sjar Chapter 1086 The Deceased's Identity is Confirmed
Chapter 1086 The Deceased's Identity is Confirmed
The fluorescent lights in the information center emitted a buzzing sound. When Xiao Zhou slammed the autopsy report of the severed limb onto the table, dark red tissue fragments were still embedded in the creases of the paper. "Focus on screening males, 35-40 years old, with an old fracture in the left upper limb, long-haul truck drivers who have been missing for nearly a week," he said, his fingernails digging shallow marks into the words "mechanical asphyxiation." "Zhang Lin said the deceased had intermittent loss of pigmentation in his hair, possibly indicating a chronic illness; add that as well."
Technician Xiao Li's fingers froze on the keyboard as the missing persons information on the screen scrolled like a waterfall: "Brother Hui, there are 1783 registered missing long-distance truck drivers nationwide this year alone, 426 of whom fit the age range, plus the one with a fractured left upper limb..." He suddenly slammed the mouse down, "The system crashed! This crappy server can't handle so many filtering conditions running at the same time."
As the backup computer started up, the chassis emitted a wheezing sound. Xiao Zhang, clutching a cup of instant noodles, stirred the noodles with a fork, creating foam: "I've been sitting here since 3 PM, my eyes are practically crossed." He pointed to a blurry ID photo on the screen, "Look at this Wang Jianjun, he fractured his left arm, but the photo is from ten years ago. We don't even know how fat he is now, how can we compare?" Instant noodle soup spilled onto the keyboard, and as he hurriedly wiped it, he mistakenly changed the filter from "truck driver" to "taxi driver," instantly displaying over two thousand irrelevant messages on the screen.
Xiao Zhou's phone vibrated on the table. It was a supplementary report from forensic doctor Zhang Lin: "The fibers in the nail folds of the limb are pure cotton double-ply 15-count yarn, commonly found in truck tarpaulins." He copied this information onto the whiteboard, and when the pen tip passed over the name "Wang Jianjun," it suddenly stopped—under this name was written "driving a Jiefang J7 truck, running the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei special line," and the quartz sand component that Zhang Lin found in the muscle of the limb matched the sample from a quarry in Tangchuan.
"Export the missing drivers on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei route separately," Xiao Zhou snatched Xiao Zhang's instant noodle fork and drew a range on the screen. "Focus on whether any have been reported missing in the last three days." The database progress bar was stuck at 98%, like an eye that refused to open. Xiao Li rubbed his cramped shoulder, hissing in pain: "It's been like this ever since the system upgrade last week. Last time I investigated a theft case, it took four hours just to wait for the data to load."
At one in the morning, the printer in the information center suddenly spat out a piece of paper—a list of names automatically generated by the system using fuzzy matching. The name "Wang Kaisheng," ranked third, was half-obscured by ink. Xiao Zhou scraped away the ink with his fingernail; his birthdate was July 12, 1985, falling right into the 35-40 age range. "Check his file," his voice trembled almost imperceptibly, "Does he have a record of a fracture in his left upper limb?"
Xiao Li's finger hovered over the Enter key: "This person's registration says 'fracture of the midshaft of the left humerus,' caused by a car accident five years ago while delivering goods in Shanxi. This matches what the forensic doctor Zhang said about 'healing time of 5-8 years'!" He clicked on the attached medical examination report, "And this, last year's medical examination revealed a stomach ulcer, and he has been taking antacids for a long time, which is consistent with the characteristics of 'stage-like pigment loss'!"
The information center suddenly fell silent, with only the server fans still humming. Xiao Zhang kicked the instant noodle container under the table, grabbed the mouse, and zoomed in on Wang Kaisheng's ID photo: "Look, he has a mole behind his left ear. The severed limbs aren't up to his head or neck, but..." Before he could finish, Xiao Zhou interrupted him: "Check his missing person report!"
Police records show that Wang Kaisheng's wife, Zhou Lan, reported him missing three days ago, saying that her husband had gone missing after driving a truck with license plate number Ji A?3872 to Tangchuan to deliver goods. "The truck model is a Jiefang J7," Xiao Zhou pointed to the screen, "the same model as Wang Jianjun's, and the tarpaulin is also made of 15-count pure cotton fabric produced by a factory in Shijiazhuang." He suddenly grabbed the phone, "Have Xiao Wang check the truck's GPS track and find its last known location!"
When Zhou Lan answered the phone, she heard a child crying on the other end. “My husband’s left arm really isn’t working well,” she said, her voice trembling with sobs. “Last year he was hospitalized for a stomach ulcer, lost twenty pounds, and his hair was falling out in clumps. The doctor said he wasn’t getting enough nutrition…” Xiao Zhou interrupted her, asking about Wang Kaisheng’s watch. Zhou Lan suddenly raised her voice: “He wears a silver mechanical watch, which we bought for our tenth wedding anniversary. There’s a small chip in the crown because he always uses it to pry open truck doors…”
These words struck the information center like a bolt of lightning. Xiao Zhou grabbed a photo of the watch from the severed limb; sure enough, there was a crescent-shaped notch in the crown, perfectly matching Zhou Lan's description. Xiao Li trembled as he pulled up Wang Kaisheng's DNA file—a blood sample had been collected three years ago due to a traffic accident. The gene sequence map on the screen now perfectly overlapped with the test results of the hair follicle epithelial cells from the severed limb; all 16 STR loci were a perfect match.
"Found him!" Xiao Zhang suddenly jumped up, causing his chair to spin halfway across the floor. "Wang Kaisheng, *A?3872 trailer truck, the last GPS signal appeared at a highway service area at 2:17 AM three days ago, after which the signal disappeared!" He pointed to the service area's surveillance screenshot, "Look, he was wearing dark blue overalls, and the worn cuffs match the fiber wear pattern on the watch chain of his severed limb!"
The fluorescent lights in the information center suddenly flickered, illuminating the walls covered with photos and data. Xiao Zhou slumped into a chair, his shirt soaked with sweat. Xiao Li rubbed his red eyes and stuffed Wang Kaisheng's file into an evidence bag: "Brother Hui, this comparison database's filtering system really needs changing. Just the 'left upper limb fracture' line alone has kept us stuck for two hours." Xiao Zhang threw his soaked instant noodles into the trash can: "I feel like throwing up whenever I see the words 'truck driver.' I never want to touch an information database again."
But the complaints were quickly replaced by the urgent ringing of the phone. Xiao Wang shouted on the other end, "Brother Hui, the service area's surveillance cameras caught Wang Kaisheng arguing with a lame man. The man is wearing a black hoodie and carrying a utility knife—it matches the dismemberment tool characteristics that the forensic doctor Zhang described!" Xiao Zhou grabbed a photo of Wang Kaisheng. In the photo, the long-haul truck driver was smiling at the camera, the mole behind his left ear gleaming light brown in the sunlight, completely unaware that he would be found in such a tragic way.
As morning light streamed through the information center window, Xiao Zhou had already compiled all the matching evidence: Wang Kaisheng's medical examination report matched the chronic disease characteristics of the residual limb, the medical record of the left humerus fracture was consistent with the forensic inference of healing time, the DNA profile was a 100% match, and the unique notch in the watch was irrefutable proof. While Xiao Li was scanning and archiving this evidence, he suddenly pointed to the repair records of Wang Kaisheng's truck: "He replaced the tarpaulin three months ago, and the manufacturer's serial number is exactly the same as the production batch of the residual limb fibers!"