Chapter 486: Tracks in the Shadows

Normally, this kind of case information wouldn’t be shared with outsiders. Clearly, the other side knows Zhou Can isn’t just any regular person, so they’re giving him some extra leeway.

After listening to Officer Hu’s briefing, Zhou Can couldn’t help but worry.

He’d thought the biggest suspect was Director Xueyan’s ex-husband, but the police found their main suspect might be a man around 1.8 meters tall, about thirty, which clearly didn’t match her ex-husband.

So who in the world is the killer?

Zhou Can racked his brain but just couldn’t recall ever having any conflict with a man like that.

“Dr. Zhou, if you find any new leads, contact us anytime. If you spot the suspect, try to avoid confronting him directly. Just call me whenever you need to.”

Officer Hu gave him some important reminders.

“Thank you! By the way, I noticed your department’s squad cars are pretty old. Last night, your police car stalled twice making a U-turn. I’d like to donate two new squad cars to your station. Is there any sort of red tape involved?”

Zhou Can saw how hard the police were working—showing up late at night and investigating thoroughly—so he decided to offer some help.

“First, thank you for your generosity. I’ll need to report this to the station leaders and get their permission before I can give you an answer.”

Hearing that Zhou Can was offering two cars, Officer Hu’s tone grew noticeably more polite.

Plenty of wealthy people exist, but hardly any are willing to donate vehicles to the station.

Even if each squad car was only a mid-range model, two of them would still cost over two hundred thousand.

“Goodbye!”

Zhou Can hung up the phone.

Instead of clocking out, or heading to Cardiothoracic Surgery, he made his way to the Security Department.

A lot of people see hospital security as about the lowest rung—just above the cleaning staff.

But they’re not quite as useless as people think.

Security guards without connections might keep a low profile, but those who have some backing really don’t flinch when trouble hits. Especially when patients or their families cause a scene and get aggressive with staff, the guards have the legal right to restrain people right away.

“Hi, I’d like to speak with your department head.”

Zhou Can walked into the Security Office.

Two guards were on duty inside.

The others were either posted at the hospital entrances, standing watch by admin buildings, or patrolling the various departments.

“What do you need with our department head?”

The younger guard glanced at Zhou Can, his attitude a bit cold.

“I want to check surveillance footage from the past few days.”

“To access hospital surveillance, you’ll need a slip from Admin—and most likely the director’s signature too.”

Any young guard posted in the office probably has some sort of background.

His tone had that arrogant, bureaucratic edge.

This was all strictly by the book—he sounded like he was reading from a manual.

The older guard, almost forty, glanced over at Zhou Can when he heard someone asking to review the cameras.

He froze for a second.

Wait a minute—wasn’t this Dr. Zhou Can? No way, this guy is serious business. Last time, he took down the head of security, the deputy dean of General Affairs, and even the director’s assistant all at once.

Offending him would bring nothing but disaster for the new department head.

“Please, don’t go! It was just that our young guy here didn’t recognize who you were. I’m sorry—really, sorry!”

The older guard jumped up, put on his best smile, and quickly tried to smooth things over for Zhou Can.

“Normally, you’d need authorization from upstairs to view the security footage. But since you’re a doctor here, I’m sure there’s a good reason. This is a special case—I’ll report to Chief Mu and see if we can spare you the paperwork.”

No wonder this guard managed to keep his job so many years—he handled things much more smoothly than the younger guy.

He’s worlds ahead in handling people and situations.

“Thank you so much! By the way, what’s your name?”

“Just call me Old Zhao or Zhao Zhiguo.”

The older guard was very polite to him.

After the quick introduction, he hurried to call the chief.

“Dr. Zhou, Chief Mu said that for anything you need, Security will handle it as a special case. Let us know which area’s footage you want, and the time frame—you’ll have it right away. Chief Mu just left the office but he’s already turning back as we speak.”

This is about the same level of treatment as the hospital leaders themselves get.

Zhou Can appreciated the warm welcome and didn’t mind taking them up on it.

The younger guard stared in shock.

