Chapter 35
Surveillance footage showed that the man in black entered Linhuai Road from a fork in the road.
In the short video of just a few seconds, the man in black was not carrying any large objects. He had his hands in his pockets, striding with big strides, his shoulders slightly leaning forward, and his upper body swaying from side to side as he walked. He looked agile and a little bit arrogant, like some kind of aggressive beast walking alone in the dark.
This is the temperament of people at the bottom of society who often hang out in bad places when Chang Ting is handling cases.
To an experienced criminal police officer, a person's posture and gait are as distinct as their facial features. This figure was clearly male, and his gait didn't feel familiar at all.
His eyes were fixed on the shoes of the man in black. He zoomed in on the video and vaguely saw a pair of black sneakers, but he couldn't see the brand clearly and it was difficult to tell the size. He couldn't tell whether the half size 44 shoe print at the scene was made by this pair of feet.
Judging from the black man's height, he looks like he can wear size 44 shoes.
Chang Ting logged into the Skynet system and followed the man's direction of coming and going, intersection by intersection.
Fortunately, a person walking will not walk far, so it is not difficult to check.
After searching and connecting the surveillance cameras at various intersections of the Skynet system, two hours later, he determined the destination where the man in black appeared and returned, a place called Chunzhi Street, about 1.5 kilometers away from the crime scene.
At the intersection of Chunzhi Street, there's an old archway with a camera installed. The man in black emerged from under the archway at 12:10 AM on the day of the crime, walking at a moderate pace along the street before entering the surveillance blind spot in the area where the crime occurred.
It reappeared an hour later, returned along the same route, and arrived at the old building on Chunzhi Street at 2 o'clock, where it disappeared again.
Chang Ting could only go there to see what was going on.
Upon arrival, I realized Chunzhi Street wasn't just one street, but a whole neighborhood. The buildings were old and densely packed, with high-rise buildings and bungalows mixed with haphazard construction, and the alleys woven together like a spider web. It was even more chaotic than the crime scene.
As expected, the surveillance coverage in such places is very limited. After the man in black entered, he disappeared like an ant entering an ant nest.
"Why is this place so messy?" Chang Ting muttered to himself in frustration. It was hard to find someone you knew in a place like this, let alone someone whose face you couldn't even see clearly.
It's not easy, but we have to find it. Chang Ting took the blurry photos printed from the surveillance video and randomly stopped passers-by to ask questions.
No one recognized the man in black, but after a few words, they figured out why the area was in such a mess.
Most residents here aren't homeowners, but rather outsiders. Sharing is common, with multiple people often sharing a single apartment. Even the haphazardly built attics and shanties are inhabited.
Passersby told him that the reason for this was that the old house was adjacent to the municipal hospital, and most of the people who rented there were family members of out-of-town patients who were hospitalized for a long time.
"Municipal Hospital..." Chang Ting stood among the shanties, his eyes looking over the high and low roofs. Within his sight was the towering building of the Municipal Hospital.
Chang Ting stood there, looking around at the seemingly endless old houses, feeling a little hopeless. He was alone, and it would take him forever to find the house.
He calculated the likelihood that the man in black was the murderer.
The man in black left and returned with his hands in his pockets, his steps unhurried, showing no sign of panic. Either he had nothing to do with the case, or he was an extremely calm killer.
What's suspicious is that the man is wearing a hat and a mask. The weather isn't cold, so why is he covering himself up so tightly in the middle of the night?
Chang Ting quickly thought of a possibility - the area where the crime occurred was not just an underground casino but also many irregular karaoke bars and massage parlors.
People who went there during that time were mostly looking for fun, so it was understandable that they covered themselves tightly for fear of being recognized.
Therefore, instead of taking up more police resources, let the team members investigate other cars and people first.
He turned to go back to the bureau, but then looked back at the Municipal Hospital building and remembered the anesthetic. Since he was already here, he might as well go over and ask the hospital if any anesthetics were missing.
He walked through the winding alleys and headed towards the building.
Finally, when we reached the end of the road, a wall appeared in front of us.
He stood at the foot of the wall, looking around but seeing no entrance. He walked along the wall for a full five minutes before finding the hospital's west gate. He asked the guard where the hospital office building was and walked inside.
When I passed by a building on the way, I saw that the side door was open, so I wanted to take a shortcut and go through the building.
After entering, there is a long corridor. Hospital corridors are always so gloomy and the temperature is exceptionally cold.
I walked along the corridor for a while, but didn't see anyone. The light in the corridor was very dim. Usually the Municipal Hospital was crowded with people, so why was it so quiet here?
When turning a corner, a scream suddenly came from the opposite side.
An old man dressed as a cleaner nearly fell over, clutching his chest and exclaiming in frustration: "You scared me to death!"
Chang Tinghe was startled and apologized quickly: "I'm sorry."
"What are you doing here?" the old man said angrily.
"I'm here... to find someone."
The old man's expression changed: "Why would you come to a place like this to find someone?"
"What's wrong with this place?"
"This is the morgue!"
Chang Ting looked up and saw a sign with white letters on a black background on a gray door. He couldn't help but get goose bumps all over his body.
He had no choice but to say, "Oh, I, I took the wrong way."
The old man asked, "Are you here to see the patient?"
He replied casually, "Oh, yes."
"Which department?"
Chang Ting couldn't come up with an idea for a moment, so he remembered his acquaintance at the hospital, Song Zhou from the rehabilitation department. He casually said, "The rehabilitation department."
"The rehabilitation ward is on the 7th floor, take the elevator up." The old man said as he pushed a cart carrying a large yellow box.
"Thank you very much."
Chang Ting glanced at the box on the cart, which was labeled "Medical Waste." Through the half-open lid, he glimpsed what appeared to be some dark clothes. He asked, "What are you pushing?"
"Clothes of deceased patients. Do you want to see them?"
"No……"
The old man stuffed a pile of bloody garbage into the box, covering the black clothes, and muttered, "Young people are really curious..."
Chang Ting quickly turned around and prepared to leave.
The old man shouted from behind: "Wrong way again, the elevator is over there!"
Under the old man's gaze, Chang Ting had no choice but to enter the elevator.
Even as the elevator went up, it felt like there was a shade behind me.
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