S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 18

Smiling Murderer 17 - Mysterious Odd Eyes

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Ma Han and the others surrounded the entire building, and began to blanket search floor by floor.

Bai Yutang stood on the fifth floor and looked down. Below him, the fourth floor was blocked by a large canopy that had been opened, so he could not see the situation below… The actual fact is that the person in black didn't hit the canopy when he jumped, which means he jumped down and then disappeared. Is that possible? He jumped down from the fifth floor and still managed to change directions mid-air to enter the building? The group was skeptical.

“There doesn’t seem to be any mechanism.” Bai Yutang frowned, and Zhan Zhao nodded.

At this time, Ma Han and the others ran up, handed Bai Yutang a bundle of rope, and said, “Captain.”

Bai Yutang wrapped the rope around his waist and Zhan Zhao asked, “Ah, what are you doing?”

“Going down to take a look.” Bai Yutang replied. 

Zhan Zhao was a little nervous. He looked at the rope and asked “You’re going down by yourself? With just a rope?”

Seeing his nervousness, Bai Yutang couldn't help but smile and ask, “How about I take a parachute?”

Zhan Zhao was helpless and glared at him, “You still have the heart to joke around?”

“Let's see what kind of trick he's playing!” When Bai Yutang finished speaking, he asked Luo Tian to help him with the rope.

Luo Tian grabbed the end of the rope and controlled its speed, while Ma Han, Zhao Hu, and the others held on to the other end, which was at the bottom of the building. As long as they held onto the rope, Bai Yutang couldn’t fall to the ground.

Ready, Bai Yutang leapt off the fifth floor, and moved a little downwards. He inspected the building and found no organs or footprints on the outside of the wall…

As Zhan Zhao watched somewhat anxiously, he saw Bai Yutang repel from the fifth floor all the way to the ground, untie the rope, and stand there staring at the building, rubbing his chin.

Zhan Zhao ran down. When he reached the ground floor, he tilted his face and looked up, “How strange.”

Bai Yutang was helpless, “I am not able to see anything, let’s get a specialist.”

Zhan Zhao thought for a while, then asked, “Specialist?”

Bai Yutang shrugged. Zhan Zhao took out his phone and called Bai Chi.

When Bai Chi answered the phone, he happened to be watching Zhao Zhen’s performance and was so shocked that his heart skipped a beat… Why does Zhao Zhen do such scary special effects?!

“Hello?” Bai Chi answered his phone and asked, “Brother, what is it?”

“Chi Chi, when Zhao Zhen’s performance is over, bring him to this address.” Zhan Zhao gave Bai Chi the address, “A man jumped from the fifth floor and disappeared, we suspect that he played some sort of trick and want Zhao Zhen to take a look.”

“Oh? Okay, got it.” Bai Chi nodded, took out a piece of paper to write down the address, then hung up the phone and raised his eyes to continue watching the performance… but Zhao Zhen was gone.

The audience began to look around for him. Bai Chi, sitting in the VIP section, began looking around when he suddenly felt someone tap him from behind. Bai Chi was startled and turned back quickly to see Zhao Zhen flash out of sight… gone.

Bai Chi blinked, somewhat puzzled, and carefully took another look… Zhao Zhen was not there.

“Uh…” Bai Chi was surprised when he heard the audience start to applaud. When he looked back, he saw Zhao Zhen appear on stage. The show was over and it was a perfect curtain call.

Bai Chi clapped along with the audience, still wondering if the Zhao Zhen who was just dangling in front of his eyes was real or if he was an illusion.

The curtain came down and the show was over. Bai Chi wanted to go backstage to find Zhao Zhen, but just as he opened the door of the VIP booth, Zhao Zhen appeared there, smiling and saying, “Chi Chi, was it good?”

Bai Chi was startled and asked him, “Who are you?”

Zhao Zhen laughed loudly, obviously very happy, and moved over to him, “I've succeeded in my performance, come and give me a kiss.”

