S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 1 Chapter 75

The Murderer Is Not Human 08 - The Unknown Suspects

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Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao returned to S.C.I. As soon as they stepped out of the lift, they saw the door of the forensic room thrown open with a loud bang and Zhao Hu rushed out, slumping against the wall and vomiting. He was followed by Ma Han, who was not as much of a mess as Zhao Hu, but he was also pale and quickly lit a cigarette and took a long, hard drag.

"What's the matter?" Bai Yutang looked at them both in confusion.

"Gong... Gongsun… skinning... also using a see-saw... vomit..." Zhao Hu didn't finish his sentence before he turned around and rushed towards the toilet. Ma Han frowned, turned around and also rushed over.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other and walked towards Gongsun's forensic room. They carefully pushed open the door, probed and took a look. They shrank back, closed the door, turned around, and went back to the office... glad that they were able to come back without drinking the soup just now.

When they walked into S.C.I.'s office, they saw Bai Chi rustling in Zhan Zhao's office. The floor was covered with all kinds of information and he was quickly browsing through it. Zhao Zhen leaned back on the sofa and looked at Bai Chi with a smile.

Morris, who said he had important information to provide, was sitting on one of the chairs in the lounge. His eyes were staring somewhat blankly in the direction of Zhan Zhao's office, unsure of what he was thinking.

"Head!" Jiang Ping looked up and saw the two people entering and hurriedly greeted them.

In the lounge, Morris  also stood up immediately afterwards and walked up to the two men, "I have something important to tell the police."

"What is it?" Bai Yutang asked.

"I know who the murderer is!" Morris replied concisely.

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire office, including Bai Chi and Zhao Zhen who were in Zhan Zhao's office, stared at Morris in surprise.

"... Let's talk in my office." After Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged a look, they guided Morris into his office.

The three of them sat down on the sofa. Zhan Zhao spoke first and asked, "The murderer you are referring to, who is the murderer that killed who?!"

"......" After a moment's silence, Morris said, "Everyone."

Bai Yutang smiled faintly, "You mean the same person who killed everyone?!"

"That's right!"

"Who is it?" Zhan Zhao tapped his chin with interest.

"I don't know." Morris replied.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other and laughed: "This isn't an interrogation room but it's still a formal police enquiry. Isn't this joke a bit too big Mr. Morris?!"

"Er... no." Morris hastily waved his hand, "I didn't mean to prank you guys. I mean, I know there was such a person, but I don't know the exact name."

"Then describe to us in detail what you know," Zhan Zhao said.

"First, I'd like you all to listen to a cassette tape." Morris took out a small cassette from his jacket pocket, "This is a recording of voice messages from a phone in Tian Zhong's studio."

Bai Yutang frowned slightly, "We sent someone to check Tian Zhong's studio a long time ago and we didn't find any recorded messages."

"Oh..." Morris laughed and shook his head, "That studio you went to is just a stage for Tian Zhong to bluff people. His real studio is not here! Only I know about it."

Zhan Zhao took the cassette and plugged it into the handset as he asked, "Why didn't you tell the police where his real studio was at the very beginning?!"

"Uh..." Morris shook his head with some difficulty, "It's about Tian Zhong's reputation, his work practices are a bit extreme and his people are a bit vicious. If it comes out to the public, it will definitely bring him down… But," said Morris, looking up at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "after I heard the tape, I thought something was fishy, so I asked Zhen to bring me here."

When Zhan Zhao pressed the play button on the handset, he heard a voice recording from Tian Zhong: "I'm not at home right now, please leave a message after a beep and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." The next thing that came was a beep, and then there was a silence of nearly three or four seconds - although it was silent, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang could still hear the faint sound of breathing, as if the person on the other end holding the receiver was trying to calm himself down... What's even more amazing is that although it was just a few simple breaths, it sounded, well, a little scary.

As soon as the sound of breathing ended, an electronic voice tempered with metallic waves said: "You have all gone too far, you have violated the sacredness of Tu Xi... and you will be condemned by God..." At the end of the sentence, there was a click, as if someone had picked up the phone, and then Tian Zhong's terrified voice came: "Leave me alone... I am innocent, leave me alone..." But on the other side, there was only a busy tone.

This is the only dialogue on the entire tape. The first thing they did was to turn off the handset, take the tape out and put it in an evidence bag.

Bai Yutang pondered for a moment and asked Morris, "You think it was this caller that killed Tian Zhong, as well as the others?"

"That's right!" Morris nodded.

"And the reason that aroused your suspicion?" Zhan Zhao looked at him, "It can't just be because of this tape, can it?!"

After another long silence, Morris sighed and said, "There is, in fact, such a person... and Tian Zhong calls him Tu Xi."

"Tu Xi?" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other, "What kind of person is that? Have you ever met him?"

Shaking his head, Morris said, "I just heard Tian Zhong mention him a lot."

