novelraw Chapter 474 - 281: The Mysterious Man Surfaces
Chapter 474 - 281: The Mysterious Man Surfaces
"That’s right, this is exactly what I’m worried about. Li Xiaofang doesn’t seem to have any connection with this person. Is there no clue at all in the call logs? How did they get in touch?"
In the surveillance footage from the hospital, it’s clear that the two of them must have known each other. But if they knew each other, why are there no call records between them? What’s the reason for this?
Who is the murderer really?
Currently, all they have is a not-so-clear surveillance image, and the person in it is wearing a mask.
Based on the photo, the man appears to be about 1.75 meters tall, weighing around 140 pounds, with a relatively balanced physique.
"Who exactly is this?"
"Captain Li, take a look at this woman."
After watching the surveillance footage that Li Xiang brought back from the property management, they immediately called him over to see.
"This woman, and the woman withdrawing cash in Lantian, do they look like the same person from their body shapes?"
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately gathered around.
"Don’t say it, but they really do look quite similar."
"If that’s the case, then Li Xiaofang’s disappearance and Shen Youlin’s abduction case are likely orchestrated by the same group of people."
From the surveillance brought back by the property management, the person selling the house is definitely not Li Xiaofang herself, but the woman in the footage, although wearing a mask, looks similar in physique and walking posture to the woman who withdrew Shen Youlin’s 750,000 yuan cash in batches three years ago in Lantian City.
If these two women are indeed the same person, then the case from three years ago finally has a new lead.
"It seems that Shen Youlin’s case back then is indeed related to Li Xiaofang. It’s just unclear why this wasn’t discovered back then. Everyone should review the investigation on Li Xiaofang from those years, don’t miss any clues, especially regarding the man."
Li Xiang waved his hand, setting the tone for the case, and the investigation team immediately started focusing on Li Xiaofang.
"Save the photos of the man from the footage on your phones, and immediately investigate this man’s identity based on Li Xiaofang’s social connections. They must know each other, I don’t believe none of Li Xiaofang’s friends know him."
Investigating this suspicious man’s identity through external surveillance requires more manpower and resources than the current investigation team can provide.
Especially when working outside their jurisdiction, their capabilities are limited.
Starting with Li Xiaofang’s circle of friends is much easier. Of course, the premise is that these two must know each other and have a relatively good relationship.
In the following days, the investigation team focused all their efforts on Li Xiaofang and that mysterious man.
Eventually, they found a nurse at the hospital who had worked in the same department with Li Xiaofang three years ago and obtained a lead from him.
"This guy, it seems he dated Li Xiaofang."
"When did this happen?"
Yang Ming spent a lot of time in the hospital, asking all the nurses who had interacted with Li Xiaofang when she was a nurse there and later transferred to other departments, until someone offered a clue.
"Four years ago, Li Xiaofang and I happened to be on duty in the Oncology Department. At that time, he seemed to be accompanying his mother for treatment, and Li Xiaofang was taking care of his mother. They got to know each other over time and eventually developed a romantic relationship. He often came during her night shifts to bring mangoes and nutritional drinks. It should be him."
Due to the mask-wearing individual in the photo, the nurse wasn’t entirely certain, but even so, Yang Ming and the others became very excited.
"Do you remember what his name was?"
"I think his last name was Ma, but I really can’t recall his full name."
"Are there still records of the hospitalization?"
"You’ll need to check with the medical records department. You should go find them."
"Alright, thank you."
With the lead, Yang Ming immediately went to the medical records department, identified himself, and said to them, "I want to retrieve the files of an Oncology Department patient from four years ago. Her son’s last name is Ma."
"Do you know the patient’s name?"
"No, I don’t."
"You don’t know the patient’s name, just that the family’s last name is Ma. How am I supposed to find that? Do you remember the bed number?"
"No, I don’t."
"The exact date of hospitalization then?"
"No, I don’t."
"..."
With little information, the medical records department staff were at a loss.
"You know nothing, how am I supposed to check for you?"
"Take your time, it can be found."
"I’m so busy, okay, wait here." The staff said as they went back to check.
Indeed, the medical records department was busy; in the short time since, several waves of patients’ family members came to retrieve medical records. They were busy to begin with and helping you out of turn is already quite nice, yet you know nothing, making the search difficult.
But Yang Ming’s identity was clear, and assisting the police was a civic duty. A bit of hard work was inevitable.
Two junior nurses spent over two hours searching through the archives and found 8 cases that met the conditions. They weren’t sure which one it specifically was, so they handed all of them to Yang Ming.
"We’re not entirely sure which one you’re investigating, we found 8 cases meeting your criteria. Here they are, take a look."
Yang Ming took the medical records, glanced at the dates and names, as well as family signatures, and confirmed they all fell within that time frame. He nodded and thanked them, "You’ve worked hard, sorry for the trouble."
"It’s alright, it’s our duty."
Yang Ming brought the copied materials back to the investigation team, and everyone immediately began investigating these 8 materials.
"Luckily, there are only 8 materials. Everyone can divide the work; it shouldn’t be a big problem."
"Alright, let’s search these people in the household registration database to see if there are any matches."
Actually, sorting through these medical records is quite simple. Just input the patient’s household registration information into the database and compare to see if there are any matches. The database contains age, gender, weight, height, etc., making for few true matches.
"Captain Li, look at this person."
At this moment, Qi Liyan approached Li Xiang with a medical record in hand.
"This person is named Ma Chengjun. Four years ago, he brought his mother to Fuhui First People’s Hospital for breast cancer treatment in the Oncology Department. Under Li Xiaofang’s care, she recovered well, and based on the household registry, Ma Chengjun matches the characteristics we’re looking for."
"Bring out Ma Chengjun’s file, let us take a look."
"Already done. Ma Chengjun is 43 this year, graduated from junior high, went to Myanmar in 1993, returned to China in 2008, and worked in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Anhui, but none of the jobs lasted long, totaling a year and a half, and then there was no social security record."
"He went to Myanmar? Do we know what he did in the 15 years he was there?"
"It’s not in the file, not known for now."
"Forget that for now, immediately start a secret investigation into Ma Chengjun. I want to know his current whereabouts and what he’s doing."
"Understood."
With the detailed information about Ma Chengjun, the police’s investigation proceeded rapidly, quickly determining Ma Chengjun’s residence.
However, when the investigation team secretly arrived at Ma Chengjun’s address, they found the place long abandoned.
Ma Chengjun resided in Najia Village, his home a small bungalow, seemingly dilapidated with age, one side of the wall on the verge of collapsing.
The rusty iron gate secured with a small lock.
"Captain Li, this house seems uninhabited for years."
The entrance to Ma Chengjun’s house was overgrown with weeds and many spider webs in the corners, clearly showing the owner had not tended to it for a long time.
"Ask the nearby neighbors to see if anyone knows about it."
"Yes."
The team scattered to conduct interviews with the surrounding residents.
"Ma’am, hello, we are from the police department, here to ask about something. Do you know Ma Chengjun?"
"Oh, him? He’s been the village troublemaker since he was young, never learned good habits. Grew up, went abroad, played mercenary for over a decade."