Bai Chi reached out and pinched his cheek fiercely.

“Hiss…” Zhao Zhen sighed helplessly, “Chi Chi, be gentle, I rely on my face for a living”

Feeling that what he was touching wasn't fake and was a little warm, Bai Chi asked, “How did you… suddenly appear?”

Zhao Zhen shrugged his shoulders and said, “Secret.”

Bai Chi wrinkled his nose as Zhao Zhen said, “I'll go backstage to remove my makeup, wait for me, we'll go for dinner later.”

Bai Chi nodded and followed Zhao Zhen out, saying, “Zhen, later, before dinner, why don't you go somewhere with me?”

“Where?” Zhao Zhen was puzzled.

“Brother and the others seem to have encountered a situation. They said that a man disappeared after jumping from the fifth floor.”

“Disappeared?” Zhao Zhen was a little curious and asked, “Did your brother and the others watch it happen from upstairs or from downstairs?”

“Upstairs.” Bai Chi answered.

“Oh… that’s a simple trick. Is there any cover?” 

Bai Chi shook his head and said, “I didn’t ask. Brother said they kept the scene secured and asked you to check it out.”

“No problem.” Zhao Zhen went to remove his makeup.

“But,” Bai Chi followed Zhao Zhen into the bathroom and asked, “that murderer should have run into he officers. Can his props make him suddenly disappear?”

“You mean, the murderer was Doraemon?” Zhao Zhen asked with a smile.

Knowing that he was teasing him, Bai Chi glared at him with some dissatisfaction and said, “Be serious.”

Zhao Zhen thought for a moment and asked, “Chi Chi, do you have any tissues?”

“Oh.” Bai Chi was about to get them from his bag, but Zhao Zhen pulled one out of Bai Chi's jacket pocket and wiped his face.

Bai Chi felt his own jacket pocket and was a bit dumbfounded – he clearly remembered that the jacket pocket was empty, so how come there was something there?

Bai Chi felt it, and it was indeed empty.

Zhao Zhen laughed, “There's obviously something there.” As he said that, he reached out and continued to pull things out, but of course, he pulled as many as he wanted, and eventually he even pulled out banknotes and underwear.

Bai Chi was furious, “You're doing magic again!”

Zhao Zhen laughed, “It's obvious that you're the one hiding more things… you’re Doraemon!”

Bai Chi covered his pockets to stop him from pulling more out, otherwise he didn't know what he was going to pull out next.

Zhao Zhen laughed after washing his face and said, “Since he was going to kill someone, he must have been prepared to escape. I guess that he brought the props with him, and that they have become his usual method for escaping!”

“So,” Bai Chi nodded, “can he escape from the building?”

Zhao Zhen shook his head and laughed, “No, he must be hiding somewhere in the building.”

“Still hiding in the building?” Bai Chi was surprised.

“En.” Zhao Zhen nodded, “Something like magic is ultimately a trick, only fooling the eyes of the audience, its essence will not change. Your brothers are not an ordinary audience, they are not so foolish.”

“En.” Bai Chi nodded, agreeing with Zhao Zhen’s point.

Afterwards, the two drove to Ah Jing’s home.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were waiting for them at the door, and Zhao Zhen followed the group to the fifth floor. He looked down and frowned.

“Well?” Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked.

Zhao Zhen looked at the two of them and couldn't help but smile and shake his head.

“What’s wrong?” Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, and heard Zhao Zhen ask, “I just said that you two were not an ordinary audience, how come you were fooled by such a simple trick?”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both stared at each other, a little confused.

“Look downstairs, what is particularly unnatural about it?” Zhao Zhen asked.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, as well as the group of SCI members on the walkway, looked down… after a while, Zhan Zhao suddenly said, “Uh… that canopy is so new.”

Once this was said, everyone else noticed – That’s right, why is this canopy so new?!

