S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 12

Smiling Murderer 11 - Unbroken Clue

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The group transported the cement corpse back to the SCI office. Gongsun and Ma Xin glanced at it, both a little speechless.

“The more you investigate this case, the more abnormal it is!” Gongsun exclaimed.

Bai Yutang shrugged his shoulders and asked Gongsun, “Take a look at it, how long have they been dead?”

Gongsun touched the cement and said, “I don’t know, but look at the cement… it must have been at least six months ago.”

“It’s been that long?” Zhan Zhao was surprised, “It seems that the murderer couldn’t make up a full three people so he led us to the community.”

“What about these two people?” Bai Yutang asked Gongsun, “How did they die?”

Gongsun looked at them, “If you look at the smile on their faces, it’s estimated that they were poisoned by the death smile poison… but further autopsy is required, it’ll take time.”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang nodded. Not staying in the forensic room any longer, allowing Gongsun to perform the autopsy, they left the room.

As soon as they got into the hallway, they saw the elevator doors open, and the security guard from downstairs ran over, “Captain Bai, someone sent an express delivery here.”

“Express delivery?” Bai Yutang frowned slightly. He saw that the courier envelope was thin, and asked, “Who delivered it?”

“I don’t know,” The security guard replied, “it was at the door this morning. It says ‘SCI’ on it, so I took it and checked it, it should be a letter.”

“Letter?” Bai Yutang tore open the courier envelope. There really was a letter in it. Opening the letter, there were a few lines printed from a computer.

Bai Yutang glanced at it and handed it to Zhan Zhao. Zhan Zhao took it and saw that it read:

Dear Captain Bai, Dr. Zhan, and all of the SCI detectives, how are you?

My name is K, and I am a killer.

As you can see, in this case, I am the planner behind the scenes. I didn’t intend to alarm the police, it’s just that Liu Song didn’t listen to the advice given, and some accidents happened. The distress caused to you because of our research, I deeply regret it. However, you can rest assured, this series of cases has come to an end. You can judge Guo Cheng and Wang Aihua as the final murderers in this case. Please stop following the clues related to me, relying on just those, it is impossible to catch me. Secondly, although I killed someone, my creed is consistent with what you insist on.

K

The letter circulated through the SCI members a few times and everyone frowned. Bai Chi puzzledly asked, “This murderer… what does he want to express?”

Bai Yutang smiled bitterly and shook his head, “The creed has come out.” (Angel: Creed is a set of beliefs or aims which guide someone's actions.)

“This murderer is actually quite typical.” Zhan Zhao whispered, “Convinced that he is right, he is killing for some greater cause for society alongside a group of believers. This time, Liu Song was most likely just an accident, but now the clues are broken.”

Everyone looked at each other, all feeling a little pity. Liu Qing and Shen Zhongyuan also felt very shocked… In this time of loss, they heard Zhan Zhao suddenly say, “Hmm… not necessarily.”

Everyone looked up at Zhan Zhao, their movements neat and uniform, and the look of hope in their eyes were all the same. Zhan Zhao couldn’t help laughing and said, “Our clues may not be broken yet.”

“What do you mean?” Everyone asked him.

“Think about it,” Zhan Zhao said, “the corpse in the cement has been there for a long time. The murderer didn’t intend to use it this time, but because of an emergency, he had to use it.”

“En,” Everyone nodded, “it indeed gives off that feeling.”

“In other words, there is another person he wanted to get rid of, but that he didn’t have time to get rid of,” Zhan Zhao said, “and that person is likely to be in or near that community.”

Everyone glanced at each other, feeling a little turned around. Zhan Zhao’s train of thought has always jumped around, and the group couldn’t keep up with his rhythm.

“Guo Cheng and the person known as Wang Aihua died near that community and they were poisoned.” Bai Yutang interpreted for Zhan Zhao, “Poisoning takes time. Unless the two committed suicide, they were killed… We can rule out suicide, meaning they were killed… and that the murderer had set a plan for them to die at this time.”

Everyone nodded, so that’s what happened.

“No matter what, the murderer killed one less person… and that person, we can assume that they have a strong mentality.” Zhan Zhao said, “Since the murderer didn’t kill him, could it be because he ran away early?”

