sjar Chapter 926 Arrest of Chang Baofeng
Chapter 926 Arrest of Chang Baofeng
“Okay,” Li Ming nodded, “send it for testing as soon as possible. Although the lead on Chang Baofeng has surfaced, we haven’t caught her yet.”
At 7 PM, the aroma of food wafted from the Criminal Investigation Division's canteen, but Li Ming had no appetite. He sat in front of his computer, repeatedly watching the surveillance footage of Chang Baofeng in the freight elevator. In the footage, her right hand was always holding a folder, while her left hand hung naturally at her sides, with a thin silver ring on her ring finger. Suddenly, he remembered the couple's watches on Guo Jianfeng's desk—could the abbreviation "JL" on the dial be the initials of "Jianfeng" and "Baofeng"?
This discovery made Li Ming jump up. He quickly retrieved the two's communication records and, sure enough, found an unsent text message draft on Guo Jianfeng's old phone: "Baofeng, I can give you that project, but about us..." The text message was sent last August, just before Chang Baofeng resigned.
“So the so-called ‘customer poaching’ might actually be workplace revenge stemming from a relationship dispute,” Li Ming muttered to himself. “Chang Baofeng was ostensibly having her business stolen, but in reality, she was dumped, so she orchestrated this seemingly business-related murder of passion.” He grabbed his coat. “Xiao Zhang, notify the forensic doctor to re-examine Guo Jianfeng’s phone and extract all unsent messages and hidden files—we might have missed a crucial motive.”
The case took a turn for the better on the evening of the fifth day when the Beichuan City Public Security Bureau reported that Chang Baofeng had checked into a local budget hotel, and surveillance footage showed her carrying a black suitcase and moving in a hurry.
It turned out that Chang Baofeng did not leave the country to go abroad, but left Dongchuan City and went directly to Beichuan City. After the province-wide notice was issued, the Beichuan City Public Security Bureau immediately reported the relevant information to Dongchuan City.
Li Ming immediately led his team to the scene, the police lights flashing coldly across the highway. Halfway there, a sudden downpour began; the windshield wipers struggled to keep the road ahead clear, seemingly foreshadowing the twists and turns of the operation.
By the time they arrived in Beichuan City, it was completely dark. Li Ming looked at the flashing neon lights on the hotel's exterior wall, then turned to Xiao Zhang and said, "Notify the hotel security to cut off all exits. We'll enter from the main entrance and the fire escape simultaneously." The investigators quickly got out of the car, their raincoats fluttering in the wind, their footsteps splashing through the puddles.
Chang Baofeng's room, 308, was located at the end of the corridor. Li Ming gestured for everyone to be quiet, pressed his ear to the door, and could faintly hear the sound of a suitcase zipper sliding inside. He nodded to Xiao Zhang, who quickly pulled out a master key. The moment the lock clicked softly, Li Ming kicked the door open, and the beam of his flashlight pierced the darkness like a sharp sword—Chang Baofeng was standing with her back to the door, tidying her clothes. Her black suitcase was open, revealing a corner of a red dress and a custom-made folder from Jinshi Financial.
"Chang Baofeng, don't move!" Li Ming warned, raising his gun.
Chang Baofeng whirled around, her sunglasses falling to the ground, her face instantly turning deathly pale. She stared at the armed police officers at the door, her lips trembling, "What are you doing...?"
Xiao Zhang stepped forward and searched her, pulling a plane ticket from her pocket. The destination was Bangkok, and the departure time was 3:00 AM the following day. "Trying to run?" Xiao Zhang waved the ticket and handcuffed her hands behind her back.
“I’m not…” Chang Baofeng struggled to turn around, “I just went on vacation…”
"Bringing so many documents on a trip?" Li Ming opened the folder in his suitcase. Inside were photocopies of customer information from Jinshi Financial, and a torn-up transfer record—the receipt for 50 yuan that his brother Chang Baoshan had transferred to Guo Jianfeng.
In the police car escorting her back to Dongchuan, Chang Baofeng huddled in the back seat, the sound of rain pounding against the windows making her tremble even more. Li Ming observed her reaction through the rearview mirror: "Do you know why we arrested you? Guo Jianfeng is dead, strangled on the rooftop, and all the evidence points to you."
Chang Baofeng looked up abruptly, shock flashing in her eyes: "He's dead? How could that be..." Her voice suddenly choked with emotion, "We talked on the phone just a few days ago, and he said he would help me deal with that money..."
"A few days ago?" Li Ming frowned. "Tell me the details."
“I…I messaged him after I arrived in Beichuan to ask about the project progress,” Chang Baofeng said, staring down at her fingernails. “He said, ‘Things are a bit complicated, I’ll take care of it,’ and then he didn’t reply. I thought he was busy, but I didn’t expect…”
One o'clock in the morning, in the interrogation room of the Dongchuan City Criminal Investigation Detachment. Chang Baofeng sat on an iron chair, her red dress, sunglasses, and all the items from her suitcase laid out in front of her. Li Ming turned on the projector, projecting the freight elevator surveillance footage onto the wall: "On the day of the incident, this woman in the red dress used the freight elevator to go to the rooftop. Her height, hairstyle, and the items she carried all match yours. How do you explain that?"
"It wasn't me!" Chang Baofeng cried, tears streaming down her face. "I gave this red dress to Lin Yutong last month! She likes to wear red, and I gave it to her when I quit my job and cleared out my closet!"
These words startled both Li Ming and Xiao Zhang. Li Ming immediately dialed Lin Yutong's number, and a somewhat languid voice came from the other end: "Officer, it's so late..."
"Do you have a red dress that Chang Baofeng gave you?" Li Ming asked directly.
“Yes,” Lin Yutong recalled, “she gave it to me when she resigned last year, saying that ‘red makes you look elegant,’ but I’ve never worn it and it’s still sitting in my closet—”
"Take a picture and send it to me right away," Li Ming interrupted her.
Ten minutes later, Lin Yutong sent a photo of the red dress. Comparing the surveillance footage to the photos, Li Ming noticed a significant difference in the button placement – the second button on the left breast of the red dress in the surveillance footage had a scratch, while Lin Yutong's dress had no damage. Upon seeing this, Chang Baofeng's eyes lit up with hope: "I told you it wasn't me! That dress already had a scratch when I gave it to her; it was torn by a bag strap while we were on the subway!"
Li Ming turned to Xiao Zhang: "Check Lin Yutong's alibi. Also, do forensic analysis on the scratches on the red dress buttons to see if they match the surveillance footage." He then looked at Chang Baofeng, "What exactly happened with that 50? Why did your brother note it as 'project deposit'?"
“I told him to write it like this,” Chang Baofeng said, biting her lip. “I didn’t want my family to know I was investing, afraid they’d say I was messing around, so I had my brother write ‘project deposit,’ so that we could tell everyone I was doing seafood wholesale.” She suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right! When I transferred the money to Guo Jianfeng, I wrote ‘Baofeng’s money’ in the remarks. You can check the transfer records!”
The technical department quickly retrieved the bank statements and, sure enough, found the words "for Bao Feng's financial management" in the remarks section. Xiao Zhang whispered, "If it were a prepayment for murder, they wouldn't use a real name in the remarks. Chang Bao Feng's statement makes sense."
The interrogation lasted until 4 a.m. Chang Baofeng consistently denied the murder, and the clues she provided, such as her business partner in Haizhou Port and the record of the red dress being given as a gift, all needed further verification.