Bai Yutang gestured for someone to bring over a pole. Zhao Zhen took it and poked the canopy hard… he poked near the edge… and immediately… a human figure appeared.

Everyone looked at each other. Zhao Zhen pulled the pole back and said, “Huh? Something’s not quite right.”

“What’s wrong?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“Why isn’t the person moving at all?” Zhao Zhen frowned.

As the group looked at each other, Bai Yutang had someone find a rope and hook the canopy with it… Soon, the canopy was hooked.

The group realized that the canopy actually resembled a blue velvet sleeping bag, when it was open, it was just big enough for a person to hide in. The most ingenious part is the bottom of it; while it is actually flat, there is a sunken visual effect that makes it look like a thin canopy at first glance.

“He’s probably fooled quite a few people with this method.” Bai Yutang said, “As long as they kill someone in an ordinary residential building like this, it’s hard for someone to notice them when they jump off, hook a coat hanger, and open up this kind of canopy.” (Angel: I assume they use the coat hanger to open up the canopy.)

Everyone nodded.

“There should be a dead person in there, right?” Zhao Hu asked, “The boy hasn’t even grunted while being poked like that.”

“En.” The group nodded, having just noticed it. They pulled up the canopy and ripped the zipper open, only to see that there was a man dressed in black inside, the same man who had just tried to kill Ah Jing.

Looking at his face again, the group couldn’t help but frown… smiling again, another smiling corpse.

“It’s evil.” Zhao Hu couldn’t help saying, “Who has such a bad taste, so many smiling corpses are coming out?! Pervert!”

Bai Yutang shook his head and said, “Let's get the corpses back and give them to Gongsun so he can examine them.”

The team followed his order and took Ah Jing and his mother back to the police station as well.

Back in the SCI's office, everyone sat down, silent, and Bai Chi said, “It's strange, why does someone die every time we catch someone? At this rate, how many people are involved?”

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao asked Ah Jing, who had been brought in, “Can you explain who that man was? Why did he want to kill you?”

Ah Jing looked at the group and said, “I don't know that kid, he just came out of nowhere and said he wanted to kill me.”

“Really?” Zhan Zhao asked.

Ah Jing's face changed slightly, and Bai Yutang asked, “Do you know that you are the direct suspect in the murders of He Lan and Xiao Mei? And yet you're still lying?”

“I didn't kill them!” Ah Jing said, “I just went to look for them yesterday, but the door was closed and I couldn't find…”

“I asked you if you know this person?” Bai Yutang asked.

“He’s an acquaintance.” Ah Jing finally nodded helplessly and said, “He's one of Dr. He's patients.”

“A patient?” Zhan Zhao froze, and the group glanced at each other as Bai Chi ran to take out the information of two other patients who had similar conditions to Xu You that he had asked Lu Fang to investigate that day. One of them was the deceased in black clothes.

“Strange,” Bai Chi said, “why did the other patient want to kill you?”

“How should I know?” Ah Jing said.

“How come you don't seem to be upset at all that Xiao Mei died?” Zhan Zhao asked, “Didn’t you have a good relationship with her?”

“Good my ass” Ah Jing spat and said, “Those two women have been screwing each other for a long time, I'm just something she uses to cover her tracks.”

Bai Yutang frowned and shook his head, then said to Luo Tian and Bai Chi, “Take him to record a detailed statement, and detain him for forty-eight hours first.”

“Why are you detaining me?” Ah Jing got agitated, “I didn't kill anyone!”

Ma Han looked at him and asked, “What's your name, where is it safe except the police station? Tell me!”

Ah Jing immediately lost his voice and said, “Damn, I should have known better than to mess with her, she's a pain in the ass.”

“Mess with who?” Zhan Zhao asked him.

Ah Jing didn't speak, he bowed his head and said nothing. Bai Yutang smiled and said, “Confess and we’ll be lenient.”

