Attending ex-girlfriend's wedding, arresting the groom's officer on the spot

Wang Shuai looked at his players.

Today's work is very heavy. The key is to be careful during the investigation process. If a mistake occurs, the consequences will be unimaginable.

"So, our focus today is to check the thirty clinics in the west of the city, one inch at a time!" He paused and added: "Especially all male cases who have undergone root canal treatment on the right maxillary first molar between 2020 and 2023. Not a single one can be missed!"

There were echoes in the conference room. Team member Lao Zhou scratched his head and joked, "Captain Wang, this workload is going to make you go blind!" This drew a tired laugh. Wang Shuai patted him on the shoulder and said, "Find the murderer before you go blind. Let's go!"

The streets were jammed during the morning rush hour, and Wang Shuai led the first team straight to Kangmei Dental. When they pushed open the door of the clinic, the smell of disinfectant mixed with aromatherapy hit them. When the girl at the front desk saw the police badge, her face turned pale instantly: "Police, police comrade, what happened to us?"

"Don't be nervous," Wang Shuai showed his ID, "We need to check the medical records of the past three years, mainly the cases of root canal treatment."

The younger sister bit her lip and said, "The electronic files can be transferred, but the paper medical records must be approved by the dean, and he is not here yet."

Team member Xiao Zhang stamped his feet anxiously: "Can we retrieve the electronic files first? We are running out of time!"

Just as the stalemate reached a deadlock, a middle-aged man in a suit and tie came over quickly: "I am the dean. It is our duty to cooperate with the police investigation. Xiao Liu, take them to the archives room."

In the archive room, the filing cabinets are neatly arranged, but there is a sense of oppression. The intern walked in with a thick cardboard box, "Here are the medical records from 2020 to 2023. Do you need my help?"

Wang Shuai put on latex gloves and opened the medical record book with a greasy cover: "You go and help retrieve the electronic files, we will check manually." Amid the rustling sound of the paper, his eyes quickly scanned every line of text like a scanner. Suddenly, his fingers stopped - the words "root canal treatment of the right maxillary first molar" came into view.

"Age?" The team member Xiao Li came over.

"28 years old, that's not right." Wang Shuai shook his head in disappointment and continued to turn the pages.

Time passed by, and the only sounds in the office were the rubbing of papers and occasional sighs. Xiao Zhang suddenly stood up excitedly: "Captain Wang! This patient's age and treatment location are all suitable!"

Everyone gathered around. The patient's photo showed a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. Wang Shuai carefully checked the address: "He lives in a neighboring city, and his medical records in the past three years show that he has never left the area. This is ruled out."

Xiao Li slumped in his chair, muttering, "This is like looking for a needle in a haystack!"

Wang Shuai slapped the table and said, "Don't be discouraged! No matter how big the ocean is, we can still fish this needle out! Next one!"

At noon, at a street fast food restaurant, the team members held their greasy lunch boxes, but they found the food tasteless. Lao Zhou was eating rice and suddenly asked, "Why did the murderer choose that dry well to dump the body? Was it because it was hidden?"

Xiao Zhang wiped his mouth and said, "There must be more than one. That well has been abandoned for many years, and ordinary people would never go near it. Unless... the murderer is very familiar with that area?"

Wang Shuai thought for a moment: "That makes sense. Continue the investigation, and pay special attention to the medical records of clinic staff or surrounding residents." The investigation in the afternoon was even more difficult. At "Smile Dentistry", the electronic files lost data from the second half of 2021 due to system upgrades. The person in charge looked embarrassed: "I'm really sorry, the records from that period may not be found."

"Where are the paper medical records?" Wang Shuai asked in a deep voice.

"In the warehouse, but it will take some time to sort it out"

In the warehouse, the musty smell was pungent, and the cartons were piled higher than people. The team members wore masks and searched carefully. Sister Li's finger was suddenly cut by the edge of the paper, and blood dripped on the medical record. After a simple bandage, she went back to work: "This little injury is nothing, finding clues is the hard truth!"

"Captain Wang! The mobile phone number registered for this patient is invalid!" Xiao Wu ran over holding the medical record.

Wang Shuai immediately arranged for his team members to check his ID card information, but the result was disappointing - this person's household registration had been cancelled five years ago.

As the sun set, they had already visited seven clinics. On the summary sheet, 37 records that seemed to meet the requirements were eventually crossed out. Wang Shuai sat in the police car, looking at the sunset outside the window, when his cell phone suddenly vibrated - it was a voice message from his daughter: "Dad, when will you come home? I miss you so much"

His throat tightened, and he replied, "Good boy, Daddy is catching the bad guys and will be back soon."

At night, the neon lights of Guangming Dental Clinic flickered in the rain. The person in charge of this clinic was straightforward and directly opened the backend system for police to query. Wang Shuai stared at the screen and kept adjusting the screening conditions. Suddenly, the record of an anonymous patient jumped into his eyes - root canal treatment of the right maxillary first molar in May 2022, male, only a temporary contact information was registered.

"Enlarge the X-ray!" Wang Shuai moved closer to the monitor. The root canal filling of the teeth was extremely similar to that of the deceased, but other than that, there was no other useful information.

The team members gathered around, hope rekindled in their eyes. Lao Zhou said: "Could it be that the murderer deliberately used a fake name?"

Xiao Zhang shook his head: "But if it was the murderer, why did he keep the medical records? Isn't this giving himself a handle?"

Wang Shuai frowned, "No matter what, we can't let this clue go. We'll continue digging tomorrow, starting with the clinic's surveillance and billing records. Even if we have to dig deep into the ground, we'll find this person!"

It was already early morning when he returned to the police station. Wang Shuai looked at the list of clinics that had been crossed out on the whiteboard, then looked at the remaining more than 90 clinics, and rubbed his swollen temples. In the office, the team members fell asleep in their chairs, holding their medical records tightly in their hands. He gently covered everyone with a coat, then turned on the computer and began to organize today's investigation results.

Zhang Hui's matching of missing persons had basically failed. After he introduced the relevant work progress to Lu Chuan, Lu Chuan arranged for Zhang Hui to lead a group of people to investigate the second clue, which was about the rubber shoes worn by the deceased, and to investigate the construction site near the west of the city where the deceased's body was dumped.

The skyline in the west of the city was shrouded in morning mist, and the gray clouds hung low, as if casting another shadow on this difficult investigation. Zhang Hui stood next to a police car, with ten team members standing in a neat line beside him. Everyone looked a little tired - the continuous high-intensity work had already exhausted everyone physically and mentally, but their eyes were still firm.

More importantly, the group of people following Zhang Hui encountered obstacles everywhere when they were investigating the missing persons in the past two days. (End of this chapter)