SFTD -Chapter 205 Mystery in the Blood (Part 2)

Fengzi and Xiao Liang had already removed the victim’s clothes. Three adhesive bandages were stuck to the man’s abdomen, causing Zhou Hai’s eyes to narrow.

Had he just undergone surgery?

One by one, the small bandages were removed, revealing three tiny crescent-shaped wounds arranged in a semicircle.

“Judging from the placement, this was a laparoscopic gallbladder surgery. The upper-right and lower-left incisions were for the operating handles, while the middle one was the main surgical access point for the gallbladder procedure. The sutured wounds haven’t scabbed over yet, so the surgery was most likely performed less than twenty-four hours ago.”

Xu Biao froze. “You can be discharged in less than twenty-four hours?”

Zhou Hai nodded. “If there’s no seepage or high fever within twenty-four hours after surgery, patients can go home and rest. But instead of resting properly, he went on a business trip. That’s a bit…”

He didn’t finish the sentence. Taking the scalpel Xiao Liang handed him, he made a straight incision down the body. But the moment the blade passed the sternum and reached the upper abdomen, a huge surge of blood suddenly poured out, catching everyone off guard.

Zhou Hai’s movements never paused as he continued opening the abdomen.

“Fengzi, collect the blood.”

Luo Yunfeng nodded quickly and got to work. The sheer amount of blood made everyone present tense up, yet Zhou Hai offered no explanation. Afraid of interrupting his train of thought, nobody dared ask questions.

Soon, Fengzi had suctioned away the visible blood. Instead of proceeding with a standard organ examination, Zhou Hai directly reached into Yang Ye’s body and began searching. Very quickly, he located the surgical site in the upper-left abdomen.

The victim’s anatomy was somewhat unusual. Yang Ye had a double cystic duct and two arteries. One artery had been securely clipped with three surgical staples, but no clip could be found on the other artery at all.

Zhou Hai cut out that section of vascular tissue and placed it into the bottle Fengzi handed over.

“Fengzi, finish the rest of the autopsy. Xu Biao, come with me to meet the victim’s family. Captain Chu, contact the hospital where Yang Ye had his surgery. This wasn’t a robbery homicide. It was medical malpractice. His surgeon killed him.”

At the same time as the autopsy, inside the interrogation room at the Changhe precinct—

The guy seen in the surveillance footage carrying Yang Ye’s briefcase sat in the interrogation chair. Xiao Zeng slammed the table and shouted at him:

“Don’t play dumb with me. You’re an old repeat offender. What did you do to this man? How did all his bank cards end up on you?”

The man flicked his dyed “shamate” hairstyle back with an incredulous expression, pounding the small table harder than Xiao Zeng himself.

“Hey, just because you’re cops makes you amazing or what? Don’t you have surveillance cameras and all those ‘Sky Eye’ systems? Why don’t you check properly? I just saw a briefcase lying on the ground and picked it up. Nobody was around. Was I supposed to leave the money there for ghosts?”

Xiao Zeng lost his temper. Kicking his chair aside, he strode over and grabbed the man by the collar. If one looked closely, the motion was almost identical to Chu Menghan’s style.

“Chen Xiaonan, don’t play games with me. I’m asking whether you saw this man or not. Theft can wait. Right now the man is dead. If you can’t explain yourself clearly, you’re a suspect, understand?”

Chen Xiaonan’s eyes widened.

“Dead? I didn’t kill anyone! But when I saw him crossing the pedestrian bridge, he was staggering around like he was drunk. By the time I chased him to the bottom of the bridge, he was gone, but the briefcase was still sitting on the steps, so I picked it up. I hadn’t even walked two steps before some guy behind me shouted at me. Scared the hell outta me! In a panic, I grabbed the cash and cards from inside, tossed the briefcase aside, and ran. That’s exactly what happened. Officer Uncle— no, Officer Big Brother —you’ve gotta save me! I really didn’t kill him!”

Xiao Zeng pulled out his phone and dialed Chu Menghan.

