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

Chapter 1218 Black Van

Xiao Yang carefully examined the fragments: "The material is a cotton blend, the same as the jacket, but the fragments are too small, only the size of a fingernail, and the edges were cut off with scissors, not torn or rubbed." He pointed to the tailor shop not far away, "It's probably scraps thrown away by the tailor shop, blown into the green belt by the wind, not fallen from the corpse's clothes."

Disappointment washed over him again. Xiao Sun squatted down beside the bushes, looking at the fabric scraps in his hand: "Could it be that the suspect really didn't leave any trace? Not even a clue."

Xiao Yang patted him on the shoulder, signaling him to continue: "Keep looking, don't overlook any details. The deceased's identity hasn't been confirmed yet, we need to find something that can prove his identity, such as an ID card, a mobile phone, or clothing accessories with identification."

Deep in the green belt, the two found a rusty coin, dated 2015. Besides that, there were only scattered cigarette butts and scraps of paper. "This coin is rusty; it definitely wasn't left recently," Xiao Sun said, picking up the coin and tossing it helplessly into the evidence bag. "Right now, besides that half-lighter and the blurry tire tracks, all we've found are irrelevant things. We don't even know who the deceased is. How are we supposed to investigate further?"

Xiao Yang walked to the side of the street, looking at the police tape in the distance, his brow furrowed: "The deceased's jacket and jeans were very ordinary, without any brand logos. There was only half a lighter in his pocket; we haven't found his ID card or phone yet. The suspect must have deliberately cleared out the deceased's belongings to make it impossible for us to identify him." He took out his investigation logbook and flipped to a previous entry. "The person who reported the case said they saw a black van around 9 pm last night; it had no license plate. We need to focus on tracking this vehicle. Maybe we can find the suspect through the vehicle and then trace the clues to identify the deceased."

“But many of the surveillance cameras along the street are broken, especially those in the back alleys. Most of them are just for show.” Xiao Sun recalled the surveillance locations he had checked earlier. “I asked a few shops just now, and their cameras only cover the storefronts and don’t show the back alleys. The municipal surveillance cameras that can capture the street were under maintenance last night and didn’t record any footage.”

The two returned to the main well, where technicians were carefully clearing away the silt from the bottom, trying to find more clues. "Have you found anything?" Xiao Yang asked the technician, who shook his head: "Besides trash, there were only some gravel in the silt. We didn't find any of the deceased's personal belongings, nor any other suspicious traces."

Xiao Yang took out the half of a Zippo lighter. The scratches on the surface of the lighter were clearly visible, but there were no words or patterns on it. "This lighter is a common model, it's available everywhere, so we can't identify the deceased from it." He handed it to Xiao Sun, "See if you can extract fingerprints from the lighter. Although it's covered in mud, there might still be some left."

Xiao Sun took the lighter and examined it carefully with a magnifying glass: "The surface is too rough, and the silt is corrosive. The fingerprints should have been destroyed. We can only try to treat it with special reagents to see if we can extract some feature points."

As the sun set, the two finally finished their extended investigation, bringing back a bag of evidence containing polyester fibers, mineral water bottles, fabric scraps, rusty coins, and half a lighter. Sitting in the police car, Xiao Yang reviewed the investigation records; each clue was marked "low relevance" or "non-directional."

"Captain Li is still waiting for news. If we go back like this, we might not be able to explain ourselves." Xiao Sun leaned back in his chair, his voice full of exhaustion. "The deceased's identity is unknown, the suspect's trail has gone cold, and our only hope is that black van, but the surveillance cameras didn't capture it. How are we supposed to find it?"

Looking out the window at the gradually darkening street, Xiao Yang tapped his fingers lightly on the steering wheel: "Don't be discouraged. At least we've ruled out many irrelevant clues. Tomorrow, have the technical department focus on testing the fingerprints on the mineral water bottle and the residue from the lighter. At the same time, expand the search area for the black van and retrieve surveillance footage from within a 3-kilometer radius. Even if it doesn't have a license plate, we can still find some features, such as scratches on the body or broken headlights."

He paused, then continued, "In addition, the deceased's height, build, and clothing characteristics have been recorded and sent to all police stations and rescue stations in the city, asking them to assist in the search for recently missing persons. Perhaps we can find something. Although we haven't found any specific clues yet, as long as we don't give up, we will always find a breakthrough."

Xiao Sun nodded and sat up straight again: "You're right, no matter how difficult it is, we have to keep investigating. The deceased can't just be left in the sewers without any explanation; we have to give him and his family an explanation."

The police car started and headed towards the Criminal Investigation Division. The streetlights lit up one by one, illuminating the police tape beside the sewer manhole and the determination in the two officers' eyes. Although clues were scarce, they knew that solving cases required finding connections among countless seemingly unrelated details; if they persisted, they would eventually find the key to unlocking the mystery.

Inside, Xiao Wang was also investigating the black van. In the video analysis room of the Criminal Investigation Detachment, 16 surveillance screens lit up simultaneously, showing the traffic flow on Jiefang West Road and surrounding areas. Xiao Wang rubbed his swollen eyes. In front of him lay a simple sketch of the black van drawn by the complainant, Li Zhibo—no license plate, old body, and unclear direction of the front of the vehicle. These vague features were currently the only clues to track down the vehicle. According to Li Ming's plan, he needed to find this van, which might have been carrying the body and dumping it, from the massive amount of surveillance footage and determine its travel trajectory.

"Start by checking the surveillance footage at both ends of Jiefang West Road, focusing on the footage from 8 pm to 10 pm on August 24th," Xiao Wang said to his team members Xiao Chen and Xiao Li. "The person who reported the incident said they saw a car near the scene around 9 pm, so the vehicle most likely entered or exited Jiefang West Road during that time period."

Xiao Chen was in charge of monitoring the intersection on the west side. The footage showed heavy traffic, and he played it frame by frame, his eyes glued to each black minivan: "Captain Wang, look at this one!" At 8:15 PM, a black minivan without license plates entered the frame. There was a noticeable white scratch on the right side of the vehicle, and the rear bumper was slightly deformed, initially matching the "old-looking" characteristics in the sketch. "The model is a Chang'an Star, consistent with common small freight minivans, with a wheelbase of about 1.5 meters, similar in size to the tire tracks Xiao Yang and his team found in the alley behind the shops!"

Xiao Wang immediately moved closer to the screen and zoomed in on the vehicle's details: "The driver's side window is tinted with dark film, so you can't see the person inside. There seems to be a black covering in the back seat; I wonder if it's used to cover a body." He asked Xiao Chen to record the time the vehicle appeared, "Continue tracking it and see which direction it goes."