Special Forces Medic

"Director Lin, I'm taking this person away." Xiao Lin returned to the director's office and unhesitatingly issued his command.

"Young Master Xiao, this person is not an ordinary individual; he's linked to the 'Black Crow' organization. For us police officers, he's an important clue."

Due to work considerations, Lin Zhifang was reluctant to hand Xiang Fei over to Xiao Lin. To him, the chances of capturing someone from the 'Black Crow' higher-ups were nearly nonexistent. Now with such a promising opportunity at hand, failing to make good use of it and causing a big stir would jeopardize his position.

Recently, pressure from the municipal committee has made him see his position precariously rocking; he could be kicked out at any moment. If he fails to crack a big case soon, it could be a crisis for him. And now this successive murder case might be related to 'Black Crow', isn't this an opportunity? So inwardly, he was unwilling to let Dragon Soul handle Xiang Fei.

"Heh, Director Lin, the transfer orders will be delivered to your office by tomorrow. The person will be picked up this afternoon."

"This..." Lin Zhifang wanted to say more, but Xiao Lin's piercing gaze stopped him.

"The police station may be secure, but you can't keep that person inside safe. If anything goes wrong with him, you'll have to answer to me."

A drop of sweat began to trickle down from his forehead. Lin Zhifang felt humiliated, feeling like a grandson in front of a young lad while being nearly fifty years old. Alas! He couldn't help but sigh.

"Director, I've brought the tapes back." Wu Shuang breezed into the office like a gust of wind, holding several tapes. Her uniform always looked impeccable on her. Xiao Lin couldn't help but glance at her a few times, ready to leave.

"What are you doing here?" Wu Shuang saw Xiao Lin first, her right eyebrow involuntarily raised high.

"Just visiting Director Lin." Looking at the tapes in Wu Shuang's hand, they should be the surveillance tapes from the crime scene.

"Are these tapes from the murder scene?" Xiao Lin took a box and weighed it in his hand, reading the words 'Second Crime' written in marker on the tape's surface.

Wu Shuang snatched the tape back, her eyes warning: "This is internal data; don't mess around with it!"

Xiao Lin laughed, suddenly finding this woman showing a cute side.

"Alright, alright! Director Lin, I'll take my leave now."

"Wait!" Lin Zhifang suddenly stopped Xiao Lin, using a tissue from the table to wipe the sweat off his forehead: "I want your opinion on this serial murder case!"

"Director!" Wu Shuang protested, her face slightly flushed: "He's a doctor, not a policeman. Our current case isn't a usual crime. According to police regulations, this severely violates confidentiality protocol."

"Officer Wu, if I say it's okay, then it's okay." Lin Zhifang suddenly turned stern, pushing her towards the office's projection area while beckoning Xiao Lin, his face carrying a hint of ambiguity.

"If there's an issue, I'll take responsibility."

"There's no harm in looking!" Xiao Lin was very curious about this case, sensing that it might be a fuse, eagerly anticipating the footage on the tapes.

Hearing Lin Zhifang say this, Wu Shuang was unwilling, but she didn't say anything further.

The machine emitted a clicking sound as the tape rotated. Despite modern technology, the equipment preserved today tends to be classic and durable, just like the refurbished old-style VCR they had before them. After undergoing numerous innovations, it still served its purpose. On the one hand, it was cost-effective and had high reuse value. Though not as portable or abundant in storage as modern devices, it remained a practical choice for smaller enterprises.

The screen first showed a corridor where people occasionally came and went. Housekeeping attendants pushed carts back and forth in the rooms. Wu Shuang pressed fast-forward, setting the time to around 2:15 AM. The footage gradually emptied, with no one passing through for a long time.

"This corridor is the sole entry and exit path from the crime scene," Wu Shuang explained to the screen.

At this point, a man came out of a door, walking with a tough gait. His height was around 1.74 to 1.82 meters, wearing a dark blue down jacket and jeans. After passing by the camera, the man returned to the camera view, and the image was frozen.

"This man appeared at the crime scene, wearing the same clothes." The footage continued, showing the person entering the elevator.

"According to the service desk receptionist's recollection, this man arrived near midnight with a woman, claiming he didn't have his ID, and registered the room with the woman's name." Wu Shuang loaded another tape into the machine, showing a panoramic view of the lobby.

The man left the elevator without approaching the service desk, heading straight out of the hotel. Similar footage appeared in subsequent tapes.

"Wait!" Xiao Lin suddenly stopped Wu Shuang from changing tapes: "Rewind the previous tape about five minutes."

