freenovelworld Chapter 1103 Arrest of Zhang Long, Scene Identification
Chapter 1103 Arrest of Zhang Long, Scene Identification
When the recording exploded from the speaker, Zhang Long's face turned deathly pale. "...The 7 yuan interest is non-negotiable, or your daughter won't be able to stay in Shenzhen..." His threatening voice, mixed with the roar of the engine, formed a closed loop with Chen Miao's ex-wife's testimony—she had indeed received anonymous threatening text messages in early July, the content of which matched the script in the recording.
"What favor do you owe Zhao Qiang?" Xiao Zhou suddenly asked, his gaze falling on the "30,000 yuan weekly settlement" in the bank statement. Zhang Long's Adam's apple bobbed. "It's not a favor, it's a gambling debt." He finally admitted, "Last year I lost 500,000 yuan in Macau, and Zhao Qiang helped me fill a 300,000 yuan hole, on the condition that I help him collect debts, including the 150,000 yuan usurious loan from Chen Miao."
The interrogation continued until 4 a.m., and Zhang Long's confession and Zhao Qiang's statement perfectly matched in timeline: the interception was successful at 10:23 a.m., the fight broke out at 10:35 a.m., Chen Miao lost consciousness at 10:47 a.m., he was thrown into the pond at 11:00 a.m., and the car was driven away at 11:10 a.m. "Hiding the taxi was my idea," he confessed. "The abandoned warehouse at the brick kiln was where I used to store gambling equipment. The key was hidden in a loose crack in the bricks; Zhao Qiang had no idea."
As Zhang Long signed the arrest warrant, the pen tip pierced the paper. Watching him being led away, Xiao Zhou suddenly remembered the taxi found at the brickyard—the bloodstains under the passenger seat floor mat tested positive for DNA from Chen Miao, Zhao Qiang, and Zhang Long, perfectly matching their confession of "being rubbed against during a struggle." And the voice recorder retrieved from the sulfuric acid vat, though its chip was corroded, had its last 30 seconds of recording successfully recovered by technicians; Chen Miao's shouts were clearly audible: "Zhao Qiang! Zhang Long! I'll haunt you even in death!"
As the morning light streamed through the corridor, illuminating the words "Case Solved," Xiao Zhou stacked the two statements together. Zhao Qiang's and Zhang Long's handwriting overlapped under the light, like two intertwined venomous snakes, ultimately bound by the net of justice. The distant sirens faded, and cheers erupted from the direction of the brick kiln—the ledgers they found in the taxi trunk were enough to aggravate Zhao Qiang's tax evasion, while Zhang Long's loan shark company's transaction records would be key to dismantling the entire criminal network.
Thirteen days after the incident, police escorted Zhang Long and Zhao Qiang to the pond where the incident occurred to identify the scene.
The morning mist hadn't yet dissipated when police cars rolled over the cornfield beside the pond, their tires leaving tracks in the mud similar to those of 13 days prior. Zhang Long and Zhao Qiang, shackled, were dragged out of the car; the chains on their ankles scraped against the frosty ground. Xiao Yang, holding a camera, panned across their pale faces, finally fixing his lens on the center of the pond—where the water was a deeper shade than the surrounding surface, like a congealed scab.
“It’s right here.” Zhang Long’s voice drifted through the fog. He pointed to the willow tree on the bank, the reflection of his shackles drawing a cold line in the lens. “Chen Miao’s taxi was parked under that tree, with the front left wheel still crushing a clump of foxtail grass.” Xiao Yang asked the technician to check the photos of the scene. In the original image taken on July 13, there was indeed a patch of crushed vegetation under the willow tree, and the angle of the broken grass stems matched Zhang Long’s description of “sudden braking” perfectly.
Zhao Qiang's gaze darted away from the pond, his fingers unconsciously twisting the cuff of his prison uniform. "I parked my car by the cornfield," his voice barely audible, "and I could see Zhang Long and Chen Miao arguing under the willow tree. The wrench in Chen Miao's hand was so reflective it hurt my eyes." The on-site investigation record, entry number 17, clearly stated: "Reflective metallic particles were extracted 3.2 meters east of the willow tree; analysis revealed they were components of the chromium plating on the wrench."
When Zhang Long was asked to recreate the dragging action, his knees thudded against the mud. "Chen Miao was lying face down," he gestured with his handcuffed hands, "I grabbed his arm, Zhao Qiang grabbed his leg, and as we dragged him towards the water, his jacket caught on a rock and tore." Xiao Yang suddenly stopped, and had the technician lift up a blue stone on the bank—sure enough, a strand of dark blue fabric fiber was stuck in the crack, perfectly matching the material and wear pattern of Chen Miao's jacket. This detail, overlooked in the original investigation, now became irrefutable evidence in the confession.
Forensic pathologist Zhang Lin squatted at the starting point of the drag mark, a measuring tape in his hand, the markings precisely matching Zhao Qiang's confession. "You said Chen Miao landed on his left knee first," he looked up at Zhang Long, the other end of the measuring tape resting in a shallow indentation, "This indentation is 3 centimeters deep, the grass at the edge is bruised, and the shape and size of the bruise on his left knee perfectly match the mechanics of 'kneeling after being stabbed with a baseball bat'." Zhang Long's Adam's apple bobbed, and he suddenly turned his head away—this mark, which he thought had long been washed away by the rain, had become irrefutable evidence.
The size 42 shoe print by the pond now had a clear owner. "I was wearing size 42 work boots," Zhao Qiang said, his voice trembling as he stared at the comparison image on the muddy ground. "My right foot slipped here when I was running to break up the fight that day." The shoe print, which the technician had cast in plaster, matched perfectly with the sole pattern and wear of Zhao Qiang's prison boots, especially the triangular notch on the heel, which perfectly matched his statement that it was "pressed by a stone."
As Zhang Long pointed out the location where the body was dumped, ripples suddenly appeared on the water. "He was thrown in from here," he said, pointing to the water 1.7 meters from the shore. "He made a sound, and Zhang Lin said he was still breathing, which is true." Chapter 5, Section 3 of the forensic report clearly records: "The diatoms in the deceased's lungs matched the silt at the bottom of the pond with a 99.8% match, and freshwater algae were attached to the bronchial mucosa, confirming that he drowned before death." And indeed, plant debris identical to that found under Chen Miao's fingernails was left on the aquatic plants on the shore.
The identification process lasted two hours, with every detail perfectly matching the findings of the on-site investigation and forensic examination. Zhang Long's description of the "baseball bat strike location" corresponded exactly to the "left temporal contusion" in the autopsy report; fragments of the "beer bottle that Chen Miao kicked over while struggling," as stated by Zhao Qiang, were found in the corner of the on-site investigation photos; even the cigarette butt that fell during the argument matched the composition of the "Hongtashan" cigarette shreds in the evidence bag.
The final step was to verify the location of the hidden car. As Zhang Long led the police into the brickyard warehouse, sunlight streamed in through a broken window, illuminating the fingerprints on the taxi's steering wheel—a match with the samples from Zhao Qiang and Zhang Long. The ledger in the trunk was open; a coffee stain on one page matched Zhao Qiang's description of it being "overturned in a moment of nervousness." And indeed, the "brick seam where the key was hidden," as Zhang Long had mentioned, contained a rusty brass key capable of opening the taxi's trunk.
The entire investigation of the case so far, including all the on-site investigations, the forensic examination results, and the confessions and responsibilities of the two suspects, are all perfectly consistent.
The identification process concluded around noon.
As the police car drove away, Xiao Yang saved the last video clip into a file folder. The words "Case Closed" on the cover gleamed in the sunlight.