Chapter 23: Why Target Only the Elderly?

In truth, no one could say for certain whether the stain was human blood; it was so faint that if they hadn't been standing right next to the vehicle, they would never have noticed it.

Tang Hua hesitated. He wanted to say it might not be human blood, but since Cen Lian was the one sitting beside him, he knew anything was possible.

"I’m going to call Captain Tan." Cen Lian thought for a moment, deciding they needed to intercept Hu Tingting immediately.

As Tang Hua continued to drive, he watched Cen Lian dial Tan Tonghui’s number.

"Captain Tan, we’ve spotted an SUV on the road with blood on the trunk. The license plate is..." Cen Lian provided as much detail as possible and, after hanging up, sent over the photos of the vehicle.

In the office, Tan Tonghui felt a moment of hesitation. He could see the stain in the photos, but his first instinct was to wonder if it was animal blood. However, once he looked at the final report for the Yang Xu case on his desk, his resolve hardened.

"Liang Xuan, take Yuan Chenxi and a few auxiliary officers and prepare to head out." Tan Tonghui glanced at the empty office; this was all the manpower the Third Squadron could spare. With the Yang Xu case just closed and the Sun Xiaoyu case entering its most critical phase, the entire squad was working around the clock, leaving no one to follow up on a new lead. Still, handing the case over to another squad felt wrong, so he decided to mobilize the last of his available team to intercept the car.

Cen Lian was unaware of Tan Tonghui’s plans. He and Tang Hua spent the afternoon visiting the homes of more patients from the admission records, but they found nothing new. It seemed that Lin Xiangyuan’s "casting a wide net" approach was selective.

The third floor of the inpatient department was the cardiology ward. Most patients were elderly and had children staying with them constantly. The "Auntie Yang" they had first met was the youngest and most self-sufficient, requiring little care. This made Lin Xiangyuan’s objective clear: he was looking for an elderly person who was easy to deceive yet capable of basic self-care.

"He really targets the elderly," Tang Hua remarked with disdain while eating. "I just heard from Qi Yan that they found the person who sabotaged the oxygen system in the ward. He’s a seventy-two-year-old man from six years ago. He was hospitalized for coronary artery sclerosis, but he was still sharp. He’d been brought from the countryside for treatment and hadn't had much schooling. He saw Lin Xiangyuan and, thinking he was an educated man, trusted him completely. That’s how he ended up tearing out the oxygen supply lines inside the wall. He was too afraid to tell the police after the accident, fearing he’d be arrested."

Cen Lian mused that such elderly individuals were indeed the easiest to manipulate.

"By the way, Yuan Chenxi sent over Lin Xiangyuan’s pre-marital medical report. You were right—he was in the secondary stage of syphilis at the time," Tang Hua added, recalling the situation. "It looks like our theories are holding up."

Cen Lian wasn't surprised.

Tang Hua sighed, feeling frustrated. "The connection is so strong, yet we still can't definitively name him as the killer."

"We still need direct evidence. We've finished our side of the investigation, and I heard that Forensic Doctor Lin from the squad has gone to the funeral home to re-examine the body. Come with me to the funeral home." Cen Lian checked his watch, guessing that the autopsy hadn't started yet.

The body had been frozen for six years. Even if they started thawing it early in the morning, it might not be fully thawed by evening.

"A six-year-old corpse—it must be a skeleton by now, right?" Tang Hua asked, hesitant.

"Not necessarily. For a frozen body, the skin and some organs should still be intact, though they won't have much anatomical value." Cen Lian didn't know much about forensic science; he had only audited a few elective courses out of curiosity during his school days.

"The way you put it, that sounds even creepier than a skeleton." Tang Hua shivered. It wasn't that he was afraid of corpses, but he had never encountered one that had been frozen for six years. Still, his curiosity was piqued, so after dinner, he drove his battered Santana with Cen Lian to the funeral home.

There was a dedicated autopsy room there. After asking a staff member, they were directed to the door. Unexpectedly, there were two bodies on the autopsy tables—or rather, one and a quarter bodies.

Captain Tan was certainly efficient. In just one afternoon, he had already intercepted the car and sent the quarter-body remains to the funeral home.

"Are you Cen Lian?" A tall woman emerged from the changing room, identifying them by their badges.

"You must be Forensic Doctor Lin. A pleasure to meet you," Cen Lian said politely.

Lin Xiangqi looked at him and sighed. "Most people know you for catching criminals, but I know you for making me work overtime at the funeral home in the middle of the night." She turned to the freshly thawed body on the table. "I’m Lin Xiangqi. Given the current pace, we’ll be seeing a lot of each other, so no need for formalities."

Cen Lian only felt an inexplicable sense of guilt when facing this tall, athletic female forensic doctor who clearly spent a lot of time in the gym. Tang Hua, standing beside him, nearly burst out laughing.

Cen Lian had heard of her from Wu Qiushan. She had transferred to the Kang'an Municipal Bureau at thirty after passing a selection exam from the county bureau in the impoverished Yanghan City of Yunling Province. She was a known overachiever, later assigned to the Taishan District sub-bureau to replace a retiring veteran. At just thirty-two, she already had one second-class merit and two third-class merits to her name. Wu Qiushan held her technical skills in high regard.

Cen Lian held a great deal of respect for her.

"Dr. Lin, can we still find any trace evidence on Sun Xiaoyu’s body?" Cen Lian asked, getting straight to the point.

"I sent the clothes she was wearing at the time of her death to Wu Qiushan at the Municipal Bureau. Ask him for the results," Lin Xiangqi said, putting on her mask unhurriedly. "Your current theory is to find hair or skin flakes left by the killer on the body, right? I saw the pre-marital exam—is the suspect you’re looking at suffering from syphilis?"

"Yes, some have noted that his hair loss and skin shedding are quite severe," Cen Lian replied, relaying Auntie Yang's description. "We’ve locked onto the killer, but we lack direct evidence."

Lin Xiangqi nodded. "Understood, but don't get your hopes up—the body has been frozen for six years." She lowered their expectations.

Tang Hua leaned over to look at Sun Xiaoyu’s body. It wasn't the skeleton he had imagined; it looked more like a freeze-dried corpse with the internal organs hollowed out.

"The re-examination will take some time. If you’re bored, help me open that bag with the remains," the forensic doctor said, glancing up before returning to her work.