SFTD -Chapter 403 White Spots Reappeared (Part 44)

Sister Zeng looked completely confused. “Prosthetics? There weren’t any prosthetics!”

Xiao Liang shouted from the truck, “Brother Hai, the prosthetics and specimens are all inside! I’ll have people move them down now!”

As he spoke, he called over the security guards and several forensic technicians to help move the crates aside. Sure enough, at the very back sat an enormous box. Four grown men worked together to lift the massive crate down.

Xu Biao, who had rushed out after them, quickly had someone bring over a trolley and transport the box back to Autopsy Room No. 1. Zhou Hai turned toward Sister Zeng.

“Sister, many of the bottles inside contain unnamed drugs or semi-finished compounds. Identifying them won’t be easy, and the workload will be huge…”

Sister Zeng waved her hand dismissively. “Leave it to me. Our lab won’t delay your work. We’ll get you a report as soon as possible. Director Pang is personally overseeing things in the lab right now—those youngsters are all fired up.”

Zhou Hai nodded gratefully. “Alright, thank you for the hard work.”

After speaking, he followed Xu Biao and the others back into the autopsy room. By now, Zhao Xinli had already finished taking photographs and had compiled the liver tumor images, X-rays, and pathology slide photos onto a USB drive.

“Boss, I’ve already organized the victim’s pathology information. Let me go with the team to investigate the hospitals. I’m more familiar with this stuff.”

Zhou Hai thought for a moment before turning toward Fengzi and Xiao Liang.

“You two go as well. Copy several more sets and split up to search. That’ll be much faster.”

Hu Nan interrupted him.

“I’ll send a copy to my colleagues at the provincial department and have them check several major hospitals. If someone wanted to hide their illness, it’s more likely they would seek treatment at the provincial level. After all, several hospitals in our province are among the best in the country in this field.”

Zhou Hai nodded.

“That possibility is even higher—and much more discreet.”

While the two were talking, Xu Biao and Zhang Wenqi had already arranged all the prosthetics and specimens onto two flat carts. In an instant, the entire autopsy room was packed to the brim.

Zhao Xinli, Fengzi, and Xiao Liang left. After Hu Nan sent the email and followed it up with a phone call, she walked with Zhou Hai toward the carts.

Only after examining them carefully did they realize that every prosthetic had detailed markings on the inside: dates, serial numbers, problems, hardness, internal and external materials. The earliest date recorded was 1993.

But at that time, they could barely even be called prosthetics. They resembled silicone gloves more than anything else. The materials were either too hard or too soft, and the color was unnaturally pale.

Only the models produced after 2000 had begun approaching perfection. The artificial skin had greater elasticity and realism. Even age spots and wrinkles looked lifelike. Some even had implanted body hair and pores, making them nearly impossible to distinguish by sight or touch.

Among them were also items that weren’t prosthetics at all, but patches of artificial skin—burns, cuts, freshly stitched wounds, and similar injuries.

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes slightly. These looked somewhat similar to the props used in film productions, except their realism was on another level. After all, doctors understood wounds in every stage of healing far better.

None of these pieces had production dates or markings on the back, but there were a huge number of them—forty or fifty in total. At the very bottom of the crate were two cylindrical objects wrapped tightly in packaging bags.

Zhou Hai bent down and pulled them out. Hu Nan helped him carefully remove the wrapping. The shape immediately made everyone tense up. Based on Zhou Hai’s theory, they had been searching for an arm all along, and these long, curved objects certainly resembled arms at first glance.

Zhou Hai worked faster and ripped open the outer white wrapping first. A nearly flawless artificial arm appeared before their eyes. Everyone behind him sucked in a sharp breath.

As the bag was fully pulled away, they saw the hand on the right arm. The fingers were curled like chicken claws, covered in scars. Raised scar tissue and even the contours of missing muscle were perfectly replicated.

Only Zhou Hai and Xu Biao had ever seen Yang Duxiu up close. Zhou Hai had even grabbed Yang Duxiu’s hand before, and the sensation was unforgettable.

The uneven surface of the skin, the cold touch, the hard nodules, and the softness of the palm—all those sensations existed simultaneously in a single hand. And this hand had fooled a forensic doctor. What kind of courage and confidence did that require?

Zhou Hai pulled open the connector at the upper end of the prosthetic arm. Sure enough, inside was a control rod and a harness system meant to strap over the shoulder. As long as someone secured it properly to their body, adjusted the shoulder height, and practiced a bit, they could control the arm.

Xu Biao pursed his lips and tried hard to recall.

“Hai-zi, I remember when we first met Yang Duxiu, he always kept his right hand in his pocket. That’s why we noticed him in the first place. Even later, when we went to check the archives, he still acted the same way. Now that I think about it, it wasn’t because the arm looked terrifying—it was because he couldn’t move it like a normal arm. That little control rod had very limited mobility.”

Zhou Hai didn’t argue. He checked the inside of the prosthetic but found no markings there either. Only then did he turn his attention toward Hu Nan.

The final layer of wrapping she was working on seemed especially sturdy, and she was cutting it open carefully with a knife. Seeing Zhou Hai looking over, she sounded slightly anxious.

Zhou Hai reached over to help her tear away the final layer. There was no need for detailed comparison this time. Just from the control mechanism alone, it was obvious this prosthetic was far more advanced. It even came with an electric remote-control system, though the remote itself had no batteries.

Zhou Hai carefully examined the prosthetic fingers. The craftsmanship was even more refined, and the materials had clearly improved. He then turned around and retrieved the victim’s severed arm, placing the two side by side on the trolley.

Everyone gathered around to examine them carefully. After what felt like a very long time, they finally straightened up.

Hu Nan’s face was filled with shock.

“This is unbelievable. It really can pass for the real thing. Earlier I thought maybe you all had simply overlooked something. I kept wondering how such an obvious flaw could have gone unnoticed. But looking back now, I was oversimplifying things. According to Forensic Doctor Zhou’s analysis, the real Yang Duxiu may actually have had a perfectly intact right hand!”

Zhou Hai handed the prosthetic to Xu Biao and glanced at him and Zhang Wenqi.

“Try your best to recover fingerprints or skin flakes from these items. If you find anything, compare them immediately.”

Xu Biao nodded quickly. “Got it. We’ll start right away and compare them with the victim afterward.”

Zhou Hai shook his head.

“Yang Duxiu got a new ID card last year. That database should contain fingerprint records—compare against those instead. As for the DNA, compare both the real and fake Yang Duxiu.”

Though he had no idea what Zhou Hai was planning, Xu Biao still nodded vigorously.

“Alright. I’ll get more people to help. We’ll start collecting samples now and finish everything tonight. I’ll also speak with Sister Zeng in a bit.”

Zhou Hai pulled Hu Nan upstairs and entered the office. He walked to the whiteboard and pulled down the projection screen hanging over it.

Hu Nan stared at the screen and whiteboard in astonishment. Without any explanation, it was obvious that together they mapped out the entire sequence of the three serial murder cases.

Just as Zhou Hai was about to begin explaining, his phone suddenly rang.

He pulled it out and saw that the call was from Chu Menghan.

Zhou Hai’s expression tightened, and he quickly swiped to answer the call.