eurekapd Chapter 1198: Crime Scene Identification and Case Solving
Chapter 1198: Crime Scene Identification and Case Solving
Xiao Zhou took out Zhang Juan's photo and placed it in front of Zhao Lei: "Do you know? Zhang Juan has an 8-year-old daughter. She tells her daughter stories every day after get off work. Her husband is still waiting for her to come home. You destroyed a complete family for your own selfish desires. How can you face them?"
Looking at Zhang Juan's gentle smile in the photo, Zhao Lei's tears welled up again: "I'm sorry to Zhang Juan, and I'm sorry to her family. I know I was wrong, and I'm willing to take full responsibility. I just ask for a chance to apologize to her family..."
The interrogation lasted three hours. Zhao Lei confessed to the entire process of embezzling public funds, murdering Zhang Juan, and disposing of the body, as well as the specific whereabouts of the 80 yuan in public funds. When Xiao Zhou finished organizing the interrogation record and asked Zhao Lei to sign it, Zhao Lei's hands trembled violently. After signing, he leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling, repeatedly muttering, "I was wrong."
As Zhao Lei was led out of the interrogation room, the sun had already set, and the afterglow shone through the window onto the walls of the interrogation room, casting long shadows. Holding the interrogation records, Xiao Zhou knew in his heart that the truth of the case had finally come to light, and Zhang Juan's soul could finally rest in peace.
Subsequently, based on Zhao Lei's confession, Xiao Zhou arranged for his team to arrest Wang Hao at his residence and simultaneously retrieve the remaining 15 yuan of public funds from Zhao Mei's home. Technicians examined the tools Zhao Lei had provided for the crime—a steel pipe, a rope, and a black cloth bag—confirming that the bloodstains on the steel pipe belonged to Zhang Juan, the rope perfectly matched the ligature marks on Zhang Juan's ankle, and the fibers on the black cloth bag matched those found at the scene.
Looking at the complete interrogation records and chain of evidence, Li Ming said in a heavy tone, "Zhao Lei embezzled public funds and murdered his colleague for his own selfish desires. His methods were cruel and his actions were heinous. He must be severely punished according to the law." He then ordered into the walkie-talkie, "Immediately transfer the case to the procuratorate, prepare the prosecution materials, and at the same time, do a good job of comforting Zhang Juan's family so that they can feel the fairness of the law."
As night deepened, the lights of the Criminal Investigation Division remained bright. Xiao Zhou stood by the window, watching the bustling traffic outside, his heart filled with mixed emotions—a tragedy stemming from embezzlement had finally ended with the arrest of the perpetrator. This case also served as a stark warning to everyone: any act that crosses the legal line will ultimately pay a heavy price; justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent.
The day after Zhang Lei's arrest, at noon, police escorted him to identify the scene.
The afternoon sun at the cement plant in the eastern suburbs was somewhat dazzling. Cement dust floated in the air, settling on the roof of the police car transporting Zhao Lei like a thin layer of frost. When the police car stopped outside the factory gate, Zhao Lei's body visibly trembled. His hands were handcuffed, and the skin on his wrists was pale with tension—this was the place where he had murdered Zhang Juan and covered up his crime, and now he was about to personally expose his sins.
"Go to the scrap yard first and point out the location where you killed Zhang Juan." Xiao Zhou's voice was low as his gaze swept over Zhao Lei's pale face. Two officers supported Zhao Lei's arms and helped him down from the police car. His steps were unsteady, and his rubber shoes made a "crunching" sound on the ground scattered with cement clinker. Every step felt like he was stepping on his own conscience.
The mixer in the waste disposal area was still roaring, its sound piercing the afternoon tranquility. Zhao Lei was led to a corner piled high with discarded steel pipes and tarpaulins—the very spot where the light brown bloodstains had been found during the initial investigation. “It’s here,” Zhao Lei’s voice was hoarse, his eyes darting away, avoiding his surroundings. “Around 5 PM on August 14th, I was waiting here for Zhang Juan. She came to check the raw material inventory. I discussed with her not reporting the embezzlement, but she disagreed, so I…”
His finger pointed to a cement mark on the ground: "I took out a steel pipe that I had hidden under the canvas beforehand and hit her in the neck. She screamed and fell here," Zhao Lei's finger trembled slightly. "There was a lot of blood on the ground at the time. I covered it with the canvas so that no one would find it." The technicians immediately sprayed luminol reagent at the location he pointed to. The pale blue fluorescence instantly lit up, perfectly matching the "blood dripping traces from the waste area to the material pile" found in the previous investigation. The bloodstain pattern was consistent with the blood loss characteristics of "subcutaneous hemorrhage in the neck and pulmonary contusion in the chest" identified by the forensic examination.
"What kind of steel pipe did you use?" Xiao Zhou pressed. Zhao Lei looked up and pointed to a pile of steel pipes in the corner of the scrap area: "Same as those, about 50 centimeters long and 3 centimeters in diameter. I picked them up from the construction site and threw them here after I finished using them." Based on his description, the technicians found a steel pipe with dark red stains in the pile. Preliminary testing showed that the stains were Zhang Juan's bloodstains. The diameter of the steel pipe perfectly matched the "contact surface morphology of blunt force injury to the neck" as determined by the forensic examination, and the wear marks on the edges were consistent with the characteristics of the "old steel pipe picked up from the construction site" that Zhao Lei confessed to.
From the waste area to the material pile, Zhao Lei's pace slowed. Footprints, marked during his initial investigation, still lingered on the concrete along the way. "After killing Zhang Juan, I dragged her body here first," Zhao Lei said, pointing to a path between the waste area and the material pile. "I wrapped it in canvas to avoid leaving traces, then went home to get a black cloth bag and rope." He paused, then added, "Around 9 pm, I put her body in the bag, tied the rope around her ankles to prevent her from slipping, and then moved it to the van."
Technicians sprayed luminol reagent again along the dragging route he pointed out, and the pale blue drag marks became clearly visible, perfectly matching the "size 42 work boot drag marks" found in the previous investigation. The width of the marks was consistent with Zhang Juan's body size, and the dragging direction was from the waste area to the material pile, perfectly corresponding to Zhao Lei's confession of the "route for moving the body." "The rope was a red cotton rope, the same as the one under Zhang Juan's desk," Zhao Lei's voice grew lower, "When I tied her ankles, I tightened it a bit, which may have left marks." This detail precisely matched the forensic examination's finding of "circular marks on both ankles with peeling skin at the edges," and the rope material was also consistent with the composition of the "red cotton rope" previously extracted from under Zhang Juan's desk.
Arriving at the third pile of materials, Zhao Lei's body trembled even more violently. This was the location where Zhang Juan's body had been found earlier, and the dust net still bore the marks from the initial investigation. "I parked the van next to the pile of materials, then unloaded the cloth bag containing the body and threw it in through a tear in the dust net," he said, pointing to an irregular tear in the dust net. "I tore the tear by hand. To make it easier to throw the body away, I also tore off a few fibers, which may have stuck to the body."