Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Hospital Morgue! Unidentified Corpse
Every day, new lives are born, and every day, lives are lost.
In 2023, how many people died in a single day?
Twenty-seven thousand. On average, one person died every three seconds. Based on Haiyun Province’s population relative to the total, about two thousand people would die each day in the province where Jiangsan City was located.
In Jiangsan City, that number was roughly one or two hundred per day.
If that number were tied to profit...
"People are valuable. They’re valuable before death, and they’re valuable after death."
Inside the cold storage unit, Xu Huo crouched down, looked at the body, and stated this fact plainly.
After giving orders on where to search, Li Jianye, who was standing to the side, turned to Xu Huo and spoke with a frown.
"Genes?"
"Yes, genes."
Xu Huo nodded. The stuff had clearly marked prices on the black market.
The prices for Black, White, and Asian bodies were all different. Gender and age also divided the prices into various tiers. This was the trade on the bloody markets of the dark web.
As for what was done with the gene samples...
The notorious weapons of the last century were gradually becoming obsolete.
Targeted genetic weapons were far more difficult to defend against and incredibly efficient!
Li Jianye was stunned. He didn’t even know what the dark web was, so he was completely lost.
Of course, his confusion was understandable. In a past life, the dark web had only begun to emerge around ’03, originating from a communication technology used by the Bald Eagle Navy. After it became more widespread, the first darknet market, ’Silk Road,’ appeared, and things escalated from there.
In reality, however, the concept of the dark web could be traced back as early as 1969, to an email sent by a university student.
But regardless, very few people knew about it in this day and age.
"You can think of it as a black market,"
Xu Huo explained, and Li Jianye understood instantly.
"When a human body is sold, take the spine for example."
What could be done with a spine? A transplant? Obviously, medicine in ’03 wasn’t that advanced.
They make bags!
Not a code name for something mysterious, but literally making a handbag—the kind of bag girls like, along with shoes.
One past case involved a young person who was abducted abroad, then murdered for their bones. Their spine was used to make the strap for a handbag.
And the skin.
It would be turned into leather, possibly processed into a rug or a piece of clothing.
The most famous example is the scalp-leather shoes from the Western Country.
Yes, and they wouldn’t even spare the skin from the anus.
"So, a corpse can be very, very useful,"
Xu Huo said, explaining in detail.
Li Jianye was completely numb. The veteran detective, in his forties, had a look of utter disbelief on his face.
’Making bags out of people?’
’Even killing people specifically to make them!’
’Could humans really be this depraved?’
They could. Not only could they, but their bottom line could be even lower!!!
But even so, this sent shockwaves through Li Jianye, who was used to solving straightforward cases.
A few of the officers dispatched from the city bureau couldn’t help but look up at Xu Huo upon hearing this, then exchanged dumbfounded glances.
"The domestic market is different. Captain Li, you can investigate in your own way," Xu Huo said reassuringly.
Only then did Li Jianye breathe a slight sigh of relief. His brow furrowed as he turned his thoughts elsewhere.
He had sent Zhao Shui out.
He’d been dispatched at 3:30 PM to search for the so-called supply point!
These bodies couldn’t have been stored one by one. Leaving aside the varying degrees of decomposition that would cause, the risk of exposure and the cost of refrigeration alone would be unacceptable for an ordinary person.
Therefore, using this as a filtering criterion, a few locations came to mind.
Crematoriums, hospitals, cemeteries, university medical schools, and other similar areas.
It might take some time, but the search wouldn’t be too difficult.
Li Jianye didn’t plan to search the entirety of Jiangsan City for these places.
Based on the remaining fuel in the refrigerated truck, he deduced the fuel level when the old security guard found it, and then used the amount of fuel consumed to estimate the distance it had traveled.
Criminals are very cautious. The more cautious they are, the more they play it safe. They would have certainly filled up the tank before using the truck. It was unlikely they would stop at a gas station while transporting bodies. Plus, there were no spare fuel cans inside the truck, so...
They would conduct a thorough search within a radius equal to the travel distance, with the cold storage unit as the center!
It didn’t need to be precise; a rough estimate would suffice.
At the same time, he established a second line of inquiry: searching for the buyers!
No buyers means no sellers. That’s an immutable truth!
Li Jianye set his sights on ’ghost marriages’.
That practice was the main driver of this market in the Eastern Country!
Even if they couldn’t uncover everything, they could still find some very obvious clues!
And reality unfolded just as Xu Huo had predicted.
That evening, at seven o’clock!
...
With the full cooperation of the brigade and the city bureau, reinforced by support from the province, they identified three body supply locations in a short amount of time.
The place with the largest number of them was...
The hospital!
Jiangsan City Third People’s Hospital!
"There’s a huge problem with the body registration forms."
"The receiving personnel don’t match the forms from the crematorium."
At seven o’clock, the police swarmed the hospital. Dozens of police cars parked inside the compound or on the streets outside. Without disrupting medical services, they practically filled the entire building!
The hallways, the lobby, the offices—all were filled with figures in blue police uniforms...
And as one followed the concentration of personnel deeper inside, the source was revealed to be... the morgue.
"How much money did you take? Enough to make you do something like this."
In the morgue, all the police officers stood together. Xu Huo, Li Jianye, and the others were gathered around, looking down at the forms in their hands as Xu Huo spoke calmly.
Beside them stood several doctors—doctors in white coats who were supposed to save lives!
Two of the doctors looked completely bewildered, but the other three were shaking like leaves!
"Captain Li, what on earth is going on?" one of the older, high-ranking doctors asked Li Jianye with a frown.
"Hah. These two are quite something. Hidden assets of 240,000. And according to the transfer records, that’s just the total from the last year alone..."
Li Jianye’s eyes were dark; he didn’t want to explain any further.
"And that’s just what the police have found. It’s not even the full amount!"
The old doctor’s face went blank. 240,000 a year meant 20,000 a month. In 2003, an era when the average monthly salary in the city was one thousand, that was an amount an ordinary person would have to save for twenty years without eating or drinking...
And that wasn’t even all of it!
Suddenly, he seemed to realize something. His expression changed drastically, and he stared in disbelief at his students beside him.
’There’s no way they could have made that much money through legitimate means.’
’And if the police came straight here to check the bodies, then it could only mean...’
"Talk. Don’t test the police’s patience!"
Li Jianye’s voice was laced with anger.
Although murder had been ruled out and the nature of the case had changed, their superiors were still watching... They had to deliver a perfect result!
More than a dozen police officers stared intently at the two.
An indescribable pressure filled the morgue. The cold, damp air seeped into their bones, and a feeling of suffocation gradually crept over them.
The two men found it increasingly difficult to breathe, until...
SNAP!
It was as if the sound of a mental barrier shattering rang out, unheard. The next moment, a voice spoke.
"O-one thousand."
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