Chapter 104 - 102: Making the Arrest

They found something new?

Everyone’s eyebrows raised, suppressing the joy swelling within them.

"What is it?"

"Hyaluronic acid."

The medical examiner spoke, and seeing no one stop him, he continued:

"And botulinum toxin."

Hyaluronic acid?

Botulinum toxin?

What the hell is that stuff?

The crowd looked utterly bewildered. Even the well-informed Wang Hu was frowning deeply.

"Where on the bodies was it found?"

Xu Huo looked at the examiner. After a moment’s thought, instead of asking what the substances were, he asked for more specific details.

"In the traumatized areas of the bodies—that is, the face and hands," the medical examiner stated.

"What is this stuff?"

Li Jianye couldn’t hold back, looking at the medical examiner with a confused frown.

"It’s hyaluronic acid... If you’re asking why this stuff would be in a human body, Officer, then I don’t know."

The medical examiner shook his head.

He wasn’t an encyclopedia, nor was he a biologist. He was just a quasi-doctor with some specialized knowledge related to criminal cases. He didn’t know everything.

Besides, he had left this line of work months ago. After working at an insurance company for so long, the fact that he could still perform an autopsy was impressive enough.

"They’re partial ingredients of something injected into the human body via a needle."

Xu Huo pondered for a long time before his brow smoothed out.

An unprecedented look of relief washed over his face, and he let out a deep breath.

"What kind of needle?"

Seeing this, Li Jianye guessed it must be important, but his own brow was knitted tightly.

He...

didn’t know.

"Botox injections!"

Xu Huo said with certainty, "And hyaluronic acid fillers!"

Botox injections might sound unfamiliar, but hyaluronic acid fillers should ring a bell.

This is...

"Cosmetic procedures!"

"Hyaluronic acid fillers. They’re a type of cosmetic injection that started being used in the Eastern Country this year, 2003."

"They can improve the appearance of people with facial imperfections, like altering proportions or filling in sunken areas."

Xu Huo led a few of them over to the office computer and quickly looked up some information.

Hyaluronic acid fillers are a common cosmetic product.

It’s hydrophilic, meaning it can absorb large amounts of water to keep the skin hydrated and plump. It can also fill facial depressions and add tissue volume, thereby improving facial contours and skin condition.

As for Botox injections...

Their main ingredient is botulinum toxin. It works by inhibiting the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, which relaxes the muscles. This achieves effects like reducing wrinkles and improving facial contours.

"Both types of cosmetic injections were approved for legal cosmetic use in the Eastern Country in ’02 and ’03, respectively."

"Right now, they’re not widely known in the country and are mostly confined to cosmetic circles. And the substances found on the victims’ faces and hands are exactly this stuff!"

Xu Huo quickly searched through the data.

He explained as he read the information.

On their own, the two substances didn’t seem to cause any problems at first glance, but Xu Huo had previously...

"So this is what you wanted to verify before!?"

Li Jianye froze for a second, then understanding dawned on him.

’What was our previous theory?’

’The theory was that the most likely connection between the victims had to do with their appearance!’

’And the purpose of Botox and hyaluronic acid fillers is precisely to alter one’s appearance!’

’So, the places in the Eastern Country that would have these two things are...’

"Beauty clinics!"

Xu Huo suddenly spoke, his eyes locked on a map in their internal system.

After a search, the map instantly flagged several locations.

These were...

plastic surgery and beauty clinics!

There were a lot of them. Women’s money is the easiest to earn, especially when it comes to appearance. Fleecing them was like harvesting leeks—one crop after another, endlessly.

Women are prone to impulse buying, especially when beauty is at stake. Cosmetics, skincare, beauty treatments—all of it was just a series of sharp sickles for harvesting their money.

The two victims’ incomes weren’t low, and they were both people who cared a lot about their looks.

Chao Yang didn’t need to save money, and the same went for Ma Ling. Her appearance ensured she would never be short of cash.

