S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 22

The Innocent Murderer 22 - Suspects

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When Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and Luo Tian returned to the SCI office, the first thing they saw was that Zhao Zhen and Lisbon occupied the entire sofa. Zhao Zhen was holding a plate of cantaloupe and yawning while eating.

"Why are you here?" Bai Yutang was a little surprised.

Zhao Zhen pointed to Bai Chi who was busy not far away, and said, "Chi Chi said that he would watch me twenty-four hours a day from now on but I saw him thinking about the case all the time. So if I am not practising my magic, I accompany him here."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other – This kid is quite considerate.

"Captain!" The desk in front of Jiang Ping had two monitors on it. He called Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao over, "Come and look."

Bai Yutang carried Zhan Zhao, who had already become accustomed to the carrying, and walked over to Jiang Ping. Bai Chi cleverly moved a stool closer and asked Zhan Zhao to sit down.

"What's so interesting?" Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping.

"These are the surveillance videos taken from the banquet, the parking lot, and the police station." Jiang Ping said as he pointed to the three videos displayed on the monitors. There was a person in each frame who had his head down, clearly avoiding the camera.

The person from the banquet was holding a glass of wine in his glass and was wearing a black suit

The person in the parking lot opened the door and got into a car. The car was parked in a position where the licence plate was just out of view of the cameras. He was avoiding the camera, but they could clearly tell that it was a thin man wearing a white shirt.

The person in the police station only showed his back, but he was wearing the uniform of the patrol officer. Jiang Ping chose him on purpose; the uniform number on the shoulder belonged to the deceased officer, Wang Liyong.

"These three people..." Zhan Zhao suddenly frowned slightly.

"What's the matter?" Bai Yutang asked him.

Jiang Ping smiled, "We didn't notice this at first. We only noticed once Bai Chi pointed it out. Has Dr. Zhan noticed it too?"

Zhan Zhao nodded and said, "Although these three people are dressed differently, they are indeed the same person."

"The same person?" Bai Yutang leaned over and stared at the screen for a long time, "How did you come to that conclusion?"

Jiang Ping said, "At first, we all felt that it wasn't." As he said it, he brought up the three-dimensional render comparing the three people. "However, by selecting features and comparing them, they really are the same person. Look at their movements, they move in the exact same manner."

Bai Yutang nodded, "The police officer's uniform is on him. In other words, he killed Wang Liyong on the roof and it is very likely that he was the one who sent the package... But it's also possible that it was Yan Jiajia."

"But he is more suspicious." Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping, "What else did you find?"

Jiang Ping smiled slightly and said, "I haven't said the key point yet. This is the key point!" With that, he pulled up a photo of the man wearing the Doraemon mask that was taken outside the room where An Lingli was killed. "Captain, take a look at this!" As he said it, he compared the man with the Doraemon mask and the black hoodie with the three men in the three-dimensional render.

"The same person?!" Both Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were taken aback.

"He was the murderer who killed An Lingli and Pang Xiaoqin. Plus, he has appeared at multiple different crime scenes." Zhan Zhao leaned back in his chair, "He is the most suspicious so far!"

"Then he put the 'This is God's will' note on my car?" Bai Yutang asked Jiang Ping.

Jiang Ping smiled slightly, "This is even more crazy!" With that, he pulled up another video and said, "Look!"

Everyone stared at the video and saw Bai Yutang's sports car on the screen. A person soon appeared on the screen; he put a piece of paper on the car window and left.

But looking at the picture of this man, everyone was shocked; this man was wearing a black hoodie and a Doraemon mask.

"Is it him?" Bai Yutang frowned and shook his head, "I don't think it is..."

Jiang Ping pulled up the comparison chart and said "No, this person is relatively small. As a man, that person's figure is already considered thin and this person is even thinner than him. I think it should be a woman."

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Indeed... A female..."

Bai Yutang felt that Zhan Zhao seemed to be unable to figure out something, so he said, "Cat, what do you see?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head, "Well... there is something, but I'm not sure."

"Boss, there's more." Jiang Ping said.

Bai Yutang was startled, "There's more?" After he finished speaking, he patted Jiang Ping on the shoulder, "Not bad kid, you found so many things with just these short videos."

"There weren't too many videos, and the others helped too." Jiang Ping clicked on a video and said, "This is the video of the banquet that day and the video of An Lingli being killed. They were both tampered with."

"The time is wrong." Zhan Zhao pointed out. "Isn't it too short of a time frame?"

"Yes." Jiang Ping nodded. "The video of the banquet has a black screen that appears and the video of An Lingli's murder was shortened by nearly half an hour!"

"What?" Bai Yutang was surprised, "Half an hour. That's enough time to commit a murder."

"The hotel staff are the only people who can tamper with the videos." Zhan Zhao muttered to himself.

