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

"We contacted dental clinics across the city and retrieved treatment records from the past decade. This personalized tooth filling method can greatly narrow the scope of investigation." He put the tooth into a centrifuge tube, "and at the same time conducted radiocarbon dating on the pulp tissue to further confirm the age."

The autopsy lasted until late at night. Zhang Kai took off his gloves and rubbed his sore shoulders. The autopsy record was already filled with 42 pages, with key information heavily marked in red pen: death due to mechanical asphyxiation combined with craniocerebral injury, time of death locked in 46- hours ago, features of the deceased included a swallow tattoo on the right shoulder blade, amalgam fillings, and a ring mark on the left ring finger. These details, like puzzle pieces, are gradually outlining the murderer's profile, and the unknown female corpse on the autopsy table will eventually find its own identity through scientific forensics.

Identifying the deceased is easier than you might think.

At 37 a.m. in the Criminal Investigation Brigade office, Zhang Hui rubbed his sore eyes and refreshed the search interface of the missing persons database for the umpteenth time. The blue light of the screen reflected on his tired face, and there was still some instant noodle soup in the gap between the keyboards. When the keyword search results for "swallow tattoo" popped up on page , a familiar pattern suddenly caught his eye - in the screenshot of the social platform, the girl was wearing an off-shoulder dress, and half of the swallow with its wings spread out was lifelike on her right shoulder, and the blue gradient of the tail feathers was exactly the same as the tattoo fragments in the forensic photo.

"Missing case No. 20230715, Zhang Haiyan, 29 years old..." Zhang Hui's finger hovered over the mouse, and his voice unconsciously rose. "Last disappeared in the blind spot of the Chengxi convenience store. Family members said that he had a cheerful personality and no obvious enemies..." He grabbed the intercom and shouted: "Wang Shuai! Come to the information room immediately!"

Footsteps approached from afar, and Wang Shuai rushed in with a pile of documents. "What's going on in the middle of the night?"

“Look at this!” Zhang Hui pushed the screen over. “The tattoo similarity is 89%. The age and height data all match. But the time of disappearance doesn’t match—she lost contact three months ago, and the deceased died within 48 hours.”

Wang Shuai frowned and enlarged the photo: "Could it be that the murderer imprisoned her first, and recently..." Before he finished speaking, he suddenly pointed to the corner of the photo, "Wait, the necklace pendant she wears is in the shape of a swallow, which echoes the tattoo! This kind of personalized accessories is likely to be the same person."

The two looked at each other and picked up the phone at the same time. Zhang Hui contacted the technical department to expedite the comparison of tattoo details, while Wang Shuai drove to Zhang Haiyan's home. At three o'clock in the morning, the old residential building was silent and gloomy. When Wang Shuai knocked on the door of Room 302, he heard hurried footsteps inside. The door opened a crack, and Zhang's father's bloodshot eyes looked at him vigilantly: "Comrade police, it's so late..."

"We may have found Haiyan." Wang Shuai lowered his voice, "We need to collect DNA from you and your wife for comparison."

There was a sound of broken porcelain in the house. Zhang's mother rushed out and grabbed his arm. "Is it my daughter? Did you find her?" Tears welled up in her sunken eye sockets. "On the day she disappeared, she received a phone call. Her face looked very ugly. She ran out without even taking her bag..."

"Do you remember the phone number?" Wang Shuai took out the notebook.

"I didn't save it, but I remember the last number was 9527." Zhang's father's voice trembled, "We checked and it's an anonymously registered number."

At the same time, the technical department received news: the tattoo details were matched successfully at a rate of 97%, especially the arrangement of the dot tattoos on the edge of the swallow's wings, which was exactly the same as that of the deceased. Zhang Hui rushed into Lu Chuan's office clutching the report: "It can basically be locked, but we have to wait for the DNA results."

The 48 hours of waiting seemed as long as a century. Zhang Hui stood guard at the door of the laboratory, watching the technicians come in and out; Wang Shuai led the team to repeatedly screen Zhang Haiyan's movements before she disappeared. When the morning light illuminated the police station again, the DNA test report was finally released - the gene loci were completely consistent, and the probability of parentage was 99.999%. "Notify the family." Lu Chuan patted Zhang Hui on the shoulder.

At Zhang Haiyan's home, Zhang's mother trembled as she touched the DNA report and suddenly cried out heart-wrenchingly: "My Swallow! You said you would take me to see the real Swallow..." Zhang's father tightly grasped his daughter's photo, his knuckles turning white: "Comrade police, I beg you, you must catch the murderer. She is most afraid of the dark, these days..." The old man choked and couldn't continue.

Zhang Hui, with red eyes, gently placed the evidence bag on the table. Inside was the skin fragments of Yan Zi's tattoo that were salvaged from the sewer. "We must find out the truth."

Wang Shuai flipped through Zhang Haiyan's file and saw dense personal information. He took a deep breath and began to sort out the direction of the next investigation. After dividing the team into several groups, he led the team to the "Xingchen Advertising Company" where Zhang Haiyan worked before his death.

Pushing open the glass door of the company, the girl at the front desk saw the police ID and her eyes instantly became nervous. Wang Shuai gently explained the purpose of his visit and, under her guidance, he came to Zhang Haiyan's workstation. Her photo was placed on the workstation, with a bright smile, but the green plants on the table had turned yellow and withered because no one cared for them.

"How popular is Zhang Haiyan in the company? Are there any conflicts between her and her colleagues?" Wang Shuai asked Zhang Haiyan's direct superior, Manager Li.

Manager Li pushed his glasses, thought for a moment and said, "Haiyan is very serious about her work and has good design skills. She gets along well with her colleagues and I've never heard that she has any conflicts with anyone. Just three months ago, she suddenly took a long vacation, saying that something happened at home. She never came back to work after that and her phone could not be reached. We reported her missing according to the procedure, but we didn't expect..." Manager Li's voice gradually became low.

Wang Shuai talked to several of Zhang Haiyan's colleagues separately. Xiao Chen, a designer from the same department, recalled: "Haiyan was a very good person. She often helped us with drawings and never complained. I didn't notice anything unusual about her before she disappeared. I just felt like she seemed to be a little worried and sometimes she would stare blankly at the computer."

"Does she have any particularly good friends, or does she have frequent contact with people outside the company?" Wang Shuai asked.

Xiao Chen shook his head: "No, she is working most of the time, and occasionally has dinner with us. By the way, she has a boyfriend who she has been dating for two years. His name is Zhao Yang, and he is a fitness coach. They have a good relationship and often show their affection on WeChat Moments."

After getting this important clue, Wang Shuai immediately led the team to the gym where Zhao Yang worked. Inside the gym, the music was deafening and Zhao Yang was instructing members to exercise. When he saw the police coming, his face turned pale instantly.

"Zhao Yang, we are from the criminal investigation team, and we have some questions to ask you. Regarding Zhang Haiyan's matter, I hope you can answer truthfully." Wang Shuai stared at him closely.

Zhao Yang swallowed and nodded, his voice trembling: "I know, I have been waiting for you to find me. After Haiyan disappeared, I searched everywhere and called the police, but there was still no news of her." (End of this chapter)