Everyone hit their foreheads, “That’s it! Some things need to be thought of in reverse. The murderer killed one less person and replaced them with a corpse, this is not necessarily because the murderer himself had some problem or changed his mind, there is a large possibility that something happened to the person who was supposed to be killed. If they ran away, the murderer had to find another method.”

“Think about it carefully, this three is indeed very far-fetched.” Bai Chi said, “He used to have three bodies appear together, but if we didn’t look for the one in the cement seriously, we would have never found it, and his characteristics would have been ignored.”

“It’s a little bit suspicious,” Shen Zhongyuan said, “the murderer seems to want to be as low-key as possible, but he had to collect three corpses to appear together, what exactly is it for? What is he insisting on? If he really wanted to keep a low profile, wouldn’t it be enough for us not to find the third body?”

“Is his hatred of three important?” Zhao Hu was a little at a loss, “Three, what is there to insist on? Also, he is not very paranoid; the house number the deceased was in was not three, the date today is not three, he didn’t take three fingers, what is he insisting on, why does it always feel half-hearted?”

“En.” Zhan Zhao looked at him with a smile, “Well said, half-hearted!”

“Huh?” Zhao Hu looked at Zhan Zhao puzzledly.

“What if it’s two people?” Zhan Zhao asked.

Everyone was taken aback…

“That’s right!” Bai Chi said, “If the murderer is more than one person, it can be said that only one of them is particularly paranoid about the number three and the other one is normal.”

Zhan Zhao raised the corner of his mouth and smiled, “The other one does not seem to be so normal.”

“Why do you say that?” Luo Tian asked,

“The smile,” Bai Yutang said, “it appears more frequently than the insistence on three.”

“Correct,” Zhan Zhao nodded, “taking away some of the victim’s organs also appears more frequently.... This series of cases exhibits completely different living habits and aesthetics. In other words, this series of murders is composed of different styles.”

“There are many murderers?” Ma Han asked.

“There are only two possibilities that allow for this kind of thing to happen,” Zhan Zhao said, “either a lot of murderers are cooperating perfectly, or… the murderer has N types of personalities.”

“If it’s a lot of people…” Bai Yutang shook his head, “With so many people coming and going together, it will inevitably make an impression. Moreover, the differences between the personalities are so big that it is impossible to coordinate well… I think the latter is very likely.”

“This can only be said to be a possibility,” Zhan Zhao said, “but the situation is quite special, the best way is to check it directly.”

“How can we check it?” Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao.

“By stimulating the murder.” Zhan Zhao thought for a while, then added, “Call Lu Fang to help.”

That afternoon, Lu Fang called various private and public hospitals in both S City and K City, asking them for help in finding someone. That person is about thirty years old, used to be a teacher, had a previous consultation, but six months ago, he suddenly stopped talking, and he has symptoms of neurosis or split personality. Their main characteristics are the following:

1. He is very quiet, hardly speaks, but he is organized and very competent.

2. He is easily irritable, has a certain degree of paranoia, and he likes to arrange anything in front of his eyes in a certain way

3. He has slight violent tendencies.

4. He loves cleanliness very much.

Afterwards, everyone hurriedly ate lunch, before dividing the officers up into several groups to wait in ambush around the neighborhood; there were police officers waiting at almost every intersection around the neighborhood.

At the same time, with the help of the police sketch artist, Zhan Zhao boldly speculated the murderer’s appearance.

Zhan Zhao only selected one main personality to work with, which was the appearance of the person who is paranoid about the number three: wearing glasses, hair a little messy, big eyes, thicker brows that are wrinkled together, unshaven, medium to tall in height, very thin, and wearing dark clothes.

During the afternoon of the same day, Zhan Zhao asked police officers to post the wanted poster with the sketch on it around the community, as well as to broadcast it on TV.

At the gate in the community, the members of SCI waited in their cars.

Zhan Zhao gave them some tips: that person keeps his head down when he walks, using shadows and reflections to look back rather than directly looking back, possibly carrying a larger bag, likely holding the handle of the bag with one hand, keeping the other hand at the side of his body, unconsciously tapping his trouser leg, walking quickly, and staying close to the side as he walks.

