S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 19

The Innocent Murderer 19 - Secrets

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"Yeah... I know." Zhan Qitian held the steering wheel in one hand and his phone call in the other, "I have looked in all the places but there is still no clue. Do I need to tell Zhao and Yutang?"

The car drove slowly into the parking lot. Zhan Qitian unfastened his seat belt and listened to the person on the other end of the phone, sighing softly, "I'm afraid the children will be in danger if they don't understand the whole story."

"Okay... I see." Closing the door, Zhan Qitian hung up the phone, rubbed his eyebrows and walked to the elevator.

Pressing the button for the eleventh floor, he reached out to unbutton his shirt collar and loosened his tie. Zhan Qitian's mind was full of the content from the conversation, and he felt a little irritable.

The elevator door slowly opened. As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he was violently pulled by a hand that extended from the side and dragged into the stairwell.

In the dimly lit stairwell, Zhan Qitian's eyes widened as looked at the person that pulled him.

The man stared at him for a long time, then slowly let go of his hand. He took a step back and spoke. "Long time no see."

Zhan Qitian said nothing and turned around to leave, but he was stopped by the man, "Wait... Has Jue ever come to see you?"

Zhan Qitian stopped and frowned. He turned back to look at him and sneered, "Who is Jue? I haven't heard of him."

The man was a little helpless, "Qitian, it would be very dangerous for him to run around at this time."

Zhan Qitian reached his hand out to tidy up his slightly messy clothes, and said in a low voice, "Hurry up and leave before Yunwen comes back." After speaking, he pushed his hand away and walked back.

The man stood there for a while reluctantly, and said, "If you see him, tell him not to run around." After that, he turned and left.

Zhan Qitian walked to the door of his house and turned his face to see that the man had already gone downstairs. He was relieved and said lightly, "You can come out now Zhao Jue."

After a while, Zhao Jue poked his head out from the passage on the other side of the corridor. He looked at him with a grin, "I knew you wouldn't tell on me."

Opening the door of the house, Zhan Qitian walked in and Zhao Jue followed quickly behind him. He closed the door, looked around, and asked, "Do I need to change my shoes?"

Looking at him helplessly, Zhan Qitian walked into the living room, sat on the sofa and asked, "Why are you trying to run away?"

"I have some important things to do." Zhao Jue leaned forward with a smile and sat next to him, "Your wife is not at home?"

"She's away." Zhan Qitian replied, "Why are you here?"

"Can you take me in for two days?" Zhao Jue said, "I will leave in two days."

"Heh..." Zhan Qitian sneered, "You have many places to hide."

"They will find me in other places." Zhao Jue said with a sly look, "You are the only one here. Even if they know that I am here, they wouldn't dare to come!"

"I don't want to get involved with your business." Zhan Qitian stood up, "You can go now."

Zhao Jue stayed seated on the sofa and slowly said, "The little cat was shot. Did you know about that?"

Zhan Qitian was shocked and looked back at Zhao Jue.

With a faint smile, Zhao Jue continued in a low voice, "Someone sent a bomb to the SCI office the other day. If the things are not brought back, more people will die."

Zhan Qitian was silent for a while before he picked up the key, turned and went out. Before closing the door, he coldly said, "Leave in two days!" After speaking, he closed the door and left.

When he left, Zhao Jue got up and wandered around the room. He stopped by a door and opened it lightly. The room was very warm and clean, appearing to belong to a high school student. There were bookshelves by the walls, and many books were placed on the floor and the bed. There were also a lot of toys on the floor and the bed. A big flaming tumbler stood in the corner, stationery was neatly placed on the desk, and there were two picture frames on the desk. One photo was a family portrait. The photo showed Zhan Zhao, who was only about five or six years old. The little one was held in his parents' arms. His father beside him was handsome and his mother was beautiful. The family was smiling happily. The other photo was a group photo of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang in high school. One was arrogant and the other was well-behaved with a happy smile on his face.

Zhao Jue stared at the photo for a long time. He walked to the bed, climbed up on it, and laid down. At this moment, a fat cat suddenly jumped onto the bed. It rubbed Zhao Jue's side, licked his finger twice, and leaned on him. Then it laid down and began to lick its fur.

Zhao Jue smiled and touched the cat's ears, and said to himself: "Good people get good rewards, bad people receive punishment, right? This appears to be the truth!"

…….

The SCI office was quickly cleaned up. Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and the others returned to the office and proceeded to work.

"How's it going with that girl?" Bai Yutang asked Lu Fang who came over.

"She is too young and the evidence is insufficient, so we can only release her." Lu Fang replied. After thinking about it, he then added, "The strange thing is that her lawyer is here to get her instead of her mother, Yan Li."