April 6th, 9:10 AM

Zhou Hai sat in the police car with Chu Menghan beside him when a phone suddenly vibrated.

“Hello? Alright, got it. Hand him over to the public security unit.”

After hanging up, she glanced at Zhou Hai beside her.

“They caught the pickpocket who stole the wallet. He said Yang Ye was already staggering when he saw him walking ahead. If your deduction is correct, Forensic Doctor Zhou, then Yang Ye was already failing at that point.”

Xu Biao leaned forward from the back seat, his face full of concern.

“Is Yang Ye’s wife reliable at all? Yesterday he had surgery and she didn’t even stay to care for him. Then today she lets him leave the hospital without stopping him?”

Chu Menghan shoved Xu Biao’s face back.

“Didn’t she say she had to take care of the kid? Besides, both Yang Ye and the attending physician said it was just a minor surgery and he could go home the next day.”

Zhou Hai nodded.

“Patients can indeed be discharged if all indicators are stable within twenty-four hours. But with blood pressure as low as his, allowing him to leave before even reaching twenty-four hours was negligence on the part of the medical staff.”

Chu Menghan glanced outside at their route and put on her cap.

“We’ll be arriving at Lu University Hospital soon. Once we get there, we’ll go directly to Vice President Ye. Secretary Zhao has already spoken with her.”

As they spoke, the car entered the hospital grounds. Xu Biao jumped out first. Chu Menghan looked puzzled at first, but seeing him waiting beside the car door, she immediately realized he was worried about Zhou Hai’s leg.

“How’s your leg?”

Zhou Hai smiled faintly.

“It’s alright. I’m just still not confident putting pressure on it when going up and down stairs. After wearing the cast for several days, the muscles got weak. It’ll recover after a while.”

Chu Menghan stared blankly at the slight smile on Zhou Hai’s lips.

Since when had he started smiling?

She lowered her gaze slightly and led the group directly toward the administrative building on the north side, though the loneliness in her eyes was caught by Xu Biao.

A short while later, they arrived outside the vice president’s office. Knowing Chu Menghan’s explosive temper, Zhou Hai glanced at the others.

“Can I speak with Vice President Ye alone?”

Negotiations were never Chu Menghan’s specialty anyway. Nobody objected, and they closed the door behind them.

Zhou Hai looked at Vice President Ye sitting before him. Surprisingly, she was a middle-aged woman who appeared to be only around forty years old. Retracting his scrutinizing gaze, he nodded politely.

“Hello, Vice President Ye. I’m forensic examiner Zhou Hai from the Southeast City Judicial Identification Center.”

Vice President Ye calmly gestured for him to sit. As she lowered her wrist, she casually picked up several succulent plants from the desk and placed them on the windowsill behind her.

“Please sit. I just received Secretary Hu’s call. He said you’re investigating a case and need our hospital’s cooperation?”

“Yes. The deceased was named Yang Ye. Judging from the healing of the wounds, he likely underwent gallbladder removal surgery here yesterday. We’d like to speak with the attending physician.”

Vice President Ye interlocked her fingers and tilted her head slightly with a faint smile.

“May I ask why?”

Zhou Hai pulled out his phone, opened his photo gallery, and pushed it toward her.

“The deceased had no external injuries. When he was discovered, he had collapsed into a landscaped area. During the autopsy, I discovered his anatomy was somewhat unusual—he had a double cystic duct. During surgery, only one artery was clipped with surgical staples, while the other was left unsealed.”

The calm expression on Vice President Ye’s face slowly disappeared.

“That’s impossible! Such negligence could never happen at our hospital. If that’s truly what you believe, then you’re free to pursue legal action against us.”

Zhou Hai stood and walked over to her desk.

“I believe that if we conduct the investigation ourselves, then even if this is medical malpractice, the scope of its impact can still be controlled to a certain degree. But if this proceeds through legal channels, the entire city of Southeast City will hear about it. Is that really what Vice President Ye wants? Besides, neither of us yet knows the full details of the deceased’s condition, and we haven’t even seen the medical records. Why don’t we first speak with the attending physician?”