S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 15

The Innocent Murderer 15 - Girlfriend

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Zhang Long and Wang Chao brought the forensic team member back to the SCI office and told Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang about what happened.

Bai Yutang nodded, pointed at the interrogation room, and motioned to take him in. Afterwards, he ordered Bai Chi and Luo Tian to check the identity of the police officer who was killed. The others assisted Jiang Ping in checking all the surveillance data, and Gongsun went home to sleep. After that, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao walked into the interrogation room together.

"What's your name?" Bai Yutang winked at Zhan Zhao when he saw that the little police officer from the forensic department was so nervous that his fingers were shaking constantly – Cat, he is so delicate!

Zhan Zhao nodded – You scare him. Maybe you can get him to talk after only a few sentences.

Bai Yutang understood. He moved a chair and sat down in front of the man, asking coldly, "What's your name?"

"Zhang Yankai." The other party answered honestly.

"Zhang Yankai?" Bai Yutang nodded, "How long have you been in the forensic department?"

"I... I just started my internship." Zhang Yankai replied in a low, trembling voice, "Captain... Captain Bai, I have nothing to do with this. It was unintentional."

Bai Yutang sneered, "Unintentional? A bomb was sent to SCI, and a policeman died on the rooftop... This is called unintentional?!"

"No... I didn't know it would be like this..." Zhang Yankai argued quickly, his face flushed.

"Don't get agitated, it's useless." Zhan Zhao said, "Tell the story of the incident. Do you know the person who sent the bomb?"

"I... I'm not sure if she was the one who sent the bomb." Zhang Yankai calmed down a little bit and said in a low voice, "But... I lent her my white coat so she could enter the police station."

"Who is she?" Bai Yutang asked.

"My girlfriend." Zhang Yankai said, "I met her at Dr. Zhan's book club and we have been dating for half a year."

"Book Club?" Zhan Zhao puzzled, "Mine?"

"Yeah." Zhang Yankai said embarrassedly, "You probably don't know, there are many people who are fascinated by your books... More than half of the young people in the police station regard you and Captain Bai as their idols... We bought your book, set up a forum, and established a book club. We often hold activities and have made a lot of friends with similar interests."

Zhan Zhao nodded, "What's the name of the girlfriend you mentioned?"

"She's An Lingli." Zhang Yankai replied.

"What?!" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, then asked again with their eyes wide open, "An Lingli?"

"Mhmm." Zhang Yankai nodded, "Her father is also a policeman and has been one for a long time... But Lingli told me that her father was very opposed to her associating with the police, so she told me not to say anything."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other and immediately realised that this kid might have been deceived.

Bai Yutang stood up and ran out. After a while, he took a picture of An Lingli and asked, "Is she this person?"

Zhang Yankai leaned over to take a look, frowned slightly, and shook his head, "No."

Zhan Zhao watched Zhang Yankai and asked puzzledly, "Your responses are a little hesitant. Generally speaking, shouldn't you be able to tell if it's your girlfriend or not from a single glance?"

Zhang Yankai raised his face and said, "It's not her... Lingli is usually very fashionable and she often wears a lot of makeup, this person has no makeup. I wanted to see if it was Lingli without her makeup, after all, many women look different before and after makeup."

"Then you are sure it's not her?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Mhmm!" Zhang Yankai nodded, "I'm sure it's not her."

"Did she tell you why she was coming to the police station?" Bai Yutang then asked.

"It's my fault; I like to show off too much." Zhang Yankai reluctantly said, "No one in the book club has ever seen what Dr. Zhan looks like as you don't like to show yourself on camera. Everyone is really curious about what you look like. I knew that I would come to the police station for an internship and therefore I would be able to see Dr. Zhan. Therefore, I promised everyone that I would take photos for them."

"So what?" Bai Yutang asked, "Did you take photos?"

Zhang Yankai smiled bitterly and shook his head, and said, "To be honest, we all thought that someone with such academic attainments must be an old man, or a middle-aged uncle. Don't they say that a person's knowledge is inversely proportional to his appearance? But... I was shocked when I saw Dr. Zhan for the first time..." Zhang Yankai blushed as he said, "I didn't care about taking pictures after seeing him. I wanted to take pictures later, but I didn't have many opportunities. Captain Bai is also nearby... I'm a little scared, so I haven't succeeded."

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang next to him, and saw him staring at him with an ugly expression – Dead cat, to what extent have you attracted other people?!

Zhan Zhao glanced at him dissatisfied – What's that got to do with me? Jealous Xiao Bai!

Bai Yutang got angrier and angrier; he raised his foot and fiercely kicked a chair that was next to him while staring at Zhan Zhao. Zhan Zhao stared back. The actions of the two shocked Zhang Yankai who was sitting on the opposite side of the table. He tremblingly said, "Officers, it really was unintentional. Because I went back and bragged, Lingli wanted to come to the police station herself to see you. You know that outsiders aren't allowed here, because of that, I let her wear my white lab coat so she could take a quick look and then leave. I didn't expect that it would cause trouble. Why did this happen?"

"Why?" Bai Yutang shook his head, "I also want to know why. Do you have her contact information?"

"Yes!" Zhang Yankai nodded, "I have her phone number and the address of the place she rented."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao questioned him for a while and found that there was no progress. They stopped questioning him and instead ordered Zhang Yankai to go and make a sketch of "An Lingli" with the police sketch artists.

The two walked out of the interrogation room, frowned, and returned to the SCI office. The office was quiet. The others were sitting in front of their computer carefully watching the video data collected by Jiang Ping. Although the suspect was not in the building for very long, the police station is very large so it was not easy to find them.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao entered the room and walked to Jiang Ping's side.

