S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 61

Password Murderer 01 – Ma Xin’s Doubts

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Drowning is the best way to wash the human soul. Cold water is poured directly into the lungs through the nostrils and mouth. In an instant, suffocation, fear, despair, and fear strike. The more they struggle, the faster the air inside is pushed out. Without the supply of oxygen, people will experience the painful time in the water for about three minutes before they finally die and sink into the muddy ground. — 《The Next Way to Die》  Chapter 7 Drowning.

……

The hot August passed, September entered autumn, and the weather became colder as soon as the autumn tiger passed. People who survived the long summer have begun to regain their vitality. The pedestrians on the street were no longer stunned and the girls wear their skirts for the last time, bidding summer farewell. (Angel: Autumn tiger refers to the beginning of Autumn which occurs in the 24 solar terms and the weather recovers in a short period of time, just like a tiger. It usually occurs between August and September. The duration of the tiger varies from year to year, and generally lasts from half a month to two months.)

The students who had had a relaxing summer vacations returned to school and started their intense study once again.

After returning from Europe, all of the SCI members devoted themselves to tying up the loose ends of the case. After a month, they finally finished. Bai Jintang and Gongsun also returned from their honeymoon by then.

After everyone took a break, they resumed their work… but there were no cases.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao went to Bao Zheng’s office a couple of times, but there really were no cases. Bao Zheng ordered them to investigate old outstanding cases.

"An outstanding case." Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows, "There are a lot of outstanding cases, but there have been almost none in recent years, and there is no way to trace the evidence back too far.”."

"Hmm..." Bai Yutang stretched out, "It's a good thing to have no cases."

As soon as they walked to the door of SCI's office, they saw Bai Chi hurriedly running back while holding a book.

"Chi Chi." Zhan Zhao stopped Bai Chi, "Where did you go?"

Bai Chi seemed to be running in a hurry, with sweat collecting on his forehead. When he suddenly saw Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, he quickly hid the book behind his back nervously.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang narrowed their eyes and glanced at each other — ‘There is a secret!’

"Chi Chi." Zhan Zhao leaned over and walked towards him, attracting Bai Chi's attention, "Why are you being so mysterious?"

"I’m not..." Bai Chi turned sideways and held the book behind him. Unexpectedly, Bai Yutang had already stood by his back, stretched his hand out, and gently and skillfully took the book from his hand. 

"Ah..." Bai Chi was startled, and Bai Yutang snatched the book. Zhan Zhao hurried over to read it and asked, "What is it? A little yellow book?" (Angel: 小黄书 (xiǎo huáng shū), or little yellow book, refers to pornographic novels.)

"No!" Bai Chi hurriedly said, "It's the new book..."

"Oh..." Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other as soon as they read the title of the book. With clear expressions on their faces, they saw that the title of the book was 《One Man's Magic》, which was Zhao Zhen's autobiographical novel.

Bai Chi snatched the book back with a little embarrassment.

"Oh... it was released today." Zhan Zhao smiled, "Did you go to the bookstore to buy it?"

Bai Chi did not speak, but he nodded.

"If you want it, why didn’t you ask Zhao Zhen?" Bai Yutang felt amused, "Why go and buy it yourself?"

Bai Chi hid the book and said, "You are not allowed to tell him I bought it."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang smiled. Zhan Zhao stretched his hands out and put them on Bai Chi's shoulders, walking him into the office, "Zhao Zhen's books are very popular, right?"

"En." Bai Chi nodded.

"Are there any rankings?" Bai Yutang asked.

Bai Chi helplessly said, "The leaderboard was blocked by the crowd and the line was very long."

"So many people went to buy Zhao Zhen's book?" Zhan Zhao was surprised.

"No." Bai Chi said, "There are many people buying Zhen's books, but there is also a signing event happening today. There were people lining up from the first floor to the fourth floor.”

"So many people?" Zhan Zhao was interested, "Is it a best-selling author? Who is it?"

Bai Chi shook his head, "I haven't seen them, but I have seen the book. It seems to be a horror novel."

"A horror novel?" Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were surprised. It's fair to say that romance novels were selling well these days, how can horror novels sell also sell like that?

Zhan Zhao was a fan of horror novels, so he asked, "Whose book is it? Do you know the name?"

