Diary of a Criminal Investigator

In the office, Lu Chuan had already received the autopsy report issued by the forensic doctor.

Regarding the time of death, Lu Chuan’s judgment was accurate.

During the autopsy, it was discovered that there was no sand or water plants in the deceased’s stomach or throat.

The lungs were clean, with no signs of drowning.

This indicates the deceased was murdered before being dumped into the Fen River.

Most importantly, the deceased indeed showed signs of fetal termination.

"Captain Lu, judging from the protective pregnancy stripes on the deceased’s abdomen and the degree of tearing in her lower body, the fetal termination occurred between six to seven months."

"In this world..."

Lu Chuan furrowed his brows.

Generally, a fetal termination is best done around three months.

Six to seven months...

If not due to special reasons that endanger the mother’s life, no regulated hospital would perform a termination at this fetal age.

"Any other findings?"

"Not at the moment."

Early in the morning, two groups from the Criminal Investigation Team started searching along the upriver on both sides of the Fen River, looking for clues.

The Fen River meanders through Haizhou City, stretching about 70 kilometers long.

Calculating based on the flow speed of the Fen River, at the very least, the body would have traveled 30 to 40 kilometers after entering the water.

However, if the body kept moving, it’s unlikely that nobody would have noticed.

The Fen River is a scenic river in Haizhou City, surrounded by walking boardwalks.

In the evenings, many citizens walk and stroll along both sides of the Fen River, making it a densely populated area.

Especially now, with the hot weather, many people like to rest by the river bank.

Sometimes, even around ten, eleven, or twelve at night, there are still people present.

It’s even more populated during the day, so if the body drifted in the river for three days without being found, it’s indeed peculiar.

"Guys, pay attention to things like underwear, inner clothes, socks, shoes, etc."

"Lipstick, purses, or any form of identification!"

"Be thorough, and report any findings immediately!"

Both sides of the Fen River have wooden boardwalks, but it’s impossible for the searching police to walk on them; that way, they wouldn’t find anything.

The 20 or so people were divided into two groups, each searching along the water’s edge in boots.

The victim was wearing only a blue and white sports outfit, with one remaining shoe, no socks, no underwear, and no identification.

As for the underwear, it’s likely the victim wasn’t wearing any when thrown into the river.

But the shoes or other related items belonging to the victim might have been thrown in by the murderer.

These scattered items might have been washed ashore by the river.

Chen Jiang leads the search and can remind via walkie-talkie.

Soon, someone made a discovery, "Captain Chen, I’ve found a lipstick."

Voices quickly followed through the walkie-talkie, "Collect it at the marked location."

"The most important are the two identities, and then there’s the white Nike sports shoe."

"Actually, we only found a left shoe, but the right shoe is missing. Everyone needs to search thoroughly for the shoe’s location, as it’s likely the spot where the murderer dumped the body."

The search along the river bank progressed slowly, having covered only 10 kilometers by noon.

Meanwhile, Wang Zhaokai was also conducting his investigation.

The victim’s identity is uncertain, and Lu Chuan has already arranged for photos of the victim’s outer clothing to be taken and posted online with a missing person’s alert.

On another front, Wang Zhaokai is carrying out a special investigation assigned by Lu Chuan.

The deceased was six to seven months pregnant, and undergoing fetal termination at that time is traceable in both regulated and unregulated hospitals in Haizhou City.

The first step is to check the regulated hospitals for any records concerning a high gestational age termination.

Of course, Wang Chaokai couldn’t assign people to search every hospital; he directly contacted the relevant management department to issue a notification requesting reports of such cases.

This method ensures full coverage of public hospitals, and private hospitals shouldn’t pose much of a problem either.

Given current medical management, public hospitals would never secretly perform such high gestational age terminations.

Private hospitals might have previously engaged in such secretive practices, but now, with increasingly strict regulations, they’re practically abolished.

Furthermore, this investigation involves a homicide, the murder of an adult.

Hence, the possibility of covering up is minimal.

Wang Zhaokai’s team focuses on profiling black clinics capable of performing fetal terminations.

"Officer Wang, we are a regulated clinic; we wouldn’t dare handle such procedures."

"We don’t do that here; terminating a high gestational age pregnancy is akin to childbirth, and if something went wrong, the death would be untraceable."

This was an unexpected response.

Wang Zhaokai visited several small clinics, and their answers were consistently similar.

Previously, they weren’t afraid of any business and would undertake all sorts of services.

But now, things have changed; no one dares to engage in such practices anymore.

Termination procedures in clinics are cheap, costing only a few hundred yuan.

Most patients are college students seeking such surgeries.

However, cases involving high gestational age terminations are rare, and even when they occur, the clinics refuse to perform them.

The reason is simple: it doesn’t pay much; the risk is high – no one now wants to take such risks for a few hundred yuan.

"If a hemorrhage were to occur, calling 120 wouldn’t be timely enough, and if someone died on our premises, our lives would be ruined."

After visiting over a dozen clinics, this response remained unchanged.

The First People’s Hospital finally offered a clue.

They seldom perform high gestational age terminations; there were only two cases in the first half of the year.

One case involved an elderly mother who was physically unfit.

The other matched the information provided by Wang Zhaokai and his team.

Following feedback from the department, Wang Zhaokai and his team immediately rushed to the First People’s Hospital to investigate further.

"I have an impression of this person; she came last month."

"Her name is Lin Ting; she had been regularly receiving pregnancy checks here."

"But she’s a single mom, without a father, not married; her mother accompanied her for the termination."

"The time... was last month... on the 13th."

Lin Ting!

Wang Zhaokai took the relevant materials back to report to Lu Chuan.

Meanwhile, Chen Jiang’s team by the Fen River also achieved significant progress.

After a lunch of instant noodles, they continued searching, and within an hour, an excited voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Captain Chen! A shoe! I’ve found the white Nike sports shoe!"