S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 9

The Innocent Murderer 09 - Tricks

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It was Pang Ji who cried out, as the bloody head that just came out of the cake belonged to Pang Xiaoqin.

"Ahhh~~~" The crowd cried out as their bodies finally reacted after recovering from the initial shock. They all wanted to run away from this weird and terrifying scene. However, they heard Bao Zheng shout, "No one is allowed to leave!"

"Go lock down the building!" Bai Yutang immediately ordered the SCI members who had gathered around him, "Gather all the guests into one room, search the building, look for all suspicious people, and go to the security room to collect the surveillance video!" The SCI members rushed out of the hall one after another and went to do their tasks. Other police officers present also organised guests to wait in one room.

Zhan Zhao walked over to the corpse that was weirdly stuck in the middle of the cake and looked it up and down. The bloody English letters on his back were really dazzling.

Pang Ji had fainted, and his son Pang Qing was with the medical staff accompanying him.

Bai Jintang was frowning at the corpse in the cake and the twins walked up behind him, whispering, "Boss, do you want to invite a Feng Shui expert tomorrow to assess the Feng Shui in this building?"

Bai Jintang glanced at them. Gongsun, who had been standing next to him, took off his jacket and hurried over to the corpse. He rolled up his sleeves intending to examine it but he heard someone yell, "Get away from her!"

Gongsun saw Pang Qing rush over to block the body while shouting at him, "Don't pretend to be a good person! You are the one that killed my sister!"

Bai Yutang frowned, but he didn't argue as he was still processing what was happening. Instead, he softly persuaded Pang Qing, "Mr. Pang, please don't hinder the investigation. An autopsy will help us solve the case as soon as possible."

"Get away from me! All of you!" Pang Ji's son kept waving and shouting like crazy, "It's all you, you killed my sister...you!" He didn't have a chance to finish his words as he hit the cake behind him with his hands. With a crash, the cake and the corpse fell and spilled all over the ground.

Bai Yutang frowned; he really regretted not having someone take the lunatic away just now. As expected, those who are a part of the Pang family can't do anything right! Turning to the police officer next to him, he said "Drag him out for me. Charge him with sabotaging the scene and obstructing the investigation!"

The police officer hurried and took away the noisy Pang Qing. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other. When they looked back at Gongsun, they saw that Gongsun was also grim.

"This is bad." Zhan Zhao was helpless and annoyed. "The initial scene was destroyed before the forensics staff could take photos!"

"This brat..." Bai Yutang sneered, looking back at Gongsun, "It's not a coincidence!"

Gongsun walked to the pile of tainted cake and scattered pieces of the corpse and squatted down to examine them carefully. He sighed and shook his head, "Now it is impossible to tell how the corpses got into the cake."

"Cat... How long has Pang Xiaoqin been gone for?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Doing the maths, it wouldn't have been more than half an hour." Zhan Zhao frowned, "How could it be possible to kill, dismember, and engrave a large living person within half an hour and then put it into a cake in half an hour?"

Gongsun was silent for a long time and shook his head, "It's impossible!"

Yan Li, who just recovered from the shock, turned pale with fright. She held Fang Wo's hand tightly and said in a panic, "Oh my God, if I didn't drive her out, maybe she wouldn't have died!"

Fang Wo, who had been silent next to her, touched her hair comfortingly and said, "This is not your fault. But this manner of death is a bit too strange; it feels like magic."

The others present were taken aback. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other with doubts in their eyes. Bai Yutang turned to look at Yan Li and Fang Wo and said, "If you are not a member of the police force, please leave first. We have to protect the scene. We will ask you to come again if necessary."

Yan Li and Fang Wo nodded and turned around to take Jia Jia out. But Jia Jia struggled with excitement, "I'm not going! I want to watch them solve the case! It's wonderful! This is the first time I am seeing it in person! The crime scene is so exciting!"

Bai Yutang frowned and felt a strong dislike for the girl who looked like a little angel. He didn't know if she was naive or cold-blooded.

Bai Jintang glared at the twins who didn't want to leave; under his glare, they had to leave reluctantly. Bai Jintang walked to Gongsun's side and whispered, "I'm in the suite on the twenty-seventh floor. Go there when you are done. "

Gongsun couldn't laugh or cry, looking at Bai Jintang, "I am going to go perform the autopsy."

Bai Jintang kissed him on the head and whispered, "It just so happens that I'll take a nap and recuperate my energy." He winked at him as he said, "I have missed you a lot." After finishing speaking, he got up and walked away gracefully.

Gongsun raised his head and saw Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang listening to their conversation with their ears perked up nearby. They reluctantly shook their heads, "There is too much fresh milk and cake on the corpse. You must clean it up before you can do an autopsy!"

