freenovelworld Chapter 1399 Tracking Down the Three-Wheeled Vehicle
Chapter 1399 Tracking Down the Three-Wheeled Vehicle
To further identify the suspect, the ownership of the tricycle must first be determined. Xiao Zhou immediately led his team to retrieve surveillance footage from all intersections surrounding "Old Yang's Auto Repair Shop," tracking the man's route as he pushed the tricycle away. However, the man mostly took rural roads without surveillance coverage, and after being tracked to a fork in the road about 2 kilometers from the repair shop, he completely disappeared.
“Since we can’t track the suspect’s movements, we’ll start with the tricycle itself to find out who its owner is,” Xiao Zhou said. Subsequently, the technical staff conducted a thorough inspection of the abandoned tricycle at the scene and finally found a blurred chassis number on the bottom of the frame. Due to long-term use and severe rust, the chassis number was mostly illegible. Technicians, through professional rust removal and reinforcement treatment, finally restored the complete chassis number: “LS20230512089”.
Based on the vehicle identification number (VIN), Xiao Zhou's team immediately contacted the local pedicab management department to retrieve relevant registration information. The search results showed that the registered owner of the pedicab was Li Qingfeng, residing in the Hongxing residential area in the northern suburbs, and the registration date was May 2023. This discovery brought new progress to the investigation. That afternoon, Xiao Zhou led his team to the Hongxing residential area and located Li Qingfeng.
Li Qingfeng is a laid-off worker in his fifties who makes a living by collecting recyclables. When he learned that the criminal investigation team had contacted him, Li Qingfeng seemed a little nervous: "Officer, what do you want with me? I haven't done anything wrong." Xiao Zhou showed him a photo of the tricycle: "Mr. Li, is this your tricycle?" Li Qingfeng looked at the photo carefully and nodded: "It's mine, but it's been missing for over half a month."
"Lost? When did you lose it? Where did you lose it? Did you report it to the police?" Xiao Zhou's barrage of questions left Li Qingfeng somewhat overwhelmed. Li Qingfeng quickly explained, "About two weeks ago, one evening, I parked my tricycle on the roadside at the entrance of the residential area, planning to go out to collect recyclables the next morning. But when I woke up the next morning, I found the tricycle was gone. I thought an old tricycle wouldn't be worth much, so I didn't report it to the police. I didn't expect you to come looking for me about this."
Xiao Zhou asked Li Qingfeng to carefully recall the details of the stolen vehicle: "What was the exact date of the theft? What time did you park it on the roadside? Did you see any suspicious people?" Li Qingfeng tried hard to recall: "It should have been around the 10th, around 7 pm. I parked it at the entrance of the community, and I locked it then. There are no security cameras in my community, and I didn't see any suspicious people." Xiao Zhou immediately asked his team to retrieve the surveillance footage from the entrance and surrounding areas of Hongxing Community to verify Li Qingfeng's statement. The surveillance footage showed that at 7:30 pm on the 10th, Li Qingfeng parked the tricycle on the roadside at the entrance of the community, locked it, and left; at 2:10 am, a man pried open the lock of the tricycle and rode it away from the community. Due to the darkness at the time, the surveillance footage had limited clarity, and the man's appearance could not be clearly seen. Only his height and build were similar to the man who had his car repaired at "Old Yang's Auto Repair Shop."
"Could the man who broke into the car be the same suspect who stole the tricycle to dispose of the body?" team member Xiao Li speculated. Xiao Zhou shook his head: "We can't be sure yet. If the suspect stole the car to dispose of the body, he stole it more than half a month ago, and disposed of the body three days ago, leaving a gap of more than ten days, which doesn't make sense. Moreover, there were black fibers in the tricycle's cargo bed that matched the color of the deceased's hair, and there were also traces of what appeared to be blood on the canvas, indicating that the deceased may have had contact with the tricycle." He paused, then continued: "We must find out who had the tricycle in the past half month, and who was the last person to have contact with it."
Subsequently, Xiao Zhou's team conducted a comprehensive investigation into Li Qingfeng's social relationships and the tricycle's activity trajectory. Li Qingfeng stated that he was an honest person who hadn't offended anyone, and that he had never lent the tricycle to anyone other than for his own use collecting recyclables. The team retrieved nearly half a month's worth of surveillance footage from the area surrounding Hongxing Community and the northern suburbs to track the stolen tricycle's movements. Their efforts paid off; the tricycle was spotted in surveillance footage from a scrap yard about 3 kilometers from Hongxing Community.
Surveillance footage showed that at 6 a.m. on the 11th, more than two weeks ago, a man rode the tricycle to the scrap yard and sold a load of scrap. After zooming in on the footage using technical means, it was discovered that the man was approximately 178 cm tall, of medium build, and wearing a black long-sleeved T-shirt and dark jeans. His physical characteristics and clothing perfectly matched those of the deceased found at the landfill! "Could the deceased be the person who stole the tricycle?" exclaimed team member Xiao Wang in surprise. Xiao Zhou immediately instructed the technical staff to compare the man in the surveillance footage with the deceased's physical characteristics. The results showed that their height, build, and clothing were highly consistent.
To further confirm, Xiao Zhou led his team to the scrap yard and found the owner, Wang Dahai. "Mr. Wang, do you know this person?" Xiao Zhou asked, showing the printed copy of the surveillance footage and a photo of the deceased's clothing. Wang Dahai examined them carefully and said, "Yes, I know him. His name is Chen Ershan. He often comes here to sell scrap. He's unemployed and idle, and I heard he's even stolen things." Wang Dahai's words excited the team members; they had finally confirmed the deceased's identity—Chen Ershan!
"When was the last time you saw Chen Ershan? Did he say anything special, or had any conflicts with anyone?" Xiao Zhou pressed. Wang Dahai thought for a moment, "It was probably three days ago, in the morning. He came to sell scrap metal on an old, dilapidated tricycle. The tarpaulin was still covering the cargo bed, but he looked very flustered that day. He sold the scrap metal and left in a hurry without saying anything special. I heard he had a grudge against a thug called 'Black Head,' and they even fought over territory a while ago."
Xiao Zhou immediately instructed his team to investigate "Blackie's" identity. The investigation revealed that "Blackie's" real name was Zhao Lei, a hoodlum from the northern suburbs who made a living through extortion and theft. He had previously served two years in prison for theft and had just been released three months prior. The team immediately began investigating Zhao Lei and discovered he had an alibi from three nights earlier—he was at an internet cafe at the time, supported by CCTV footage and testimonies from internet cafe staff, thus ruling him out as a suspect.
Subsequently, Xiao Zhou's team conducted a comprehensive and in-depth investigation into Chen Ershan's social relationships, activity patterns, and economic situation. Chen Ershan, male, 30 years old, unemployed, registered residence in a rural area of a neighboring city, parents died early, drifting alone in this city, making a living by theft and collecting scrap metal for a long time, with multiple prior convictions for theft.