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

Chapter 1336 Investigating Liu Huili

“Those people are loan sharks. Liu Mei’s husband owed them a lot of money. They helped Liu Mei settle Ma Jianguo’s matter.” Liu Huili wiped away her tears. “Ma Jianguo said that he has evidence that Liu Mei colluded with loan sharks. Those people will not let him go, so he can only hide for now.”

"What evidence?" Xiao Zhou pressed.

“It was a purchase and sale contract for a batch of fake bearings,” Liu Huili said. “Liu Mei not only embezzled Ma Jianguo’s commission, but also cooperated with loan sharks to sell fake bearings to chemical plants. Ma Jianguo accidentally discovered the contract and secretly made a copy and hid it. He said it was his lifeline; as long as he had this contract, Liu Mei and those loan sharks wouldn’t dare to do anything to him.”

On the night of the incident, Ma Jianguo arranged to meet Liu Huili in the basement of the Northern Building, saying he had something important to tell her. "He said he had found Liu Mei and wanted to settle things with her, and asked me to come with him so that we could be there for each other if anything happened," Liu Huili said, her voice filled with fear. "When we got to the basement, just as we reached the door of the equipment room, a man suddenly rushed out, holding a wide cloth strip, and lunged at Ma Jianguo. I was so scared my legs went weak, and I turned and ran. As I ran, I heard Ma Jianguo call my name, and I also heard the man say, 'If you take something you shouldn't take, you have to die.'"

"Did you get a good look at that man? Did he have any distinctive features?" Xiao Zhou asked immediately.

“No, it was too dark in the basement at the time. The man was wearing a hat and a mask. I could only see that he was about 1.8 meters tall, very strong, and wearing dark blue work clothes, the same ones that Ma Jianguo wore at the parts factory,” Liu Huili recalled. “After I ran out, I hid in the nearby alleys. I didn’t dare to go back or call the police. I was afraid that those people would kill me too.”

"Why didn't you contact us? Ma Jianguo has been missing for three years. Didn't you ever think about looking for him?" a team member couldn't help but ask.

“I contacted him, but he changed his phone number and just told me to wait for him.” Liu Huili’s tears flowed again. “I also wanted to call the police, but Chen Xiulian advised me not to meddle, saying that those loan sharks were terrible and that if they found out, my family and I would be in danger. Chen Xiulian is my cousin, so I believed her. I never expected… I never expected that Ma Jianguo would still get into trouble.”

This information immediately alerted Xiao Zhou. Chen Xiulian was not only Liu Huili's cousin, but had also advised Liu Huili against reporting the incident to the police. Her suspicion instantly rose. "What is the relationship between Chen Xiulian and Ma Jianguo? Has she ever mentioned Ma Jianguo to you?"

“Chen Xiulian and Ma Jianguo used to be colleagues, but they didn’t get along well,” Liu Huili said. “She always spoke ill of Ma Jianguo in front of me, saying that he liked to show off and that he would get into trouble sooner or later. A week before the incident, Chen Xiulian asked me if Ma Jianguo had contacted me. I said no, and she told me to stop associating with Ma Jianguo, saying that he was a nuisance.”

To verify Liu Huili's statement, Xiao Zhou immediately arranged for his team to investigate Chen Xiulian's situation at Hengtong Electromechanical. At the same time, they brought Liu Huili back to the branch office to collect her DNA sample and compare it with the long hair found at Ma Jianguo's collar. The technical department's test results came back quickly: the DNA matched perfectly, confirming that the long hair at Ma Jianguo's collar was indeed Liu Huili's.

“Liu Huili’s statement is basically true, but she concealed some details.” Xiao Zhou handed the interrogation record to Li Ming. “We found that three days before the incident, there was an anonymous remittance of 50,000 yuan to Liu Huili’s bank card. The remitter’s information showed that it was a shell company, and the actual controller of this shell company was Chen Xiulian’s husband. In addition, at 10:15 p.m. on the night of the incident, someone saw Liu Huili withdrawing money from an ATM near the Northern Building. Her statement and her actual whereabouts are inconsistent.”

Li Ming frowned as he flipped through the records: "Why did she hide it? Could she and Chen Xiulian be accomplices?"

“That’s possible.” Xiao Zhou nodded. “We also found that Chen Xiulian was in charge of procurement at Hengtong Electromechanical. The fake bearings that Ma Jianguo discovered three years ago were procured by Chen Xiulian and Liu Mei in collusion, and they made a huge profit from the price difference. The contract in Ma Jianguo’s hands can not only prove that Liu Mei embezzled project funds, but also implicate Chen Xiulian’s embezzlement.”

To find more evidence, Xiao Zhou led his team to Liu Huili's home. Liu Huili's home was a small two-bedroom apartment with simple decor. On the living room wall hung a photo of her and Ma Jianguo, the two smiling sweetly in the picture. Deep inside the bedroom wardrobe, the team found a locked metal box containing a photocopy of a sales contract and several bank cards.

“This contract is the evidence Ma Jianguo mentioned.” Xiao Zhou looked at the signature on the contract. “Party A is Liu Mei’s repair shop, Party B is Hengtong Electromechanical, the signatory is Chen Xiulian, and the seal is a fake Hengtong Electromechanical official seal. This shows that Chen Xiulian and Liu Mei are accomplices. They sold fake bearings to the chemical plant by forging contracts and made a profit from it.”

Bank statements show that Chen Xiulian's husband transferred money to Liu Huili every month, ranging from two to five thousand yuan, for three consecutive years. "This shows that Liu Huili knew about Chen Xiulian and Liu Mei's affair all along. She not only helped Ma Jianguo hide evidence, but also received benefits from Chen Xiulian, putting her in a dilemma," Xiao Zhou analyzed. "On the night of the incident, she probably went to meet Chen Xiulian, rather than running home in fear as she claimed."

At this moment, the team members in charge of investigating Chen Xiulian reported: "Team Leader Li, Team Leader Zhang, we found that Chen Xiulian was not at home on the night of the incident. She claimed that she was working overtime at the company, but the company's surveillance footage shows that she left at eight o'clock. We also found a wide cloth strip in her car with traces of blood on it, which is being sent to the technical department for testing."

This news brought a glimmer of hope to the investigation. Li Ming immediately ordered: "Arrest Chen Xiulian immediately, and search her residence and office. We must find the genuine purchase and sale contract and evidence of her collusion with Liu Mei."

When Xiao Zhou and his team arrived at Hengtong Electromechanical, Chen Xiulian was burning documents in her office. Seeing the police rush in, her face turned pale. She tried to stuff the documents into the shredder, but a team member grabbed her. "What are you doing? I'm the company's purchasing manager! You have no right to arrest me!" she screamed, knocking over a water glass in the struggle.

"Chen Xiulian, we suspect you of embezzlement, forgery of contracts, and intentional homicide. We are now arresting you in accordance with the law." Xiao Zhou showed the arrest warrant. "You colluded with Liu Mei to sell fake bearings for profit. In order to cover up your crimes, you murdered Ma Jianguo. The evidence is conclusive, so stop trying to deny it."