freenovelworld Chapter 1453 Suspect Zhou Qiang
Chapter 1453 Suspect Zhou Qiang
Zhang Tao's younger brother, Zhang Lei, said that about two weeks ago he saw Zhang Tao meeting with a slightly overweight man in black at a teahouse. The two were talking loudly, seemingly arguing. "I wanted to go over and ask him what was going on, but Zhang Tao gave me a look, telling me not to go over. Later I asked him what was going on, and he said it was nothing, just a business dispute."
These clues further confirmed Xiao Wang's judgment: there was a debt dispute between Zhang Tao and the man in black, and the dispute had escalated to the point of threat. At this time, the surveillance team made another important discovery. While reviewing surveillance footage around Zhang Tao's rented apartment, the team members found that at 8:30 PM on October 25th, the white van with the deformed left rear bumper appeared at the entrance of the residential complex where Zhang Tao lived, stayed for about 10 minutes, and then drove away towards the market. "This time coincides with when Zhang Tao is packing up his stall and preparing to go home. The man in black was likely waiting for Zhang Tao and then followed him to the alley behind the market," Xiao Wang analyzed.
More importantly, the team members extracted a blurry license plate number from another surveillance point at the entrance of the residential area. After repeated enhancement and comparison by the technical department, they finally identified the last three digits of the license plate as "376," which perfectly matched the white van with the last three digits of its license plate that Li Ming had mentioned at the case progress meeting as a key area of investigation! "Great! We finally have the license plate number!" Xiao Wang excitedly slammed his hand on the table and immediately arranged for the team members to check the owner information of the white van with the license plate number "xxx376" through the vehicle management office system.
The search results came back quickly: the white van with license plate number "xxx376" belonged to Zhou Qiang, male, 38 years old, a local resident with no fixed occupation, multiple prior convictions for theft and disorderly conduct, and registered address in a suburban village. More importantly, Zhou Qiang's build was overweight, and he had short hair, perfectly matching the descriptions of the man in black and the white van driver given by convenience store owner Ms. Zhao and market vendor Mr. Liu! Xiao Wang immediately retrieved Zhou Qiang's household registration photo and criminal record photo for Ms. Zhao and Mr. Liu to identify. "It's him! This is the man who parked in front of my convenience store on the night of October 25th!" Ms. Zhao recognized Zhou Qiang at a glance. "Although he was wearing a mask and hat, his build and profile are exactly the same as in the photo." Mr. Liu also confirmed that Zhou Qiang was the man in black who had argued with Zhang Tao in the alley on the night of October 25th.
"Immediately investigate Zhou Qiang's social connections to see if he has any direct contact with Zhang Tao! At the same time, retrieve Zhou Qiang's recent activity records and pinpoint his hiding place!" Xiao Wang issued an urgent order. Further investigation revealed that Zhou Qiang had accumulated a huge gambling debt a year prior, and one of Zhang Tao's distant relatives was one of Zhou Qiang's creditors. It was deduced that Zhang Tao was likely acting on behalf of this distant relative to collect the debt from Zhou Qiang, or that Zhou Qiang had borrowed money from Zhang Tao, leading to a dispute between the two.
Meanwhile, through surveillance and interviews, the team discovered that after disposing of the body on the night of October 25th, Zhou Qiang did not leave the city but hid in an abandoned factory in the suburbs. This abandoned factory was Zhou Qiang's previous hideout during his burglaries; it was relatively secluded and rarely frequented. "Immediately organize police forces to go to the abandoned factory to make the arrest!" After receiving Xiao Wang's report, Li Ming immediately issued the arrest order.
At 3 PM on October 29th, Li Ming personally led a team of 20 reconnaissance officers, including Xiao Wang, Xiao Yang, and Xiao Sun, to an abandoned factory in the suburbs to carry out the arrest. The abandoned factory covered a large area, with dilapidated buildings and overgrown weeds. The team members divided into four groups, flanking the factory from different directions and cautiously advancing into the factory. Xiao Wang led a group of officers, responsible for entering through the main gate. He instructed his team members to keep their voices down to avoid alerting the suspects.
Just as the team members approached the factory's main building, they suddenly heard a slight noise coming from the second floor. Xiao Wang signaled for his team to stop, while he and another team member quietly climbed the stairs and peered through a window of a second-floor factory building. Inside, they saw a jumble of discarded machine parts and old furniture. A slightly overweight man sat in a worn-out chair, smoking a cigarette—it was Zhou Qiang! Xiao Wang gestured to his team members downstairs to prepare, then suddenly kicked open the door and shouted, "Police! Don't move!"
Zhou Qiang was startled by the sudden commotion. He jumped to his feet and instinctively took two steps back into the factory, his eyes filled with panic and vigilance. But when he saw the police officers gathered at the doorway and the dark muzzles of their guns, his tense body instantly relaxed. He slowly raised his hands above his head, his voice trembling slightly: "Officers, you...you've arrested the wrong person, haven't you? I haven't done anything wrong!"
"You didn't do anything wrong? What are you hiding in this abandoned factory for?" Xiao Wang stepped forward, his sharp gaze fixed on Zhou Qiang. "Where were you on the night of October 25th? What were you doing?" Zhou Qiang's eyes flickered, he swallowed hard, and stammered, "The night of October 25th... I don't remember clearly, I think I was drinking at a friend's house, and after drinking I went straight home to sleep." "A friend's house? Which friend? What's their name? What's the address?" Xiao Wang pressed on, giving Zhou Qiang no chance to breathe. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Zhou Qiang's forehead, and after stammering for a long time, he couldn't give a coherent answer.
"Take him away! Back to the station for interrogation!" Li Ming ordered in a deep voice. The officers immediately stepped forward, handcuffed Zhou Qiang, and escorted him to the police car. Meanwhile, the other officers conducted a thorough search of the abandoned factory, finding a black jacket and a pair of mud-covered sneakers in a corner of the factory. The jacket pocket also contained a half-pack of cigarettes and a lighter. The officers collected all these items and took them back to the station for examination as potential evidence.
At 4:30 PM, Zhou Qiang was escorted to the interrogation room of the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment. The interrogation room was dimly lit and the atmosphere was oppressive. A metal table separated the interrogators from Zhou Qiang. Li Ming was personally in charge, Xiao Wang was in charge of the interrogation, and Xiao Yang was taking notes while observing Zhou Qiang's expressions. Zhou Qiang sat in a chair with his hands cuffed to the table legs, his head slightly lowered, his eyes darting around, avoiding eye contact with the interrogators.
"Name?" Xiao Wang spoke first, his voice deep and authoritative. "Zhou Qiang." "Gender? Age? Occupation?" "Male, 38 years old, no...no fixed occupation." Zhou Qiang's answer was halting. "Where were you from 8 pm on October 25th to 2 am on October 26th? What were you doing?" Xiao Wang went straight to the core question, his gaze fixed on Zhou Qiang's face.