SFTD -Chapter 376 White Spots Reappear (Part 17)

Zhou Hai’s expression tightened.

“What old man?”

Zhang Yu became nervous again at Zhou Hai’s reaction and tried hard to recall.

“At that time, Dong Bin was hospitalized for comprehensive regulation of stomach and liver-gallbladder issues. His condition was quite special—he had allergic reactions to many medications, so his hospital stay was quite long. That’s why I paid extra attention to him.

I remember it hadn’t been many days after he was admitted when an old man came looking for him. The old man barged in aggressively. He didn’t even ask anyone—he went straight to the nurses’ station, looked at the name tags for a while, then headed directly to Dong Bin’s ward. From the way he acted, he seemed very familiar with the hospital layout and rules.

But he was wearing a hiking jacket with the hood pulled down, and all you could see was a gray beard around his mouth. His face was completely hidden.”

Zhou Hai frowned as he looked at Zhang Yu, judging the truth of his words.

“You couldn’t see his face—how do you know he was an old man?”

Zhang Yu looked embarrassed. This man didn’t speak much, but every time he did, he immediately picked out loopholes or issues in others’ words. Talking to him was exhausting. Still, complaints aside, he had to explain clearly.

“When he was walking toward the ward, I saw him from behind. His beard was gray-white, and his hair was also white, shoulder-length, slightly curly.

When he entered the ward, even though he kept his voice down, I could still hear him shouting, as if he was scolding Dong Bin. A nurse was worried something might happen and kept watching for a while, but soon after, the old man slammed the door and left.

After that, every few days he would come again, sometimes bringing Dong Bin things.

But his legs didn’t seem normal—he walked with a slight sway from side to side.”

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes. This description felt vaguely familiar, as if he had seen someone like that somewhere before—but the thought vanished in an instant. He sighed helplessly and continued.

“He came many times?”

“I don’t know the exact number, but I saw him four or five times. At first he came angrily every time. Later he calmed down. When he came afterward, he would sit in front of the ward’s laptop and seemed to be discussing something with Dong Bin.”

Zhou Hai turned around and looked at Xu Biao.

“Did you find any laptop at Dong Bin’s workshop or home?”

Xu Biao shook his head.

“No. There was only an old desktop computer in the office—no laptop at all.”

If Dong Bin used a laptop during hospitalization, it meant he likely had the habit of storing his research or designs on it so he could access them anytime.

Then the question was—where was the laptop?

It wasn’t at the scene. It wasn’t at the workshop. It wasn’t at home.

Was it taken by the killer?

If so, the killer must be someone familiar with Dong Bin—or someone who sent him something and was afraid deletion alone would leave traces.

Zhou Hai was startled by his own thought. After reconsidering it, it didn’t seem impossible. It looked like they really needed to speed up the communications tracing team—the progress was too slow.

Zhou Hai gestured to Da Liu, who took Zhang Yu to another table to record his statement. No matter how hard Zhang Yu tried to recall, he still couldn’t remember the old man’s appearance.

At that moment, Pang Chunmei was brought in.

Unlike Zhang Yu, she showed no panic. After entering the meeting room and glancing at Zhang Yu and Da Liu sitting nearby, she followed the officer and sat in front of Zhou Hai.

“Doctor Pang, please sit.”

The address made Pang Chunmei take a second look at Zhou Hai. Zhou Hai then placed another sheet of paper on the table—it contained the names and information of Zhu Lerui and Yu Lele—and pushed it toward her.

“Don’t be nervous. When I asked my staff to invite you, I told them to be polite. I just want to talk with you and your husband.”

“Do you recognize these two patients?”

Pang Chunmei took the paper and looked at it, thinking for a moment. These two patients were indeed quite special. She quickly nodded and pushed the paper back.

“I know them. They were both my patients. Zhu Lerui came in critically ill. The fetus she was carrying had just been born when it died shortly after, and her nerve damage was also very severe. As for Yu Lele, there’s no need to say much—she’s all over the news.”

She tilted her head slightly toward Zhou Hai.

“Was there a medical accident? Or something else?”

Her first instinct, since police had come to ask about patients, was that something had gone wrong medically.

Zhou Hai’s fingers kept tapping the table. After a pause, he said:

“They are all dead. I want you to recall—was there anything unusual about them? Anything hateful, or behaviors that made people dislike them?”

The amount of information in his words made Pang Chunmei pause for a moment. After a brief hesitation, she regained her calm expression.

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes. This woman’s mental resilience was impressive. However, her earlier surprise didn’t seem fake—even the most skilled person couldn’t fake pupil reactions; that was involuntary.

Pang Chunmei thought for a moment and spoke directly.

“Zhu Lerui had personality issues. Although losing a child was a huge blow to her, she often treated her mother-in-law very badly—beating and scolding her was common. It felt like she was venting.

I remember once during ward rounds, I was examining her when her phone rang. A chat message popped up saying: ‘Dear wife, you’ve suffered. Big brother will make it up to you—just tell me what you want!’

But at that moment, her husband and mother-in-law were both standing next to me. Zhu Lerui looked at me several times.

I didn’t say anything, but I was very disgusted with her. She was pregnant and still fooling around outside. Worse, that message suggested the child might not even be her husband’s. It really shattered my worldview.

As for Yu Lele, I don’t want to say much—there are too many rumors about her.”

Zhou Hai nodded.

“So these are things you personally saw. Did you ever mention them to others?”

Pang Chunmei bit her lip, thinking back.

“Yes. During a department dinner, we talked about infidelity. I mentioned this incident then. Everyone was very angry after hearing it—some had also heard similar things and added more details.”

Zhou Hai pressed his lips slightly.

It seemed that Zhang Yu and Pang Chunmei weren’t the only ones in the hospital who knew about these five patients’ morally controversial behavior—almost everyone had heard something. That narrowed the scope further.

These two couples could likely be ruled out as having motive.

But who else would be interested in this information?

If Zhang Mingquan’s statement was correct—these people “deserved to die”—then who was the one who decided they deserved to die?

Who was behind all this?

Zhou Hai felt extremely frustrated. He signaled the others and walked out of the meeting room.

Xu Biao followed immediately. He could see it clearly—Zhou Hai was stuck.

A killer who could plan so meticulously… how could he leave obvious clues?

Xu Biao took out a pack of cigarettes and handed one to Zhou Hai. Zhou Hai lit it and took several deep puffs.

“I think this person is right beside us—but I can’t find any trace of him. This feeling is fucking unbearable.”

Before Xu Biao could comfort him, Zhou Hai’s phone rang. It was Zhang Wenqi.

Zhou Hai glanced at Xu Biao and immediately answered on speaker.

“Zhang Wenqi, did you find something?”

Zhang Wenqi sounded excited.

“Leader, we found several transfers in Dong Bin’s rural credit union account. From 2010 to now, there are more than twenty transactions totaling over five million yuan.”

Xu Biao was shocked.

“So much?”

Zhou Hai crushed his cigarette and immediately became serious.

“Have you traced the source of the funds?”