S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 14

The Innocent Murderer 14 - Conspiracy

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"The call was made from inside the police station." Jiang Ping's words were like a cannon going off; everyone was shocked. Everyone from SCI stood up and looked at each other, they were all speechless.

"This... was this done by an insider?" Bai Chi asked, awakening everyone from the shock.

Bai Yutang immediately ordered, "Jiang Ping, go and get out all the surveillance videos from inside the police station, especially the places where there are not many people. It is impossible for a murderer to use a voice changer in a crowded place!"

"Okay!" Jiang Ping quickly connected to the main control room and extracted the videos.

"Everyone else scatter in groups of two to search for suspicious people!" Bai Yutang ordered.

Everyone quickly took their orders, and Zhan Zhao suddenly shouted, "Luo Tian, you stay with Bai Chi! Look after the SCI office!"

Everyone looked at Zhan Zhao in surprise.

"Cat, are you afraid that the murderer is diverting our attention so he can come here?" Bai Yutang asked.

"I'm not sure..." Zhan Zhao shook his head, "I feel uneasy about it." As he said it, he reached his hand out to grab the phone, wanting to listen to the conversation just now. Everyone left one after another, searching the police station.

Zhan Zhao opened the phone record and listened to the playback, frowning slightly. At this moment, he heard someone come to the door and say, "Bai Sir, I have evidence for SCI!"

"Evidence?" Bai Yutang was puzzled, "What evidence?"

"I don't know." The young police officer said, "I was told by the forensic department to bring it here." He handed it over as he spoke.

Bai Yutang took it and looked around. The table was filled with files so he simply put the box on a chair and opened the lid. Inside he saw a few tightly bound explosives and the time on an electronic clock above displayed: 06, 05...

"Watch out!" Luo Tian lifted his foot and kicked the swivel chair fiercely. If an ordinary person kicked an ordinary swivel chair, the chair would rotate a few times at most and slide a short distance. However, Luo Tian was born with supernatural strength. He kicked the chair far away and it slammed straight into the outside window of the SCI office. The swivel chair hit the glass violently, and the glass window was smashed by the violent impact. The chair fell vertically, but the box flew far in the air due to inertia. At the same time, there was a boom, shaking the sky and the ground.

A heat wave was emitted from the blast, shattering all of the glass and causing glass shards to fly out. Bai Yutang protected Zhan Zhao with one hand, and dragged Gongsun, who was still in a daze, with the other to squat behind the table together. Luo Tian hid Bai Chi while Jiang Ping had already gone under the table. Suddenly, the alarm bells for emergency evacuation rang loudly within the entire police station. The car sirens downstairs rang wildly, and the footsteps in the corridor were also messy. 

After a while, Bao Zheng rushed in, his face was unprecedentedly white, and he shouted, "What happened?" He looked around and was shocked, "What about the others?"

As soon as his voice fell, he heard loud footsteps behind him. Everyone who had just left SCI to search for suspicious characters had rushed back. The first thing they did as they entered was shout: "Boss, are you guys okay?!"

Bai Yutang looked around at everyone. Except for a small spot on Luo Tian's arm that was hit by the flying glass shards, everyone was okay.

Bao Zheng counted the number of people and found that none of them were missing and they were all alive and kicking. He let out a long sigh. His legs went soft and he found a chair to sit down on.

Bai Yutang reached his hand out to help both Zhan Zhao and Gongsun stand. Bai Chi and Luo Tian also stood up. Bai Yutang patted Luo Tian's shoulder with one hand, "Brother, you saved me twice. What a blessing!"

Luo Tian's actions just now were entirely out of instinct. Now that he thought about it, he still felt a little scared. Seeing Bai Yutang talk about saving lives, Luo Tian laughed, "If it wasn't for your kindness, where would I be today? Good things happen to good people."

The crowd laughed too, and their first reaction after the false alarm was – Too lucky, this luck was too good!

"Jiang Ping, why are you sitting on the ground?" Zhao Hu looked at Jiang Ping puzzled.

