camera at the end of the alley, revealing a blurry silhouette. "At 9:20 PM, the van emerged from the alley and turned south onto Dongfeng Road, but then the obstruction behind the rear seat reappeared," Xiao Li frowned. "What was it doing in the alley during those 15 minutes? Was it meeting someone, or hiding something?"

Xiao Wang immediately arranged for his team to investigate the unnamed alley. At the entrance of an abandoned factory deep in the alley, they found a small amount of black fibers and tire tracks. "The fiber material is polyester, consistent with what Xiao Yang and his team found in the inspection well. The size and pattern of the tire tracks perfectly match those of a van wheel," the investigation team reported over the walkie-talkie. "However, the factory gate was locked, the inside was covered in dust, there were no signs of recent activity, and no body or other suspicious items were found."

Continuing to track the van's trajectory, at 9:40 PM, it appeared at the entrance of the logistics park on the south side of Dongfeng Road, stayed for about 10 minutes, and then disappeared again. The surveillance cameras around the logistics park only cover the main entrance; the van likely exited through a side gate and entered a suburban road without surveillance. "The logistics park's side gate leads to an abandoned road in the suburbs, where there aren't even streetlights, let alone surveillance cameras," Xiao Wang pulled up a map. "From here on, the vehicle completely disappeared from the surveillance range and could no longer be tracked."

To find more clues, Xiao Wang and his team visited the security guards and merchants in the logistics park. Security guard Lao Zhang recalled, "Around 9 pm that night, a black van did indeed stop at the gate. The driver was wearing a mask and a baseball cap and asked me, 'How do I get to the suburbs?' I pointed him in the right direction, and then he drove away without entering the logistics park." Lao Zhang tried hard to recall, "The car looked very old, the rear bumper seemed broken, and the engine was very loud, like it had a malfunction."

Merchant Ms. Li provided an important detail: "I was unloading goods at the entrance of the logistics park when I saw a silver Zippo lighter on the passenger seat of that van. It looked very similar to the lighter you mentioned that was next to the deceased!" Xiao Wang immediately took out a photo of the lighter, and Ms. Li nodded: "Yes, it's that model. My husband also has one, so I remember it very well."

Although clues are gradually increasing, the vehicle's final destination remains undetermined. "Starting from the logistics park, the abandoned roads lead in three directions: the county town to the east, the mountainous area to the south, and the industrial park to the west," Xiao Wang pointed to the map. "The surveillance coverage in these three directions is very low, especially in the mountainous area and the industrial park. Many sections of the road have no surveillance cameras, making it very difficult to find the vehicle."

Xiao Li pulled up the vehicle registration information: "There are 127 Chang'an Star black minivans registered in the city. Among them, 15 are without license plates or have fake license plates. We have checked 10 of them and ruled them out. As for the remaining 5, the owner information is either forged or we cannot contact them, so we cannot confirm whether they are the vehicles we are looking for."

At 6 p.m., Xiao Wang returned to the Criminal Investigation Detachment with the organized clues and reported to Li Ming: "We have now confirmed that the black van is a Changan Star. There are white scratches on the right side of the vehicle, the rear bumper is deformed, the driver's characteristics are unknown, he stopped in an unnamed alley and a logistics park, and finally drove along an abandoned road to the suburbs and disappeared. We found an item that matches the deceased's lighter at the entrance of the logistics park, and we extracted relevant fibers and tire tracks from the alley, but we have not found the vehicle's whereabouts or the suspect's identity information."

Looking at the surveillance screenshots and investigation report, Li Ming frowned: "The suspect has a strong sense of counter-surveillance, deliberately choosing to drive in blind spots of surveillance cameras and intentionally concealing his identity. We will proceed in two steps: First, expand the search area around abandoned roads in the suburbs, interviewing villagers and gas stations along the way to see if anyone has seen this van; second, focus on verifying the remaining 5 unlicensed vans, contacting the transportation department, and using the engine sounds and fault characteristics of the vehicles to search for suspicious vehicles on suburban roads."

Xiao Wang nodded: "We'll go to the suburbs to conduct interviews first thing tomorrow morning, and at the same time, we'll have the technical department conduct further tests on the lighter and fibers to see if we can find DNA or other related clues." Although they hadn't been able to pinpoint the vehicle's location, he knew that every clue was narrowing down the scope of the investigation. As long as they persisted, they would eventually find the black van and uncover the victim's identity and the truth of the case.

As Xiao Wang left the analysis room, night had fallen. Looking at the flashing police lights outside the window, he thought of the body curled up in the sewer and silently resolved: no matter where the vehicle was hidden, he would find it, give the deceased justice, and leave the murderer nowhere to escape. The lights of the Criminal Investigation Division remained bright; the race against time continued.

Meanwhile, work was also underway in the autopsy room of the Criminal Investigation Detachment.

The temperature control system was stable at 20°C. The metal autopsy table gleamed with a cold, hard light. The male corpse found in the sewer was carefully placed in the center, covered with a sterile shroud. At 7 p.m. sharp, forensic pathologist Zhang Lin, wearing a dark blue autopsy gown and double-layered latex gloves, lightly touched the surface of the shroud with his fingertips—the corpse had just been taken out of the embalming transport box, and a faint smell of formalin still lingered on its surface, mingling with the stench of sewer sludge, permeating the enclosed autopsy space.