Chapter 197: Chapter 196: The Secret on the Right Foot_1
Mr. Zhao’s words made a lot of sense, and Zhou Ning very much agreed with this judgment.
"Hmm, both are possible. The key is to compare them with the surveillance video."
Mr. Zhao kept working with his magnifying glass, carefully examining both inside and outside the window. Suddenly, he spotted a protruding nail cap below the window with a white object hanging from it, fluttering in the wind. He paused his actions and picked up the object with tweezers, observing it for a while.
"It’s not fabric, nor is it paper. It looks somewhat tough, and there are some words and vertical stripes on it... Wait, I know what this is. It’s the sticker on the telescopic handle of checked-in baggage that’s used for baggage check-in and registration."
Zhou Ning patted him on the shoulder, looking at Mr. Zhao.
"Well done. With the bloodstain and this, we can prove that the suitcase was moved out from here. This spot is just a little over three meters above the ground outside on the road, and it wouldn’t be very difficult to lower a suitcase using a rope or a strip of cloth."
Having said that, Zhou Ning glanced at the time.
"Their medical exams were not done at the Central Hospital, were they? Have the records still not been found?"
Mr. Zhao shook his head.
"You ask Mr. He about it. Mr. Tao went there yesterday afternoon, but for some reason, he didn’t get them."
Zhou Ning dialed Xu Dayuan’s cell phone.
"Xu Da, are all the figure skating team members at the gymnasium?"
"Yeah, what’s up?"
"I’m just asking because yesterday, Doctor Zhang was supposed to give me everyone’s medical exam reports. No one has brought them over here, so could you check with him, please?"
"Wait a second."
It wasn’t long before Xu Dayuan called back.
"They forgot about it. Just wait, and I’ll have someone send it over to you. Did you find anything?"
"Yeah, we found a fingertip print outside window 201. It’s hard to discern, but it proves that the murderer definitely threw the suitcase containing the corpse out through the east window of the bathroom in room 201. That’s why the vehicles coming and going along the roads on both sides are key."
"Got it. We’ve found the surveillance cameras on both sides of the junction. Although there’s some distance, we can still see the vehicles entering and exiting. We are retrieving the footage now, and we’re fortunate that the hotel’s video storage is set to a special time frame – they only overwrite after 40 days."
It wasn’t long before Bai Ruixin came running up quickly. He wasn’t allowed into the crime scene, so Zhou Ning went downstairs and flipped through the files provided by Doctor Zhang.
In there, one person, one box – Xing Xiaoli, Wang Ying, and Tan Ran; three sets in total.
"The boss said to not bother with all those kids and the coaching staff, since they’re not related to the case," Bai Ruixin explained.
Zhou Ning quickly skimmed through Tan Ran’s file, which was very simple: copies of various medical examination reports. The evidence of her leg fracture was also reflected in the reports, and there were no disqualifications among the remaining biochemical indices.
When he saw the 2010 medical examination report, Zhou Ning paused. It mentioned that it was recommended to remove the steel nail from Tan Ran’s right metatarsal bone. There were no images, no detailed descriptions.
Flipping forward, there was no mention of this in the 2009 examination.
In the 2011 medical examination report, again there were no X-rays, no excessive descriptions, just the note "no abnormalities seen."
All examinations were conducted in January, which meant that after January 2009, Tan Ran had suffered an injury that required a steel nail in her foot. In the 2010 examination, it was suggested to remove it, and by the 2011 examination, no abnormalities were found.
Zhou Ning’s brow furrowed. A note just saying "hyperplasia" was too vague. At that moment, Mr. Zhao came running over with a laptop.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, Mr. He helped retrieve Tan Ran’s medical records, a huge compressed file. I’ve finished downloading it for you. I can’t make heads or tails of this stuff, though."
Saying so, Mr. Zhao had already placed the laptop on the passenger seat of the car, clicking to open the folder.
"Perfect timing. We’ve just gotten hold of the files from the team physician. If we had called to hurry Mr. He just now, we likely would have ruffled his feathers again," Zhou Ning remarked.
Mr. Zhao grinned.
"You know him, just not the greatest with words, but when there’s a problem, he’s a good guy to have around."
Zhou Ning smiled and nodded, leaning in closer to the laptop.
Corresponding with Tan Ran’s medical reports, there were X-ray exams from every year, along with CT scans, where Tan Ran’s leg fracture could be clearly seen. Zhou Ning enlarged the image, looking closely at Tan Ran’s foot.
The position of the bilateral malleoli shows significant hyperplasia compared to the other side, especially on the left dorsum of the foot, where the healing traces of fractures are visible on the two anterior distal metatarsal bones. Moreover, these two metatarsal bones are somewhat ’thinner’ and even appear ’lighter’ in color on the X-ray, as well as being slightly misaligned.
Zhou Ning checked the date; the examination was performed on January 17, 2011. The abnormalities seen in the X-rays couldn’t simply be replaced by a single line stating ’no abnormalities found’ in the medical record.
Flipping back a few pages, the examination on January 4, 2009, showed that Tan Ran’s foot was intact, which did match Doctor Zhang’s archive. However, there was no X-ray examination in 2010.
