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

Only Zhang Hui, Lao Zhao, and Xiao Chen remained in the room. The sound of typing resumed, but it was much lower than before. Lao Zhao, while checking information, said, "Brother Hui, what do you think this deceased person's background is? Long-term exposure to heavy metals, poor economic conditions—could he be a migrant worker from out of town who disappeared without anyone reporting it?"

“That’s possible,” Zhang Hui said slowly, staring at a record on the screen. “Moreover, he didn’t have any identification on him. The killer most likely took it intentionally to cover his identity. What we can do now is find a match among these tens of thousands of records as quickly as possible. Whether he’s a local or a visitor, he’ll always leave a trace.” Xiao Chen chimed in, “I just don’t know why the family didn’t report it. Did they not notice he was missing, or is there some other hidden reason?”

The three chatted idly as they worked faster. Around 2 a.m., Xiao Chen couldn't stay awake any longer and dozed off at the table. Zhang Hui and Lao Zhao didn't wake him and continued checking the information. It wasn't until 4 a.m., when Xiao Li and Xiao Wang arrived on time, that Zhang Hui told Lao Zhao and Xiao Chen to go and rest. He then handed over the work to Xiao Li and Xiao Wang and began a new round of comparisons.

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the windows into the analysis room, illuminating the tired faces of everyone. The team members took turns going to the canteen for breakfast before returning to their work. After more than ten hours of hard work, the team had identified 863 missing persons records matching the core criteria, along with 12 suspected DNA matches and 18 suspected dental feature matches automatically pushed by the system. Zhang Hui immediately adjusted the division of labor, instructing everyone to focus on verifying these 30 suspected matches, contacting the local police stations where the missing persons were registered to verify the details of their disappearances, obtain contact information for their families, and retrieve more detailed biological sample data.

"Brother Hui, look at this record. The missing person's name is Zhang Qiang, 35 years old, a local, 176 cm tall. He worked at an electroplating factory before he went missing, which matches the characteristics of long-term exposure to heavy metals!" Xiao Li suddenly said excitedly, pointing to a record on the screen. Zhang Hui immediately leaned over and carefully examined the record: Zhang Qiang, male, 35 years old, from Xicheng District of this city, 176 cm tall, medium build, went missing on October 15, 2025. Before his disappearance, he worked at a small electroplating factory. His family reported him missing on October 18. Dental X-rays and DNA samples are stored in the database.

"Quickly get his dental X-ray and compare it with the deceased's. Then contact the technical department to do a precise DNA comparison between his and the deceased's DNA data," Zhang Hui said, a hint of anticipation in his voice. Xiao Li immediately took action, comparing Zhang Qiang's dental X-ray with the deceased's on the same screen. Initially, the teeth and the degree of wear appeared similar. Lao Zhao then contacted the police station in Zhang Qiang's registered residence area to connect with his family and verify more details.

While waiting for the comparison results, everyone was excited, feeling that this might be the breakthrough. However, two hours later, the technical department reported that Zhang Qiang's DNA data did not match the deceased's. Although the dental X-rays were similar, there were subtle differences. Zhang Qiang had cavities in his left second molar, while the deceased's teeth had no cavities, ruling out a match.

This result instantly shattered everyone's newly ignited hopes. Xiao Li slammed his fist on the table in frustration: "How could this happen? The characteristics matched so perfectly, but it wasn't me. All that excitement for nothing, and all that time wasted checking." Xiao Wang also frowned and said, "Yeah, how could this be wrong? We don't even know if the subsequent suspected results are reliable. The longer we wait, the less hope we have left."

Zhang Hui was also feeling down, but he still mustered his spirits to reassure everyone: "Don't be discouraged. That's how information comparison works. Many seemingly matching results actually have subtle differences. Let's carefully check the other records. We can't let one failure discourage us." Despite his words, the continuous all-nighters and the disappointment made the team members even more depressed, and complaints increased.

"I stay up until midnight every day, my eyes are almost blind, and I haven't found a single useful clue. I really don't know when this will end." Xiao Chen rubbed his eyes, his tone full of exhaustion and dissatisfaction. "Moreover, some of the missing persons' information is too outdated, and the photos are from several years ago. It's impossible to compare them with the physical characteristics of the deceased. It's a complete waste of time."

Old Zhao sighed and said, "My child hasn't seen me for the past two days. He's not awake when I leave in the morning, and he's already asleep when I get back at night. If this keeps up, my body won't be able to take it anymore." Zhang Hui felt bad seeing everyone's exhausted appearance. He knew that the team members were all under both physical and mental pressure, and complaining was only natural.

“Everyone, hang in there a little longer. Captain Lu is also waiting for our results. Wang Shuai’s group hasn’t made any breakthroughs in the outer perimeter investigation, and Yang Lin’s team needs the victim’s identity to proceed with their physical evidence analysis.” Zhang Hui paused for a moment before saying, “Let’s have a proper lunch today. This afternoon, I’ll ask Captain Lu to let everyone take turns resting for two hours to conserve their energy. Let’s further refine our division of labor to avoid duplication of work and improve efficiency.”

With Zhang Hui's reassurance and guidance, the team members calmed down somewhat and returned to their work. Over the next few hours, they checked 15 more suspected cases, three of which showed a high degree of similarity: missing persons Li Jianjun, Wang Haitao, and Liu Zhenguo. Zhang Hui immediately arranged for team members to contact local police stations to retrieve detailed information, contact families to obtain additional biological samples, and have the technical department conduct precise comparisons.

However, fate seemed to be playing a cruel trick on them. Li Jianjun's DNA did not match the deceased's, and he worked in the construction industry before his disappearance, not in heavy metal-related work, thus ruling him out as a suspect. Wang Haitao was only 170 centimeters tall, significantly shorter than the deceased, and his teeth also differed noticeably, so he was also ruled out. Although Liu Zhenguo met the height, age, and occupation criteria, and his DNA showed a partial match, further investigation revealed that Liu Zhenguo had been found in another city on November 5, 2025, but his family had not promptly closed the case at the police station, and the database had not been updated, so he was also unrelated to the deceased.

Three failed attempts left the team members utterly frustrated. Xiao Li slammed the mouse on the table, saying, "I'm quitting! This is like looking for a needle in a haystack! Tens of thousands of pieces of information, and after finally finding a few suspected cases, they're all wrong. There's no point in continuing." Xiao Wang chimed in, "Yeah, Brother Hui, are we going in the wrong direction? Could the deceased not be from our city, or even our province? If so, comparing local information won't help." (End of Chapter)