"It's 《The Next Way to Die》 from 'The Eleven Sins’." Jiang Ping, who was typing on the keyboard at his desk, suddenly spoke up, "A friend of mine is at the signing event. There are many people talking about it."

"The Next Way to Die." Zhan Zhao spoke with interest, "I have read that book. It is well written, especially the psychological description of those perverted killers.”

"Perverted killers?" Bai Yutang was interested, "Is it a mystery?"

"Horror novel." Jiang Ping said, "It's not a reasoning...There are no detectives, only murderers."

"What kind of book is this?" Bai Yutang asked, "In the end, did justice defeat evil?"

Jiang Ping smiled, "Boss, you are out of date."

"What's out of date?" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

"This traditional way of writing is not popular with children nowadays." Jiang Ping smiled and said, "You want pioneers, you want postmodernism, and you have to have personality!"

Bai Yutang frowned, "What does that have to do with solving the case?"

"His book is not so much a reasoning novel, as it is a psychological monologue of perverted killers. I heard that in order to write this book, he went to prison and interviewed many perverted killers."

“Do they still allow interviews?” Bai Yutang was surprised.

"He seems to be engaged in criminal research," Jiang Ping said, "Very professional."

"Have you read it Cat?" Bai Yutang asked curiously, "Do we have a copy? Let me see it."

Zhan Zhao shrugged, "When I saw it in the library, I casually flipped through it."

"Gongsun is reading it." Zhao Hu said tremblingly, "I saw him reading it two days ago, and he was laughing while reading..."

Everyone was a little speechless.

When they were joking around, they saw Ma Xin opening the door and beckoning to Ma Han, "Brother."

Ma Han was sitting at his desk looking at information, "What's the matter?"

"Come here." Ma Xin continued to call him over. This girl had always smiled before, but her face seemed a little bad today.

Ma Han stood up and walked to the door, "What's the matter, Xin Xin?"

Ma Xin whispered a few words to him. Ma Han seemed a little embarrassed and responded, "This is not a rule."

"Brother, can you help me?" Ma Xin pulled Ma Han's sleeve and begged him, "Can you ask Captain Bai to help?"

"Ask me what?" Bai Yutang, who was standing by the door, turned to ask when he heard the two mentioned him vaguely.

"Uh..." Ma Han looked at Bai Yutang, and nodded to Ma Xin, "Ask him yourself."

Bai Yutang beckoned to Ma Xin, "What's the matter?"

Ma Xin walked over with her hands in the pockets of her white coat. She hesitated before speaking, "I have a best friend who I grew up with, Chen Yang. After graduating from Normal University, she stayed there and became a teacher.”

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other, and couldn't figure out what this had to do with them.

"There is a girl in her class called Liu Mei." Ma Xin continued, "This girl is quite weird. She often causes troubles, likes to mix with boys, and is absent from school at night. She dropped three classes last semester. Chen Yang is her class monitor. She called her into her office on the second day of school to talk with her. The girl quarreled with her, left the office in anger, and then disappeared.”

After hearing this, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao nodded and asked, "Did they find her after that?"

Ma Xin sighed softly, "She disappeared for about a week. Then her parents came to the school, insisting that Chen Yang was responsible for her disappearance."

"This is quite troublesome." Zhan Zhao said, "Did the girl have an accident, or is she too emotional? No matter how emotional she is, she wouldn’t stop talking to her family after she had a fight with her teacher. She has been missing for a week, right?”

"This is not the worst part." Ma Xin smiled bitterly, "A few days ago, the school drained the pond to clean it and found a female corpse.”

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone listening to the story was stunned. Both Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao had surprised expressions on their faces.

"Was it the girl's body?" Bai Chi asked.

"En." Ma Xin nodded, "She had been dead for a week. The forensic doctor that performed the autopsy said that she drowned.”

Everyone was speechless, and the only thought that they had was that this child was too fragile. She committed suicide after quarreling with the teacher. Of course, the teacher was also in trouble.

"Suicide?" Zhan Zhao asked.

“A corpse would usually swell if it was soaked in water for three or four days.” Bai Yutang was also a little confused, “If it is swollen, it will float. Why was it still underwater after a week?”

Ma Xin thought for a while and replied, "There may have been special circumstances this time, but the forensic doctor ruled it as a suicide. I checked the information in the forensic doctor’s archives and felt that there was nothing wrong with the procedures or the ruling.”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both nodded and asked, "Then what do you think the problem is?"