"Why?" Wu Shuang felt utterly perplexed. She had watched these tapes at the hotel at least three times and hadn't noticed anything different.

"Xiao Wu, rewind and take a look," Lin Zhifang, sitting on the sofa, also hadn't discovered any problems. However, because of Xiao Lin's status, he trusted his words completely.

The tape was reinserted, and Wu Shuang rewound it for about five minutes. The screen showed a man walking out of the elevator, saying a few words to the girl at the service desk, then pulling up his collar.

"Right here!" Xiao Lin shouted, startling the two people beside him. "Director Lin, can you capture this footage and put it on the computer to enlarge it?"

"Yes, we can!"

Lin Zhifang reviewed the footage again but still didn't see any issues. He called in Xiao Chen from the technical department, but the result was that it couldn't be done with this old equipment. However, the footage could be enlarged through image settings, although it would be very blurry due to pixelation issues.

"Xiao Wu, has the information on this person come out yet?" While the technical staff was fiddling with the machine, Lin Zhifang returned to his desk, took a sip of tea, and looked at the clock on the wall. Once again, he wouldn't be leaving work on time today.

"According to the information comparison, this person is not a local, about thirty years old, unemployed, living off odd jobs, residing outside the main area."

"Is it likely that no such person exists there?"

"It's this person, but he has been missing for some time. The person living with him reported that he's called Gao Taisheng, from Henan, working in Beijing for over a year. He hasn't been seen returning home since three weeks ago." Wu Shuang explained the investigation results to Xiao Lin, "A young man sharing a room with him once said that three weeks ago, he claimed that his good days were coming, and generously handed over a thousand yuan, saying it was rent paid in advance."

"Out of nowhere, receiving a sum of money." This plot is quite cliché, and now the outcome for this person can likely be imagined.

"I've already sent someone to track this person's whereabouts."

"Officer Wu, if I may, I think you could try searching along the moat, or in the wilderness, mountains, and forests. You might find something there," Xiao Lin said calmly.

"What do you mean?" Wu Shuang raised an eyebrow.

"I suspect the person you've tracked down is already dead."

"How could that be? Then who is the person on the footage?" Wu Shuang could not believe it.

"It's not him. If you don't believe me, you can go check those places first." Xiao Lin focused on the screen as the image was being enlarged. He never looked at Wu Shuang, but his calm tone seemed as certain as a prophet.

"What evidence do you have to prove you're right?"

"First, from a standard criminal's mindset, have you ever seen a murderer so conspicuously appearing in public?" Xiao Lin shook his head helplessly, this woman seemed to enjoy contradicting him, "Second, you said Gao Taisheng disappeared three weeks ago, while the incident took place at dawn yesterday. He reappears on camera, a person who once claimed to have acquired a large sum of money; what reason would he have to commit murder?"

"Money!" Hearing this, Wu Shuang confidently smiled, "All the hotel staff insisted that the woman accompanying that man at the time was holding a glass jar filled with a lot of money, which was not found at the crime scene afterward."

"Ah, killing for money! That's a reasonable motive." Xiao Lin nodded in agreement with Wu Shuang's deduction, "I think any man who's been to a bar knows what those dancing girls' glass jars are for. If a customer is willing to buy your time, they will throw money into the glass jar, meaning that the money was put in by Gao Taisheng."

"Hmph, you sure know a lot!" Wu Shuang turned her head in dissatisfaction, murmuring quietly, "Men, none of them are good."

"However, your explanation isn't impossible. The murderer could have taken back the money he paid after a sexual transaction." Xiao Lin didn't ignore Wu Shuang's opinion on men's behavior, and the impulse to laugh slowly faded as he focused on the image, "The key is here."

He walked to the screen, drawing circles with his finger on the man's neck and collarbone area: "The footage shows this man appearing in the same way three times, wearing the same clothes and making the same motions, but have you noticed any differences?"

The technical department staff arranged three images side by side, and the differences became apparent to Wu Shuang and Lin Zhifang.

"It's the collar opening issue." Wu Shuang was the first to point out the difference: "But what does that prove?"

"When the killer reappeared for the third time, there was a snowfall, and when he exited the hotel lobby, he pulled up his collar. Look at his wrist."

"It's a tattoo!" Lin Zhifang was closest to the screen, so when Xiao Lin pointed out the wrist, he immediately saw the edge of the colorful tattoo showing through.

"According to your earlier description of Gao Taisheng, he's just a migrant worker in Beijing. You need to know that a typical tattoo costs anywhere from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand yuan, and this person's tattoo is colorful, a price no regular worker could afford." (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)