"Crap... nonsense!" Jiang Ping rolled his eyes, "I... can I get up?!"

Everyone looked again and saw that Jiang Ping's feet were trembling slightly, and they couldn't help but feel amused.

"Luo... Luo Tian!" Jiang Ping stretched his hands out and clasped Luo Tian's hand tightly, "Good brother, thank you for your magical kick. I thank you on behalf of my family, children, and wives." As he spoke, he reached his hand out and grabbed Zhan Zhao again. "Doctor... godly, godly man, your sixth sense is stronger than that... I also thank you on behalf of my wife and children!" After that, he went to Bai Yutang, "Also, Captain. You have the foresight to put explosives on such a magical tool as a swivel chair, it is simply animal instinct!"

Bai Yutang couldn't laugh or cry. Jiang Ping was so scared that he was talking nonsense. He reached out and grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him up, "Sit down and rest awhile."

"What's going on?" Bao Zheng, who hadn't spoken for a long time, suddenly frowned and asked, "How can anyone get in such a big box of explosives through layers of blockade?!"

Everyone looked at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, and they seemed to be asking: 'Should we tell Director Bao about the mole?'

At this moment, when the phone rang suddenly again, the SCI people instinctively looked stern. Bao Zheng felt strange and looked at Bai Yutang.

Zhan Zhao stepped up and pressed the speakerphone button on the phone, "Hello?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone before someone sighed, and then the familiar voice spoke, "As expected, you are alright."

Zhan Zhao frowned, "You sent the bomb?"

"No, no, no!" The person smiled, "You should thank me. Otherwise, there would have been so many people in the office... hehe." After speaking, they hung up the phone.

Everyone was silent. Bao Zheng's face was pale and he asked, "What's going on?"

Bai Yutang told Bao Zheng about what had happened just now, showed him yesterday's flowers and Zhan Zhao's letters, and played the recording from earlier.

Bao Zheng was silent for a while, then looked back at the young police officer who was standing there pale and shocked outside the door behind him, "Who gave you this box of evidence?"

"Uh..." The police officer came back to his senses after a long time and stammered, "A young girl from the forensics department."

"A young girl?!" Everyone was shocked.

Gongsun frowned, reached out and picked up the phone to call the team leader of the forensic department, "Hey, Team Leader Chen, ask everyone in the forensic department to come to the SCI office right away."

After a while, the baffled Team Leader Chen ran in with a team of forensic "white coats" and said, "Bai Sir, the flowers you just sent have not been inspected yet." The words were not finished when he saw the room in front of him, and he was stunned by the mess. Several forensic officers looked at each other and thought, 'Was there a gun battle in the police station? No, this is a dozen or so floors up the building.'

Bai Yutang kept silent and asked, "Is everyone here?"

"Ah, yes!" Seeing that Bai Yutang's face was not good, and Bao Zheng was also there, Team Leader Chen replied, realising that the situation might be serious, "I have twenty-three people in the forensic department."

Bao Zheng looked at the young police officer and asked, "Look, which one is it?"

The young police officer looked at them carefully one by one for a long time and shook his head, "It's not..."

Everyone frowned. Team Leader Chen was confused when he heard it, and asked incomprehensibly, "What?"

Bao Zheng asked, "Did you send someone to bring evidence to SCI just now?"

Team Leader Chen shook his head, "No."

Gongsun also said, "They shouldn't be there. Most of the evidence from the forensic department gets delivered directly to me, and I bring it to the SCI team."

Team Leader Chen was even more puzzled. Later Bao Zheng told him about the situation, and Team Leader Chen exploded, "What?! Which bastard framed my forensic department?"

Bai Yutang sighed lightly. There was no clue about the matter. He turned to ask Zhan Zhao what he had to say, but saw Zhan Zhao's eyes fixed forward... Bai Yutang followed his gaze and found that he was staring at the young boy standing in the last row in the forensic department group.

