Chapter 45: Joining the March 30th Task Force

The autopsy report was handed over to Ji Baiwei at two o'clock in the morning.

There was good news regarding the investigation into the victim's identity.

"Root canal treatment?" Ji Baiwei flipped through the report, noting that the victim had no wounds, no obvious bruises, and no signs of sexual assault.

The method of the crime was straightforward: driven by some motive, the perpetrator had suffocated the victim using a soft fibrous object.

Jiang Haichuan nodded: "We found glass ionomer cement filling on the proximal surface of one of the victim's teeth. This is a common filling material used in root canal treatments, indicating the victim had undergone a root canal."

"Thanks for your hard work, Old Jiang."

With the autopsy report in hand, Ji Baiwei headed straight to the case-handling office.

Root canal treatments are dental procedures, and patient records are kept whether performed at a clinic or a hospital. This provided a crucial direction for the investigators to screen.

Pooling resources to focus on a single objective, the special investigation team would visit and screen all dental clinics and general hospitals across Gu'an District after dawn. If no matching patient was found, the scope would be expanded to the entire city.

At seven-thirty in the morning, Han Ling and Zhang Silei returned to the Wanglou Police Station after finishing their shift relief. The former was immediately informed that the branch bureau had requisitioned him and was ordered to report to the special investigation team at the branch bureau without delay.

Out of so many personnel at the station, only Han Ling was requested, which showed that his performance since joining the force had earned full recognition from the branch bureau.

"The case is critical. Put all your abilities to use; this is also an opportunity for you. Go ahead without worries, and the Wanglou Police Station will always be your backing."

Station Chief Tao Guowei patted Han Ling on the shoulder, while Zhu Yue, standing nearby, nodded encouragingly at him.

"Understood, I'll be off then." Han Ling prepared to leave.

"Drive there. The station will assign a car for you."

"Alright, thank you, Chief Tao."

At eight o'clock, Han Ling drove the police cruiser to the branch bureau. As soon as he stepped out of the vehicle, he saw the police dog unit assembling and preparing to depart. Their furry colleagues were well-trained, neatly jumping into the Iveco vans.

These Iveco vans had been specially modified, equipped with canine compartments inside.

Judging by this formation, they were likely heading to the body-dumping site.

A police dog's olfactory sensitivity far surpasses that of a human; even if a corpse has decomposed, they can isolate target scents from complex environments.

If physical evidence had been left near the scene, the police dogs should be able to find it.

This was precisely the reason for protecting a dump site—detectives would return repeatedly to check for omissions and fill any gaps.

Watching the police dog unit depart, Han Ling entered the branch bureau.

The criminal investigation brigade was on the second floor. Upon arrival, Han Ling learned that the special investigation team was in a meeting. Guided by a colleague, he walked up to the meeting room door, knocked, and went inside.

There were many people in the conference room, roughly twenty by a glance. Aside from the First Squad, the others must have belonged to different squads or units.

Personnel might have been drawn from other police stations as well.

Since he had been guarding the scene until late last night, his tardiness was understandable.

Seeing Han Ling, Ji Baiwei, who was seated at the head of the table, called out, "Take a seat anywhere. We're about to get down to business; we're currently assigning tasks."

"Yes, sir."

Han Ling looked around and, seeing Tong Feng gesturing to him with his finger, walked over and sat down next to him.

This was no time for casual chatter. The conference room was quiet, with only Ji Baiwei's voice echoing.

"The victim underwent a dental root canal procedure. Our target today is to screen all dental clinics and hospitals across the entire Gu'an District."

"Including the townships, Gu'an District has a total of 248 dental clinics and 12 hospitals. The areas have just been assigned, and operations will begin immediately after this meeting."

With that, Ji Baiwei looked at Han Ling: "Han Ling, your Wanglou Police Station will be responsible for screening your own jurisdiction. Old Tao can arrange the personnel himself. The screening must be completed before four o'clock this afternoon, ensuring the information is accurate with no omissions whatsoever."

"Any dereliction of duty discovered in the future will be dealt with severely!"

"You can pick up a copy of the victim's basic profile later."

Han Ling acknowledged the order: "Understood, Captain Ji."

