Ace of the Dragon Division

Ran Jing turned around and carried the dining table and wooden chair into another elevator, heading to the police station.

The forensic identification department was still working overtime, performing analyses on evidence submitted by various departments.

They were all grateful when they saw Ran Jing carry a dining table and a chair out from the car.

“Chief Ran, you are so kind to us! You came over with a table and chair for us to rest on, knowing that we are working overtime. I feel that my shift is worth it!”

Ran Jing was speechless.

“Who is free? Help me analyze whether these two handprints are from the same person, I need some professional to help me,” Ran Jing said to the people present.

The leader gave the word, and since she was one of the most beautiful women working in the police force, they were definitely going to try to impress her.

Immediately there were three people around the dining table and chair, with their arms across their chests or hands on their chins in deep thought.

After a long time, a man broke the silence. “This looks like a man’s hand!”

Ran Jing rolled her eyes at him. “Which woman can leave a dent mark like this with a slap? Don’t give me nonsense, I’m not here to test your naked eye deductions. Hurry up and analyze it with equipment. This is urgent, I’ll give you twenty minutes.”

The three men began a variety of measurements to the millimetre, from depth to width, to ensure that any fingerprints left on the chair were extracted.

The guy who got the fingerprints then directly input it into the public security system to investigate who it belonged to.

The results required executive permission to view.

Ran Jing knew that Mr. Fang was from Yanjing, and it was normal for his file to be classified and require permission, so she did not suspect anything at first.

“Check Xu Cheng’s file and compare it with this man’s fingerprints.”

The technician nodded, and then did a search on Xu Cheng.

It turned out that there were more than a thousand people with this name nationwide.

“Limit the filter to Shangcheng,” Ran Jing said.

The technician changed the search range and then said, “There are three people with the name Xu Cheng within the Shangcheng area. Chief, have a look at which one is the Xu Cheng you are looking for.”

He listed out the information of the three Xu Chengs, and Ran Jing took a closer look but none was the Xu Cheng she knew.

That’s not right, could it be that he is not a Shangcheng citizen so I can’t find him?

She checked the character to see if there was a typo.

The result was correct, and there were indeed only three Xu Chengs within the boundaries of Shangcheng, but none of them were the Xu Cheng she was looking for.

“Go back to the previous results. Look for it within the country, and show me all of their photos. I’ll identify based on the look.”

The technician nodded and scrolled down the page with thousands of photos of men named Xu Cheng in the country, as Ran Jing looked carefully.

Five minutes later, the mouse scrolled to the end, and she did not see Xu Cheng’s photo.

“Continue,” Ran Jing said.

The technician gave a bitter laugh.

“We’re already at the bottom, Chief Ran. You’ve already looked at everyone named ‘Xu Cheng’ in the country. You still can’t find him?”

“Impossible!” Ran Jing was surprised. “It is impossible that his information disappeared from the system!”

The technician: “Chief Ran, did you get the wrong name? Or is it the gender? How about I look for Xu Cheng in women’s names for you?”

Ran Jing almost choked on air as she glared at him. “Even the transgender people in Thailand would still have their original gender listed. Even if this person undergoes the surgery, he wouldn’t be listed in the ‘women’ section.”

She frowned wondering why Xu Cheng’s file was gone.

“Could it be that the name was changed?” Ran Jing said thoughtfully.

The technician: “The name change can also be found with the original name, it is all recorded.”

“Then that’s strange, could it be that Xu Cheng’s name is not his real name?” Ran Jing thought of something and ran out.

She went to the police recruitment unit and headed straight to file records looking for Xu Cheng’s resume.

She couldn’t find it anywhere.

Ran Jing’s entire body froze.

“Xu Cheng’s file and resume disappeared?” Ran Jing felt that Xu Cheng was not as simple as she thought.

She returned to the forensic identification department and asked the technician, “Do you know why a person’s file will just suddenly disappear?”

The technician said, “Unless they eliminate their household registration, it will not disappear for no reason. As long as they are still a citizen, even if they are dead, they would be filed into the list of deceased people. There’s no reason to erase it, no one has the right because it’s against the law!”

Ran Jing: “Then search in the deceased list for Xu Cheng’s file again.”

The technician nodded.

He listed the new photos, and Ran Jing still couldn’t find Xu Cheng’s picture after looking.

She was puzzled.

“I know this person, and now his file is gone, but I am sure that he will not have his household registration eliminated.”

The technician: “Then there’s only one possibility.”

Ran Jing: “Tell me.”

The technician: “His file level was probably upgraded. For example, that fingerprint we extracted is under higher level protection so we need more permission to gain access. Otherwise, we have no right to see.”

Ran Jing: “But just looking up his name doesn’t seem like it needed permission. If the security clearance has been upgraded, we should still be able to see that he has a file, even if we won’t be able to access it.”

The technician: “There is also another possibility.”

Ran Jing: “What?”

The technician: “He got a name change. When I said the original name remains on the file, that is just for the ordinary files. Assuming you changed your name and then the file was upgraded to confidential, then the original name would also become confidential and cannot be found anywhere.”

Ran Jing’s brain suddenly cleared up.

That was when one of the three forensic identification officers, who was quite efficient, said, “Chief Ran, I have sixty percent certainty that the two handprints are a match from the same person.”

The other two were not convinced. “What basis do you have? These two palm prints are obviously not made at the same time, and there’s a deviation in the size as well.”

The officer was affirmative as he said, “There is indeed deviation, because people can’t always maintain that same figure. A change of body weight within a week could cause the fingers or palm size to increase or decrease. However, I determined it based on the palm prints that these two belong to the same man!”

Ran Jing quickly asked, “How so? How are you so sure?”

He replied, “People’s palm prints are more or less the same, but they are very different at the same time. They need to be looked at very carefully to see the difference. Every martial arts practitioner will have calluses and these calluses will be different for everyone. With my observation, these two calluses marks aren’t much different! But what makes me most certain is that both palm prints have calluses marks that belong to gun users, and of course, that’s why I said I’m only 60% sure.”

Ran Jing narrowed her eyes.

Fang Yucheng?