Bai Yutang nodded and was about to speak, but he saw Zhan Zhao next to him suddenly turn his head and look behind him. Bai Yutang followed his gaze and saw that Zhao Zhen, who was originally asleep on the sofa, was awake for some time. He was leaning on the sofa, looking at the scene in a daze.

Bai Chi went to the surveillance room to watch the video with Luo Tian right after the incident so Zhao Zhen was left by himself. Seeing that both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were watching him, Zhao Zhen stood up wittily and prepared to leave, but he suddenly heard Zhan Zhao say, "Zhao Zhen... we want to consult with you."

Zhao Zhen smiled helplessly and put his hands in his pockets. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao's original apprehension towards him had been eliminated considering the time they spent together and the things that Zhao Zhen had done recently; Zhao Zhen saved Zhan Zhao and Luo Yang's life before, and his relationship with Bai Chi is growing closer. The two of them would often joke with him, furthermore, Zhao Zhen, in addition to having a somewhat strange personality at times, was really a rare find who was easy to get along with.

Walking to Zhan Zhao's side and standing still, Zhao Zhen raised his eyes to look at him.

"Was this done with magic?" Bai Yutang asked, "Is there any similar technique?"

"Cake with a body inside?" Zhao Zhen shrugged. "No one should know how to make it. It's too unsightly."

Both Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao felt discouraged. At this time, Gongsun, who was examining the corpse, suddenly let out a 'huh'.

"What's the matter?" Bai Yutang knelt down and asked, "What did you find?"

"The deceased's chest and abdomen have a lot of spots with pooled blood." Gongsun frowned, "She has been dead for at least two hours."

"What?" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other. For two hours? That means Pang Xiaoqin was dead before the banquet started. Then who was the person who was kicked out after the conflict with Gongsun just now? Was it everyone's collective illusion?

"The corpse should have been prone for a certain period of time after death." Gongsun explained, "And look at these words. The bleeding should not have stopped after only half an hour!"

"It's evil." Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao.

"Xiao Bai, look!" Zhan Zhao pointed at the deceased's head, then the shoulders and neck and asked, "Do you think the skin colour is different in the two places?"

Gongsun also nodded, "Yes, and the wounds from the cut are also different!"

"So, the head and body are not from the same person?" Bai Yutang was surprised.

"In other words, the corpse may have been put in the cake a long time ago and only the head was put in recently." Zhan Zhao thought for a while, then turned to look at Zhao Zhen, "How did the head get in?"

Zhao Zhen shook his head helplessly, and said, "I finally understand why I suddenly felt so sleepy."

The other three were all taken aback by Zhao Zhen's thoughtless words, and Zhan Zhao immediately reacted, "Someone gave you sleeping pills so that you won't be able to see it when he does the trick. Except for you, no one else would be able to figure it out!"

Zhao Zhen nodded and laughed, "You are really quick to understand... I didn't drink anything just now. I only ate a small plate of muffins that Chi Chi gave me. I just took half a bite and I felt a bit strange, so I didn't continue eating... Then I feel inexplicably sleepy. You might as well investigate the ingredients of the muffins."

"Muffins..." Bai Yutang nodded to the forensic team member who came over, and said, "Take the muffins on the table over there for inspection!"

"Yes Sir." The police officer from the forensic department hurried over, looked around the table, and turned back, "Captain Bai, there are no muffins."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other, then they both turned to look at Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen yawned and said, "Ask Chi Chi where he got it or who gave it to him."

Bai Yutang called Bai Chi to come down. Zhan Zhao continued to ask Zhao Zhen curiously, "What is the trick?"

"Have you heard of telekinesis?" Zhao Zhen asked Zhan Zhao lazily.

"Mhmm." Zhan Zhao nodded, "It's also a psychic ability."

Zhao Zhen nodded and raised his left hand in front of Zhan Zhao. He stretched out his palm, and there was a coin in it. Then he spread out his right hand below to show Zhan Zhao, "The right hand is empty and the left hand has a coin! See it clearly?"

"Mhmm!" Zhan Zhao nodded.

"I will now change the coin from my left hand to my right hand." After speaking, he opened his left hand; the coin was gone. He opened his right hand and the coin appeared.

Zhan Zhao touched his chin, and Bai Yutang and Gongsun beside him were also in thought.

"In fact, magic is all about deception. The key is to use people's instincts to create an illusion." Said Zhao Zhen. "The biggest key for this kind of trick is visual distraction!"

"Visual distraction?" Several people listened to him quietly.

"The eyes of most people must work together, so they can only focus on one thing at a time. If someone is already focused on something, you can do another thing without them noticing."

"You mean that the murderer used the focus of everyone present to hide the corpse?" Bai Yutang thought for a while, "How did it do it?"

"It's a pity that I didn't see it." Zhao Zhen shrugged, "If there is a video or something, it would be useful to see."