Zhan Zhao nodded. At this moment, Ma Han and Zhao Hu came back. They entered the door aggressively. Zhan Zhao felt amused and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Right." Bai Yutang also asked, "Didn't you go to interrogate the father and son of the Pang family? What did you get from them?"

"They were pretending to have amnesia." Zhao Hu sneered, "But this time it's useless to pretend to have amnesia! Even pretending to be dead won't work! They have been arrested and they can't run away!"

"How did they pretend to have amnesia?" Zhan Zhao was curious.

"I brought the video back." Ma Han handed the USB stick to Jiang Ping. "Old man Pang acted crazy and insane. His son was seriously injured and pretended to have amnesia, saying that he didn't remember anything."

Jiang Ping played the two interrogation videos for Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. The two watched them quietly. Bai Yutang frowned and watched Zhan Zhao, "Cat, Pang Ji is crazy. Did he fake it?"

"Hmm..." Zhan Zhao scratched his hair, muttering to himself, "Where did he learn it from?"

"Huh?" The others looked at Zhan Zhao in confusion.

"Also... why would they kill Wang Liyong?" Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin. He raised his face and looked at Bai Yutang, "Xiao Bai, let's go to the nursing home!"

Bai Yutang was surprised, "Go to the nursing home?"

"Mhmm." Zhan Zhao nodded, "I want to meet Zou Mo. Luo Tian, you will accompany us." Zhan Zhao said to Luo Tian, "Also, we will go pick up Yang Yang after leaving the nursing home."

"Okay..." Luo Tian nodded in confusion.

Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, "Do you want to see Zhao Jing after going to the nursing home?"

"Mhmm." Zhan Zhao nodded and reached out to Bai Yutang, "Help me."

Everyone was speechless. Bai Yutang obediently stretched his hand out to help Zhan Zhao, and said in a very low voice directly in his ear, "Yes, Master Zhan!"

Zhan Zhao blushed.

"What about me?" Bai Chi was a little anxious. He had always been partnered with Luo Tian, so why did they take Luo Tian but not him.

"You go and watch Zhao Zhen twenty-four hours a day." Bai Yutang smiled.

"How can I... ignore public affairs for personal affairs?" Bai Chi hesitated.

"After returning from the nursing home, you have been restless all day long." Zhan Zhao smiled, "In addition, this is not a private matter. According to my guess, there are very important clues connected to Zhao Zhen this time."

"Clues?" Bai Chi looked at Zhan Zhao in surprise.

"To be precise, it's probably the motive." Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, "Look after him!" After he finished speaking, Bai Yutang carried him away, and Luo Tian hurried to follow.

Several people came to the nursing home.

Zhan Zhao has been living on Bai Yutang's back since the day he was injured. Bai Yutang felt like the cat was injured because he couldn't protect him well, so he listened to all of his orders. When the cat told him to go east, he went east; when the cat told him to go west, he went west. He was so obedient that a certain cat became more demanding. 

Unexpectedly, after arriving at the nursing home, Luo Tian kindly borrowed a wheelchair from the volunteers. Bai Yutang placed Zhan Zhao, who was struggling, onto the wheelchair and pushed him around. Everyone who passed by showed regret; how could such a beautiful young man be stuck in a wheelchair at a young age?

Seeing Zhan Zhao unhappy, Bai Yutang was happy!

"He can't cooperate with you!" The doctor in the nursing home was a little angry because of the second police visit today. He glared at Bai Yutang, who had shown his ID. "He can't even speak; he has no consciousness at all!"

Bai Yutang ignored the doctor and pushed Zhan Zhao into the room. Zhan Zhao stared at the old man for a moment, then turned to Luo Tian, "Have everyone around here leave. There can be no one within ten metres of this room! You guard the door."

"Yes sir." Luo Tian immediately invited the protesting doctor away, and called the police officer to isolate the room from anyone approaching.

When everyone was gone, Bai Yutang walked to the window and leaned against it, quietly waiting for Zhan Zhao. Although the old man in front of him seemed to have no consciousness at all, he believed in Zhan Zhao's judgement.

Zhan Zhao was sitting in the wheelchair, with his hands folded in front of him, his elbows lightly resting on the arm rests of the wheelchair. He looked at Zou Mo lying on the hospital bed.

After being quiet for about ten minutes, Zhan Zhao suddenly said slowly, "That little police officer, the one and only person left in the world who cared about you unconditionally, died."

The moment Zhan Zhao's words fell, Bai Yutang clearly saw the old man's originally dazed eyes suddenly sink... Although it was a tiny moment, it still couldn't escape his eyes – Who said he was not conscious, the old man was very conscious!

Afterwards, the old man's eyes returned to their original state, but Zhan Zhao smiled lightly, "Don't pretend... we saw it."

The old man's face did not change.

Bai Yutang sat on the window frame and said coldly, "There is no one around here."

