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

Chapter 1373 Wangjia Village Cornfield

At Xiao Wang's prompting, Tian Guoyi strode heavily into the reeds, his teammates following closely behind to prevent him from making any rash moves. When they reached an area where the reeds were densely broken, he suddenly stopped, his body trembling slightly: "That's where we started arguing. He took out his phone to make a call, I lunged at him to grab it, and we wrestled. I fell into this mud—" He pointed to the dark brown mud at his feet, "You see, these reeds were all broken by us back then. I remember one of the stalks pierced my trouser leg." Xiao Yang squatted down and shone a multi-band light source on the area. Sure enough, they found trace amounts of fiber on a broken reed stalk, which preliminarily matched the fiber composition of clothing extracted from Tian Guoyi's prison uniform. The mud here was 0.3 meters deep, which also matched the detail in Tian Guoyi's confession that he was "covered in mud after falling."

"What did you use to hit him? How exactly did you do it?" Xiao Wang's voice was serious and calm, his gaze fixed on Tian Guoyi's movements. Tian Guoyi bent down and picked up a stone from the mud, similar in size to the cobblestones they had previously retrieved. He gestured as he said, "It was like this. He pressed me down in the mud and bit my arm. I panicked and grabbed the stone next to me, then smashed it against the back of his head." He mimicked the gesture, raising the stone high in his right hand and bringing it down heavily into the air. "He 'humphed' and fell down. I touched his nose; he wasn't breathing—later, the forensic doctor said he had only fainted and had drowned. I..." At this point, his voice choked, and he couldn't continue.

Xiao Sun immediately conducted a focused investigation of the area. Around the "point of attack" identified by Tian Guoyi, several faint footprints were found. The shoe size matched Tian Guoyi's size 41 perfectly, and the wear marks on the inside of the forefoot confirmed his "slightly pigeon-toed" gait. Meanwhile, in the nearby mud, technicians also found a small copper alloy fragment. Comparison revealed it to the "peony" button recovered from the scene, suggesting it had been removed from Tian Guoyi's clothing during the struggle.

"And then you dragged him into the water?" Xiao Wang pressed. Tian Guoyi nodded, walking along a flattened reed path. Small amounts of black fibers remained on the reed stalks on either side of the path, matching the polyester fiber composition of Zhang Jianguo's work pants. "I was afraid he wasn't quite dead, and I was afraid someone would find out, so I grabbed his arm and dragged him into the water. His body was heavy, and when I dragged him, the belt buckle scraped against a reed stalk—" He pointed to a horizontal scratch on a reed stalk, "You see, that's how it happened." The spacing of this scratch matched the width of Zhang Jianguo's belt buckle, corroborating the forensic report's conclusion that "the belt buckle showed signs of external friction."

When they reached the water's edge, Tian Guoyi's face was deathly pale. He pointed to an area on the water's surface where water hyacinths were floating: "I pushed him here and watched him sink before I left. I heard the sound of a motorcycle and was so scared that I quickly hid in the reeds. Later I found out it was Li Laosi passing by, and I even saw him." The "motorcycle sound" he mentioned forms a closed loop with the clue in Zhao Yonghong's previous confession that he "saw a red motorcycle drive by around 9 p.m.," and the water depth of this area, 1.2 meters, with a silty bottom, also perfectly matches the forensic doctor's deduction of the "drowning location."

During the identification of the body disposal site, Tian Guoyi added a crucial detail: "When Zhang Jianguo fell, he was still clutching a wrench in his hand, the kind he used to repair farm machinery. I was afraid of leaving traces, so I threw the wrench into the water, not far from him." Xiao Yang immediately arranged for his team to use sonar equipment to probe the area. Half an hour later, they indeed retrieved a No. 19 open-end wrench. The bloodstains on the wrench were identified as belonging to Zhang Jianguo, and the fingerprints matched Tian Guoyi perfectly. This evidence completely completed the entire crime chain.

After the identification process, Tian Guoyi was escorted out of the reed marshes. As he passed the shore, he glanced at the sand dredger "Lu Ning Sand Dredging 037" docked at the pier, his eyes filled with remorse. Xiao Wang looked at the identification record in his hand, comparing it point by point with the on-site investigation report and forensic identification conclusions. All the details matched perfectly: from the waiting location at the abandoned pier to the core area of ​​the struggle, and then to the specific location where the body was dumped; from the shape of the murder weapon to the injured parts of the victim, and even trace evidence such as clothing fibers and silt components, all formed a complete chain of evidence, completely locking in Tian Guoyi's crime.

The mist gradually dissipated, and sunlight filtered through the reeds, shimmering on the water. With Tian Guoyi's scene identification completed, this case of an unidentified corpse in the reed marshes, spanning several days, finally came to a close in the face of irrefutable evidence. Tian Guoyi will face the full force of the law; he will not only pay the price for Zhang Jianguo's death, but his long-term illegal sand mining activities will also be prosecuted. On the shore, technicians were compiling the final investigation report, while Xiao Wang gazed at the surface of Qingling Lake, knowing that every detail meticulously reconstructed was a tribute to the deceased and a testament to upholding justice.

Less than a week after Zhang Jianguo's case was closed, the Criminal Investigation Division received another report.

At 6:30 a.m. on September 12, the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment received a report from Beijing: Wang Dianquan, a villager from Wangjia Village, discovered a male corpse while harvesting corn in a cornfield at the east end of the village, suspected to be a homicide. Upon receiving the report, Detachment Leader Li Ming immediately led an investigation team to the scene, while simultaneously notifying Yang and Sun from the Technical Section to bring forensic equipment. It was harvest season, and the cornfields surrounding Wangjia Village were a golden yellow. The morning dew had not yet evaporated, and the field paths were muddy, posing a significant challenge to the on-site investigation.

At 7:15 a.m., Li Ming's team arrived at Wangjia Village. Guided by the complainant, Wang Dianquan, the group crossed a waist-high cornfield to reach the crime scene. The scene was located in the middle of the cornfield, in a slightly low-lying area, surrounded by dense corn stalks, forming a relatively enclosed space. Li Ming first set up a perimeter cordon: "Xiao Li, Xiao Zhang, immediately set up a cordon around the cornfield. No unauthorized personnel are allowed to enter within a 50-meter radius, especially at the entrances and exits of the field paths. Have someone on duty to record the information of everyone entering and leaving." Then, he turned to Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun, and solemnly instructed them: "You two are responsible for the initial on-site investigation, focusing on the central area and surrounding traces and evidence. Be careful to preserve the original scene, proceeding from the outside in, from far to near, and don't overlook any details."