So, when faced with the temptation of such a "sickle," they would absolutely stretch their necks out for it.

However...

"Narrow the scope. Try to find a location common to both victims."

Xu Huo stood up, handing the controls over to Qian Hua while giving directions.

There were many beauty clinics. Although the industry wasn’t particularly saturated in the 2000s, a county-level city would still have more than just a handful.

Trying to investigate all of them at once would be an enormous amount of work.

But...

they could filter the results!

Just as he’d said before.

Without an external force, a polar bear will never meet a penguin.

It’s like one person walking east and another walking west; on a flat plane, their paths will never intersect.

But if they both turn around, the outcome is different.

The same was true for the victims!

So, if they drew a radius around the victims to find a common beauty clinic...

"There’s only one."

Li Jianye and the others paused, their pupils contracting sharply.

This was...

[Huanrong Plastic Surgery and Beauty Clinic]

This was...

the only place near the victims that could provide these cosmetic services!

The office fell silent for a moment. The next second...

"Move out!"

In an instant, a crowd of people rushed out.

...

...

What kind of cosmetic products does a beauty clinic typically offer?

Many. Things like face masks and skincare products are the most basic.

Next up is plastic surgery.

Is plastic surgery just shaving down the jaw and injecting hyaluronic acid to make the face look better?

No, this isn’t ordinary plastic surgery.

If you have enough money, they can remake you from head to toe!

If you want a thinner waist, the clinic can remove a few of your ribs.

If the establishment is shady enough, they can even remove half your stomach, so you can’t eat much, physically reducing the chance of weight gain.

Too short?

They have a "cure" for that too. They break both your legs and then perform certain medical procedures to achieve a dramatic increase in height.

They even dabble in weight loss, which is usually the business of gyms.

The stomach removal is for weight loss. Losing weight without any effort is a very attractive deal for them.

And liposuction!

Yellow globules of fat, like the brown pearls in milk tea, are sucked out bit by bit with a cannula, and then they perform a skin-tucking surgery for you.

"Besides that, there are other, more disgusting methods, like parasites."

"Yep, the kind of parasites you find in pork."

Inside the police car, Xu Huo explained the business of beauty clinics to Li Jianye, who was driving.

"Like roundworms, tapeworms, and so on. Hospitals or private individuals will secretly sell their eggs."

"When you have a parasite inside you, it absorbs the nutrients from the food you eat. This allows you to eat without getting fat, which is why it’s so popular among some people."

Qian Hua and Li Jianye, two country bumpkins, were utterly shocked to hear this.

Li Jianye was slightly better off; he had looked into some of this stuff back during the ’Corpse Repository’ case while tracing bodies.

But Qian Hua was completely disturbed.

’They don’t want to exercise to lose weight, so they get liposuction or even have their stomachs reduced...’

’They’d even eat parasite eggs!’

Does this really happen?

It does.

The world is never short of "geniuses."

Of course, it’s not short of morons either.

You can find traces of these people on forums like Tieba or on Douyin. For example, a search for ’Roundworm Bar’ would turn them up.

"Alright, we’re here. Get ready to move in!"

Xu Huo clapped his hands, pulling the two men back from their thoughts, then opened the car door and got out.

This was on the outskirts of the city, in a quieter area with deserted roads. Xu Huo ignored everything else, simply looking up at the building before him.

[Huanrong Plastic Surgery and Beauty Clinic]

It was a private clinic.

Of course, while it was called a clinic, it was really more like a small hospital.

It was three stories tall with a large floor plan and many, many employees.

Wang Hu got out of the car and uttered a single, deep word.

"Search!"

The moment the word was spoken,

countless police officers swarmed in from both sides of the road, rapidly climbing the steps and pouring into the clinic!

TAP, TAP, TAP...

Xu Huo lifted his feet and walked slowly inside.

After a while, he stopped and looked around.

