Card Room

Chapter 314 - The Truth in the Morgue

That afternoon, Xiao Lou stayed in Yu Hanjiang’s ward and the two of them checked information and analyzed the case together.

The attending doctor had organized the death case reports and Xiao Lou found them in the medical record query system. Chen Yuqing of the pediatric department died of a sudden heart attack and Qi Zhaoming of the orthopedic surgery department died of postoperative complications. There were clear and complete records of the treatment process. On the surface, both of them died in accidents.

Qi Zhaoming’s informed consent form was signed by himself without any family members. The little girl Chen Yuqing’s surgery consent form was signed by her mother. Her mother’s name was Chen Yehua.

Yu Hanjiang called his police colleagues to find out the information of Qi Zhaoming, Chen Yuqing and her mother Chen Yehua as soon as possible. His colleagues quickly sent an e-mail of the information to Yu Hanjiang.

Qi Zhaoming dropped out of school after graduating from middle school. He currently had no formal job and had a 60 square meter house in the suburbs. When he was 10 years old, his parents fell to their deaths during an argument. Qi Zhaoming was raised by his grandmother who passed away 10 years ago. In this world, he no longer had any relatives.

Chen Yuqing was studying in first grade of primary school and was excellent in both character and learning. She was just named one of the top three students this year. Her mother Chen Yehua was an illustrator and her father was unknown. Chen Yehua had been living with her mother and was a child of a single parent family.

Xiao Lou saw these two documents and couldn’t help wondering, “The cost of orthopedic surgery isn’t low. Qi Zhaoming graduated from middle school and has no formal job. His income should be very low. How could he afford the expensive surgery and treatment costs?”

Yu Hanjiang frowned and sent his colleagues another message: Help me check the bank records of Qi Zhaoming, Liu Renyuan and Chen Yehua.

Since Group Leader Yu was investigating the dismembered corpse case, his colleagues were very cooperative with his requests. It took less than an hour for them to send the bank records of the three people to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang took a closer look and found many things wrong in the statements.

Liu Renyuan was a security guard. His bank card received a monthly income which was displayed as ‘Jincui Community Security Salary’. This was consistent with his identity. His consumption records were rather messy. He spent his money on tobacco, alcohol, food, cheap clothes...

Liu Renyuan spent money lavishly and barely made ends meet every month. However, on November 1st last year, he had just gotten paid his salary when on the next day, he went to the mall to buy a pair of limited edition sneakers. He instantly spent an entire month’s salary.

Liu Renyuan’s previous consumption records showed that he normally bought shoes worth around 200 yuan. How could he suddenly decide to buy limited edition brand name shoes worth more than 4,000 yuan? For a rich person, it was normal to buy limited edition bags and shoes but Liu Renyuan’s consumption record seemed a bit weird.

In the past, most of his salary of around 4,000 yuan was used to buy tobacco and alcohol. He only bought clothes once or twice a year. Obviously, his demand for clothes wasn’t very high. Suddenly spending a whole month’s salary to buy a pair of shoes in November last year wasn’t in line with his lifestyle habit, unless he suddenly had a source of high income. However, there was no record of a large cash inflow into his bank card.

If he spent a month’s salary on shoes how did he eat or drink for the entire month?

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou glanced at each other and continued to look it over doubtfully.

Qi Zhaoming’s bank card statements were even stranger. It only had a balance of less than 100 yuan. Moreover, this balance of 100 hadn’t changed in the past three years. His bank card didn’t have records of deposits, withdrawals or any consumption. The three year old bank card’s turnover was almost blank.

He only had this bank card and didn’t withdraw money from his card or deposit money in the card. This showed that he usually spent in cash. His monthly rent and living expenses were all in cash. Then where did he get so much cash?

Chen Yehua was an illustrator by profession and her monthly income was fixed at around 20,000 yuan a month. The expenses of the mother and daughter were around 50% of the income and the rest was deposited. However, last month, she suddenly withdrew 200,000 yuan cash from her bank card in one lump sum, taking out all her savings of the last few years.

All three people had something odd with their bank accounts.

Xiao Lou frowned. “Liu Renyuan suddenly bought expensive limited edition sneakers, which is different from his usual living habits. In the next few months, he has several records of buying high-priced red wine. It feels like he won the lottery.”

“Qi Zhaoming has no bank card flow and uses cash for his living expenses. Either he has a temporary job that pays in cash or he has a problem with his income and doesn’t want to use a bank account. It is all face-to-face cash transactions.” Yu Hanjiang paused before adding, “We also need to carefully investigate where the 200,000 yuan that Chen Yehua suddenly withdrew went.”

At present, they didn’t know the reason for the strange accounting records of the three people but it proved that they locked onto the right targets to investigate. All three people should have some connection to the case.

As a precaution, Yu Hanjiang sent the names and hospitalization information of the two people who died in the endocrinology department and rheumatology and immunology department to his colleagues in the police force. The result was exactly as they guessed. The two people had no suspicious points and could be completely ruled out.