At that moment, Bai Chi hurried back and asked, "Brother, are you looking for me? By the way, Luo Tian and I just wanted to bring up the video from the hall, but... it was not recorded at all!"

"Not recorded?" Zhan Zhao was surprised, "How is that possible?" He said while looking up at the cameras on the walls, "Obviously..."

"I don't know what was done to it but it was just a black screen and nothing was recorded." Bai Chi was also anxious. "Jiang Ping is doing a technical analysis. We can find out the cause in a while."

Bai Yutang nodded and asked, "You got a muffin for Zhao Zhen?"

"Mhmm." Bai Chi nodded.

"Who gave it to you?" Bai Yutang asked, "It's not on the dining table."

Bai Chi was taken aback and said, "A waiter brought it up to me. I was afraid it would get stale if it was left on the table for too long so I grabbed them from the waiter and gave them directly to Zhao Zhen. Why?"

"Chi Chi, I was drugged." Zhao Zhen leaned in and grabbed Bai Chi's shoulder, rubbing it twice, "I'm sleepy."

"What?" Bai Chi asked in surprise, "Drugged? With what? Is he gonna be okay? No wonder you were tired after eating the muffins!"

"Let me describe it for you." Zhan Zhao described the specific situation at the time to Zhao Zhen. Zhao Zhen smiled after listening and shook his head, "Third-rate magic."

"Why do you say that?" Everyone was interested.

"Well... according to what you said, the head of the corpse was placed at the bottom of the cake and you used the head to judge the identity of the deceased, right?" Zhao Zhen asked.

"Mhmm!" Everyone nodded.

"From the time the cake was pushed into the banquet hall to the time of the discovery of the body, who paid attention to the bottom layer of the cake?" Zhao Zhen asked.

"Hmm..." Everyone hesitated. Bai Chi touched his head and recalled, "Because of the spotlight, I only saw the couple, the dolls on the top of the cake, and the head that came from the cake. Then I heard Brother shout for someone to turn on the lights."

"That's the point!" Zhao Zhen suddenly interrupted Bai Chi and said, "During the whole process, there are too many places that draw our attention away! So, before this, nobody would notice what was in the cake. The key to everything lies in Captain Bai's phrase 'turn on the light'!"

"What's wrong with turning on the lights?" Bai Chi was puzzled, but Zhan Zhao seemed to understand. He walked to the pile of scattered cake, picked up a broken round bracket on the ground, reinstalled it and stretched his hand out. He turned around, surprised, "The bottom layer can rotate?!"

"It seems that the key lies in this rotatable layer!" Bai Yutang also nodded clearly.

Zhao Zhen shook his head and smiled bitterly, "If everyone is like you, the magician will be out of work."

"What the hell do you mean?" Bai Chi was anxious and stretched out Zhao Zhen's sleeve. "Explain it clearly, I'm stupid!"

Zhao Zhen touched his head slightly and smiled, "You are not stupid, you are just a simple person. In fact, the principle is very simple!" Zhao Zhen patiently explained to Bai Chi, "How many layers does this cake have?"

"Five layers."

"What's on the first layer?"

"Two little dolls that are dressed up."

"Is it cute?"

"It's lovely."

"What about the second layer?"

Bai Chi thought for a while, "Flowers..."

"The third layer?" Zhao Zhen then asked.

"That..." Bai Chi had no confidence.

"Fourth layer?"

Bai Chi felt defeated – he was not paying attention at all.

"Fifth layer?" Zhao Zhen asked finally.

"How can I see it?! There was no spotlight!" Bai Chi quibbled.

"This is actually a very simple trick!" Zhao Zhen said, "The four layers on the top of the cake are connected together and the corpse had been put inside it in advance. The last layer of cake is relatively independent, plus this half of the cake was replaced. A perfect crime!"

"Half?!" Bai Chi suddenly realised, "Ah, I understand. It may not be easy to kill people, divide the corpses, and put them in the cake within half an hour. But during this time, if it's only a human head then it's easy to put in the cake!"

"Yes." Zhao Zhen nodded approvingly. "Just cut the independent layer in half, remove a part of the cake, and put the head in carefully... Half an hour is enough!"

"But why were you drugged?" Bai Yutang frowned. "Could it be that he changed the cake at the scene using visual distraction? When everyone heard me shout, they all changed the focus of their attention to be on me and the lights. During that moment, someone hid behind the cake and changed the layer that held the head. When the bottom layer was spun back to the front, the head would be visible to everyone!"

Zhao Zhen laughed, "Smart, I think so too!"

"One more thing is suspicious!" Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows and looked at the crowd. If the last layer of the cake was tampered with, it would surely be noticed when you take a closer look. The only way not to be seen through is to... Destroy the cake!

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Note

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

Translated: March 14, 2021

Re-edited: December 7, 2023