Chapter 123: Checking the Victim’s Medical Insurance Info — A Key Clue Confirmed!

Did the victim attend a gathering he couldn’t refuse before his death?

This hypothesis and deduction made everyone present brighten up, with some even unable to hide their amazement and admiration.

Because—

This conclusion was drawn purely based on speculation and everyday logic, not from eyewitnesses, physical evidence, or surveillance footage.

In other words—

Just by roughly identifying the method of murder, Su Ming used the victim’s occupation and economic condition to flesh out a series of crucial details.

For example, when Liu Yang had just recapped the case as a witness—

From the needle mark on the victim’s hip, the absence of a syringe, and the fact that the victim had no chance to call for help or cry out, it was deduced that…

The murder method was likely not an injection of potassium cyanide, but ingestion via capsule.

And taking the capsule form as the final method—

Combining it with the victim’s job and financial background helped to build out the full picture.

First of all—

According to the case file, the victim came from a financially struggling family, having applied for student aid and loans. From this, Su Ming boldly deduced that…

The victim’s frugality and habit of not wasting medication meant that when he got sick, he would likely use previously purchased medicine—giving the murderer a chance to swap out a capsule.

Then—

Given the victim’s job as a programmer and his stingy nature, it was reasoned that the medicine he took was very likely for a stomachache.

Most importantly…

Unlike colds or fevers, stomachaches typically require several days or a full course of treatment.

For a frugal office worker like the victim—

He would probably only take one pill when the pain flared up, rather than taking medication daily.

Which meant—

A postmortem exam wouldn’t detect any residual medication in the body.

Because—

That one pill he took before death wasn’t a stomach med at all, but a lethal potassium cyanide capsule secretly swapped in by the killer.

As a result—

The gelatin capsule dissolved in the stomach, there were no detectable drug metabolites in the bloodstream, and there were no recent hospital visits on record.

So even a full autopsy wouldn’t easily link his death to a poisoned capsule.

That needle mark on his hip—

Naturally became a key focus of the Xiangcheng Criminal Investigation Division, but it was bound to lead nowhere.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

Continuing to apply real-life logic and interpersonal insight—

If the victim carried stomach meds on him, it meant he had experienced stomach pain many times, and would be particularly careful about diet to avoid it.

Anyone who’s experienced that kind of pain would do whatever they could to prevent it, not just wait for the pain to hit and then take meds.

Eat breakfast on time, keep dinner light—

Just following these two simple habits helps relieve the stomach’s burden. Stomachaches usually occur in the morning or late at night.

Which brings up the question…

What happened on the day of his death that caused the victim to take medicine to relieve or prevent a stomachache?

For a homebody programmer—

Only things like company dinners or team gatherings would be hard for him to refuse. He’d have to attend, or risk seeming antisocial.

And in a software company, being antisocial—

Could mean more work, a failing performance review, and a much higher risk of being laid off.

Company or department dinners—

Are usually announced in advance, so employees can arrange their schedules. This would give the killer an excellent chance to act.

…

At that moment—

Veteran investigator Lin Tian replayed all the information Su Ming had just laid out in his mind, and spoke sharply:

“Xiao Ming.”

“Based on your deduction just now—”

“Doesn’t this strongly suggest that the person codenamed ‘Poison’ is very likely someone who worked at the same company as the victim?”

“Only someone like that could have swapped the medication and known the exact time of the dinner gathering.”

“And more importantly…”

“They’d need a close relationship with the victim to be able to leave a needle mark on his hip. That’s not something a stranger could pull off.”

“If we want to verify your deduction, the simplest way is…”

“To check the victim’s medical insurance spending!”

“First, confirm whether he had purchased stomach meds.”

“Someone as frugal as him would very likely have used his company-covered insurance at a pharmacy.”

“But the question is…”

“After so many years, are the insurance purchase records still available?”

Just as he finished speaking—

An Quan, who had a laptop open in front of him, adjusted his glasses and responded confidently:

“Chief Lin.”

“There’s a high chance we can still access the purchase records.”

“Different provinces in our country retain medical insurance records for different lengths of time—Guangdong keeps them for three years, while Jiangsu, where Gusu City is located, keeps them for five years.”

With that—

An Quan opened the case file, copied the victim’s ID number, and logged into the Jiangsu province internal insurance system.

While typing away and searching, he explained:

“Although the records are kept for five years…”

“This case is just about to hit the five-year mark. So we have about four or five months of records before the incident that we can check. I can’t guarantee we’ll find anything.”

“But as long as the victim used his insurance to buy meds a few months before he was killed, we should find something.”

“Because—”

“To help families claim reimbursement, our national insurance system is quite thoughtful.”

“Even if a person’s household registration is canceled, the insurance records can still be accessed…”

Before he could finish—

An Quan, having successfully logged into the Jiangsu medical insurance platform, immediately saw a purchase record from a few months before the victim’s death.

Without hesitation, he looked up excitedly and said:

“Got it!”

“I found, in the victim’s insurance purchase history, that about four months before the poisoning, he bought a box of stomach medication from Guoda Pharmacy on Central Street in Xiangcheng District—”

‘Omeprazole Capsules’!