The crackdown on organized crime began with the arrest of the mother-in-law.

Chapter 1108 Comparison of Missing Persons

He crumpled the packaging of his seventh instant coffee into a ball and tossed it precisely into a trash can three meters away—his 23rd successful "three-pointer" of the day. "The 847th one," he tapped the table with his knuckles, the spacebar worn smooth. "Male, 30-40 years old, around 175cm tall, with an old injury to his right lower limb… Can the system please stop pushing 'accidental drowning' reports? We need 'steel mill related' reports!"

Technician Xiao Li's yawn pierced the silence, jolting him awake. His forehead slammed against the monitor with a dull thud. "Brother Hui, this system's algorithm is just for show," he said, rubbing his bruised forehead as he clicked randomly in the "Cause of Disappearance" section. "Look at this 'Wang Jianjun,' it's registered as 'missing due to mental illness,' but the description says 'scar on the right wrist,' which matches the location of the restraint marks on the deceased." He zoomed in on the photo; the tattoo on the man's left chest was blurred out. "It's a pity the family didn't provide a clear picture of the tattoo, otherwise we could see if it's the character 'Hongwei.'"

Xiao Zhou's fingertip hovered over the "Confirm Comparison" button, then suddenly stopped. "Check his social security records," he said, staring at the registered address on the screen. "He lived in the steel mill dormitory area, left the company in 2019, and the reason for leaving was 'work injury'." Xiao Li quickly typed on the keyboard. The social security system showed that Wang Jianjun had a right femoral fracture in 2018, and the treatment records perfectly matched the deceased's old injury characteristics. "There's hope!" Xiao Li's voice rose an octave as he pulled up the hospital's medical photos—the man did indeed have a tattoo on his left chest, blurry, but the outline of two characters was discernible.

The printer in the information center suddenly clicked, spitting out Wang Jianjun's detailed file. Xiao Zhou flipped to the "date of disappearance" column and drew a thick line under "June 15, 2023" with a pencil: "The estimated time of death is July 15th. This guy has been missing for a month; the dates don't match up." He asked Xiao Li to check the communication records. "The last call was on June 14th, to the steel plant's medical clinic, saying 'the wound is infected and needs a dressing change,' and then there was no signal." This created an insurmountable time gap with the forensic doctor's estimate of "death on July 15th."

Xiao Zhao, who was at the next table, suddenly burst into a short laugh, then covered her mouth. She ran over, holding a sheet of printed paper, the edges still stained with undried milk tea: "Look at this 'Li Wei,' he left the steel mill in 2022, and the 'reason for disappearance' he registered as 'unpaid wages.' The description says 'a scar on the left temple'—which matches the location of the deceased's depressed fracture!" She pointed to the man in the photo, a half-tattoo visible on the collar of his dark blue overalls, "From this angle, it looks like the upper part of the character '宏' (Hong)!"

Xiao Zhou's heart skipped a beat. He grabbed the mouse and zoomed in on the photo. There was indeed a light-colored mark on Li Wei's right wrist, like a rope mark. "Check his work injury record," his voice trembled almost imperceptibly, "was it a right femoral fracture?" When Xiao Li pulled up the file, everyone's eyes were focused on the screen—in March 2021, Li Wei was hit in the right leg by a steel coil in the steel rolling workshop, and the fracture record almost overlapped with the deceased's X-ray.

“But he’s 182 cm tall,” Xiao Zhou suddenly pointed out, pointing to the “physical characteristics” section. “The forensic doctor estimated the deceased to be 175 ± 3 cm, which is a difference of 7 cm. It can’t be the same person.” He asked Xiao Zhao to measure the proportions in the photo. “Judging from the ratio of shoulder width to head length, he is indeed over 180 cm. The systematic error shouldn’t be that large.” Xiao Li added, “Moreover, his tattoo is ‘宏图’ (hongtu), not ‘宏宏’ (hongqi). The tattoo sketch provided by the family clearly shows that the last stroke is a dot, not a vertical hook.”

At two in the morning, the fluorescent lights began to flicker, and everyone's faces looked exhausted in the dim light. Xiao Zhou's phone vibrated on the table; it was a call back from an old worker at the steel mill: "The one you mentioned with the fractured right femur and the tattoo on his left chest, could it be 'Old Three'?" The old man's voice was choked with static. "His real name is Liu Zhiqiang. He was fired in 2020 for demanding unpaid wages, and I heard he later went to Hongwei Building Materials..."

Xiao Li immediately searched for "Liu Zhiqiang" in the system, and record number 913 popped up: male, 37 years old, missing since May 2021, with the description section clearly stating "old fracture of the right femur, 'Magnificent' tattoo on the left chest." The man in the photo grinned, and the scar on his right wrist matched the location of the restraint marks on the deceased perfectly. "That's him!" Xiao Zhao almost spilled his milk tea. "Height 176 cm, weight 70 kg, everything matches!"

Xiao Zhou noticed small print in the corner of the file: "Wearing a gray jacket and carrying a black backpack when missing." He pulled up the steel mill's surveillance footage; none of the people entering and leaving on the evening of July 15th were wearing gray jackets. "Check his bank statements," Xiao Zhou's fingers flew across the keyboard, "The last withdrawal was in April 2021, and the account hasn't been touched since—the deceased withdrew money on July 10th, which is impossible." More importantly, Liu Zhiqiang's DNA sample wasn't registered in the missing persons database and couldn't be compared with the skin tissue fragments collected at the scene.

The clock in the information center struck four in the morning, and record number 1035 flashed on the screen. “This ‘Chen Gang’,” Xiao Li’s voice trembled with tears, his double eyelids swollen shut, “a steelworker at Hongwei Building Materials, went missing on July 10, 2023, with a steel plate fixed to his right calf—the deceased’s old injuries didn’t have internal fixation devices, so that’s ruled out.” He pushed the file to Xiao Zhou, “The family said the tattoo on his left chest is his wife’s name, not ‘Hongwei’.”

Xiao Zhou rubbed his stiff neck, his knuckles cracking. On the whiteboard in the information center, three columns were filled with excluded names: Wang Jianjun (time mismatch), Li Wei (height mismatch), Liu Zhiqiang (bank statement mismatch), Chen Gang (tattoo mismatch)... Every name that held promise was ultimately crossed out for some detail. "The remaining 200-odd entries are from surrounding counties and cities," he said, looking at the system's "remaining entries" display. "Should we check these first? Maybe the deceased was a migrant worker from out of town."

Suddenly remembering something, Xiao Zhao pulled out the forensic doctor's supplementary report: "The deceased's stomach contents contained rice and vegetables, and the degree of digestion indicates that he died 6 hours after dinner, which means he was murdered around 10 pm on July 15th." She pulled up the restaurant records around the steel mill, "Between 6 and 8 pm on July 15th, three restaurants sold similar set meals. The surveillance footage from 'Old Zhang's Noodle Shop' captured a man wearing dark blue overalls, with a tattoo on his left chest and gauze wrapped around his right wrist, which matches the deceased's characteristics!"

The surveillance screenshot was enlarged on the big screen. The man's profile bore a striking resemblance to Liu Zhiqiang, but he was noticeably shorter. "Check the noodle shop's payment records."