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

Chapter 1003: Identity verification is required.

The only valuable clue was a blurry image of a white van at the village store, showing it had been present around the time of the incident, but the license plate was completely illegible.

Silence fell over the meeting room, broken only by the hum of the air conditioner unit in the corner. Team member Xiao Li couldn't help but speak up: "The victim's identity is unknown, and the clues at the scene are broken. How are we supposed to solve this case?"

Li Ming walked to the window, watching the busy police officers below, and after a long while turned around: "The fewer the clues, the more it indicates that the killer meticulously planned the crime." He pointed a laser pointer at the whiteboard, "Every feature of the victim is a potential breakthrough—around 38 years old, a fractured little finger on his right hand, resin fillings in his molars, and possibly manual labor."

He turned to the technical department: "Immediately retrieve all dental treatment records in the city from 2015 to the present, and screen eligible men. Simultaneously, compare them with the national missing persons database, focusing on migrant workers who have gone missing in the past three months."

"Xiao Wang, continue checking the white van." Li Ming tapped the map. "Expand the search area to the surrounding area, visit all auto repair shops and used car markets, and check white vans that have been recently repaired, especially those with towing marks."

"Xiao Yang, re-examine the physical evidence at the scene." His gaze swept over the investigation team leader. "Even the most inconspicuous fiber could become crucial evidence. Send all samples to the provincial laboratory for more precise testing."

Li Ming's voice suddenly rose: "The killer erased all the clues that directly pointed to him, but he overlooked one thing—every victim is a unique individual." He pointed to the facial reconstruction of the deceased, "What we need to do is piece together the victim's identity from these fragments, and once the identity is confirmed, the killer's true colors will be revealed."

As the meeting ended, a light rain began to fall outside the window. The team members hurriedly left, their footsteps echoing in the corridor. Li Ming stood in front of the whiteboard, writing down the deceased's various characteristics on sticky notes, then arranging them one by one according to their relevance. When the three tags—"fractured right little finger," "molar filling," and "38 years old"—were circled together in red, his fingers suddenly paused—these seemingly scattered pieces of information might be waiting for a crucial moment to form a complete puzzle. And criminal investigation work, after all, is a jigsaw puzzle game, a race against time.

In the criminal investigation team's archives room, the sound of printers chugging papers mingled with the constant clicking of mouse wheels, like a monotonous, never-ending melody. Xiao Zhou stood before a long table, a stack of file boxes nearly half his height piled up in front of him. A red marker had been heavily drawn across the "Missing Persons Investigation Progress Chart," marking the remaining days of investigation in a chilling manner.

"Xiao Li, bring over two more boxes of missing persons files from the second half of 2023." Xiao Zhou tugged at his collar; the air conditioning was on its lowest setting, but everyone's shirts were still soaked with dark sweat. Suddenly, Xiao Zhao in the corner knocked over his instant noodle bowl, splashing soup onto the neatly arranged files. He frantically wiped it with a tissue, his voice trembling with tears: "It's all ruined! The file numbers are all blurred!"

Old Zhou took off his reading glasses and rubbed his temples: "It's been three days! Sifting through over 50,000 records for men around 38 years old with a broken little finger on their right hand—it's harder than finding a needle in a haystack!" His mouse slid haphazardly across the densely packed spreadsheets. "Yesterday I finally found a potential candidate, but it turns out he swiped his ID at an internet cafe in a neighboring city last month."

Xiao Zhou kicked the newly delivered file box to his feet, the metal corner hitting the tiles with a dull thud: "Stop complaining, the provincial department just issued another two thousand notices for assistance in investigations." He pulled out a document, a musty smell wafting from the pages. "This guy named Chen Jianjun matches the criteria in age and height, except for the lack of a fracture record—I'll call the local police station to verify."

Xiao Wang stumbled over, carrying a stack of printed papers: "Team Leader Zhang, we've checked all the records of those missing for over three years, and none match." But the electronic record system crashed again in 2024, and the technical department said it would take at least two hours to fix. Her fingers were scratched by the edge of the paper, drawing blood, but she was completely unaware.

The archives room fell into a suffocating silence all afternoon. Only the occasional ring of a phone and the suppressed curses of the team members could be heard. Suddenly, Old Zhou slammed his fist on the table: "This damn system! Every time I type 'right hand fracture,' it freezes. I almost crashed the database just now!" On his screen, the query interface displayed "System error, please log in again."

As the two teams changed shifts in the evening, they brushed past each other in the hallway. Zhang, who had just finished his shift, had bloodshot eyes and a hoarse voice: "You guys take over. I feel like throwing up just looking at Excel spreadsheets." Wu, taking over the shift, held up his coffee: "Hang in there. I heard the team next door checking dental records has someone developing trypophobia."

At two in the morning, Xiao Zhou's phone rang in the silence. It was the technical department: "Team Leader Zhang, the electronic files have been recovered, but there are missing data from March to May 2024, which may require manual entry..." He hung up the phone, rubbing his temples, and turned to see Xiao Zhao asleep on the table, his cheek pressed against the open files, drool soaking the deceased's photo.

"Wake up, everyone!" Xiao Zhou kicked the table leg. "The data's back! Cheer up!" The team members sat up groggily. Xiao Li popped a handful of mints into his mouth, only to choke and cough violently. Old Zhou muttered as he reopened the computer: "If I still can't find it this time, I'm going to the temple to burn incense for Meng Po (the goddess of forgetfulness) and ask her to erase this part of my memory."

At dawn, Xiao Zhou's walkie-talkie suddenly crackled: "Team Leader Zhang! Xiao Wang has made a major discovery! A match has appeared in the dental clinic records; they're comparing DNA!" The records room erupted in chaos. Xiao Wang spilled his cold coffee, and Lao Zhou excitedly knocked over his chair. Xiao Zhou, however, stared at the 1783 records still incomplete on the screen, his voice chillingly calm: "Continue the investigation. Before the results are in, we can't overlook any possibility."

晨光刺破云层时，小周的衬衫已经结满盐渍。他机械地翻动着档案，突然瞳孔骤缩——某份2024年4月的失踪报告上，&34;右手小指因工伤骨折&34;几个字在阳光下格外刺眼。他抓起电话的手微微颤抖：&34;陆队！这里可能有重大突破！失踪人员名叫......&34;

Outside the data room, the team members who had worked through the night slumped in their chairs. Xiao Zhao was still half-asleep, drool dripping from his mouth; on Lao Zhou's computer screen, the search results page flickered in the morning light; Xiao Wang's notebook was filled with dense annotations, the last page scrawled with: "If I can't find it again, I'll forget what my own name is."