Free Web NovelChapter 186: Chapter 185 XTR_1
Zhou Ning was startled.
Zhu Xingxing moved extremely fast and had already fished one out, dripping with water, and placed the egg-yolk colored, teardrop-shaped ’ball’ into Zhou Ning’s hands.
Fortunately, Zhou Ning was wearing gloves, but even so, the touch made him shiver all over.
It was chillingly cold and squishy, seemingly still retaining some fluidity. Squeezing it slightly, it had the feel of a stretchy rubber band, but the grainy texture of the surface still made his hairs stand on end.
"Where is there writing?"
Zhu Xingxing quickly leaned in, squeezing Mr. Zhao aside, and said to Zhou Ning and Xia Momo:
"Look at the center part, this isn’t the usual anti-slip texture but a smooth surface. There’s a Mentor logo, and below it, there’s a series of letters and numbers that I can’t understand, something like 180cc354-1058/10.5cm9.9cm3.8cm, seems like some sort of code."
Zhou Ning quickly searched Baidu and found this brand—it was an American brand, quite popular in China, but also quite handsomely priced.
He knew about silicone implants, though they seemed to talk a lot, but having a logo meant it was a high-end brand; at least this girl wasn’t short on money. He quickly took photos of the numbers on the implant and then sent them to Mr. He.
After that, he dialed He Shancun’s cell phone, and this time the call was quickly answered.
"What’s the problem now? I haven’t even asked yet, why are you in such a hurry?"
"Don’t get excited. We’ve found two balls on the body. After cleaning them up, we realized they’re silicone implants, and they’ve got writing on them. Which hospitals in the Qindao area deal with these kinds of implant procedures?"
He Shancun seriously pondered for a moment before responding.
"Not many. The first in the city to offer this was the plastic surgery department of the First Affiliated Hospital, and then there’s Lu University Hospital. Of course, cosmetic clinics can do it too, but I don’t know what brands they use. It seems high-end brands don’t allow entry into the lower-end market, after all, this isn’t like getting a double eyelid surgery or ear piercing."
"Understood, so you mean to say that good brands would choose capable tertiary hospitals with plastic surgery departments. Your hospital doesn’t have a plastic surgery department?"
"Yes, we do, I just forgot to mention it."
Zhou Ning laughed—this guy was doing it on purpose, he just didn’t want Zhou Ning to give him a hard time.
"Alright, I’ll have Xu Da look into it. We’ve found some numbers and a brand on the implant, and it seems like a good direction for the investigation."
"I don’t know much about this, but these numbers seem to represent the type, model, and production batch of the implant. Not every implant has an individual number; only those are custom-made, but the cost for that is beyond what most people can imagine."
"Got it. I will contact the relevant personnel, but you need to help me with the broken bone issue, since you guys are the most authoritative."
After hanging up, Zhou Ning dialed Xu Dayuan’s cell phone.
"Xu Da, when are you coming back? We’ve made some discoveries here, and I need to discuss them with you."
Xu Dayuan’s voice was filled with excitement. frёewebηovel.cѳm
"Tell me over the phone, I’m heading towards Rizhao now. We found a missing person there named Huang Liying, a DJ at the nightclubs, the kind who sings and leads dance groups. She matches various details of the headless female corpse in the 10.4 case.
They say this girl had tattoos, but what exactly they were, even her own parents don’t know, because Huang Liying was a bit rebellious. She went out on her own when she was only seventeen or eighteen and rarely contacted her family.
However, she was supposed to visit her best friend on September 10th, but she never showed up. Worried for Huang Liying, her best friend kept calling her to no avail, as the calls couldn’t get through, and she had just returned from Qindao yesterday.
It’s said that after looking through over twenty nightclubs in Qindao, they found the one where she danced, but she hadn’t been there since the 9th. I’m going to visit Huang Liying’s home first, collect the DNA from her parents for comparison. Now, tell me what you have discovered?"
Seeing how excited Xu Dayuan was, Zhou Ning didn’t want to dampen his spirits and recounted the spiral pattern of the bone fracture, the guess that letters were hidden in the tattoo, and the serial numbers on the silicone implants on the body.
Xu Dayuan kept affirming with ’Hmm’ sounds, then said:
"When I get back tomorrow, I’ll have someone look into it. Didn’t you speak to Mr. He about the spiral marks from the bone break and fracture? Let them give us some direction. As for the numbers, don’t rush; we’ll talk more when I get back."
After hanging up, Mr. Zhao came over.
"Should I call around and ask? After all, searching on Baidu is like chasing after countless little advertisements flying across the sky. As for those tertiary hospitals, we can wait for Xu Da to get back and check."
Zhou Ning waved his hand.
"Off work, let’s go have some guotie. Call Mrs. Cui. We’ve been working overtime on this case. Why the rush if they’re not in a hurry?"
Mr. Zhao knew Zhou Ning was a bit emotional, but naturally had no objections to going out to eat.
"Let’s go. I know a place where my aunt makes guotie with big shrimp inside, really tasty. I’ll go call Mrs. Cui."
...
The next day.