"Jiang Ping, help us check Cat's book club forum." Bai Yutang said to Jiang Ping.

"Oh..." Jiang Ping searched, dumbfounded, "Wow... Dr. Zhan... There is a lot of information about you!"

"Really?" Zhan Zhao leaned forward in surprise.

"It's all about your books. It seems that there are a lot of people who like to read your books!" Jiang Ping quickly browsed the web page.

"Uh..." He was stunned.

"What's wrong?" Bai Yutang asked, "What did you find?"

"This name..." Jiang Ping looked at a screen name that often appeared... "This is God's will"

"This is God's will?!" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were stunned at the same time. The same words appeared on the note clipped to their car window at the end of the recent banquet.

"Do you remember the forum that Lu Liang posted on that we found last time when we looked for the suspect in the Ripper case?" Jiang Ping asked as he pulled up Lu Liang's forum, "Look! This one also has posts from 'This is God's Will' and they are among the few people who laugh at Lu Liang."

"Can you find his IP address?" Bai Yutang asked, "Even if they are not the murderer, they are at least an insider. Think of a way to find him!"

"Yes sir, I will try my best!" Jiang Ping got busy.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao stood up and heard a young voice coming from the door, "Dad... I saw the news... are you all okay?!" Luo Yang said with a crisp voice. He rushed in with his schoolbag, sweating with anxiety.

"Yang Yang..." Zhao Hu was sitting by the door. Seeing Luo Yang coming in, he hugged him and kissed his face fiercely. "Let uncle heal, it was terrifying today!"

Ma Han lifted his foot and kicked him, "What nonsense are you talking about?!" He said, reaching out to touch Luo Yang's head, "Don't worry, everyone is fine thanks to your father!"

"Really?" Luo Yang breathed a sigh of relief, turning his face to see Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang standing there. Everyone around seemed to be busy, and the entire SCI was in a mess, so he asked, "Are you all busy? Have you eaten yet? I'll buy something for you."

The tense atmosphere of SCI eased instantly with the arrival of Luo Yang. In fact, Zhao Hu was right; Luo Yang was the mascot of SCI. When they see his smiling face and hear his laughter, they can forget the troubles they are facing. Complicated cases, cruel criminals... it's really curable!

Zhan Zhao leaned forward and took the opportunity to pinch Luo Yang's face. Seeing that the little guy was in low spirits, he asked, "What's the matter? Were you bullied?"

"No..." Luo Yang shook his head, sat on the sofa, and whispered, "Fang Xing has transferred to another school."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were taken aback.

"His father has been proven innocent." Luo Yang said, "I thought he would come back to school, but he hasn't come since that time when he left. The teacher told me today that his father did it for him yesterday. The transfer procedures have been completed, and the transfer has already been made."

"Where did he go?" Zhan Zhao asked curiously.

"They said he went abroad." Luo Yang said in a daze, "And it's so far away. He went to Italy... Maybe we won't see each other anymore."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were taken aback. Thinking of that black Bentley and of Italy, they felt their temples throbbing. They didn't want to think about it.

"Also, the girl who doesn't talk still hasn't recovered." Luo Yang leaned on the sofa with his legs crossed and reached out to pinch the corner of his clothes. "She is still the same; she spells out 'I LOVE YOU' with everything she sees."

"Do you go to see Zhao Jing a lot?" Zhan Zhao was curious. "Have she spoken to you?"

"Mhmm." Luo Yang nodded and said triumphantly, "I have become good friends with her. She doesn't talk to adults, only me."

"What does she talk to you about?" Bai Yutang sat next to him and asked, "Have you talked about her parents?"

"Mhmm." Luo Yang nodded, his face even more bleak, "Her parents said that they were going to travel far away so they sent her to her uncle's house. But after her parents left, they only left a note for her and never appeared again."

"That's right!" Zhang Long on the side also interrupted, "We have been investigating this for a long time and we have not been able to find her parents."

"What note did her parents leave?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"It's just the sentence 'I LOVE YOU'!" Luo Yang replied, "Otherwise, she wouldn't spell out 'I LOVE YOU' with everything."

"What?!" All the people present put aside their work, raised their eyes, and stared at Luo Yang in shock.

"What... what?" Luo Yang was a little startled, watching everyone, "What's wrong?"

"Yang Yang!" Bai Yutang squatted down and said to Luo Yang earnestly, "Tell us all of the things Zhao Jing has said to you. Also, can you help us to ask Zhao Jing about her mom and dad's situation."

"...Okay." Luo Yang nodded hesitantly. At that moment...

"Captain! Brother!" Luo Tian and Bai Chi, who went out to check the identity of the murdered police officer, ran back, appearing to have discovered something extraordinary!

"What's wrong?" When Bai Yutang saw the two, he knew something was going on.

"We found something strange!" Luo Tian said to Bai Yutang while picking up Luo Yang who had rushed over and threw himself on his leg, "The young police officer's name is Wang Liyong, and he just became a policeman."

"Mhmm." Bai Yutang nodded, "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing is wrong with that." Bai Chi continued, "But I heard his best friend say that he recently got a girlfriend."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were taken aback when they heard the word "girlfriend".

"Could it..." Bai Yutang asked with a smile, "Is his girlfriend's name An Lingli?"

This time it was Bai Chi and Luo Yang's turn to be dumbfounded. They both looked surprised and said in unison: "How do you know?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao sighed and glanced at each other. They were speechless.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Luo Yang is adorable, I love him so much. I am so glad he stayed as a character in this book. (*´ω｀*)

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

Translated: March 15/16, 2021

Re-edited: December 7, 2023