The boy was in his early twenties, of medium build, and had short hair. For some reason, he kept his head down and pulled at the corners of his clothes with both hands, looking a little nervous.

Bai Yutang looked at him for a while, then turned to look at Zhan Zhao, and their eyes met.

Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows – Cat, what's wrong? That kid has a problem?

Zhan Zhao squinted – Don't you think he reacts differently than the others?

Bai Yutang looked curiously – What do you mean?

Zhan Zhao's eyes motioned to several other people – Look at the others; their reaction is anger, dissatisfaction, and being wronged. Look at him again! Obviously nervous and scared!

Bai Yutang understood – Indeed.

Bao Zheng looked at the little policeman and said to Zhao Hu, "Take him to make a sketch of the person!"

Zhao Hu nodded and led him away.

"You can all go now." Bao Zheng said to Team Leader Chen, "Go back to work. Don't say anything about what happened today. We will investigate it in great detail."

"Yes sir!" Team Leader Chen nodded and left with his team members.

Bai Yutang winked at Zhang Long and Wang Chao at the door. The two of them immediately understood and walked over.

Zhang Long asked, "Boss, do you want to follow the short-haired guy from the forensics department just now?"

"Good!" Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows, "The kid is clever."

"I saw you and Dr. Zhan watching him just now." Zhang Long smiled and flashed out of the office with Wang Chao.

After everyone left, Bao Zheng looked back at everyone and said, "You guys should be careful. Regarding the mole in the police station, don't say anything. I will arrange for someone to investigate!"

"Then... can we investigate it ourselves?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Bao Zheng helplessly shook his head and said, "Okay, just be careful!" After he finished speaking, he left angrily. Waling out of the SCI to his office, Bao Zheng took out his cell phone.

"Hello? Qitian, it's me, two kids are being targeted... Mhmm, mhmm, I know."

...

In the SCI office, there were glass shards on the floor and documents scattered everywhere. Bai Yutang shook his head and said, "Get someone to clean it up."

Gongsun moved a chair, sat down, and said, "If the murderer is in the police station, they have to be in a place with no security cameras. With this many people coming and going, there are very few places like that.

"There is a place like that." Zhan Zhao suddenly said, "I heard the sound of air currents over the phone..."

"Air currents?" Everyone stared and said in unison "The rooftop!"

Rushing to the rooftop, Bai Yutang ordered the team to scatter and search. Everyone looked around and suddenly heard Bai Chi shout, "Ah!"

Everyone hurried over and saw Bai Chi standing behind a terrace towards the back of the rooftop. In front of him, there was a corpse laying on the ground. This person was killed by a knife, and what was even more strange was that his coat was taken off.

"He should be a policeman!" Gongsun knelt down to check his situation. "It's a patrol officer. The marks on his forehead are caused by wearing a police cap all the time. He also has a watch issued by the police."

Everyone was silent.

Zhang Long and Wang Chao split up, staring at the short-haired member of the forensic department silently. They saw that he did not go back to the forensic department with the main unit. He said that he was going to the toilet but instead he went into the locker room alone.

"Hello!" He made sure that there was no one in the room with him and eagerly picked up the phone, "How can you do this?!"

It wasn't known what the person on the other end said, but his emotions started to get agitated, "You approached me just to have me bring you in, and then you sent a bomb to SCI?!... Hello? Hello!"

They didn't know what the person he was talking to said, but the young officer got agitated, "Did you approach me just to send a bomb to the SCI office?" 

The other party apparently hung up the phone. The forensics team member sat on the bench in a daze and was suddenly slapped on the shoulder.

"Ah!" He cried out in shock, and when he looked back, he saw Zhang Long. His face paled immediately.

"Heh..." Wang Chao sneered, "Little devil, come back with us and explain this!" After speaking, he carried the person and left.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

I have school work that I was avoiding doing by working on these last few chapters. This will be the last one for today. See you soon~~~ (✿◠‿◠) 

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

Translated: March 15, 2021

Re-edited: December 7, 2023