Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 283: Suspect Identified

First People’s Hospital, Department of Otolaryngology.

"There aren’t many medical records of vocal cord injuries, only two or three cases per month... these are the records from five years ago, all here."

Haizhou City First People’s Hospital and the Haizhou Economic Investigation Team are both places that aren’t short of money.

Two years ago, the First People’s Hospital built a new 20-story high building, and there were two of them.

In Haizhou City, when it comes to the speed of building construction, the hospital is second to none.

Money is no object, flauntingly wealthy.

Such a large-scale hospital has never been stingy with hardware investments.

Investments in software started more than ten years ago.

Many years ago, the First People’s Hospital even had a dedicated medical records department responsible for managing all inpatient medical records.

At that time, the records were all paper-based and very difficult to retrieve.

It’s different now; all patient records can be retrieved by entering a query into any computer in the hospital.

Apart from the patient’s basic information, including when they were admitted, their condition, medications used, and recovery status, it’s all clear.

Li Chengbin, a detective from the High-tech Zone Criminal Investigation Team, started reviewing all female patients with vocal cord injuries from January 1st, five years ago.

According to Lu Chuan’s voiceprint analysis report, the woman with voice number four was between eighteen and twenty-three years old when she had surgery.

Moreover, the vocal cord injury was a laceration...

Hmm?

Quickly, Li Chengbin identified a target.

Zhao Xiaomeng, 19 years old, accidentally ingested sharp glass fragments, which entered her trachea, resulting in a vocal cord laceration.

Five years ago, the First Hospital performed a total of twelve vocal cord repair surgeries.

Only four were female, and only one had a laceration injury.

Moreover, her age matched the judgment made by Lu Chuan.

The detectives investigating the other two hospitals brought back news earlier than Li Chengbin.

Yuan Shaokang’s office.

"The Second Hospital was checked, and no matches were found. Five years ago, they performed four vocal cord repair surgeries, all on men who had suffered vocal cord damage in fires."

"308 Hospital was also checked, and five years ago, no patients within this age range underwent surgery; vocal cord lacerations are very rare, and they have never performed such surgery."

Yuan Shaokang sighed.

This case isn’t significant; the child kidnapped back then wasn’t transported away due to the citywide lockdown, so the child was found.

Strictly speaking, this case can be considered an attempted child trafficking.

In recent years, the crackdown on trafficking nationwide has been quite intense.

Trafficking cases have greatly reduced compared to twenty or thirty years ago.

One reason is the high attention given by public security agencies across the country, prioritizing child trafficking cases on par with homicide cases.

In simple terms, they spare no expense, no consequences, aiming to find the child in the shortest possible time.

Secondly, compared to twenty or thirty years ago, criminal investigation technology has greatly improved, and widespread video surveillance has provided significant assistance in finding trafficked children.

Moreover, the improvement in systems; previously, children didn’t need identification to take trains or buses.

Now, children need a household registration book or birth certificate for train and bus travel.

Although not yet nationwide, it’s being piloted, rumored to launch nationwide in October this year.

Thirdly, criminal penalties are severe, with most cases resulting in serious sentences upon discovery.

Additionally, the cost of raising children is now too high.

Previously, child trafficking was mainly driven by a preference for boys over girls, which is becoming less common.

Parents who had ten daughters wanted a son, but now, even with the three-child policy, birth rates aren’t increasing.

People aren’t even willing to have their own, let alone buy.

The demand isn’t strong, so naturally, there aren’t many sales.

Despite this, Yuan Shaokang has always kept an eye on this case, revisiting it whenever possible.

This time, the voiceprint analysis report from Lu Chuan brought hope to Yuan Shaokang.

However, neither hospital had any information...

Could it be that the woman with voice number four only grew up in Haizhou and lived elsewhere?

Having a Haizhou accent doesn’t necessarily mean living in Haizhou.

Now, all hope rests on Li Chengbin’s investigation at the First People’s Hospital.

If he finds nothing there either...

Bam!

Contemplating the worst-case scenario, the office door swung open.

Yuan Shaokang had instructed not to disturb him unless it was important.

Looking up, it was Li Chengbin.

"Boss, found her!"

"Zhao Xiaomeng?"

Li Chengbin held a printed copy of Zhao Xiaomeng’s medical record: "Yes, it’s this Zhao Xiaomeng."

"Five years ago, this Zhao Xiaomeng was 19. On March 2nd of that year, her vocal cords suffered a laceration and she had surgery at the First People’s Hospital."

"Time, age, vocal cord laceration, all match the voiceprint analysis result from Teacher Lu."

"This person should be the owner of voice number four!"

Yuan Shaokang carefully reviewed Zhao Xiaomeng’s medical record, the light in his eyes grew brighter. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

From the information in the medical record, Zhao Xiaomeng’s situation aligns with the analysis report by Lu Chuan.

The possibility of coincidence five years ago is not large.

"Let’s go, let’s dig into the background of this Zhao Xiaomeng."

Household Registration Office.

"Zhao Xiaomeng’s residence registration is within our jurisdiction, managed by Qianjin Street Police Station."

The medical record has Zhao Xiaomeng’s ID number. Entering it into the household registration system reveals all information about her.

"Is she still in Haizhou?"

"It’s hard to say, but last year she renewed her ID card at the Qianjin Street Police Station, so the chances are high she’s in Haizhou."

"Let’s go to Qianjin Street!"

Number 86, Qianjin Street.

"Captain Yuan, this is it."

According to the household registration system, Zhao Xiaomeng has had two instances of residence relocation.

The reason is marriage; two years ago, she moved from number 86 Qianjin Street to Hezhou.

Later, in October last year, she moved back to Haizhou from Hezhou.

The reason is divorce.

"This is the house of Zhao Xiaomeng’s parents, her current residence registration is here."

The officer overseeing this area is quite familiar with the residents’ situations.

"Let’s go, let’s take a look inside. Chengbin, take a few people with Zhao Xiaomeng’s photo and start some interviews."

"Yes!"

Number 86, Qianjin Street, is an old residential area, mostly former employee quarters of defunct companies.

Neighbors should be relatively familiar with each other.

"Yes, I know Zhao Xiaomeng, she lives in building three."

"She works as a cashier at the neighboring supermarket."

"What do you need her for?"

Quickly, they gathered clear information about Zhao Xiaomeng.

"Let’s go to the supermarket!"

Happiness Supermarket.

Without alerting the supermarket staff, Yuan Shaokang and his team entered and circled around the cashier area, then zeroed in on cashier lane three.

The person had her hair in a high ponytail, a kind smile, fair skin, and was helping a customer check out.