"Cat, the hotel belongs to the Brother." Bai Yutang thought for a while, "No, didn't the daughter of Old Man Pang say that she owned half of it. That is, the Pang family has some of its shares."

"Brother just bought the hotel not long ago." Zhan Zhao said, "So the staffing should still be Pang Ji's... Yan Li also has shares."

"No matter how bad Old Man Pang is, he won't kill his own daughter, right?" Bai Yutang thought for a while, "That means, Yan Li is the one who tampered with the videos?"

"That's right." Zhan Zhao suddenly said, "Jiang Ping, have you compared figures like Yan Li and Fang Wo with this person?"

Jiang Ping smiled slightly, "Doctor, I don't need you to tell me to do it, I have already done it. None of them are the same. I did it for the Pang family too!"

Zhan Zhao frowned and asked, "Then, has the person who placed the note been compared to Yan Jiajia?"

Jiang Ping was shocked and immediately pulled up the video of Yan Jiajia that had been filmed at the dinner party that day, and compared... "No, it's not her!"

"Brother." Bai Chi asked, "Do you suspect that it is Yan Li who tampered with the videos?"

Zhan Zhao didn't say much and nodded gently.

Bai Yutang seemed to think of something and said to Jiang Ping: "Can you check Yan Li's details. When did she get married and what is her background? Also, Fang Wo is her second husband right, what about her ex-husband?" 

"Okay. I'll look it up." Jiang Ping searched for Yan Li's information, "This woman is quite mysterious. I have never heard her mention her ex-husband."

At this time, Zhao Zhen suddenly said, "Her ex-husband has been dead for ten years."

Everyone turned back, "You know him?"

Zhao Zhen stuffed a piece of cantaloupe into his mouth and nodded, "She asked me to perform at such a high price. I naturally had to check her background to see if there was any other purpose."

"What did you find?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Her husband died ten years ago and it seems to be from unnatural causes." Zhao Zhen said, "But it has nothing to do with me, because I happened to be abroad at that time. Also, I don't know about her other relationships."

"But it's still very strange." Bai Chi suddenly interrupted, "Hiring you for a business anniversary when you are this expensive."

Zhao Zhen shrugged, "She was probably my fan; she wanted to see me perform and she has lots of money. It's quite a common situation." 

"Is it common?" Bai Chi looked at Zhao Zhen nervously, "Then why did you agree if you knew she had ulterior motives?"

Zhao Zhen looked at Bai Chi amused, and everyone else couldn't help but laugh. The jealousy radiated from Bai Chi. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other – There is a fun show.

"Right," Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Hu, "Hu Zi, you seem to know Uncle An's daughter."

Zhao Hu blinked, "I don't know her. I have seen her come to the police station to deliver meals to Uncle An. She was a very well-behaved girl so I remember her."

"Then, do you know Uncle An?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Zhao Hu shook his head, "I don't."

"Doctor, are you suspicious about Uncle An?" Ma Han asked.

Bai Yutang nodded and said, "We want to know about Uncle An's wife."

"That's easy." Zhao Hu pulled Ma Han, "Let's go downstairs to talk to his colleagues." He said as he was leaving.

"Wait!" Bai Yutang stopped the two of them. "Don't go just yet. What about the other things I asked you to investigate?"

Ma Han and Zhao Hu became a little strange after hearing the question. Zhao Hu said helplessly, "It's all gossip about Yan Li and Fang Wo."

"I want to listen to it." Bai Yutang also moved a stool over and sat down, "What I want to hear is gossip."

"Well, I heard that Yan Li and Fang Wo fell in love at first sight." Zhao Hu said.

"The two are very different in status and there is not much overlap." Bai Yutang asked, "How did they get together?"

"It is said that Fang Wo saved Yan Li's life." Ma Han said, "I heard that Yan Li's driver had colluded with someone and wanted to kidnap her. Later, Fang Wo heard the driver talking on the phone and felt that something was wrong. He followed them and saved Yan Li. Fang Wo was injured during the process."

"Heh..." Zhao Zhen sneered, lying on Lisbon's soft fur, "So much drama? It's more dramatic than the prime-time dramas."

Bai Yutang also said, "It does feel like it was planned."

"Later, Fang Wo became Yan Li's driver as a part-time job." Ma Han continued, "I heard that the two of them got along very well and eventually fell in love."

Zhao Hu continued, "Le Le said that Yan Li once asked her about Fang Wo's case."

"What did she ask Qi Le about?" Everyone was surprised.

"Doesn't Le Le always tell people that she has a police officer boyfriend? The stories about her and SCI have spread everywhere. Everyone thinks that she knows us very well. In reality, we do know each other very well. Because of this she went to Qi Le to ask Dr. Zhan to help Fang Wo." 

Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows, "Cat disagreed about Fang Wo's polygraph. Shouldn't she hate Cat?"