The decor was luxurious. After all, the "leeks" they harvested were young and tender. The daily revenue was a figure an ordinary person couldn’t even imagine.

And the cost...

’Aside from some top-tier procedures, there’s honestly not much cost involved.’

For example, ’photorejuvenation,’ which was introduced in 2000.

How much does one of those machines cost?

In his past life, a machine could cost anywhere from a few thousand to over a million. Let’s just say two million.

How much does one session cost?

Between five hundred and three thousand. A proper, risk-free session would be five thousand.

Let’s calculate it at four thousand.

And one machine can be used...

ten thousand times!

Of course, Xu Huo didn’t care about that. He was concerned with something else.

"Internal affairs just notified us. Lin Chu is the director of this clinic."

Just then, Li Jianye moved closer to Xu Huo.

In front of them were several of the clinic’s senior managers, who had been brought into a doctor’s office for detailed questioning. They all had their heads shrunk down like katydids.

"What’s the suspicious part?"

"The suspicious part is Lin Chu’s wife."

Li Jianye glanced at the doctors behind him and lowered his voice.

"Her physical description closely matches the profile of the killer’s accomplice deduced from the first crime scene!"

"At the same time, she has the ability to access the files. She’s a director at the clinic, so she has the authority to look up..."

After internal affairs zeroed in on this clinic,

they quickly found information on Chao Yang and Ma Ling here. As expected, this is where the killer saw their files.

At the same time, they also identified Lin Chu’s wife, Zhang Ru!

"Zhang Ru?"

"Does she have a son?"

Xu Huo narrowed his eyes, recalling the unusual relationship between the killer and his accomplice.

"The file shows she had one, but he died in infancy."

Li Jianye shook his head.

The police speculated that the killer was a dwarf.

A dwarf less than 1.3 meters tall, who needed the help of an accomplice to commit the rape.

There was a high probability that this relationship was familial!

But...

"Her son is dead?"

Xu Huo’s brow furrowed.

"That’s right. Died in infancy. The hospital has detailed records, and we can check with the crematorium as well," Li Jianye nodded.

At this point in the investigation, they could almost certainly connect this clinic to the killer.

And Zhang Ru was a major suspect.

Assuming she really was the accomplice...

then what was her relationship with the dwarf!?

And that dwarf...

where was he!?

Xu Huo narrowed his eyes. He turned his head and looked at the clinic managers being interrogated nearby.

"Where is Zhang Ru!?"

Zhang Ru wasn’t here. At least, Xu Huo hadn’t seen anyone who could be her.

"You mean Director Zhang?"

The managers looked at each other, then asked tentatively.

"Director Zhang left. She went out to find someone."

"Find someone?"

Hearing those two words, the few police officers present froze and instinctively looked up.

"Who did she go to find!?" Xu Huo watched him intently.

"A client."

The man paused, then used a computer to access the clinic’s system and pull up the clients Director Zhang was responsible for.

"Her. Director Zhang went to find her."

The doctor studied the names, compared them for a moment, and then pointed to the third one.

There were two people listed before her.

Two familiar profile pictures were still on the screen.

They were...

Chao Yang and Ma Ling.

"Are you saying that Zhang Ru has now gone to find... the third one?"

Wang Hu’s dry throat moved, and a hoarse voice emerged.

"When did she leave!?"

"About half an hour ago..." the doctor said.

Half an hour...

Everyone’s hearts leaped into their throats.

The first two were already dead. Now this third person...

Xu Huo’s heart sank. Without a moment’s hesitation, he left two teams behind and quickly got into a car.

He looked out the window, his vision blurring for a moment.

’That dwarf... what is his relationship with the accomplice!?’

’And where is he hiding!?’

Countless questions surfaced in his mind until his vision cleared.

’No matter what their relationship is...’

’as long as we catch the killer...’

’everything will be revealed!’

At this thought, Xu Huo took a deep breath and uttered two words in a low voice.

"Get them!"