"You pretend to be like this because you don't want to be discovered. I sent everyone away." Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, "Besides, the little police officer is dead. You should also understand what this means, right?"

After a long time, they heard a soft sigh. Then an old voice slowly said, "That means I can't pretend anymore. The only way to survive is to cooperate with you and receive protection."

Bai Yutang looked at his watch and shook his head at Zhan Zhao – This old man lied to those professional doctors for more than ten years, and the cat got him to speak obediently within twenty minutes... It's because of this level of skill that the cat is recruited by others and envied by his peers. The only issue is that he doesn't realise any of this, how could I not worry about him.

"What did you give him?" Zhan Zhao continued. The question confused Bai Yutang, but the old man laughed.

After laughing for a while, the old man shook his head, "I always thought there was only one Zhao Jue in this world, but I didn't expect there to be a second one... Haha, the world is really wonderful."

Zhan Zhao lowered his face and said, "I am different from him."

The old man nodded and said, "That is true... By the way, what's his name?"

"You mean the police officer?" Bai Yutang asked.

The old man nodded, "I only know that everyone calls him Xiao Wang."

"He's called Wang Liyong." Bai Yutang replied, reaching out and making gestures on his neck, "They cut his throat and he died on the roof of the police station."

"..." After a long time, the old man said "Oh..."

"What did you give him?" Zhan Zhao then asked again.

"I didn't give him anything, he found it himself." The old man said slowly, "I have told many people before that I once had a woman I loved; she is dead and is buried in the cemetery. Her name was Zhou, though I don't remember the rest of her name. My only wish is to go to her grave and take a few photos for myself"

Bai Yutang laughed, "You probably told people more than ten years ago, right?"

"Yeah." The old man nodded. "Only my old friends in the prison know... He probably went and asked about it specially."

Zhan Zhao thought for a while and nodded, "The little police officer went to the grave for you?"

"Haha..." The old man smiled and said, "That tomb is an empty tomb I bought. No one will worship at all, let alone burn paper money.

"What is it then? Did you hide things in a tomb that he would eventually find?" Zhan Zhao changed his mind and asked, "There is a movable slate that is generally closed. However, when the candle and incense are inserted, it will open. There are so many people with the surname Zhao, he would have to try them one by one before he could find the exact one. In other words, no one without sincerity could find it."

"Smart, too smart..." The old man admired again and again.

Bai Yutang frowned, "He really swept all the graves surnamed Zhou?"

"He has a good heart." The old man laughed, "He would go every weekend and take a bunch of photos to show me one by one."

"It's a pity that none of them was right." Zhan Zhao said, "But he didn't bring you photos after he went this weekend, did he?"

The old man smiled, "What is your name? What is your relationship with Zhao Jue?"

Zhan Zhao kept silent and asked, "What is the thing that was hidden?"

"You are so smart, you should have guessed it a long time ago, so why ask?" The old man slowly said, "Help me burn incense for Xiao Wang. After the murderer is caught, remember to tell me."

Zhan Zhao looked at him for a while, then glanced back at Bai Yutang – I'm done.

Bai Yutang walked over and said to the old man, "I will find someone to protect you." After that, he pushed Zhan Zhao out. 

Before they left, the old man suddenly said, "Boy, do you want to know what the relationship between you and Zhao Jue is? Would you like to ask me? I might know..."

Zhan Zhao was taken aback, Bai Yutang stopped and frowned, looking at the old man, but Zhan Zhao did not look back.

"Haha..." The old man laughed, "Are you afraid? Afraid of knowing the truth... Smart people are always more annoying than stupid people."

Bai Yutang pushed Zhan Zhao out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Walking in front of Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang crouched down and looked back at him, whispering, "Hop on."

Zhan Zhao blinked and whispered, "Isn't there a wheelchair?"

Bai Yutang smiled, "I want to carry you."

Zhan Zhao lowered his head, raised the corners of his mouth slightly and raised his face again. The worry in his eyes disappeared. He stretched his hands out to reach around Bai Yutang's shoulders, hopped on his back and was picked up by him. Resting his chin on Bai Yutang's shoulder, Bai Yutang couldn't help but tease him, "Cat, your chin is so sharp, it hurts my shoulder!"

Zhan Zhao deliberately turned his face and poked his neck, causing Bai Yutang to pull his neck away.

Luo Tian saw Bai Yutang carrying Zhan Zhao on his back. The two laughed and walked over from the end of the long corridor. He wondered what the interrogation revealed to make them so happy?

After arranging personnel to protect the old man, the three got into the car and drove to pick up Luo Yang. On the way, Bai Yutang asked, "Cat, what is the item? I don't understand."

Luo Tian also looked at Zhan Zhao curiously.

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly and said slowly, "It's a murder weapon."

"Weapon?!" Bai Yutang and Luo Tian were even more confused.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: March 17, 2021

Re-edited: December 21, 2023