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

Chapter 1369 Arresting Old Li 4

Xiao Zhou's suspicions grew stronger, and he continued to ask, "Did you notice anything different about his motorcycle? Like the color or signs of damage?"

“Yes!” Zhang Cuihua’s eyes lit up. “His motorcycle’s original mudguards were red, but they were damaged a few days ago and he took them to be repaired. When he went out on the evening of July 10, I saw that the mudguards had turned dark blue. The color was very bright and didn’t match the red of the motorcycle at all. It looked very awkward.”

Dark blue mudguards, a red motorcycle, heading towards Qingling Lake around 9 PM on July 10th, returning covered in mud at 1 AM, and deliberately washing the motorcycle—all clues pointed to Li Laosi. Xiao Zhou immediately ordered his team to conduct a secret investigation around Li Laosi's scrap yard. In the drainage ditch behind the yard, they found a piece of black cloth stained with mud and reed fibers, initially determined to be similar in composition to the black fibers extracted from the scene. Simultaneously, in a corner of the scrap yard, the team found a partially used bucket of dark blue alkyd enamel paint; the label on the bucket perfectly matched the brand of paint used at "Xiao Li Motorcycle Repair" shop.

"Team Leader Zhang, we found a pair of size 41 wavy-patterned sneakers under Li Laosi's bedroom window. The pattern on the soles matches the footprint model extracted from the scene perfectly, and there's also a small amount of red soil embedded in the soles, consistent with the soil composition of the Qingling Lake mudflats," investigator Xiao Zhang excitedly reported. "Furthermore, we retrieved the surveillance footage from the village entrance. At 9:23 PM on July 10th, Li Laosi rode a red motorcycle out of the village; the motorcycle's mudguards were dark blue. At 1:17 AM, he returned on the same motorcycle, with obvious mud stains on the body, which perfectly matches Zhang Cuihua's testimony."

Xiao Zhou immediately reported these findings to Li Ming via encrypted walkie-talkie: "Team Leader Li, Li Laosi's suspicion is very clear. First, he had a debt dispute with the deceased Zhang Jianguo and had threatened Zhang Jianguo before; second, he owns a red motorcycle, and the mudguards were recently repaired with dark blue alkyd enamel paint, which matches the clues at the scene; third, his whereabouts from 9 pm to 1 am on July 10th closely matched the time of the deceased's death, and he returned covered in mud, showing obvious signs of committing a crime; fourth, the size and pattern of his sneakers perfectly match the footprints at the scene, and the black cloth and dark blue enamel paint found in the recycling station are also related to the physical evidence at the scene."

Li Ming paused for a moment on the other end of the phone, then ordered: "Xiao Zhou, arrest Li Laosi immediately! I will arrange for Li Rui to lead a team to support you. Make sure the arrest process is safe and avoid any injury or death caused by the suspect resisting. After the arrest, conduct an immediate interrogation, focusing on verifying the details of his argument with Zhang Jianguo, his specific whereabouts on the night of the incident, and the whereabouts of the murder weapon."

"Received!" Xiao Zhou hung up the phone and immediately formulated an arrest plan. After on-site investigation, it was found that Li Laosi's scrap yard had two entrances, the front facing the main road at the village entrance and the back connecting to a bamboo forest. Behind the bamboo forest was the Qingling Lake mudflat, posing a risk of escape. Xiao Zhou decided to split the team into three groups: the first group, led by him and two team members, would break through from the front entrance to control Li Laosi; the second group, led by Xiao Liu and two team members, would guard the back entrance to prevent the suspect from escaping through the bamboo forest; the third group, led by Li Rui, would set up roadblocks at the village entrance and the lakeside road to form an outer encirclement and cut off all escape routes.

At 3 p.m., the arrest team was fully in position. Xiao Zhou confirmed the situation at each location via walkie-talkie: "Front gate team ready, back gate team ready, outer checkpoints ready, target still inside the purchasing station, no unusual activity detected." He took a deep breath and gave the order: "Move out!"

Xiao Zhou kicked open the slightly ajar front door, the hinges creaking as they snapped. Inside the recycling station, Li Laosi, shirtless, sat on a small stool in the yard, sanding a piece of scrap metal. Seeing the police suddenly burst in, he instinctively reached for the crowbar behind him. "Don't move! Police!" Xiao Zhou shouted, rushing forward and grabbing Li Laosi's shoulder, twisting his arm behind his back. Li Laosi resisted fiercely, kicking Xiao Zhou's knee. Xiao Zhou dodged, simultaneously using his knee to press Li Laosi's lower back, pinning him to the ground.

"Why are you arresting me? I haven't broken the law!" Li Laosi roared, his face flushed red, spitting everywhere. Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li immediately stepped forward, handcuffed his hands, and searched him, finding a set of keys, a worn-out cell phone, and a folding knife in his pockets. "What's this knife for?" Xiao Zhou picked up the folding knife; the blade showed obvious signs of wear. Li Laosi's eyes darted around, and he stammered, "It's for collecting scrap metal, for cutting rope."

Just then, Xiao Liu's voice came from the back door: "Team Leader Zhang, we found a red motorcycle with dark blue mudguards, matching the clue!" Xiao Zhou told Xiao Li to keep an eye on Li Laosi and rushed to the back door. The motorcycle was parked under the shed of the recycling station. The body had been washed, but there were still some traces of dark blue paint on the mudguards, perfectly matching the repair records of "Xiao Li Motorcycle Repair" shop. Under the seat of the motorcycle, Xiao Zhou found a tiny bloodstain and immediately had the technicians take a sample for testing.

"Li Laosi, is this your motorcycle? Where did you ride it on the night of July 10th?" Xiao Zhou walked up to Li Laosi and placed a photo of the motorcycle in front of him. Li Laosi's face turned pale instantly, and his eyes were filled with panic, but he still stubbornly said, "I...I went to collect scrap metal. The price for collecting scrap metal is cheaper at night."

"Do you need to go to the reed marshes of Qingling Lake to haul away scrap? Do you need to come back covered in mud at 1 a.m.?" Xiao Zhou pressed. "Did you kill Zhang Jianguo? You poisoned him because he was collecting debts, didn't you?"

Upon hearing the name "Zhang Jianguo," Li Laosi visibly stiffened for a moment, then quickly regained his arrogant attitude: "I don't know anything about Zhang Jianguo, don't make baseless accusations! Whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me!"

Xiao Zhou stopped arguing with him and had his team put Li Laosi into the police car. During the escort, Li Laosi tried to jump out of the car to resist, but Xiao Zhang held him down firmly. "Behave yourself!" Xiao Zhang scolded, "The evidence is conclusive now, there's no use resisting anymore. Only by confessing honestly can you get leniency." Li Laosi was panting heavily and stopped talking, but the fierce light in his eyes had not faded.

At 4:30 PM, Li Laosi was escorted to the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment and immediately taken to the interrogation room. The interrogation room was dimly lit, illuminating Li Laosi's stubble-covered face. His hands were cuffed to the interrogation chair, and his body trembled slightly, but he still tried to appear calm. The interrogators were Xiao Zhou and Xiao Wang; Xiao Zhou was the lead interrogator, while Xiao Wang was responsible for recording and observing Li Laosi's micro-expressions.