The lab door burst open as Xu Dayuan stormed in, his face showing frustration. He took off his hat and rubbed his hands incessantly. Mr. Zhao, unaware of the implications, went over to chat.
"What’s the matter, boss? You seem off. Is it the chill from the temperature drop?"
Xu Dayuan gave Mr. Zhao a cold glance before he slowly said,
"The DNA comparison result from Mr. Cui’s team just came out; the deceased isn’t Huang Liying. Across the entire Qindao Area and the neighboring cities, among all the missing persons, only these two match the known criteria. It really puzzles me. Zhou Xiaozhou, tell me in detail about your findings yesterday."
Zhou Ning gestured for Mr. Zhao to pull over the whiteboard, which already had the body’s information carefully categorized into three aspects: tattoos, bone fracture patterns, and information about the silicone implant.
Xu Dayuan listened attentively to the introduction and nodded slightly, jotting down all the information in his notebook.
"I’m going to hold a work assignment meeting for the ’10.4’ Task Force and have people check according to the first and third pieces of information. But we’ll need Mr. He’s help with the second. There are so many patients with bone fractures, but I think he should have almost completed the search for those with this kind of spiral trace. Zhou Xiaozhou, run over and help me with this.
Also, I’ve been in touch with the dive team to carry out salvage operations in three locations: near Shazikou Wharf, Dafu Island, and the reefs surrounding Xiaofudao. We’re going to search in the direction provided by the fishermen."
"Isn’t this like looking for a needle in the ocean?"
Xu Dayuan glanced at Mr. Zhao. He of course knew it was like looking for a needle in the ocean, but they could only make do with the information they had.
"Let’s just start looking. Mr. Hu said that the nature of the case is heinous and has given us a deadline of one week to crack it. But what did you deduce from the tattoo?"
"Two possibilities. We suspect it could be one person’s name, XTR, or possibly two people’s names, X and TR, intertwined as if to reveal one’s feelings to the other.
However, based on the fading of the ink, the tattoo must have been done at least five or six years ago. We’re not sure if a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl would understand love to that extent, and would her family even agree to her getting a tattoo?"
As he spoke, Zhou Ning gestured to Xia Momo to open a folder which contained a list of surnames that could be formed by combining the letters X and T.
X: Xi, Xiao, Xia, Xie, Xu, Xue, Xing, Xian, Xiang, Xu, Xiang.
T: Tong, Tung, Tao, Tan, Tai, Tai, Tai, Qin, Tan, Tang, Tang, Tang, Teng, Tian, Tie.
Xu Dayuan rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
"That’s quite a few. Even if it’s their own name, three letters can make for too many possibilities."
Zhou Ning nodded. He of course knew how many combinations there were.
"If we manage to find an overview of the deceased’s information, this could be a criterion for judgment, which would narrow down our search range. I think the investigation into the silicone implants needs to be followed up. We need to check the sales records for the same batch number sold domestically in the past two years, one by one."
"Why within two years?"
Curious like a child, Mr. Zhao’s question did not annoy Zhou Ning, who patiently explained,
"This type of textured, natural conical implant has been in production for the past two years. According to their company’s website, it is supposedly the most suitable for the Asian physique.
However, it’s quite expensive, and since it’s implanted through a periareolar incision, not many unmarried people choose it. Moreover, Asians often struggle to accept that type of incision. It’s just not clear why the deceased chose it. Could it be that a scar hidden under the armpit would be more conspicuous?"
Xu Dayuan nodded, the direction being so clear that he no longer felt the annoyance he had upon arrival.
"You’ve worked hard. Zhou Xiaozhou, go and talk to Mr. He. I’m off!"
Xu Dayuan left quickly, and Mr. Zhao came over and bumped Zhou Ning.
"What gives, are we going to Lu University Hospital now?"
Zhou Ning looked at Xia Momo, as going to Lu University Hospital was not far from Xia Momo’s home.
"Let’s go together. We’ll drop you off straight away. This case doesn’t need any software input for now, you haven’t seen our master come over, have you? Don’t stick around here with us any longer."
Xia Momo shook her head and said with a gentle smile,
"I know the software isn’t needed, but I want to go and see Doctor He. I also want to understand what causes such a unique bone fracture pattern. If I encounter it again in the future, I’ll know which direction to consider."
With that said, Zhou Ning found it hard to refuse. After all, it would be good to follow along, just as Xia Momo said. Looking more couldn’t hurt, and if they encountered a similar situation again, they would know how to analyze it.
The group got in the car and headed straight for Lu University Hospital. Upon arrival at the emergency department, they called He Shancun.
"We’re here, are you still busy?"
He Shancun’s figure suddenly appeared from the other end of the corridor, waving at them. They quickly went towards him, and Mr. He led them towards another building.
"I just can’t remember the situation when I received that patient. However, I’ve found several authoritative doctors in orthopedics to give you a small consultation for that X-ray. Let’s go listen."
Mr. Zhao swallowed hard, his face showing some nervousness.
"Why am I feeling a bit nervous? Mr. He, you’re not going to take revenge on us for the island incident, are you?"
Mr. He stopped in his tracks.
"The island, what did you do?"
