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

Chapter 1326 Interrogation of Li Zhijie

Sitting in the passenger seat, Xiao Wang glanced back at Li Zhijie, his heart filled with mixed emotions—a minor work-related conflict had led to such a serious tragedy, ruining not only his own life but also shattering a once happy family.

At 8 p.m., the police car arrived at the Criminal Investigation Division. Technical personnel were already waiting at the door and took Li Zhijie to the collection room to extract his DNA sample. Afterward, Li Zhijie was taken to the interrogation room, which was dimly lit and occupied most of the space with a table and two chairs.

The iron door to the interrogation room of the Criminal Investigation Detachment slammed shut, completely shutting out the noise from the outside world. A stark white light fell from the center of the ceiling, precisely illuminating the interrogation table and the chair opposite it. Li Zhijie was led to the chair by two team members, and the handcuffs tapped lightly on the metal table, making a crisp sound that was particularly jarring in the silent room.

Xiao Wang sat behind the interrogation table, a thick case file spread out in front of him, the words "Chen Gang Murder Case" on the cover particularly eye-catching. He didn't speak immediately, but calmly fixed his gaze on Li Zhijie—this man who had just been immersed in a game at the internet cafe was now wearing a wrinkled black hoodie, his hair disheveled and plastered to his forehead, his hands cuffed to the table leg, his fingertips unconsciously picking at the seams of his pants, his eyes avoiding the light, not daring to meet Xiao Wang's gaze.

"Name." Xiao Wang's voice broke the silence, devoid of any extra emotion, yet carrying an undeniable authority.

"Li... Li Zhijie." Li Zhijie's voice was a little hoarse, as if there was sand stuck in his throat, and he lowered his head even further.

"age."

"38 years old."

"Profession."

"Outside... deliveryman."

"Do you know Chen Gang?" Xiao Wang finally got to the point, tapping lightly on Chen Gang's photo in the file.

Li Zhijie's body stiffened visibly, his fingers stopped fiddling with the seam of his pants, and after a few seconds of silence, he answered in a low voice, "I...I know him, he's a colleague."

"Where were you between 7 and 8 pm 12 days ago? What were you doing?" Xiao Wang's gaze was fixed on him, not missing a single subtle expression on his face.

Li Zhijie's Adam's apple bobbed. He looked up quickly at Xiao Wang, then quickly lowered his head again: "I... I can't remember. Maybe I was watching TV at home, or maybe I was wandering around outside."

"Can't remember?" Xiao Wang picked up an order record from a food delivery platform and pushed it in front of Li Zhijie. "This is a food delivery order from 7:15 pm 12 days ago, from the shantytown in the north of the city. The order was placed by someone named 'Zhang Wei,' the phone number was a virtual number, and you were the one who accepted the order. You say you can't remember, so how do you explain this order?"

The order time, address, and virtual phone number on the order record were clearly visible. Li Zhijie stared at the paper, his pupils slightly contracted, and his fingers began to tremble slightly: "This... this might be an order I took for someone else. I forgot the specifics. I take so many orders every day, how can I remember them all?"

"You took the order for someone else?" Xiao Wang picked up another surveillance screenshot. The footage showed Li Zhijie riding an electric bike at 7:40 PM at an intersection near the shantytown in the north of the city. "How do you explain this surveillance footage? Twelve days ago, at 7:40 PM, you appeared near the crime scene, and then your cell phone signal disappeared until the next morning when you reappeared in the city. You said you were watching TV at home, so how did you end up in the shantytown? And why did your cell phone signal disappear?"

A barrage of questions struck Li Zhijie like a hammer blow. His breathing became rapid, and his face slowly turned from pale to flushed. He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "I... I just went to the shantytown to deliver an order. After I finished, my phone ran out of battery, so I found a place nearby to charge it, which is why the signal disappeared."

"Charging? Where are you charging? Are there any witnesses?" Xiao Wang pressed, his tone carrying a subtle sharpness.

"I... I forgot, it was just a small shop, I can't remember which one exactly." Li Zhijie's voice grew softer and softer, and his eyes began to glaze over as he dared not look at Xiao Wang anymore.

Xiao Wang didn't press further. Instead, he got up and took out a piece of blue polyester fabric and a rusty shovel from the evidence bag, placing them on the table: "Do you recognize these two things?"

The tear marks on the edge of the blue fabric and the rust on the shovel head were exactly the same as the physical evidence collected from the crime scene. The moment Li Zhijie saw the fabric and the shovel, his body jerked back as if he had been burned. His breathing became heavy, and fine beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead: "No... I don't recognize them. I've never seen them before."

"Never seen it before?" Xiao Wang picked up a DNA test report. "These are skin tissue fragments extracted from Chen Gang's fingernails. After DNA comparison, they match your DNA perfectly. Chen Gang had a physical altercation with someone before he died. You say you've never seen these two things, so why is your DNA in his fingernails?"

The comparison results and gene typing data on the identification report were clear and unambiguous. Li Zhijie's body began to tremble uncontrollably, beads of sweat sliding down his cheeks and dripping onto the table with a soft sound. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but only managed a few muffled sobs before closing his mouth again, burying his head even lower, his shoulders trembling slightly, as if suppressing something.

Xiao Wang glanced at the clock on the wall; it was already 9:30 PM, and the interrogation had been going on for over an hour. He changed his tone, picked up a glass of water, and pushed it towards Li Zhijie: "Li Zhijie, I know you're very nervous right now, and I know you're hiding something. But you need to understand, the evidence is right in front of you, and no matter how much you deny it, it's useless. Chen Gang was an honest man, he had no grudge against you, and you killed him just because of a small order dispute. How can you face his family? How can you face your own conscience?"

Li Zhijie's shoulders heaved even more violently, his sobs grew louder, and he covered his face with his hands, tears streaming through his fingers: "I... I didn't mean to, I was just confused for a moment..."

"A moment of folly?" Xiao Wang's voice turned serious again. "You used a virtual phone number to lure Chen Gang to the shantytown, suffocated him by pressing a blue overall over his mouth and nose, and then buried him behind a wall with a shovel. This series of actions doesn't seem like something you could do in a moment of folly. Your only way out now is to truthfully confess all your crimes and strive for leniency. This is also the best explanation for Chen Gang's family."

Li Zhijie lowered his hand from his face, his face covered with tears and snot, his eyes swollen and red like walnuts, his voice thick with sobs: "I... I just can't stand Chen Gang. He always steals my orders and talks badly about me behind my back."