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

Chapter 1281 Detailed Record of Zhang Jianjun's Interrogation

Taking advantage of the moment, the team members behind him grabbed Zhang Jianjun's wrist and twisted his arm behind his back. Xiao Wang quickly rushed forward, pressed down on Zhang Jianjun's shoulders, and forced him onto the sofa. With a "click," the handcuffs firmly locked Zhang Jianjun's wrists. Zhang Jianjun struggled violently, still shouting, "I didn't kill anyone! Let me go!" But his body was firmly restrained and he couldn't move.

The outer perimeter team immediately entered the house and took Li Mei to a safe area to comfort and question her; the support team went to the parking lot and searched Zhang Jianjun's black Volkswagen Lavida sedan. They found black gloves and strips of cloth with traces of blood in the trunk. Preliminary tests showed that the bloodstains matched Zhao Baotian's DNA, which was the tool used in the crime.

"Zhang Jianjun, you are hereby arrested on suspicion of intentionally murdering Zhao Baotian. Please cooperate!" Xiao Wang presented the arrest warrant, his voice authoritative. Zhang Jianjun's struggles gradually ceased. His head drooped, his shoulders trembled violently, tears streamed down his face, and he murmured, "I shouldn't have killed him... I shouldn't have killed him for rent..."

At 10:30 a.m., Zhang Jianjun was escorted into a police car and taken to the Criminal Investigation Division. Inside the car, Zhang Jianjun leaned back in his seat, staring blankly out the window, his former arrogance completely gone. He knew that his meticulously planned crime had finally been exposed, and he would face the full force of the law.

Meanwhile, the team members responsible for investigating and controlling Zhang Jianjun's social relationships also reported that they had placed his family members, business partners, and those who might assist in his escape under surveillance, in order to detect any abnormalities and effectively prevent tipping off others.

Back at the Criminal Investigation Division, Xiao Wang reported the arrest to Li Ming: "Zhang Jianjun has been successfully apprehended. Gloves and strips of cloth used in the crime were seized at the scene. Li Mei is in stable condition and is currently being questioned. The next step is to immediately interrogate Zhang Jianjun to verify the details of the crime and complete the chain of evidence."

Li Ming nodded, his tone tinged with satisfaction: "Good! Thank you all for your hard work. The arrest went smoothly without any casualties. During the interrogation, pay attention to the methods and approaches. Combining Zhou Hao's confession with the evidence found at the scene, get Zhang Jianjun to truthfully confess to all his crimes and give Zhao Baotian's family a fair explanation."

Inside the interrogation room, the harsh, white light cast Zhang Jianjun's long, narrow shadow on the cold wall. He sat in the metal interrogation chair, his hands firmly handcuffed to the armrests. Dust from his arrest still clung to his grey coat, his hair plastered messily to his forehead, yet his eyes held a stubborn resistance—when he was first brought in, he had screamed in the corridor, "I didn't kill anyone, Zhou Hao framed me!" Now, facing Xiao Wang behind the interrogation table, this resistance concealed an undisguised panic; his fingers unconsciously scratched at his knees, leaving shallow marks.

Xiao Wang opened the file in front of him, tapped the "Bloodstain Detection Report in Zhang Jianjun's Vehicle Trunk" lightly with his fingertips, and said in a calm but undeniably penetrating voice: "Zhang Jianjun, name, age, occupation, and what you did in the underground parking lot of the Oriental Building on the night Zhao Baotian was murdered, do I need to repeat it again?"

Zhang Jianjun's Adam's apple bobbed violently. He tilted his head to one side, avoiding Xiao Wang's gaze, his voice hoarse and almost inaudible: "My name is Zhang Jianjun, 45 years old, I run a house rental business. That night I was drinking at a friend's house and didn't go to any parking lot. Zhao Baotian's death has nothing to do with me. It was that bastard Zhou Hao who did it himself and tried to drag me down with him!" His shoulders trembled slightly, and when he said "it has nothing to do with me," his voice noticeably weakened. His eyes unconsciously glanced towards the corner of the interrogation room, as if he were avoiding something—he knew Zhou Hao had been caught, but still clung to a sliver of hope, believing that the police had no direct evidence pointing to him.

"Drinking at a friend's house? Which friend? What's their name? Where do they live?" Xiao Wang pressed, his tone authoritative. "We checked your call records and driving history. You didn't contact any friends on the night of the incident. Your black Volkswagen Lavida entered the Oriental Building parking lot at 9:15 PM and left at 9:50 PM. This timeframe coincides with Zhao Baotian's time of death. So, which friend's house did you drink at?"

Zhang Jianjun's body stiffened abruptly, as if all his strength had been drained away. His carefully maintained composure crumbled instantly. He stared at the patterns on the table, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word for a long time. His face slowly turned from pale to ashen, large beads of sweat sliding down his forehead and dripping onto the interrogation record, spreading into a small patch. "I... I misremembered. I was at home that night, I didn't go out!" He suddenly raised his voice, as if trying to bolster his courage, but his clenched hands betrayed his nervousness; his knuckles turned white from the pressure, and even his breathing became rapid. "The parking lot surveillance must be wrong, that's not my car!"

"Not your car?" Xiao Wang picked up a photo and pushed it in front of Zhang Jianjun. The photo showed a CCTV screenshot of his black Volkswagen Lavida sedan at the parking lot entrance. The license plate number was clearly visible, and the gray jacket worn by the driver was exactly the same as the clothes he was wearing when he was arrested. "This isn't your car? Then tell me, where was your car that night? Why was it in the parking lot? Also, we found gloves and strips of cloth stained with Zhao Baotian's blood in your trunk. DNA testing showed that the bloodstains matched Zhao Baotian's 100%. How do you explain that?"

Zhang Jianjun suddenly burst into tears. He covered his face with his hands, his shoulders trembling violently, and suppressed sobs escaped from between his fingers: "No! Zhou Hao put those things in my car! He borrowed my car, saying he was going to pick up some things. How was I supposed to know he would put those dirty things there! Don't wrong me!" His cries were filled with despair, but he dared not look up at Xiao Wang, as if denying it would overturn the evidence. But he knew in his heart that the vehicle tracks and bloodstains were irrefutable evidence, and his lies could no longer stand.

Instead of pressing for answers, Xiao Wang produced a second piece of evidence—a video recording of Zhou Hao's confession. On the screen, Zhou Hao clearly recounted the entire process of "being instructed by Zhang Jianjun to lure Zhao Baotian to the parking lot and assisting Zhang Jianjun in murdering Zhao Baotian," including details such as Zhang Jianjun providing sedatives, strangling him with a hoodie sleeve, and staging the scene. "Zhou Hao said that you wanted to kill Zhao Baotian to silence him because he refused to raise the rent and threatened to report you for illegal leasing; you made him hand Zhao Baotian water laced with sedatives, and you personally strangled him. You also said that if he cooperated, you would help him pay off his gambling debts and give him another 2 yuan. Is all of this fabricated by Zhou Hao?"