ebookland Chapter 1415 Three Days and Three Nights, the Clues End
Chapter 1415 Three Days and Three Nights, the Clues End
Surveillance footage shows that Tian Bin's movements were very regular in the days leading up to the incident: he opened his shop at 7 a.m. sharp every morning, ate takeout at the shop at noon, closed at 11 p.m., and then returned to his residence to rest. The day before the incident, the day before the body was discovered, Tian Bin opened his shop as usual at 7 a.m., during which several residents came to shop, and Tian Bin appeared to be in a normal state. At 12:30 p.m., Tian Bin ordered takeout, ate it, and then continued operating the shop. Around 5 p.m., Tian Bin closed the shop and went to a nearby market to buy groceries, returning to his residence at 5:30 p.m. At 8:10 p.m., Tian Bin left his residence and walked towards the West Suburbs Park; this was the last time he appeared on surveillance footage.
"Tian Bin left his residence at 8:10 PM and walked towards the West Suburbs Park. The forensic doctor estimated his time of death to be around 1:5 AM. There were nearly five hours in between. What was he doing in the park? Who did he meet?" Xiao Zhou wondered. The team continued to review CCTV footage from the back gate of the residential complex leading to the West Suburbs Park, but because this path was relatively remote and lacked public surveillance cameras, they couldn't track Tian Bin's movements. The team also reviewed CCTV footage from the surrounding area of the West Suburbs Park, but found no evidence of Tian Bin entering the park.
To locate those who had contact with Tian Bin before the incident, the team meticulously reviewed his business records from the day before the crime. They retrieved the convenience store's WeChat and Alipay payment records and contacted 12 residents who had shopped at the store that day, asking them if they had any additional interactions with Tian Bin or if they had seen him interact with others. All the residents stated that they were simply shopping normally, had no other interactions with Tian Bin, and had not seen him have any conflicts with others or contact with suspicious individuals.
In addition, the team investigated Tian Bin's phone call records and social media chat logs. Since Tian Bin's phone was not found at the scene, the team retrieved his call records through the mobile carrier. They found that Tian Bin's calls the day before the incident were mainly normal communications with suppliers, family members, and a few fellow villagers, with no unusual call records. The team also contacted the relevant social media companies to retrieve Tian Bin's chat logs, but found no suspicious information.
The investigation lasted three days and three nights. Xiao Zhou's team conducted a comprehensive and multi-faceted investigation into Tian Bin's interpersonal relationships, interviewing over 200 people, including Tian Bin's family, friends, business partners, competitors, and residents of the community. They retrieved a large amount of surveillance footage and related records, and collected numerous pieces of trace evidence, but still found no major clues pointing to the suspect. Tian Bin had simple social relationships, was a kind person, had no enemies, and had no business disputes or debt problems. His whereabouts before the incident, except for his last visit to the West Suburbs Park, were unremarkable.
“Team Leader Zhang, we’ve checked everyone we can, but we still haven’t found any clues about suspicious individuals. Who was Tian Bin meeting at the West Suburbs Park, or was he just going for a walk?” Team member Xiao Li said wearily. Xiao Zhou rubbed his red eyes and said, “Although we haven’t found any leads on suspects yet, our investigation hasn’t been in vain. We’ve confirmed the deceased’s identity, reconstructed Tian Bin’s basic circumstances before his death, and ruled out murder caused by common reasons such as business disputes, debt problems, or family conflicts. This has narrowed down the scope of our subsequent investigation.”
Subsequently, Xiao Zhou reported the investigation findings to Li Ming: "Team Leader Li, the investigation into Tian Bin's interpersonal relationships has been fully launched, but no major clues have been found so far. Tian Bin has a simple social network, is kind-hearted, has no enemies, debts, or business disputes. Apart from going to the West Suburbs Park at 8:10 pm and then disappearing, there were no other unusual movements on the day before the incident. We speculate that Tian Bin went to the West Suburbs Park because he had an appointment with someone, or because he was lured to the park and then murdered."
After listening to the report, Li Ming fell into deep thought: "Since no suspicious persons have been found in Tian Bin's interpersonal relationships, let's refocus on the traces and physical evidence at the scene. The technical department should speed up the examination of the footprints, fibers, hair, cigarette butts, and other physical evidence collected at the scene, especially the 'Yellow Crane Tower' cigarette butt and the white fibers collected at the scene; we must find their source. At the same time, Xiao Wang's team should continue to expand the scope of surveillance and investigation, focusing on the route Tian Bin took to the West Suburbs Park before the incident and suspicious persons around the park, trying to find the whereabouts of witnesses or suspects."
Although the victim's identity was confirmed, the case investigation reached another impasse. Undeterred, Xiao Zhou's team re-examined all the investigative leads, conducted a second round of investigations into Tian Bin's social relationships, and focused on overlooked details. The team firmly believed that no case could be completely flawless; as long as they persisted in focusing on the crime scene and relying on physical evidence, they would surely find clues to the suspect. The lights in the criminal investigation team shone brightly again throughout the night, with team members diligently and systematically carrying out their duties, awaiting a new dawn in the case's resolution.
Just as Xiao Zhou's team reached a stalemate in their investigation of Tian Bin's interpersonal relationships and were preparing to re-examine the clues, a second turning point quietly emerged. To further uncover the details of Tian Bin's social connections and financial dealings, Xiao Zhou decided to conduct a comprehensive investigation of Hongda Convenience Store, hoping to find any overlooked crucial clues. After all, the convenience store was Tian Bin's main place of business and contact with people, and it was highly likely to contain information related to the case.
On the morning of the fourth day, Xiao Zhou led his team to Hongda Convenience Store. With the property management and landlord present, they opened the store's roller shutter. The store was neatly arranged, with goods neatly displayed on the shelves, but a thin layer of dust covered the floor, indicating it hadn't been open for two days. The team members put on gloves and shoe covers and began a thorough inspection, checking the shelves, counters, cash register, and storage areas one by one, following the principle of "from outside to inside, from top to bottom," focusing on finding Tian Bin's business records, receipts, ledgers, and other items.
"Team Leader Zhang, we found something in the cash register drawer!" came team member Xiao Wang's voice. Xiao Zhou immediately went over and saw Xiao Wang carefully opening a locked drawer at the bottom of the cash register. Inside the drawer were a thick stack of ledgers, several purchase invoices, and some loose cash. "These ledgers look like Tian Bin's business records. Maybe we can find some valuable clues," Xiao Zhou said. He then instructed his team members to seal the ledgers and purchase invoices in an evidence bag and take them back to the temporary investigation point for further analysis.