Before nine o'clock, Han Ling returned to the police station and conveyed the branch bureau's instructions to Station Chief Tao Guowei.

Within the jurisdiction, they needed to search for a female who had undergone a root canal procedure, aged twenty-seven to twenty-nine, one meter sixty-five in height, with long hair.

Tao Guowei did not dare to take the matter lightly, immediately assigning the station's police officers to divide the area into zones to achieve complete coverage.

Han Ling paired up with Zhang Silei once more and drove away from the station.

The screening work commenced, setting the entire district into motion. At noon, everyone grabbed a quick, casual bite, having no time for a lunch break before resuming their tasks.

Judging by records from clinics and hospitals, female patients made up the majority of those undergoing root canals, mostly aged between twenty and forty—the peak demographic for related dental diseases.

This invisibly increased the workload for the police officers.

Would there be any harvest? No one knew. Once Gu'an District was fully screened, the scope would expand to the entire city. If they still came up empty-handed, they would have to find a way based on the composite sketch.

Perhaps they would conduct interviews based on the sketch, or perhaps they would issue a widespread missing person/body recognition notice until the victim's identity was confirmed.

Whether the case could be solved was another matter entirely; they certainly couldn't remain ignorant of who the deceased actually was.

An adult female goes missing, and with no one reporting it for such a long time, it at least indicated that the victim's interpersonal relationships were relatively simple, with very few people tracking her whereabouts.

"Was the victim raped?" Zhang Silei couldn't help asking during the screening.

Rape-murder was one of the possibilities.

Han Ling replied, "I don't know. As soon as I got to the branch bureau, tasks were assigned; I didn't see the autopsy report."

Zhang Silei uttered an "oh."

The time ticked toward three in the afternoon.

Han Ling received a call from Tong Feng, stating that the screening team had found a patient matching the criteria at a certain clinic. Through in-depth questioning, her identity had been basically verified.

The rest was just a matter of validation.

Hanging up the phone, Han Ling took out his walkie-talkie to instruct everyone to wrap up operations. He first dropped Zhang Silei back at the police station before rushing to the branch bureau.

In the conference room.

The projector was switched on, displaying the woman's profile.

Hou Jiarou, twenty-seven years old, married, a native of neighboring Yifeng City, working as a real estate sales agent, and living right here in Gu'an District.

Real estate sales was notoriously a profession with high personnel turnover; some people quit after just a couple of days due to low entry barriers, unstable income, and intense work pressure in certain places.

Given this background, it wasn't surprising that Hou Jiarou could be absent from work for an extended period without anyone paying much attention.

However... Hou Jiarou was married, and her husband hadn't reported her missing—that simply didn't make sense.

Ji Baiwei spoke up: "Through the X-rays and dental photos provided by the clinic, it has been confirmed beyond doubt that the deceased is Hou Jiarou."

"Four tasks: First, notify Hou Jiarou's parents to come and identify the body. Second, immediately go see Hou Jiarou's husband, Yang Qi, question him thoroughly, and observe his reactions. Third, visit the real estate agency where Hou Jiarou worked to gain an in-depth understanding of the situation. Fourth, audit Hou Jiarou's call logs and online chat history."

"Old Hu, take a team to the real estate agency. I'll go meet this Yang Qi."

"And... Han Ling, since you and Tong Feng are classmates, join Ark's investigative team and come with me to see Yang Qi."

Han Ling nodded: "Alright."

A wife goes missing and her husband doesn't report it. Logically speaking, Yang Qi currently bore major suspicions of committing the crime and should have been summoned to the bureau immediately; some aggressive investigators might even have arrested him outright.

However, his police academy training told him there was a reason Ji Baiwei wasn't rushing.

If summoned directly, Yang Qi would have ample time to prepare his phrasing and alleviate his psychological pressure. If approached and questioned abruptly, he would be prone to slipping up under the haste of the moment.

Once a problem was spotted at that point, they could naturally adapt to the circumstances on the fly.

Yang Qi had to be brought to the bureau anyway; appearing before him beforehand was a way to take things step by step.

"Not reporting it for such a long time?"

Han Ling mused inwardly.

"Either he didn't do it, or he has a very solid excuse. We probably won't be able to pry much out of him right away either."