“Come on, officer, I have to hear this twice every month.” Ah Jing said, “As for me, I will still get money from He Lan even if I don’t do anything.”

Bai Yutang frowned slightly and asked, “You blackmailed her?”

“What?” Ah Jing’s gangster appearance came out and he said, “I didn’t. She made me wear a green hat for so long so it's not an exaggeration for her to give me some compensation, right?… Then I found out about her little secret, so she became my long-term meal ticket.” (Angel: Wearing a green hat now refers to having your partner cheat on you.)

Zhao Hu laughed and said, “I say kid, you are quite arrogant, how can you say that so shamelessly?”

Ah Jing scratched his cheek and said, “I can't help it, I found out that these two women are in a cult!”

“A cult?” The group looked at him in confusion.

“You all know about Hitler’s group and symbol, right? What’s that thing again? That's right, the Nazis” Ah Jing said mysteriously. 

Bai Yutang thought about it, took out a picture, showed it to him, and asked, “This one?”

“Yes, yes!” Ah Jing nodded, “That’s the thing!”

“You saw that He Lan and Xiao Mei had something to do with this thing?” Zhan Zhao asked. 

“I saw it the other day, on He Lan’s laptop. She was using this thing as her wallpaper, and ah, she had this flag in her drawer.”

“A laptop?” Bai Yutang asked, “Did you find He Lan’s laptop?”

Everyone shook their heads. Wang Chao looked at the list of evidence collected and said, “Boss, there’s no laptop!”

“What about the flag?” Ah Jing asked, “I kept an eye out and went to their clinic to take a peek, and I saw her and Xiao Mei worshipping the flag very religiously.”

“No,” Ah Jing said mysteriously, “there was also a strange-eyed man.” (Angel: I know that it seems as though there should be another line of dialog before this line, but there really isn’t.)

“A strange-eyed man?” Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked in unison.

“I haven’t seen them before.” Ah Jing said, “They shouldn’t be too old, thirty-something, wearing a cloak similar to that flag. He Lan and Xiao Mei seem to be very afraid of him, especially his eyes, ah… quite scary.”

“Did he see you?” Bai Yutang asked.

“No.” Ah Jing shrugged, “One of his eyes seems to be bad, it's all white.”

“White?” Bai Yutang frowned and exchanged a glance with Zhan Zhao.

“Do you remember what he looks like?” Luo Tian asked him.

“Probably… he was quite special looking.” Ah Jing recalled.

“Take him to do a sketch.” Bai Yutang said.

Luo Tian took Ah Jing down to work on the sketch, and Zhan Zhao said, “It seems necessary to sort out this case from start to finish.”

Bai Yutang nodded and instructed the group to go eat first, then to check the clues. The autopsy report from Gongsun is expected to come out tomorrow, so they can come back then to sort out all of the clues again.

The group dispersed. Bai Yutang took his jacket and was just about to go to dinner with Zhan Zhao when the phone rang.

Bai Yutang took it out and looked at it – it was Bai Jintang. Feeling a bit surprised, he picked up the phone, “Brother?”

On the other end of the phone, Bai Jintang frowned and said, “Come and get this man out of my sight, or I'll just throw him down the stairs!”

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were both stunned and somewhat puzzled as they drove to Bai Jintang's office. There, they saw Bai Jintang sitting at his desk with a sour face, reading some documents. On the sofa not far from him, the twins were playing cards with Eugene, who was dressed in a flowery shirt. The battle was fierce.

Eugene looked up and saw Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, and smiled, “Hi, handsome guys, long time no see.”

Zhan Zhao was a little helpless and asked, “Eugene, what are you doing in S City?”

Eugene smiled and mysteriously pulled out a pocket-sized CD from his pocket, “Came to deliver some good things for you!”

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

My best friend flew into town yesterday and we are going to the zoo today! I've lived in this city for four years now and I have yet to go to the zoo once, I am very excited. 

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

Translated: August 17, 2021