SFTD -Chapter 87 Don’t Insult Beasts (Part 8)

The First Affiliated Hospital, Burn Department.

Xu Biao had taken a nap on the way and was now fully recharged.

On the road, Zhou Hai had received a call from Captain Huang, saying they had already investigated the household opposite Zhao Baogui’s home. Their son was currently undergoing surgery, and the elderly couple was staying at the hospital taking care of him—no possibility of committing the crime.

Captain Huang kept pressing Zhou Hai about what they had found. Zhou Hai didn’t answer, and after reluctantly asking for Zhou Hai’s location, Huang hung up and rushed over.

Suddenly, Zhou Hai remembered the bag of rodenticide (tetramine) that had been sent for testing that morning and called Sister Zeng.

“What now?” Sister Zeng asked.

Zhou Hai felt a bit embarrassed, especially since he was on speakerphone.

“Sister Zeng, I wanted to ask if the bag of rodenticide I sent this morning has been tested?”

“Oh!”

“That’s already been done. The indicators are consistent with the rodenticide found in the bodies of the two victims in the 11.3 case. It can be confirmed they are from the same batch.”

“Thank you, Sister Zeng.”

After hanging up, Zhou Hai’s unease grew stronger. He let out a long breath and walked into the burn department doctor’s office.

The attending physician for Zhang Chunyan looked up and nodded slightly. The man was briefly stunned, then quickly greeted him with a smile.

“Hello, you must be Forensic Doctor Zhou, right? Captain Huang already called me and said you were coming.”

Zhou Hai nodded. “Hello.”

“By the way, I saw the news on my phone about the girl’s house fire. Recently, reporters have been coming to our department constantly asking about Zhang Chunyan’s condition, but they’ve all been stopped by the police.”

“They can’t get any information, so they’ve started making things up. It’s really infuriating.”

“So… are you here to confirm what happened with Zhang Chunyan?”

“I’ll take you there.”

Zhou Hai shook his head. Seeing that there were no other doctors or nurses in the room, he sat down beside the doctor and signaled to Xu Biao.

Xu Biao pointed outside. “I’ll go talk to the officers on duty.”

He stepped out and closed the door, leaving only Zhou Hai and Dr. Jiang in the office.

“Dr. Jiang, I need a favor,” Zhou Hai said.

“Please help me arrange for two gynecologists to conduct a bedside consultation for Zhang Chunyan.”

“She needs a genital examination. If there are any fresh or old tears in the hymen, I also want a vaginal swab for smear and culture.”

“I also need her fingernail samples. Please have a nurse trim her nails, then use swabs to collect material underneath them for testing.”

Dr. Jiang froze, his mouth slowly opening.

“You… you don’t mean—”

“You suspect—”

Zhou Hai looked him in the eye and nodded firmly.

“Based on our interviews with local residents, we’ve found some clues. We need verification here.”

Dr. Jiang stared at him, inhaling sharply as realization hit him.

“You suspect… who is it? Her father?”

“No. Not her biological father. Her stepfather.”

Dr. Jiang immediately picked up his phone, called several gynecologists, and carefully explained the examination requirements. He also arranged for the ward nurse to accompany them, framing it as a full-body cleanliness and injury inspection.

After arranging everything, Dr. Jiang returned to the office. After a long hesitation, he looked at Zhou Hai and asked:

“So what you mean is… the child was raped by her stepfather, and that’s why she set the fire that killed her mother and stepfather?”

“Then this child… wouldn’t she be—”

Zhou Hai didn’t respond.

“Sorry, I can’t disclose details of the case.”

Dr. Jiang quickly waved his hands. “It’s fine, I was just asking casually. But if that’s really the case, we definitely can’t let reporters find out. Otherwise, who knows what nonsense they’ll spread.”

“This child’s life would be completely ruined. I’ll have the nurses keep her medical record strictly confidential.”

They say doctors are compassionate by nature. Zhou Hai looked at the softened expression on Dr. Jiang’s face and nodded slightly, patting his shoulder.

“You’re very thoughtful.”

Just then, several female doctors pushed the door open. In their hands were two long sealed test tubes and a plastic bag containing fingernail samples.

The expressions of Zhou Hai and Dr. Jiang both turned serious.

The doctors glanced at Zhou Hai in uniform, then at Dr. Jiang.

“The examination is complete.”

“This is Forensic Doctor Zhou. He requested the examination. It seems you already have suspicions?”

The older female doctor nodded.

“There are old hymenal tears, but also fresh lacerations in the external genital area, multiple areas of torn and scabbed injuries, along with vestibular gland inflammation and enlarged inguinal lymph nodes.”

“So we collected swab samples for testing.”

Zhou Hai stood up and looked at them.

“Can we perform direct microscopic observation? If sperm is found, I will need a DNA comparison.”

“Sperm?” the doctor said. “The girl has already been hospitalized for three days. Any sperm would have long since degraded.”

Dr. Jiang looked worried. “That’s also possible…”

Zhou Hai glanced at the doctors’ expressions and raised an eyebrow.

“I think… you didn’t actually collect vaginal swabs, did you?”

The slightly older female doctor smiled and nodded.

“You’re quite professional. We’ve handled many sexual assault cases before. Sperm in the vagina can survive 0–3 days, but in the cervical canal it can last 3–8 days.”

“We checked her admission time and directly collected cervical canal swabs.”

“Thank you very much,” Zhou Hai said.

In such conditions, sperm would degrade very quickly. The doctors left quickly with the test tubes.

Zhou Hai turned to Dr. Jiang.

“For the next two days, please keep a close eye on this girl. I think she will gradually understand why these examinations were done.”

Dr. Jiang froze. “You mean she might attempt suicide?”

Zhou Hai shook his head and looked out the window.

“If she truly wanted to die, she wouldn’t have locked the door that day. After all, she still has a younger brother to take care of.”

“Then how am I supposed to take care of her?”

“Since her biggest concern is her brother, then let them spend more time together—play games with them. Just make sure someone is always with her. And absolutely do not let reporters near her.”

Dr. Jiang nodded. “No problem. I’ll cooperate fully.”

Zhou Hai said goodbye.

Xu Biao was already waiting at the door. Although he hadn’t gone inside, he had heard most of it, and his face was filled with barely restrained anger.

The two quickly went downstairs and left the hospital. Zhou Hai started the car and drove out.

“That old bastard should be killed!” Xu Biao said angrily. “Burning him alive would be too light. He should be sentenced to slow slicing!”

Zhou Hai glanced at him while steering calmly.

“Have you been watching too many time-travel dramas?”

“Or have you forgotten your identity?”

“Our responsibility is only to find the truth of the case. We cannot let personal emotions influence the investigation. Even if someone is a scumbag or a beast, we still have to investigate properly.”

“As for sentencing, that’s the court’s job.”

“Besides, we still haven’t clarified the details of the arson.”

Xu Biao blinked. Right… they still didn’t know how the fire was started. They had only found a lighter cap; there was still no proof of who actually committed the arson or poisoning.

“So what do we do next?”