Hearing Shen Qiang's words, the stunningly beautiful Qian Shanxue was in shock and disbelief: "You mean to say that this killer, because of suffering from fingerprint disorder, lacks sweat glands and cannot sweat normally, so he suffered from heatstroke that summer?"

"Yes," Shen Qiang's eyes were incredibly bright: "This is the most reasonable explanation, otherwise I can't think of any reason he would change a habit he has accumulated over more than ten years."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiaolei was shocked and quickly compared the details before and after the case.

She then said excitedly: "Shen Qiang is right; the criminal's crime pattern is very distinctive. Over the span of twenty-eight years, the only change was a two-month pause during the summer of the fourteenth year; after that, every summer, he would stop for three months."

"The previous expert investigation team also suspected something went wrong during that period, but no one guessed he might have suffered from heatstroke."

Shen Qiang smiled and said, "That's normal. This is the North, where the hottest summer days are usually just thirty-seven or eight degrees, and such scorching days are few and far between, so heatstroke is rare here."

"But this killer is different. Because he lacks sweat glands, his body cannot sweat naturally to cool down, so thirty degrees of temperature for him is probably similar to an ordinary person dealing with forty degrees or higher."

Hearing this, Ali questioned, "You might have a point, but finding someone who had heatstroke so many years ago must be harder, as heatstroke is considered a minor issue."

Shen Qiang shook his head and said seriously, "You're talking about mild heatstroke being a minor issue. When the body temperature exceeds 40℃, the mortality rate for severe heatstroke is 41.7%, and if it exceeds 42℃, the mortality rate is 81.3%. This killer is different; his heatstroke that year must have been very severe, if not life-threatening, which is why he avoided the three months of summer in the following years."

Ali frowned, "Okay, even if your analysis is correct, do you think someone who had heatstroke thirty years ago can still be found?"

Shen Qiang's eyes were as bright as snow: "If it was just a simple, ordinary heatstroke, of course we wouldn't be able to find him, but his condition was critical at the time, so you should look at this."

With that, Shen Qiang clicked on the computer again.

It was another old newspaper clipping.

"In a 41° heat, multiple fatalities from extreme heat; the Provincial People's Hospital urgently sets up a heatstroke specialist clinic; thirty-seven patients admitted for heat exhaustion..."

Upon seeing this, Ye Xiaolei's eyes instantly lit up: "Although I don't quite understand what heat exhaustion is, if Shen Qiang's hypothesis is correct, then this person must be among these patients."

Ali said, "Not necessarily."

At this point, Qian Shanxue's beautiful eyes shone as she said, "This killer, after committing a crime, never takes any valuables, which means he either has a very good income or comes from a well-off family. If the Provincial Hospital set up a clinic and he happened to suffer from heatstroke, he would definitely have gone there."

Ali frowned, "But after so many years, would the old medical records still exist?"

"They must exist!" Shen Qiang's eyes were bright as snow: "Thirty years ago, not everyone could be called a medical expert. Those high in both medical skill and title were unbeatable; their diagnosed cases would surely be preserved, if not already in the Medical University's textbooks."

Ali was pleasantly surprised, "Really, then this killer is as good as caught."

Shen Qiang nodded vigorously.

At this moment, Ye Xiaolei couldn't help but embrace Shen Qiang intimately, excited like a child who received a reward: "Shen Qiang, I knew it, you're the best. There's nothing in this world that can stump you!"

Not only that.

Qian Shanxue, tall and graceful, with a stunning face, also couldn't help but look at Shen Qiang with surprise and admiration: "Shen Qiang, you're so smart, I never expected that just hearing the old officer suspecting the killer had no fingerprints would lead you to think of all this!"

Shen Qiang laughed: "I can't help it; I'm a doctor. As long as the initial conclusion is correct and he indeed has fingerprint disorder, then we just need to visit the Provincial People's Hospital, check the expert cases from the heat exhaustion clinic of that year, and we'll definitely find that person."

Upon hearing this, the excited Qian Shanxue flirtingly smiled: "So what are we waiting for? Let's go."

Shen Qiang nodded.

The four of them, after a simple organization of their things, set off into the night directly towards the Provincial People's Hospital.

Upon arrival at the Provincial People's Hospital, after presenting their credentials and explaining their purpose, the dean personally called the duty director to lead Shen Qiang and his companions to the archives room.

Upon reaching the archives room, looking at the hundreds of medical records from that year, the eyes of the four people immediately lit up with excitement.

They temporarily borrowed a junior doctor's office.

The four of them began matching the patient records from that year.

At this initial matching stage, it was relatively simple.

They excluded females, excluded those under twenty-two, and set aside those over fifty-five at that time.

After some filtering.

Only twenty-one men remained, who suffered from severe heatstroke and were in their prime thirty years ago.

They opened the police database, verified identities one by one, and confirmed that only six were still alive.

Besides that.

Among those who were over fifty-five back then, only one person survived thirty years later.

Altogether, there were only seven potential suspects left.

Later, Shen Qiang took the list of addresses of these seven individuals and, with the group, first verified the elderly person from back then. Upon reaching the community where that family lived and after a simple inquiry with local police officers, they immediately ruled him out because that old man had been bedridden for twenty years while the killer had been rampantly committing crimes.

Among the remaining six, they lived in different areas, and some had moved, with their original addresses no longer existing due to demolition.

So, throughout the night, Shen Qiang, Ali, Ye Xiaolei, and Qian Shanxue moved around the Provincial City, contacting local police officers and checking databases.

But since it was an investigation of events from thirty years ago.

Even with the names and original addresses, it was still fraught with difficulties.

With relocations, following children to other places, after rounds of verification, by around three in the morning, it was too late to call, and either calls went unanswered due to do-not-disturb mode or were answered with insults.

Thus, the investigation could only be temporarily halted.

At this moment.

Only three suspects remained.

So, taking advantage of the night, Shen Qiang sent Ali and Ye Xiaolei back to rest, and then he and Qian Shanxue continued contacting police officers. By the time they clarified the current residences of the remaining three, not only were the streetlights lit, but sanitation workers had also begun working.

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