He’d nearly wrecked big time today. If even the Security Chief would turn around for this doctor, he definitely wasn’t just your average physician.

He tried to give Zhou Can a sheepish smile, wanting to apologize, but his nerves got the better of him and he couldn’t say a single word.

There’s an old saying—about jars so tightly sealed, not even three decent farts can make it out. Today, he was that jar.

A few hard knocks from real life, some more time on the job, and maybe he’ll toughen up and develop a silver tongue.

Otherwise? Well—

Tough luck.

He’ll either get edged out by the world, or spend his whole life at the bottom.

Zhao Zhiguo started helping Zhou Can go through the surveillance footage.

After a lot of searching, they really did find the clue Zhou Can needed.

“Stop, wait! Right here—it’s this guy!”

Zhou Can jabbed a finger at the camera display, excited by the image of a man in a baseball cap and mask.

The man ducked and weaved, trailing Zhou Can from a distance the entire time.

No wonder Zhou Can had felt someone spying on him these past few days.

“Old Zhao, can you check for this guy’s movements in the hospital? If you can get a clear front-facing shot, that’d be perfect.”

“No problem. It might take a bit, though.”

Zhao Zhiguo readily agreed.

“Alright, you search for him while I head to Cardiothoracic Surgery for a procedure. Here’s my number—call me when you get something.”

“Got it! You go do your thing.”

“Thank you, really!”

Zhou Can shook Zhao Zhiguo’s hand, just about to leave when a burly middle-aged man hurried into the surveillance room.

“Hey, Dr. Zhou—rare guest for us! If I’d known you were coming, I’d have waited. Did you get the footage you wanted?”

“I found a good lead, but I have to rush to surgery, so I’m asking Old Zhao to keep looking for me. Didn’t expect Chief Mu to even turn around on his way home—sorry to trouble you all.”

Zhou Can had never really dealt with Chief Mu before.

His face seemed vaguely familiar, though.

“No need to stand on ceremony! Whatever you need from us, just ask—our department’s got your back.”

Chief Mu used to be one of the two Deputy Security Chiefs.

He should really thank Zhou Can for getting promoted.

If Zhou Can hadn’t toppled the previous Chief Mi, Mu’s chances would’ve stayed slim.

He’d always been penned in by Chief Mi.

Thankfully, he hadn’t joined forces with Mi’s clique. Even if he was sometimes sidelined, his name stayed clean. That’s why he wasn’t among those the hospital purged last time.

In fact, Director Zhu promoted him to Chief because of his integrity.

So how could he not treat Zhou Can with respect?

…

By the time Zhou Can finished his surgery in Cardiothoracic, it was already past eleven at night.

He’d gained a ton of experience points for Tissue Separation again today—just a few more major surgeries and he’d probably reach Level 6.

It’s a thrill to see his surgical skills keep advancing toward chief surgeon level.

He was completely obsessed with the mysteries of medicine and uncovering new heights.

His understanding of medicine, the human body, and diseases had reached a whole new level.

Meanwhile, he was also deep into his graduate exam prep.

This year’s focus was in orthopedic trauma, so every improvement in surgical skill gave him an edge.

Passing the preliminary and secondary exams wasn’t something you could do just by cramming.

A lot of questions required real problem-solving, not memorization.

With plenty of clinical experience, he was far more likely to answer tricky questions correctly and ace the tests.

In a way, it was like the old imperial exams in ancient times.

It was never just about being literate—your writing had to shine with both style and substance, originality, life insight, and even policy awareness to be considered truly excellent.

Old Zhao from Security still hadn’t called.

Searching through surveillance for several days takes a ton of time and effort. He’s got his own duties, too, so even if it takes him a couple days, that’s already going above and beyond.

On his way home that night, Zhou Can drove his Mercedes.

Su Qianqian had already called him several times and sent plenty of messages.

It was obvious she was really worried about his safety.

During surgery, Zhou Can couldn’t answer calls or reply to messages. His phone was on silent the whole time—and with vibrations off, he never even noticed incoming calls.

After finally calling her back, he drove straight home.

But as soon as he got in the car, he felt a vague sense of unease.

