CHAPTER 65: CHAPTER 65: THREE FINGERPRINTS

"There are quite a few records of breast augmentation surgeries; there are about a dozen each month."

The management at Tianmei International Plastic Surgery is relatively well-organized.

They have a dedicated patient records management office. Of course, this is what Wang Shuai thinks, but in reality, these records are managed by the sales department.

That’s right, the sales department.

In their words, customers are money.

A customer’s records are the key to unlocking their safe.

"Ages between twenty and forty, height around 1.66 meters, weight about fifty kilograms..."

The sales manager frowned deeply: "Most of our clients fit these physical criteria."

Although the customer data at Tianmei International Plastic Surgery is comprehensive, there is no search system.

For instance, you can’t just input a height condition and pull up a bunch of client data.

With no other choice, Wang Shuai had to pore over each record on the computer, one by one.

Because each record has corresponding post-surgery recovery photos.

If the person had indeed undergone surgery here, Wang Shuai could confirm their identity by the shape of the scars.

Of course, having worked on the front lines of investigation for over a decade, Wang Shuai knows all too well how low the success rate of such screenings is.

Perhaps a hundred screenings would not yield a single useful piece of information.

Take this screening at Tianmei International Beauty, for example.

There are six accredited hospitals in Haizhou City capable of performing breast augmentation surgeries.

And there are more than twenty beauty clinics similar to Tianmei.

With so many beauty clinics, and judging by the data from Tianmei alone, if there are more than a dozen breast surgeries a month, how long will it take to screen all the data?

It took Wang Shuai two hours to finish reviewing this year’s surgery cases.

As expected, there were no valuable clues.

However, it cannot be said that there were no gains at all.

In fact, from a certain perspective, Wang Shuai’s gains were quite substantial this time.

After reviewing over a hundred records, Wang Shuai felt as if he had seen a spectrum of human life.

The sizes, shapes, colors—Wang Shuai had never witnessed such diversity in his life.

This was the first time Wang Shuai found a computer screen so captivating.

Compared to the past, sitting in a dark, dingy basement watching surveillance footage, this screening felt heavenly.

It was quite enjoyable.

Unconsciously, another two hours passed.

Wang Shuai also screened last year’s breast surgery cases.

After sifting through nearly three hundred records, Wang Shuai gained a profound understanding of the doctors at Tianmei International Hospital.

Dr. Li Dan excels in inverted teardrop shapes.

Dr. Wang Hui specializes in round shapes.

Dr. Chen Song is proficient in teardrop and conical shapes.

Different needs yield different results, depending on the original conditions.

The more he researched, the more Wang Shuai found profound knowledge in this field.

Hmm?

The file he just flipped through was clicked open again by Wang Shuai.

"Scar position... size... shape!"

After verifying a few times, Wang Shuai was overjoyed!

"It’s you!"

Upon confirming that the post-surgery recovery photos’ scar in the records was identical to the scar reference provided to the action group by Lu Chuan, Wang Shuai immediately dialed team leader Sun Jun’s number.

"Leader, we’ve found the person... Yes... I’ll send the information to you right away!"

Three hours later.

In the painting of the girl in the wheat field, the owner of the human skin has been roughly identified.

"Zhang Zixuan, female, 24 years old, resident of Tianzhou City, an employee in the logistics management department at Haizhou Vocational Technical College."

Based on the records from Tianmei International Plastic Surgery, the action unit has gathered some basic information about the deceased.

"Wang Shuai has already gone to Haizhou Vocational Technical College for a field investigation. Zhang Zixuan took a 23-day leave for family visits before the October holidays."

"Currently, Zhang Zixuan is still on leave, so the school hasn’t reported her missing."

"Have you contacted her family?"

Qin Yong listened to the report while reviewing the file on Zhang Zixuan sent by Wang Shuai from the school.

"Yes, but Zhang Zixuan’s parents said she hasn’t returned home."

"They also weren’t aware that she took a family leave."

"In Haizhou City, Zhang Zixuan rented an apartment alone. Our people have already gone to her place with no major findings for now."

Qin Yong nodded instinctively; gathering this much information in such a short time is no easy feat.

"Alright, the next step is to focus on Zhang Zixuan’s personal relationships."

"I need to know who Zhang Zixuan recently interacted with, if there were any grudges, how many boyfriends she’s had, whether she’s currently single, what her relationships at school are like, everything!"

The spread of information about the skin-in-painting case was much faster than Qin Yong expected.

It was the weekend yesterday, and there were quite a few visitors at the exhibition hall.

The situation at the time didn’t allow for any confidentiality measures to be implemented.

Of course, practically speaking, it wasn’t necessary either.

All staff at the exhibition knew about the skin painting.

Now, the news has spread across social media.

The Haizhou Art Exhibition featured a piece of human skin.

Such a topic is bound to cause a sensation regardless.

So this morning, Song Jiangguo from Haizhou City Public Security Bureau visited the Criminal Investigation Team with Wang Kai once again.

A special task force was formed, and they listened to related reports.

Fortunately, Lu Chuan uncovered some characteristic clues, and Wang Shuai’s luck was quite good too.

At least now, the identity of the skin’s owner has been determined.

Things are much easier moving forward.

If the perpetrator sealed the victim’s skin in a painting, there must be a special motive.

This significantly reduces the likelihood of a crime of passion.

The task force should follow Zhang Zixuan’s personal relationships; it might lead to discovering some clues.

Crime Scene Investigation Lab.

Lu Chuan’s fingerprint collection work was also nearing completion.

Lu Chuan was doing the final softening treatment on the resin paint overlaying the skin.

The specially formulated softening solution could soften the resin without causing damage.

This will make fingerprint collection easier and more complete.

Yang Sen was assisting Lu Chuan.

Last night, the fingerprints Lu Chuan extracted from the frame were abandoned by Yang Sen and Old Bai for comparison.

As for the intermittent fingerprints collected on the paint, the two didn’t even bother to look.

"Where did you learn all this?"

Yang Sen watched Lu Chuan concoct the softening solution and collect fingerprints from the resin paint step by step.

"Met an old professor during school who made significant contributions in fingerprint collection, taught me a few tricks."

Lu Chuan spoke to Yang Sen while keeping his eyes glued to the resin in the softening solution.

This softening needs to be precise—too hard, and it’s impossible to collect; too soft, and the fingerprints get destroyed.

For many things, it’s not the harder the better.

"Where can I meet this professor of yours, I’d like to..."

Before Yang Sen could finish, he saw Lu Chuan extract the resin paint film: "Done."

The subsequent fingerprint collection was relatively simple; exposure to a 367-nanometer laser wavelength revealed faint purple ridges before them.

"Brother Yang, take a photo; the development time here is short, only about twenty seconds."

Half an hour later.

With three fingerprint photos in hand, Lu Chuan returned to the office.