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

Chapter 1209 Second Exploration

The two immediately crouched down and gently brushed aside the fallen leaves with branches, revealing the reddish-brown soil beneath. No footprints, fibers, or bloodstains were found in the soil, only a few scattered pebbles, consistent with the composition of the gravel found along the mining road. "It must have been left by wild animals searching for food, not by human disturbance," Xiao Wang said. He tested the soil with a test strip but found no reaction resembling blood, and disappointedly returned the fallen leaves to their original state.

The ditch on the west side was about 1.5 meters deep and 2 meters wide, with a bottom piled high withered branches and rocks washed down by rainwater. Team members Xiao Zhang and Xiao Chen climbed down the edge of the ditch, their non-slip shoes crunching on the wet mud. "There's a piece of black plastic here!" Xiao Chen found a clue next to a rock. The piece was about the size of a palm, with obvious broken edges and a small amount of reddish-brown mud on its surface. He put the piece into an evidence bag and handed it to Xiao Zhang: "Could it have fallen from the suspect's vehicle? Or is it something belonging to Li Kui?" Xiao Zhang took out a piece of car bumper fragment he had found earlier on the mining road for comparison. The two were made of different materials—the newly found plastic fragment was made of polyethylene, commonly used in food packaging, while the bumper fragment was made of polypropylene, clearly unrelated. "It should be garbage discarded by villagers, washed into the ditch by the rainwater." Xiao Zhang shook his head helplessly and continued to investigate.

Xiao Yang, along with his teammates Xiao Zhao and Xiao Liu, arrived at the first abandoned mine shaft. The entrance was about 1.8 meters high and 1 meter wide, half-hidden by weeds. The interior was pitch black, with only the beam of their survey lights illuminating a few meters ahead. "Is the air circulating in there? Let's check the oxygen concentration first." Xiao Yang took out a portable oxygen detector, and after the reading was normal, the three of them entered the mine shaft one by one. The mine shaft was narrow, the floor uneven, and the walls covered with chisel marks left from years of mining. "Pay attention to the walls and floor, look for any fresh friction marks or discarded items." Xiao Yang's survey light swept across the walls, finding no signs of human activity except for naturally formed moss and rust. The gravel on the floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, with no footprints or drag marks, only a few bats flitting about in the mine shaft.

Deep inside the second mine shaft, Xiao Liu's searchlight illuminated a metallic object. "Team Leader Yang, there's something here!" The three immediately gathered around and discovered it was a rusty shovel. The shovel head was buried in the soil, and the wooden handle had rotted away, leaving only half of it. "The rust on the shovel head is from long-term exposure to a damp environment; there are no signs of recent use. The wooden handle has been rotten for at least five years. It's likely a tool left over from mining years ago, and it's unrelated to the case." Xiao Yang touched the shovel head, finding no fingerprints or bloodstains. After taking a picture, he continued searching deeper into the mine shaft, until they reached the collapsed area at the end, but found no clues related to the case.

The third mine was similar to the first two, dark, damp, and filled with dust and gravel. In the middle of the mine, Xiao Zhao found a fresh cigarette butt, branded "Double Happiness," the same brand as the one found at the brick kiln site. "Could this cigarette butt have been left by the suspect?" Xiao Zhao excitedly extracted the butt, only to find that the saliva stains had been destroyed by the humid air in the mine, making DNA extraction impossible. Furthermore, the cigarette butt's production date was 2023, too long after the incident to determine its relevance. "It might have been left by previous explorers or scavengers; it can't be considered a valid clue," Xiao Yang regretfully put the cigarette butt into an evidence bag and took it back to the lab as backup evidence.

At noon, the three teams met in the middle of the mining road, each with fatigue and disappointment on their faces. "We've searched the woods on the east side and the ditch on the west side, but apart from a piece of irrelevant plastic and some natural traces, we found no valuable clues; we've also searched the three abandoned mine shafts, finding only an old shovel and a broken cigarette butt, no blunt weapon or Li Kui's personal belongings." Xiao Li summarized the investigation results, his tone full of frustration. "Could it be that the suspect didn't even throw anything in these places? Or did we miss something?"

Xiao Yang sat on a flat rock, took out a map of the mining road, and carefully marked the areas that had already been surveyed: "We have covered the woods and gullies within 50 meters on both sides of the mining road, and we have also thoroughly investigated the three abandoned mine shafts, leaving no obvious areas unchecked. The suspect has a strong sense of counter-surveillance, and may have taken the blunt weapon used in the crime and Li Kui's belongings to a more distant place after disposing of the body, or thrown them into the river at the foot of the mountain, so we can't find any clues here."

“What about Li Kui’s phone and wallet? The 2 yuan he withdrew couldn’t have just vanished into thin air, could it?” Xiao Wang asked doubtfully. Xiao Yang shook his head: “The cash was probably squandered by the suspect, and the phone and wallet were likely destroyed or discarded in places we haven’t found—such as the garbage dump at the foot of the mountain, farmland, or even further into the city. Our current investigation area is still too small, limited to the area around the mine. Perhaps we need to expand it to the villages and rivers at the foot of the mountain.”

At 2 PM, Xiao Yang returned to the Criminal Investigation Detachment with his team. Their investigation report contained only "black plastic fragments," "old shovels," and "expired cigarette butts," offering no crucial clues. He went into the meeting room and reported to Li Ming: "The expanded investigation around the mine yielded no useful clues. The blunt weapon used in the crime and Li Kui's personal belongings were not found. Only unrelated plastic fragments and old tools were recovered. We speculate that the suspect may have taken the key evidence away from the mining area or discarded it at a more distant location."

The atmosphere in the meeting room became tense again. Xiao Zhou frowned: "The mine is the only way the suspect could have escaped. There's no reason he wouldn't have disposed of the evidence here. Could it be that our judgment was wrong, and the suspect didn't escape through the mining route?" Xiao Wang added: "If we can't find the blunt weapon and the cell phone used in the crime, we can't form a complete chain of evidence. Even if we find the suspect, it will be difficult to convict him."

Li Ming paused for a moment, but did not deny the previous direction: "The fact that the investigation did not find any clues does not mean that the suspect did not pass through here. It may be that our investigation methods are not perfect enough, or that the physical evidence has been destroyed by the natural environment." He looked at the investigation map submitted by Xiao Yang, "Next, we will adjust the plan. Xiao Yang, you will lead the team and work with the hydrological department to investigate the rivers and reservoirs at the foot of the mountain to see if we can find the discarded mobile phone or the blunt weapon used in the crime; at the same time, we will expand the investigation of the garbage stations in the villages at the foot of the mountain, focusing on recently discarded black plastic bags or metal objects."

Xiao Yang nodded. Although the survey yielded no results, he did not give up.