He couldn’t put his finger on it—just that ominous feeling, like something bad was hanging over him.

Thinking about how the killer had dropped a flowerpot from up high to try to kill him yesterday—an obviously professional move—Zhou Can was instantly on alert. With his Mercedes parked underground, what if someone had tampered with the car?

He wouldn’t rest until this killer was brought down.

His life and safety had already been seriously impacted.

Worst of all, the foe was lurking in the shadows while he was completely exposed.

He could never guess when or where the next attack might come.

With that, he hopped out and checked the car.

But he wasn’t a car expert, so even after shining his phone’s flashlight everywhere, he found nothing suspicious.

Just to be safe, Zhou Can locked up and hailed a cab instead of driving home.

At this hour, getting a cab was nearly impossible.

While waiting, Zhou Can suddenly had an idea—if the killer really did sabotage his car, maybe he was secretly watching to see what happened.

If he didn’t drive home as expected, the killer might sneak back down to reverse whatever he’d done—like restoring the brakes, for example.

All that just to cover his tracks and avoid getting found out.

It was a clever way to hide any tampering.

He decided to call Chief Mu at Security and ask for help.

This late at night, he couldn’t worry about disturbing anyone’s sleep.

“Hello? Who’s this?”

Chief Mu’s voice was thick with drowsiness—clearly, he’d just been woken up.

“Hello, Chief Mu, this is Dr. Zhou Can from the hospital.”

“Oh! Dr. Zhou, what can I do for you?”

“Here’s the thing—I suspect someone messed with my car. Can you have someone keep an eye on the security cameras down in the parking garage, especially around my vehicle? If you spot anyone suspicious, call the police and have them arrested. You’ll be well rewarded.”

Zhou Can never lets a favor go unrewarded.

“Someone’s targeting you? Trying to pull something under the Security Department’s nose—that’s pretty gutsy. Don’t worry, Dr. Zhou, I’ll take care of it right away. As for a reward, forget it. We’re here to protect the hospital and its employees—it’s our job. Which car is yours, and where is it parked?”

Chief Mu asked for details.

Zhou Can gave him the vehicle’s location and license plate, thanked him, and hung up.

Late-night cabs were still nowhere to be found.

He’d waited ages but still no empty taxi showed up.

That’s when Su Qianqian pulled up in her BMW, with Wei Fang along for company.

“Get in, love!”

Su Qianqian swung open the door and waved him over.

Once inside, she looked at him with obvious worry.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Just a suspicion someone’s tampered with my car. If so, this killer is definitely a professional hitman.”

Zhou Can kept his cool as he analyzed the situation.

Just yesterday they’d tried to kill him with a falling object—no luck.

So now the killer turned to sabotaging his car, clearly understanding human psychology. He knew Zhou Can would almost certainly drive home tonight.

“But who would want you dead? I’m so scared. Please be careful at work, okay? I’m terrified someone will just pull a knife on you at the hospital.”

Su Qianqian looked exhausted—she clearly hadn’t rested.

Right now, she was in the middle of a critical stage in her kidney treatment; stress over Zhou Can could ruin everything.

All that effort just to get the Purple-backed Mayapple and Rainbow Toad—if they lost those ingredients, she might never get them again.

“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to me.”

Zhou Can squeezed her hand, trying to put her at ease.

“We’ve already found some clues on the killer. I doubt it’ll take much longer before he’s caught. Once that happens, this will all be over.”

“I bought you a stab-proof vest online—it should arrive tomorrow. Please wear it, okay?”

“Alright!”

Zhou Can didn’t want her worrying, so he agreed right away.

To be honest, he didn’t think the vest was necessary.

The next morning, just past eight, Zhou Can was about to head into the OR when Chief Mu called.

He told Zhou Can that Old Zhao had finished pulling all the security footage he’d requested.

But from last night through this morning, there was no sign of anyone suspicious near his car.

However, they did catch someone entering the underground garage using the staff elevator yesterday—someone who looked almost exactly like the suspect Zhou Can had spotted on surveillance, just in different clothes.

Looks like a professional hitman really is watching him.