***

The afternoon passed very quickly. Xiao Lou took a few more consultations and by the time it was finished, it was already 8 o’clock. On the way back to the general surgery ward, Xiao Lou went to the ICU of the cardiac surgery department to check on Chief Shao.

Shao Qingge still hadn’t woken up.

Xiao Lou endured his psychological discomfort and asked Zhao Sen, “Has Shao Qingge’s situation improved?”

“His myocardial enzymes have dropped a bit, his blood potassium is normal today and his heart function is slowly recovering.” Zhao Sen pushed up his glasses and glanced at Xiao Lou thoughtfully. “Dr Xiao, you really care about this friend.”

Xiao Lou thought, ‘He is in your hands. If I don’t always pay attention then what if you dismember him?!’

Still, Xiao Lou maintained a polite smile on the surface and explained, “I grew up with Shao Qingge and we are very good friends. Since he is staying in our hospital, I naturally have to care more. By the way, when will his surgery be performed?”

Zhao Sen flipped through the medical records. “I will talk about it when he wakes up.”

Xiao Lou spoke seriously. “You must notify me when he wakes up. I will come to see him as soon as possible.”

Zhao Sen smiled. “Of course.”

Xiao Lou asked casually, “Dr Zhao, are you on the night shift tonight?”

“No, I will go off work later.”

Xiao Lou was slightly relieved. He didn’t want to run into Zhao Sen when going to the morgue tonight. Last night, that face was only 10 centimeters away from him and Xiao Lou still got the chills when he thought about it.

***

At midnight, the card skills refreshed and Xiao Lou used the Peach Blossom Spring to summon his teammates again.

Long Sen made inquiries in his department all afternoon and reported the results to Yu Hanjiang. “The deceased Qi Zhaoming had an arrogant personality. He never took the initiative to speak to other patients during the hospitalization. He only watched videos on his mobile phone every day. He stayed in the hospital for a week and no one came to visit him. The old lady in the bed next door asked him what he did and he replied that he worked in a bar.”

The police couldn’t find his work information. There was no formal labor contract to work in a bar so it was hard to get official information. Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked, “Bar? What exactly did he do?”

“He didn’t mention it.” Long Sen scratched his head. “I heard from someone in the ward that Qi Zhaoming looked quite rich. He was in good spirits a few days ago and ordered expensive takeout every day. His watch was also a famous brand. He was very handsome and the patients privately guessed that he was a host at the bar.”

Ye Qi was taken aback for a moment. Host? What does that mean? Is it very profitable?”

Long Sen touched his nose and looked at the 7 year old little Ye Qi. “A child shouldn’t have heard of it? A host is a man who sells his body. He can sell his body to rich women of course. He can also... cough, serve men.”

“......” Ye Qi’s face turned red. This topic was too dirty and he was too embarrassed to continue asking.

Ordinary waiters at a bar definitely couldn’t afford to wear famous brand name watches. Working in a bar and being handsome and rich was indeed easy to make people think of some type of gray area job.

Yu Hanjiang didn’t think it was that simple.

Xiao Lou glanced at Ye Qi and asked, “Did you find any clues about Chen Yuqing?”

Ye Qi cleared his throat with a cough and spoke solemnly. “Chen Yuqing often told the children that her mother is a very good illustrator. A little boy asked her who her father is and she said she had no father. The little boy said that everyone should have a father and Chen Yuqing became angry. The two of them started fighting because of this until they were coaxed by the nurses.”

The children in the pediatric department were noisy every day and cried loudly during the injection. Ye Qi spent one day in the pediatric department and felt like his head was going to explode. “Chen Yuqing’s mother is very gentle. I heard that every time she buys fruits, she will buy more for the other children. Everyone really likes her. The little girl next to me said that she saw Aunt Chen secretly crying in the bathroom yesterday. I think the key to Chen Yuqing’s plot line should be her father. Who is he?”

Xiao Lou agreed. “Yes, Chen Yuqing’s household registration only includes her mother. She is part of a single parent family and follows her mother’s surname. There is no record of her father. My guess is that she is an illegitimate child. We will continue to investigate.”

The deceased in Qu Wanyue and Old Mo’s wards had been ruled out and nobody died in Liu Qiao’s hematology department today.

Yu Hanjiang also told his teammates the clues he found. The biggest doubts at the moment were the strange bank account records of the three people and the surgical marks on Liu Renyuan’s corpse.

After the meeting, Xiao Lou asked Liu Qiao to put on a nurse’s unifrom again to visit the morgue. Yu Hanjiang wasn’t at ease and also wanted to follow. Xiao Lou was worried. “You just had an operation. What if the wound opens or becomes infected? It will be painful to re-stitch it. I’ll use the mind connection to inform you whenever I find clues.”

“My wound is fine. I want to see their corpses with my own eyes.” Yu Hanjiang paused and suggested, “Xiao Liu has the Thumbelina card. Make me smaller and put me in your coat pocket.”