Having seen this, Zhou Ning immediately called He Shancun on his mobile.
"Hello, I’ve received the stuff you sent. Can you take a look at Tan Ran’s 2011 X-ray for me? Her metatarsal bones look really odd—they seem much thinner than the other side. It looks like the metal pins were removed a year ago, and there are no X-rays from 2010, right?"
"I knew you’d ask about that. When I was accessing the records, I noticed they were missing. I checked with the radiology department and clearly, the surgery wasn’t done here. There were no X-rays during the 2010 physical examination either. Looking at the condition of the metatarsal bones, she must have walked or exercised too soon after the fracture, causing dislocation, probably with nerve damage as well.
With her foot like that, her legs are likely to be uneven in thickness, and she probably walks with a slight limp. Of course, if she overexerts herself during physical activity, it could cause further damage. This can’t be corrected through training alone; it needs to be assessed whether she’s a candidate for secondary surgical repositioning.
Furthermore, looking at the lateral X-rays, you can tell that the injury originated from the dorsum of the foot. I don’t think it’s an impact injury because that would have caused a comminuted fracture. Her fracture line is relatively neat, but any force that could break the first and second metatarsal bones would inevitably damage the dorsal nerves."
"These nerve injuries are very difficult to repair, aren’t they?"
"Theoretically, post-injury surgery could reconnect them, but nerves are not like muscles and blood vessels. Even if you connect them perfectly, that doesn’t necessarily mean function will return. If she started exercising too soon, the consequences could be severe. I’ve seen too many patients like this."
Zhou Ning narrowed his eyes—perhaps this was the key point.
"This person is a figure skater; I think the sensations in her feet are extremely important. If the nerve damage is serious, it could affect her career, couldn’t it?"
"Brother, why are we still talking about sports? I’m telling you, as a normal person, you could tell by her walk. Even if she controls it, the movement would feel off. How could she not know?"
Zhou Ning hung up the phone and tapped on the computer screen. Mr. Zhao leaned in closer.
"Since we began the investigation, no one in the figure skating team has ever mentioned Tan Ran being injured. According to these archives, the injury occurred in early 2009, which was also when Xing Xiaoli stopped partnering with her. Obviously, they knew about Tan Ran’s injury. But how did she get injured?"
Zhou Ning closed his laptop and got into the car.
"Call Yang Xuetong and the others, have them continue the investigation here. Have them check the windows of the bathrooms on the 301, 401, and 501 floors again. We are going to the sports stadium to find Xu Da."
Mr. Zhao knew Zhou Ning must have thought of something. Without any nonsense, he started the car and sped off.
They arrived at the sports stadium within minutes and went up to the third floor. In a plain office, the technical staff were sorting through the surveillance. Zhou Ning glanced over, glad that there was no need to bother Mr. Qu again, as their last talk had been effective.
Just about to reach for his phone, Xu Dayuan approached from not far away, quickening his steps when he saw Zhou Ning.
"What is it, did you find something?"
As he spoke, Xu Dayuan had already closed the door; the group moved to a corner of the office, and Zhou Ning placed Tan Ran’s medical examination box on top of it.
"Mr. He retrieved their annual physical examination records, and there are some discrepancies with the archives provided by Doctor Zhang. Moreover, Tan Ran suffered a severe injury to her foot in 2009, resulting in a metatarsal bone fracture.
I talked with Mr. He, and looking at the later X-rays, her recovery was very poor. It seems she exercised too soon, which affected the healing process. The bones were misaligned, and it’s likely the nerves were also damaged. Not to mention the difference in leg thickness, the abnormality in her walk would be noticeable. However, the body was highly decomposed, so we couldn’t detect any abnormalities.
Since the investigation started, nobody has mentioned this, and around April or May 2009, Tan Ran stopped pairing with Xing Xiaoli and began training individually. Could this be related? Also, Mr. He and I analyzed it, and typically metatarsal fractures are caused by impact injuries, which are comminuted. But Tan Ran’s fracture lines are neat, which suggests she was injured by some sharp-edged object."
Mr. Zhao listened attentively. However, at the end of Zhou Ning’s analysis, he exclaimed in surprise:
"A sharp object, and clean-cut at that—could it be a skate blade?"
Zhou Ning paused, and Xu Dayuan’s eyes lit up.
"That analysis makes sense. As a figure skater, she would come into contact with skate blades routinely. I remember the speed skating team often gets cuts from the ice, and their clothing is made of special material."
Zhou Ning raised his foot, positioning it above Xu Dayuan’s, but didn’t bring it down.
"You have a point. However, an ice blade normally causes cuts. To inflict a fracture of this magnitude, the force of the stomp had to be great—it’s not as simple as just stepping down with force."
Mr. Zhao blinked his eyes, hand resting on the computer.
"Conspiracy theory for a moment—if Xing Xiaoli accidentally injured Tan Ran when they were still a duo, and given that Tan Ran had a liking for Xing Xiaoli, do you think she would tell others that she was severely injured by Xing Xiaoli?"