"It's not what I think." Ma Xin said, "Chen Yang felt that the girl didn't commit suicide."

"Does she have any basis?" Bai Yutang asked.

“Liu Mei was very fierce when she was arguing with Chen Yang. When she left, she cruelly said ‘Don’t think that you are so great, aren’t you just a college teacher? I will definitely be better than you after graduation.’” Ma Xin said, “Furthermore, Chen Yang said that Liu Mei was a very tough female student, not a person who is vulnerable to suicidal tendencies.”

"There is indeed something wrong." Zhan Zhao said, "This girl has a positive personality, which is commonly referred to as being an optimist. She had a longing to live and would not choose to commit suicide easily.”

"That's right." Ma Xin said, "Chen Yang is in trouble now. The school was quite supportive of her, but after the corpse was found, the responsibility was placed on her. The news is very ruthless, saying some it was ‘evil’ and that ‘the teacher forced the female student to die’. Her life has been seriously affected. The female student’s parents want to sue her, but she said that she really didn’t scold the girl that day. She just urged her to move forward and cherish herself, that’s it.”

“Does that girl like to wear fancy clothes, have many boyfriends, and look good?” Zhan Zhao suddenly asked.

“That’s right.” Ma Xin nodded and smiled, “I’m not hiding it from you. Chen Yang is my good sister. For her, I visited the school unannounced. Her classmates thought that Liu Mei committed suicide by accident. Her parents actually have another child, a son. Liu Mei developed that kind of character because she was not spoiled at home. Her parents are going after Chen Yang so that she has to pay them a lot of money.”

“Has the funeral been held yet?” Bai Yutang asked, “It’s only been a few days, the body should still be in the morgue.”

“That’s right.” Ma Xin nodded, “Because the lawsuit has not been finalized, Liu Mei’s parents are not willing to hold a funeral. They say that the funeral will be paid for with the money that they get from Chen Yang.”

“What kind of parents are they?” On the side, Luo Tian couldn’t listen anymore. “Their daughter is dead and all they can think about is money.”

“Brother Tian, calm down.” Zhao Hu took out a small fan and fanned Luo Tian, “There are many people in the country side who prefer sons over daughters.”

"How do you want me to help you?" Bai Yutang asked Ma Xin.

"I...just talked to Gongsun. Gongsun said that as long as you approve the case, he will do a second autopsy." Ma Xin thought for a while and added, "I know it's illegal, but I also think it’s quite suspicious. If it’s really murder, not only can Chen Yang be cleared of wrongdoing, but most importantly, the murder won’t get away with it. If there really are no clues, then Chen Yang can give up, and so can I.”

After hearing this, Bai Yutang turned to look at Zhan Zhao, "Cat, what do you think?"

"Hmm..." Zhan Zhao nodded, "I agree to a re-examination of the corpse."

"What's the reason?" Bai Yutang asked, "The teacher's suspicion alone is not enough to convince the Bao Sir."

Zhan Zhao smiled, "Generally, people who like to show off will not commit suicide easily. Even if they want to commit suicide, they will not choose to jump into a pond." Then, he asked Ma Xin, "Have you been to that pond? Is it very remote?"

"Yes!" Ma Xin nodded, "It's scary, Chen Yang and I were a little scared to go together. I don't know why the girl went there. This time, because the nearby dormitory was going to be rebuilt, they sent someone to clean it. "

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang, "There are no witnesses, there are doubts, and there is a professional analysis."

Bai Yutang nodded, "Okay, I'll go to Bao Sir’s office to get approval. You and Gongsun are prepare for an autopsy."

"Thank you, Captain Bai!" Ma Xin showed a smile on his face.

"Don't be too happy," Bai Yutang said, "If you can't find a clue, I'll get scolded."

"En!" Ma Xin nodded.

 Bai Yutang tilted his head towards Zhan Zhao. Zhan Zhao smiled and patted Ma Xin on the shoulder, then walked to Bao Zheng's office with Bai Yutang.

Fifteen minutes later, the instructions were issued, and the body was sent to Gongsun's forensic room. Ma Xin and Gongsun began the autopsy.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

And the new case begins (～￣▽￣)～

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

Translated: April 16, 2021