Liu Qing, Shen Zhongyuan, Luo Tian, and Bai Chi were together. Shen Zhongyuan took the sketch and looked at it for a long time before saying, “This is too amazing… can such a person be created from these clues? It seems a bit outrageous.”

“Brother is like this,” Bai Chi said, “he connects a lot of clues in his head and makes inferences. When speaking, he will omit a lot of details from his reasoning, so it looks incredible to outsiders.”

“I believe in Dr. Zhan,” Luo Tian nodded, “because it’s not the first time this has happened, just like the cement corpse.”

“That’s true,” Liu Qing nodded, “I got goosebumps when we found the corpse.”

“Heh…” Luo Tian and Bai Chi both laughed. At this moment, Zhao Hu’s voice suddenly came from the walkie-talkie, his voice seemed a little anxious, “Brother Tian, Chi Chi, are you at the third gate?”

“Yes.” Bai Chi answered quickly.

“Look at the man in the gray sweatshirt that just came out!” As soon as Zhao Hu finished speaking, Luo Tian raised his head… After a while, he saw a man wearing a gray sweatshirt come out, walking quickly with his head down.

Although he lowered his head as much as possible, it was still possible to make out some details… Messy hair, wearing glasses, unshaven, medium to tall in height, carrying a large shoulder bag, holding the strap of the bag in one hand, placing the other near the middle seam of his pants, tapping lightly, looks a little nervous, and walking at a fast pace close to the flowerbed on the side of the walkway.

“Gosh…” Liu Qing whispered, “the goosebumps have come back!”

“Captain,” Luo Tian notified Bai Yutang and asked, “what should we do?”

“Proceed as planned.” Bai Yutang’s words came from the walkie-talkie, and everyone looked at each other. Luo Tian and Bai Chi got out of the car, each holding a pile of wanted posters in their hands, and slowly walked towards that person.

“He should take out his cell phone.” Zhan Zhao whispered. In the car, Liu Qing and Shen Zhongyuan heard him and watched attentively. Sure enough, as soon as Zhan Zhao’s words fell, the man took out his cell phone.

“That’s right,” Liu Qing nodded and asked Zhan Zhao, “now what?”

“Bai Chi, crouch down and tie your shoelaces.” Zhan Zhao instructed.

Bai Chi and Luo Tian were both wearing earpieces. After hearing him, Bai Chi knelt down to tie his shoelaces.

“Luo Tian, don’t look at that person,” Zhan Zhao instructed, “just let him pass by you.”

Luo Tian naturally looked down at Bai Chi tying his shoelaces and teased him, “How old are you, how many times have your shoelaces come undone today?”

……

The man quickly walked past Luo Tian, and Liu Qing updated Zhan Zhao, “He passed by them.”

Zhan Zhao smiled and instructed Luo Tian, “Go!”

Luo Tian abruptly turned his head and shouted at the man’s back, “Lao San!” (Angel: I decided to leave this in its pinyin form, the original being 老三. Lao San is the nickname of the third person in the organization according to age or order of joining the group.)

The man was visibly stunned. At this time, Liu Qing and Shen Zhongyuan also got out of the car. The man turned and fled towards the other road, but Wang Chao and Zhang Long followed.

“Don’t come!” The man reached for his bag, but before he could take anything out, Zhao Hu, who had already gotten into the flowerbed behind him, grabbed his hand. Holding a pair of scissors in his hand, Ma Han cut the strap of his shoulder bag. Taking the bag, he opened it and took a look, then took a sharp breath… there was a homemade bomb.

As the person wanted to struggle, he was already handcuffed by Zhao Hu…

At this time, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang’s car arrived.

The two got out and walked towards the person.

The man struggled, appearing very agitated and dissatisfied.

Zhan Zhao walked up to him, smiled, and said, “I’m sorry, we caught you at your most foolish moment.”

As he finished speaking, the man calmed down. Then, as though he was a different person, he spoke coldly, “That good-for-nothing.”

Bai Yutang smiled and said, “Take him back!”

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Zhan Zhao's genius has come out again. 🥰

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

Translated: July 26/27, 2021