SFTD -Chapter 206 Mystery in the Blood (Part 3)

Vice President Ye looked at Zhou Hai in shock, then a trace of disdain appeared on her lips.

“You understand endoscopic surgery? These procedures have extremely strict operating standards. After all, the surgery is performed under a microscopic field of vision. Our hospital’s technology in this area is among the most advanced in the province.”

Zhou Hai did not get angry. He simply nodded seriously.

“I once worked at Stanford University Hospital. It was one of the earliest hospitals to adopt endoscopic surgery, so I’m very familiar with both its advantages and drawbacks. So we can skip over that part. Right now, I just want to speak with the surgeon who performed the operation and review the complete surgical recording.”

Vice President Ye stared at Zhou Hai, clearly astonished by what he had just said. With such an impressive background, why would someone choose to become a forensic doctor? It was beyond ordinary understanding.

“You’re a doctor. Why become a forensic examiner?”

Zhou Hai easily understood the meaning behind her gaze. He stood up, walked to the desk, and casually looked around the office.

“First, my family chose this profession for me.

Second, I believe I’m better suited for this work.

For example, judging from the masculine style of your office décor, you were promoted to vice president less than a month ago.

Your clothing is immaculate. The edges of your nails are perfectly trimmed, and even every strand of hair is carefully arranged. Yet you keep these succulents, which means they were left behind by someone you loved deeply.

The base of the ring finger on your left hand is slightly thinner than the one on your right hand, and there’s a faint pale mark around it. You must have divorced less than six months ago.

And on your desk, there is only one black photo frame. The smiling young man in the picture—judging from the shape of his front teeth—is your son. But he passed away not long ago, earlier than your divorce.

Returning to work so quickly and even earning a promotion means you once placed great hopes in your family and invested a tremendous amount of energy into them. Your husband betrayed you, and you also blame your son’s death on his negligence.

See? Don’t you think I’m better suited to being a forensic examiner?”

Zhou Hai lightly tapped the desk with his fingers, calmly speaking each deduction in rhythm with the tapping.

After hearing all of this, Vice President Ye collapsed into her chair, her eyes filled with shock.

Only after a long moment did she gradually recover. She lifted a hand to smooth away nonexistent loose strands of hair by her ear, then looked back at Zhou Hai. The sharpness in her eyes had diminished, replaced by a faint mistiness.

“Your observational skills are good enough to make people angry.

My son graduated from Ludong University last year. During summer vacation, he went on a self-driving trip to Sichuan with several classmates.

But he never came back.

The traffic police and the forensic report concluded that he died from drunk driving. I resent my ex-husband for encouraging him to get a driver’s license and secretly buying him a car. Without that indulgence, my son wouldn’t have died.

These succulents were brought home by him after graduation. They’re the only keepsake he left me.”

Zhou Hai let out a long breath, straightened himself, and gave Vice President Ye a slight nod.

“I’m sorry for making you relive such painful memories. I wasn’t trying to embarrass you or expose anything. I only wanted you to understand that we are professional forensic examiners. I simply want to determine this victim’s cause of death.”

Vice President Ye nodded, suppressing the grief in her eyes. She stood up and put on the white coat hanging from the rack.

“Alright. Let’s go to Hepatobiliary Surgery.”

The two opened the office door and walked out. Xu Biao and the other two, who had been pressing themselves against the door trying to eavesdrop, nearly tumbled into the room from the sudden movement.

Zhou Hai shot the three of them a warning glance.

Following Vice President Ye, the group headed toward the Hepatobiliary Surgery Department. Before they even reached the doctors’ office, the head nurse hurried over from the nurses’ station.

“Good afternoon, Vice President Ye!”

“Mhm. Is Director Peng not here?”

“Director Peng is in surgery. Judging by the time, he should be finishing soon.”

“There’s no need to find him. I just want to know about someone named—”

Zhou Hai handed a slip of paper to Vice President Ye.

“Yang Ye. Which doctor is responsible for a male patient named Yang Ye?”

The head nurse had a good memory. After leading everyone into the doctors’ office, she quickly located Yang Ye’s medical file and handed it to Vice President Ye.

“This is Yang Ye’s file. He left the hospital this morning. He said he would come back in a couple of days to complete the discharge procedures.”

Vice President Ye flipped through the file once before handing it to Zhou Hai.

Sure enough, the surgery had been performed yesterday at 10:00 a.m. That meant Yang Ye had remained under observation for less than twenty-four hours after the operation. If they pursued the matter seriously, the attending physician would not escape responsibility.

At the bottom of the page, the attending doctor’s name was listed as Dong Chengwen.

Zhou Hai immediately looked up at the head nurse.

“Is Doctor Dong Chengwen here?”

The head nurse noticed that Zhou Hai had suddenly spoken up, while Vice President Ye beside him made no objection and was also looking at her. After thinking for a moment, she pointed toward the doorway.

“Doctor Dong is right there!”

Sure enough, a man in dark green surgical scrubs stood at the entrance. His hair was soaking wet, droplets still falling from it. Hearing someone call his name, he hurriedly pulled a pair of glasses from the pocket of the white coat draped over his arm and put them on.

Seeing several police officers and Vice President Ye all looking at him, he appeared completely baffled and pointed at his own nose.

“You’re looking for me?”

Vice President Ye nodded.

“Doctor Dong, come here for a moment. Forensic Doctor Zhou has a few questions he’d like to verify with you.”

The man paused briefly before continuing into the office. He put on his white coat, grabbed a towel, wiped his hair carelessly, then tossed the towel over the back of a chair and sat heavily in front of Zhou Hai.

“Ask away.”

To behave so casually in front of the vice president meant this man’s background was probably quite extraordinary.

Zhou Hai placed Yang Ye’s medical file in front of Dong Chengwen.

“Was Yang Ye your patient?”

“Yes. I performed surgery on him yesterday.”

“What surgery?”

“Minimally invasive gallbladder removal.”

“Then did you discover that he had a duplicated bile duct? Also, why was there only a stapling clip on one side of the superficial arterial connection, while the other artery had no clip at all?”

Dong Chengwen froze. He instantly lowered his crossed leg, his face filled with shock and confusion.

“What kind of joke is this? Of course I knew he had duplicated bile ducts. During the operation, I used the stapler to clip both sides. You can check the surgical recording. All endoscopic surgeries have corresponding video records saved.”

“Then why wasn’t it documented in the medical record?”

Zhou Hai threw the file onto Dong Chengwen’s body.

Dong Chengwen flipped through it.

“Hey, Forensic Doctor, be reasonable, alright? Everything’s electronic medical records now. I had back-to-back surgeries without even a break, so I didn’t finish updating the file yet. Is that some kind of crime? Wait… tell me first—what happened to Yang Ye?”

“He’s dead. Yang Ye was found dead beneath an overpass this morning. The cause of death was hemorrhagic shock because there was no clip on his gallbladder artery. You killed him!”