eurekapd Chapter 914 Investigation of the Aquatic Product Market
Chapter 914 Investigation of the Aquatic Product Market
That afternoon.
The fishy smell mixed with the odor of disinfectant wafted through the air from the seafood market. Li Ming, accompanied by investigator Wang Fang, entered "Dahai Ornamental Fish Shop." The owner, Chen Dahai, was squatting by the fish pond feeding koi with color-enhancing food. Upon seeing the police enter, the feed can in his hand clattered to the ground, scattering orange pellets all over the floor, startling the fish into leaping up.
"Mr. Chen, do you usually manage this pond?" Li Ming stared at the shimmering water, where the colorful tail fins of koi could be vaguely seen behind the artificial rocks at the bottom of the pond.
Chen Dahai pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat: "Yes, the water is changed twice a day, morning and evening, and ultraviolet lamps are used for sterilization on weekends." He suddenly raised his voice, "Officer, who would dump a body here? I have no grudge against Wei Guo!"
Wang Fang opened her notebook: "But you have two enemies—Wang Jianjun and Li Guoqing, both of whom were your former partners and now each run their own fish shops, right?"
Chen Dahai's expression changed instantly. Three years ago, he, Wang Jianjun, and Li Guoqing jointly operated a high-end ornamental fish breeding business. Later, due to unequal profit distribution, the partnership dissolved. The three formed a "three-legged" situation in the market, secretly poaching customers from each other, reporting quarantine issues, and there was even a vicious incident where sulfuric acid was thrown to destroy fish.
"They're trying to ruin me!" Chen Dahai slapped his thigh. "It must have been them! They dumped a body in my fishpond, both to destroy my business and to frame me!"
"So you believe the killer deliberately chose your fishpond to dump the body?" Li Ming took the market map from Wang Fang and noticed that "Dahai Fish Market" was located in the middle of the market, about 80 meters from the entrance, which was indeed not the closest fishpond. The killer dragged the body through the market, needing to avoid surveillance cameras and pedestrians; choosing this location must have been intentional.
The investigation began with Wang Jianjun. His "Jianjun Aquarium" specialized in arowana breeding, and the warehouse reeked of algae. Wang Jianjun peered at the police through the glass of the fish tank, his fingers unconsciously rubbing his cuff—where there was a dark red stain that resembled blood.
“I was out of town buying goods that day,” he said, flipping through the highway toll records on his phone. “I left at three in the morning and didn’t get back until five in the afternoon. Besides, if I really wanted revenge, would I use such a stupid method?” He suddenly sneered. “As for Li Guoqing, he’s lost a lot of money betting on horse races recently, maybe he’s trying to create chaos to divert attention from his debt disputes.”
Li Guoqing's "Guoqing Ornamental Fish" shop was simply decorated, with empty feed bags piled on the floor. He was tying a foam box with nylon rope, the knotting method exactly the same as the "cow stake knot" used to bury corpses. Upon hearing the name "Chen Dahai," he spat out some betel nut residue: "He's slandering me! I went to the provincial capital last week to participate in a fish exhibition, and there are exhibitors who can testify to that." He pointed to a group photo on the wall, with a poster for the "Dongchuan International Aquarium Exhibition" in the background.
However, Li Ming noticed that Li Guoqing's exhibition pass was dated December 31, 2024—the day of the incident, he had already returned to Dongchuan. The technical team subsequently reported that the stains on Wang Jianjun's cuffs were fish blood, and surveillance footage of his truck showed he was indeed on the highway at the time of the incident; Li Guoqing's exhibition pass was forged, he had appeared at the market's back gate at 3:00 PM on January 2nd, and a "Hongtashan" cigarette box matching the one found at the scene was discovered in his warehouse.
“He had a betel nut addiction and knew how to tie cow knots. He was near the market when the crime occurred.” Wang Fang drew a relationship diagram on the whiteboard. “His motive might have been jealousy of Chen Dahai’s booming business and a desire to ruin him by disposing of the body.”
Old Chen raised a question: "But how did Li Guoqing know Liu Weiguo's identity? If it was a random disposal of the body, then his reason for choosing Chen Dahai's fishpond doesn't hold water; if it was a targeted murder, how could Liu Weiguo have had any contact with him?"
Li Ming watched the market surveillance footage and discovered that at 17:45 on January 2nd, a blurry figure wearing a hat lingered at the entrance of "Dahai Fish Market," with a build similar to Li Guoqing. However, the person kept their head down, covered their face with a scarf, and deliberately avoided the cameras, lingering longer near Wang Jianjun's warehouse.
“Check the surveillance footage from Wang Jianjun’s warehouse.” Li Ming suddenly realized something. The footage showed that at 6:00 PM on January 2nd, the mysterious person took a black plastic bag out of the warehouse’s side door and put it in the trunk of an electric scooter. However, Wang Jianjun’s purchase order showed that he had not received any packages that day.
When the investigators opened Wang Jianjun's trunk, they found several unopened bags of ornamental fish food and half a roll of nylon rope inside—the wear and tear on the rope end perfectly matched that of the rope used to dump the body. Wang Jianjun turned deathly pale and slumped to the ground: "I... I just wanted to scare Chen Dahai by throwing dead fish into his fishpond, I didn't kill anyone!"
The fluorescent lights in the interrogation room hummed with electricity. Wang Jianjun sat in a stainless steel chair, his hands cuffed to a U-shaped lock on the table. His gaze repeatedly swept across the one-way glass, as if he could see Li Ming, the head of the criminal investigation team, and Zhang Lin, the forensic doctor, standing behind him.
"Tell me, what's the deal with the nylon rope in the trunk?" Li Ming slammed the evidence bag on the table, the wear marks on the rope end clearly visible under the cold light.
Wang Jianjun trembled, his Adam's apple bobbing: "I... I just wanted to get back at Chen Dahai! He stole my clients and even reported that my fish had parasites..."
"Completely?" Li Ming took a step closer. "Using the same rope as the one used to sink the corpse, appearing at the market at three in the morning, do you think I'd believe that?"
Wang Jianjun suddenly burst into tears, his tears and snot dripping onto the interrogation record: "It really was just releasing dead fish! I collected those diseased and dead ornamental fish from the seafood market, tied them to styrofoam boxes with nylon ropes, and sank them into his fishpond so he couldn't sell his fish at a high price..." He shakily pulled out his phone from his pocket and showed the transaction records, "Look, this is the money I spent buying dead fish from the fishmonger, each transaction was less than two hundred yuan!"
李明接过手机，逐项核对转账日期：2024 年 12 月 15 日、18 日、25 日，每次转账间隔三天，金额 150-200 元不等。最后一笔转账是 2025 年 1 月 1 日，也就是刘卫国死亡前一天，金额 180 元。
"What about January 2nd?" Li Ming tapped his phone screen. "Why didn't you buy any dead fish?"
“The fishmonger said he was out of stock that day…” Wang Jianjun sniffed. “I was thinking of going to buy some the next day, but then I heard about the incident that morning. Officer, if I had the guts to kill someone, would I have bothered arguing with Chen Dahai over a few thousand yuan of customer money?”
Zhang Lin adjusted his glasses and placed the autopsy report in front of Wang Jianjun: "The DNA found under the deceased's fingernails is not yours. The time of death was January 2nd, 18:00-19:00, and you were on the highway at the time, with toll records and dashcam video. But why did you only confess to releasing the dead fish after you were arrested?"
“I’m afraid that if I say anything, things will only get worse!” Wang Jianjun said with a mournful face. “A few years ago, the three of us (Chen Dahai and Li Guoqing) got into a fight and ended up in the police station. I panicked as soon as the police came…”