The crackdown on organized crime began with the arrest of the mother-in-law.

Chapter 1225 The Relationship Between Liu Jun and Zhang Dianquan

"Contact the community police immediately to verify Liu Baijun's situation!" Xiao Wang asked his team member Xiao Chen to retrieve a photo of Liu Baijun. The man in the photo was of medium build, about 173cm tall, which closely matched the height of the "man in the black jacket" (170-175cm). The community police quickly replied: "Liu Baijun and Zhang Dianquan used to be partners. They bought a used excavator together in 2022, but later broke up over how to divide the money. They even fought twice last year, and our police station responded to the scene. We have mediation records."

This information energized Xiao Wang, and he immediately led a team to Heping Community to visit Zhang Dianquan and Liu Baijun's neighbors. Mr. Li, who lived in the same building, recalled, "These two used to have a good relationship. They often went out to work together in their excavators. Later, I don't know what happened, they started arguing. Sometimes we could hear them arguing downstairs in the middle of the night, saying things like 'I didn't get enough money,' 'You cheated me,' and so on." Mr. Li pointed to the open space downstairs, "Last summer, they even fought here. Liu Baijun punched Zhang Dianquan so hard his face was swollen. We couldn't separate them, and in the end, the police had to come and mediate."

At the community police station, Xiao Wang retrieved the police dispatch records and mediation files from that time. The records showed that in June 2023, Liu Baijun and Zhang Dianquan had a dispute over the distribution of excavator profits. When they jointly purchased the excavator, they agreed to split the profits 6/3, but Liu Baijun believed that Zhang Dianquan had secretly withheld 10 yuan of the project funds and demanded compensation. Zhang Dianquan claimed that the funds were used for excavator repairs and refused to pay. The two argued and eventually came to blows. In October of the same year, the two argued again over the transfer of the excavator. Liu Baijun wanted to sell the excavator and split the profits, but Zhang Dianquan disagreed. Another physical altercation ensued. After police mediation, the two signed a "voluntary termination of partnership" agreement, with the excavator going to Zhang Dianquan, who was required to pay Liu Baijun 5 yuan in compensation. However, Liu Baijun claimed that he "never received this money."

“That’s right!” Xiao Wang said, holding the mediation file. “Zhang Dianquan’s claim of ‘helping Liu collect debts’ was likely a pretext—in reality, the two had an unresolved partnership dispute. Liu Baijun demanded compensation from Zhang Dianquan, who refused, escalating the conflict and ultimately leading to the tragedy.” He immediately arranged for his team to retrieve Zhang Dianquan’s bank statements, discovering that from October 2023 to August 2024, Zhang Dianquan’s account had never transferred 50,000 yuan to Liu Baijun, further confirming the fact that “compensation was not paid.”

To gather more clues, Xiao Wang led a team to Liu Baijun's former workplace—a small excavator rental company. The owner, Zhao Qiang, recalled: "Liu Baijun left here at the end of last year, complaining that 'Zhang Dianquan is a scoundrel, he won't pay back the money he owes me,' and said he'd settle accounts with him sooner or later. In mid-August this year, he even came to ask me about Zhang Dianquan's whereabouts, saying there was an 'old debt to settle.' I didn't pay attention at the time, but now I think he was probably referring to the 50,000 yuan compensation."

Zhao Qiang added: "Liu Baijun has a black van, I think it's a Changan Star. I've seen it a few times. There are scratches on the right side of the van, which he said he got them when he was hauling excavator parts. On August 21 (the day before Zhang Dianquan was murdered), he drove that van to the company to borrow tools, saying he was going to the suburbs to pick up some things. I haven't seen him since."

This detail made Xiao Wang's heart race—Liu Baijun's van (a Chang'an Star, black, with scratches on the right side) perfectly matched the characteristics of the vehicle the suspect had used to dump the body! He immediately instructed his team to contact the traffic department to retrieve Liu Baijun's vehicle registration information, only to discover that the vehicle was an "unlicensed and cloned vehicle" with falsified registration information. It was highly similar to one of the "15 unlicensed and cloned Chang'an Stars" previously investigated, but because the vehicle had lost contact, it could not be confirmed whether it was the same vehicle.

Subsequently, Xiao Wang's team conducted a comprehensive investigation into Liu Baijun's social relationships. His friend, Wang, revealed: "Liu Baijun called me on the afternoon of August 22nd and said, 'I'm going to settle things with Zhang Dianquan and then I might have to go into hiding for a few days.' When I asked him what it was, he didn't elaborate, only saying, 'If I don't contact you, don't look for me.' Now that I think about it, his 'settling things' probably meant taking action against Zhang Dianquan."

Liu Baijun's ex-girlfriend, Ms. Li, provided another crucial piece of information: "He once told me that if Zhang Dianquan didn't return the 50,000 yuan, he would 'shut Zhang Dianquan up forever.' On August 20th, I also saw him buy a black nylon rope, saying he wanted to use it to tie things up. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now I see in the news that Zhang Dianquan was strangled to death. I wonder if it has anything to do with that rope."

Although the clues increasingly pointed to Liu Baijun, conclusive evidence was lacking. Xiao Wang and his team investigated the area around Liu Baijun's previous rented apartment and workplace. In his vacated room, they found a small amount of black polyester fiber, consistent with the fiber composition extracted from the sewer. In a trash can in the corner of the room, they found a gas station receipt dated August 21st, showing the purchase of 50 liters of gasoline—which, combined with the suspect's possible intention to burn the vehicle, was likely preparation for its destruction. Unfortunately, no nylon rope, belt, or other tools used in the crime were found in the room, and no DNA sample from Liu Baijun was extracted, making a direct correlation with the skin tissue found under Zhang Dianquan's fingernails impossible.

The technical department's test results also came back: the fingerprints and DNA samples left by Liu Baijun at the police station for fighting had three similar feature points to the male skin tissue type found on the rivets and under Zhang Dianquan's fingernails, but the match did not reach 99.99% and could not be directly identified as the same person; although his van's trajectory partially overlapped with the trajectory of the vehicle that dumped the body, there was a lack of surveillance footage to directly prove that he drove the vehicle to dump the body.

“All the circumstantial evidence points to Liu Baijun, but there’s no conclusive evidence to confirm he’s the murderer.” Xiao Wang sighed, sitting in the analysis room, looking at the table full of clues. Team member Xiao Chen was puzzled: “He has a motive (economic dispute), characteristics of the murder weapon (van, nylon rope), a timeline that matches (his disappearance time coincides with the time of the crime), and witness testimonies. Why can’t we confirm it?”

Xiao Wang shook his head: "The law is about a closed chain of evidence. We don't have direct evidence that he drove the vehicle to dump the body, physical evidence of the murder weapon, or direct DNA matching evidence of his struggle with Zhang Dianquan. Although these indirect pieces of evidence point to him, there is room for reasonable doubt, such as 'the fibers may have been left from previous contact' or 'the van may have been borrowed by someone else,' etc., so we cannot form a complete chain of evidence."

In order to find conclusive evidence, Xiao Wang adjusted his strategy: on the one hand, he expanded the scope of the investigation into Liu Baijun's whereabouts, focusing on searching abandoned factories and warehouses in the suburban mountainous areas to find his hiding place and the destroyed vehicles.