Seeing his firm eyes, Xiao Lou had to compromise. “Okay, I will take you if you become smaller.”

“Yes.” Yu Hanjiang’s gaze was gentle. “I will be more at ease following you.”

He was simply uneasy staying in the ward alone while Xiao Lou did such dangerous work. The fear that Xiao Lou felt yesterday while facing Zhao Sen at close range had been transmitted to him and Yu Hanjiang had been going crazy with worry. Therefore, he decided that he had to go with them tonight.

Liu Qiao activated the Thumbelina card and handed it to Xiao Lou, letting Xiao Lou use it.

Xiao Lou used the card skill so that Yu Hanjiang turned into a small version of himself. The reduced version of Yu Hanjiang in a blue and white checkered hospital gown looked very cute. Xiao Lou carefully picked up Yu Hanjiang and placed him in the chest pocket of his white coat.

Yu Hanjiang lay on the edge of Xiao Lou’s pocket and poked out his head. “Let’s go.”

Xiao Lou took Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao to the door of the morgue.

There was a big iron lock hung outside the door which should’ve been put there by Zhao Sen last night. Fortunately, the ‘key’ card he got in 3 of Hearts could still be used a number of times. Xiao Lou used the key to open the lock and gently closed the door after entering.

The morgue was a closed space located underground. There were no windows and if the door was closed, the light inside couldn’t be seen from outside. Liu Qiao turned on the light. Xiao Lou’s eyes scanned the surrounding area and he found there were more corpses in the morgue. They were the patients who died in the hospital today.

Xiao Lou walked over and first opened the drawer that said ‘Chen Yuqing.’

A chill came. The 7 year old girl was as pale as paper, her eyes tightly closed. Xiao Lou lifted the white cloth covering the corpse and after careful examination, he found that she didn’t have any surgical scars.

Yu Hanjiang was observing from Xiao Lou’s pocket and he couldn’t help frowning when he saw this. “Chen Yuqing has no traces of surgery on her body, indicating that she never had an organ transplant. Then why did her mother suddenly withdraw so much money?”

Xiao Lou said, “It seems we have to ask her mother in person.”

He proceeded to open the drawer where Liu Renyuan was stored.

This was the suspicious corpse found last night. Xiao Lou had already checked it. Tonight was just for further autopsy and confirmation. He asked Liu Qiao to turn the body over, picked up a scalpel and made a quick cut along the wound at the back...

The kidney on the right was gone.

The location of the kidney was empty and the rib bone was also cut off.

Xiao Lou took a deep breath and calmly explained, “Liu Renyuan’s kidney was artificially removed and the operation wasn’t done well. The treatment of the blood vessels and ureters aren’t up to professional standards. There are multiple blood vessel injuries caused by operation. When the 12th rib was removed, the pleura was damaged. There are also traces of stitching.”

Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, “According to your judgment, was the operation done by an amateur?”

Xiao Lou nodded. “A specialist professor in urology wouldn’t do it like this. This feels more like a clinically inexperienced intern... although the skin stitching was done beautifully.”

Liu Qiao questioned it. “On the surface, the skin stitching was indeed perfect. However, after opening the incision, the processing inside was messy. Professor Xiao, do you mean the kidney removal and the stitching aren’t done by the same person?”

“Not necessarily.” Xiao Lou explained as he stitched up the incision. “The skin suture is very good. In practice, ordinary medical students who practice on a model for two weeks can sew well. However, professional kidney separation and removal surgery requires years of clinical experience. The results can only prove that the one who performed the kidney removal on Liu Renyuan wasn’t a professional urologist and nephrologist. It might be a doctor from other departments or an inexperienced surgeon who hasn’t performed kidney surgery in a major hospital.”

Xiao Lou carefully stitched up Liu Renyuan’s body. Immediately afterward, he opened the freezer with ‘Qi Zhaoming’ written on it.

Another corpse was pulled out.

Qi Zhaoming had just finished lumbar surgery yesterday and there were obvious sutures near the fourth lumbar vertebra. However, no traces of surgery were found on the abdomen and waist which were common for kidney surgery.

Xiao Lou cut open the stitches from yesterday’s surgery and carefully explored the surgical site.

An artificial intervertebral disc was inserted between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae of the deceased. This was a surgery performed by the orthopedic surgery department yesterday. Xiao Lou looked at the detailed surgery records and found nothing suspicious.

Immediately afterward, Xiao Lou quickly dissected the deceased’s abdomen, and waist and found that the liver, gallbladder, kidneys and other organs were all intact.

Yu Hanjiang couldn’t help being confused when he saw the results of Xiao Lou’s autopsy.

Liu Renyuan’s kidney was missing but there was no relevant record in his case file. This was very suspicious. However, Chen Yuqing and Qi Zhaoming who died in the hospital this morning didn’t have any organs missing. The cause of death also wasn’t found to be abnormal after an autopsy.

What did these two people have to do with the case they were investigating?

Proofreader: Fictional Reality