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

Chapter 1343 Coal Mine Survey Results

“Outsourced team? Tell me more.” Xiao Zhou immediately asked Lin Xiaofeng to open the notebook. “How many people? Where are they from? Where do they live?” “About twenty, from Hebei. They do odd jobs underground and live in prefab houses on the west side of the mining area.” Ma Laogen took a puff of his cigarette, the butt glowing red. “The mine shut down last December. They took their wages and left. The prefab houses are empty now; they’ve moved all their things out.”

Xiao Zhou told Zhao Kai to stay at the door and continue questioning other possible informants, while he took Lin Xiaofeng and followed Ma Laogen to see the prefabricated houses of the outsourced team. The prefabricated house area was more than 200 meters away from the office area. The doors of more than a dozen blue prefabricated houses were all open, clattering loudly in the wind. Walking into the one furthest away, there were a few tattered newspapers and empty wine bottles scattered on the floor, and several pairs of broken rubber shoes were piled in the corner. The tread pattern on the soles was vertical, which did not match the horizontal anti-slip pattern on site at all.

"Did they take all their work clothes? Did they leave anything behind?" Xiao Zhou squatted down and used tweezers to pick up a loose thread hanging on the bed frame. It was dark blue, the same material as the work clothes issued by the mine. Ma Laogen shook his head: "These guys are shrewd. They even packed up their old socks. They wouldn't leave any clothes behind. There was one guy named Erzhuzi, though. He tore his work clothes while working last year and threw them in the warehouse. I don't know if he's still there."

The coal mine's warehouse was behind the office area, its roof leaking open, and the ground covered in a thick layer of dust. Ma Laogen lifted a plastic sheet in the corner, revealing a dozen neatly folded dark blue work clothes. "Look, these are all legitimate mine uniforms, the linings are all pure cotton." He picked up a set and handed it to Xiao Zhou, "Erzhuzi's torn one is at the bottom." Xiao Zhou put on gloves and started searching. Sure enough, he found a work uniform with a torn cuff at the very bottom. He shone a UV pen on the lining, and there was no fluorescent reaction; the fibers were completely different from the deceased's clothing.

"Are there any heavy smokers in the mine who like to chew their cigarette butts?" Xiao Zhou suddenly asked. The bite marks on the cigarette butts were very obvious, which was an important characteristic. Ma Laogen thought for a long time, then slapped his thigh: "Yes! Old Chen, who works in the boiler, is so addicted that he chews up his cigarette butts. Every time he finishes smoking, the cigarette butts are chewed up beyond recognition. But he went back to his hometown last autumn. I heard he got lung disease and hasn't come back since."

Xiao Zhou immediately asked Lin Xiaofeng to contact the police station in Lao Chen's hometown to verify his whereabouts. He then went with Ma Laogen to check the boiler room. The boiler room was covered with a thick layer of coal ash, and in the corner was a pile of "Hongtashan" cigarette butts, each with obvious bite marks on the filter. "Lao Chen used to squat here smoking, and these are all his remnants," Ma Laogen pointed to the cigarette butts. "He wears size 43 shoes, which are a size larger than the footprints at the scene, and he's only 1.6 meters tall, which doesn't match your estimated build."

At 2 PM, Zhao Kai's inquiry yielded results. Only five workers remained at the mine, all veteran miners with over a decade of experience, who hadn't left the area for nearly six months and could corroborate each other's accounts. Cigarette butt samples had been collected from them; all were "Hongtashan" cigarettes, but the bite marks were completely different from those found at the scene. Their rubber shoes had also been examined, and the sole patterns and sizes did not match the clues from the scene. Lin Xiaofeng also received feedback from the police station in Old Chen's hometown; Old Chen had passed away from illness last October, and there was a hospital death certificate.

"Team Leader Zhang, we've taken samples from the warehouse and prefabricated houses, but we didn't find any off-white polyester fibers." Zhao Kai ran over with an evidence bag containing a few thread ends and cigarette butts. "The technical department just sent a message saying that there are slight differences in the composition of coal dust from the mine and the cigarette butts. The dust on the cigarette butts contains a small amount of gypsum powder, while the dust from the mine doesn't."

This discovery made Xiao Zhou frown even more. He walked to the coal gangue pile in the mining area, picked up a handful of gravel to examine it carefully, and then had his team members take samples. "Has the mine ever used gypsum powder?" Ma Laogen shook his head: "We're mining raw coal, not a coal washing plant, so we don't need gypsum powder. But the brick kiln on the other side of the mountain bought a batch last winter when they were making bricks, and the trucks that hauled the bricks often passed by the mine entrance."

Xiao Zhou immediately led his team to the brick kiln, but returned disappointed. The brick kiln had gone bankrupt at the end of last year; the boss had absconded with unpaid wages, and the workers had all left, making it impossible to find anyone. By the time they returned to the Kuang District, it was already dark. Ma Laogen brought them several bowls of hot corn porridge: "Officer, if you trust me, I'll ask your former coworkers to see if anyone knows the whereabouts of the outsourced team."

Xiao Zhou accepted the porridge, a warm feeling rising in his heart. He left his contact information and told Ma Laogen to notify him immediately if there was any news. On the way back, Lin Xiaofeng couldn't help but sigh, "Captain Zhang, was this trip a waste? The clues have gone cold again." "Not really." Xiao Zhou looked at the night passing by outside the window, "At least we've ruled out the coal miner as a suspect. The plaster powder and coal dust mixed on the cigarette butt indicate that the murderer may have had contact with both the coal mine and the brick kiln, narrowing down the possibilities."

Back at the brigade, Xiao Zhou immediately sent the coal dust and cigarette butt dust samples to the technical department for further comparison by Xiao Yang. Li Ming was waiting for him in the office. Seeing him covered in coal dust, he handed him a towel: "How's it going? Any results?" Xiao Zhou gave a detailed report on the investigation and concluded: "Although the lead from the outsourced team has gone cold, we can still investigate the gypsum powder lead. There aren't many places with gypsum powder around Liulin Village, so we should be able to find a breakthrough."

Li Ming nodded and handed Xiao Zhou a document: "The DNA comparison results for Li Jianguo and Wang Qiang are in, and they don't match the deceased. However, Zhang Mancang provided another clue: there's a man named Liu Hu in Wangpo Village who suddenly disappeared three months ago. He used to work in a brick kiln and also did odd jobs in a coal mine. He wears size 42 shoes."

“Liu Hu?” Xiao Zhou’s eyes lit up. “Does he smoke? What brand of work clothes does he wear?” “He’s a heavy smoker, he smokes ‘Hongtashan’ cigarettes. The work clothes he used to wear were bought from a small workshop, and nobody remembers the exact style.” Li Ming said, “He has a burn scar on the web of his right hand, which is a distinctive feature.”

Xiao Zhou immediately grabbed his coat: "I'm going to Wangpo Village right now to find out more about Liu Hu's family." As he reached the door, he glanced back at the cigarette butt sample on his desk. He knew that the clues in this case were like the coal seams in a mine—seemingly buried deep underground, but if you followed the trails, they would eventually come to light. Although the coal mine investigation hadn't directly found the murderer, every clue eliminated brought them one step closer to the truth—a principle he had firmly believed in throughout his fifteen years as a police officer.