Everyone was silent. At that moment, the phone on Jiang Ping's desk rang. Jiang Ping picked it up and turned to look at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, "Boss, old man Pang was making trouble in the hospital saying he was hypnotised and that he didn't know what he was doing. His lawyer claimed that he is too ill and that he is going to go abroad for surgery. He has already applied to the court."

"He wants to run?!" Bai Yutang sneered, "Does he think he is filming a television series by claiming he was hypnotised?

"Xiao Bai, let's go see him!" Zhan Zhao stretched his hand out to ask Bai Yutang for help while not forgetting to turn his head and say to Ma Han and Zhao Hu, "You two go downstairs to find out about Uncle An..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw everyone staring at the door with strange faces, as if they saw something terrible.

Zhan Zhao turned his face suspiciously. When he looked at the door, his face turned white for a moment. Zhan Qitian was standing in the door of the SCI office, looking at him.

After half a minute of silence, Luo Tian hurriedly went to open the door and invite Zhan Qitian inside. Everyone else ran away as far as they were able to run.

Zhan Qitian walked in slowly. He first glanced at Zhao Zhen who was eating cantaloupe on the sofa leaning against Lisbon, and said, "I haven't officially thanked you for what happened last time."

"You're welcome, you're welcome." Zhao Zhen's face is indeed thick, but Zhan Qitian's aura still made him uncomfortable. He stood up and beckoned to Bai Chi, "Chi Chi, I'm going to practise."

Bai Chi put down his work. After bidding farewell to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, he followed Zhao Zhen and took Lisbon.

Soon, Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and Zhan Qitian were all that were left in the office.

"Dad..." "Uncle..." The two said together in a tacit understanding. After greeting, they looked at each other – We're dead. Why did he suddenly come?

Zhan Qitian looked at the two of them without saying a word. Staring at Zhan Zhao's injured leg, he asked, "Why aren't you in the hospital after getting injured?"

"Um... the injury is not that serious." Zhan Zhao whispered.

"Aren't you invincible?" Zhan Qitian glanced at Bai Yutang suddenly, "How come you are intact, but my son has broken a leg?"

Bai Yutang's face turned red. He couldn't say anything so he just stood there and took the scolding.

"Dad..." Zhan Zhao whispered, "Be a little reasonable..."

Zhan Qitian raised his eyebrows, "Why are you talking back to me?!"

Zhan Zhao shut his mouth and glanced at Bai Yutang – Who told him?

Bai Yutang shook his head helplessly – Fortunately it was your dad that found out, all he can do is scold me. If my dad found out, he wouldn't just use his words.

Zhan Zhao frowned – If I find out who told him, I will not spare them!

Zhao Jue, who was sleeping far away in Zhan Qitian's residence, sneezed fiercely.

Zhan Qitian looked helplessly at the two children's eyes. He shook his head and asked, "How long will you stay here?"

Bai Yutang thought that the father and son wanted to chat alone, so he nodded quickly, "Yes, I'm going outside, you guys can talk."

"Stop." Zhan Qitian stopped him, "Do you think I will let him continue to do this?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were both surprised.

"Stay at my old home until you recover!" Zhan Qitian said coldly.

Zhan Zhao's expression was painful when he heard it; the villa was in his hometown in the suburbs where the scenery is beautiful... But it was out in the middle of nowhere! What about the case?

Zhan Zhao quickly winked at Bai Yutang – Xiao Bai, help me!

When Bai Yutang wanted to speak, he saw Zhan Qitian look over with cold eyes and ask Bai Yutang, "If he doesn't go to his hometown, then should I let him heal at home?" After he finished speaking, he did not forget to add, "Opposite to your house!"

Bai Yutang shut up immediately, and reluctantly made a face to Zhan Zhao – Cat, I can't help you.

Zhan Zhao stared – What happened to your loyalty?

Without waiting for the two to finish, Zhan Qitian walked over. He reached out and grabbed Zhan Zhao, then turned and walked out.

Although Zhan Zhao remembered that when he fell asleep while reading a book when he was a child, Zhan Qitian would carry him to bed, he was an adult now, it's embarrassing to be held by his father like this. He looked up at Bai Yutang with pitiful eyes – Xiao Bai, help!

Bai Yutang grabbed a napkin, picked up a marker, and focused on writing something. He paid no attention to Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao was extremely angry and struggled slightly, but he heard Zhan Qitian whisper in his ear, "Don't move, I have something to tell you."

Zhan Zhao was taken aback for a while, and he was taken away by Zhan Qitian. Before they went through the door, he saw Bai Yutang hold up the napkin in his hand. It read, "He might have something to say to you!"

Zhan Zhao wrinkled his nose – Dead mouse!

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

I felt so concerned when Zhan Qitian showed up. I was worried he was really gonna take Zhan Zhao far away form Bai Yutang. I am so relieved that he didn't.

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