As if starting to recall previous events, Morris spoke slowly: "Tian Zhong and I met during a travel photography trip. I am good at shooting landscapes, while Tian Zhong is good at shooting people... We both have similar interests and complementary skills, so we were about to make a joint photo shoot.  In the process of working together, I discovered one of his secrets... He is very good at capturing the frightened expressions of people... Actually, the technique is secondary to how he gets the model to show that frightened expression.In the beginning he tried a lot of methods, which is what I told you about. However, the results were unsatisfactory until he met a man..."

Morris stopped, took a sip of water, calmed down a little and continued, "The man was known as Tu Xi. He wouldn talk to Tian Zhong on the phone whenever he selected a model and passed on information about that model to him. By putting a curse on the model... he was able to make them hallucinate and give them a terrified expression – that's what made Tian Zhong's photographs so evocative!"

"Using a curse to make someone look terrified?" Bai Yutang frowned, "That sounds a bit absurd."

"Very strange indeed!" Morris was slightly agitated, "I didn't believe it at first either, but then he let me experience it myself!"

"In person?" Zhan Zhao asked with great interest, "You felt scared?!"

Morris said, "It was simply mind numbing, but what exactly I was afraid of, I couldn't remember afterwards... But that feeling of fear is still there and I can never forget it!"

"Tu Xi was the one who called?" Bai Yutang asked, "Can you be sure?"

Morris nodded, and then, with some remorse, whacked himself on the head and said, "In the end... it was actually me who got Tian Zhong killed."

"...... What?!" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at Morris in surprise, "Why do you say that?!"

"It was all because I thought this Tu Xi civilization was so amazing...that I encouraged Tian Zhong to come and take pictures about Tu Xi..." Morris let out a long sigh. "He wouldn't have been condemned by God if he hadn't involved himself in this forbidden...land without permission!!!"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao listened quietly as Morris finished his words, then exchanged glances with each other before getting up and sending Morris out.

Before leaving the room, Morris repeatedly urged, "Officers, you must believe in the curse... This Tu Xi is definitely the murderer!"

"We will investigate!" Bai Yutang nodded, "Thank you for the information...Also, I want someone to search that private studio of Tian Zhong's, can you tell us the address?!"

"Yes yes!" Morris nodded hastily, "I can take you there right now!"

Bai Yutang instructed Ma Han and Zhao Hu to follow Morris, and then, together with Zhan Zhao, returned to the office.

Ma Han and Zhao Hu went to get the car first, while Morris found Zhao Zhen and Bai Chi in the corridor at the entrance of the office, where the two were at a standstill.

Zhao Zhen pulled Bai Chi, "I'll buy ribs on my way back, you come and have dinner."

Bai Chi glared, "What's the use of buying ribs? You're still asking me to make a meal, I'm not going!"

"Why don't you go now?" Zhao Zhen laughed, "I was living fine before!"

"Before it was because your hand was injured!" Bai Chi continued to glare, "I couldn't help it! I haven't made up with you yet!!!"

"Zhen..." Morris  spoke up, interrupting the two as he gave Bai Chi a look, then Zhao Zhen, "Let's go."

"You go back first." Zhao Zhen waved his hand at him, "I'll wait for him to leave together after work."

"Who wants you to wait?!" Bai Chi drew his sleeve back, "I'm going home, not to your place!"

Zhao Zhen laughed, "That's fine, I'll go home with you and so will Lisbon!"

"I'm off then..." Interrupting the conversation between the two once more, Morris took a few steps forward, pulled Zhao Zhen over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I'll see you later." After saying that, he turned around and left.

Zhao Zhen didn't seem to care and continued to wheedle Bai Chi, "I want to drink winter melon and pork ribs soup."

Bai Chi looked at Morris's distant back, his heart suddenly felt a little strange... The way he just stared at Zhao Zhen, and the way he stared at himself... and then looking back at Zhao Zhen, Bai Chi's face was slightly flushed: "He... he just now, why did he kiss you?"

Zhao Zhen first froze, then laughed, "You're jealous, huh?"

Bai Chi glared at him, "Say... say something serious!"

Zhao Zhen shrugged, "That's how French people greet each other."

Bai Chi deflated, "He is, and you're not..."

"I grew up in France." Zhao Zhen rubbed Bai Chi's hair amusedly, "Morris met me when I was in France too."

"I always thought..." Bai Chi thought about it, "There's something strange about him..."

Zhao Zhen stared at him for a long time and suddenly wrapped his arms around him, "Little thing, you're so cute!"

"Yah~~~" Bai Chi cried out miserably and pushed Zhao Zhen away with a red face, "You... dare to do anything else, I... will beat you up! "

Zhao Zhen grabbed him and wouldn't let go, "I'm being watched by dangerous people, how can you leave me alone... you're a police officer... how about this, from now on, you protect my safety 24 hours a day..."

Bai Chi fought his way free and ran off, running back to Zhan Zhao's office and closing the door. He buried himself in a pile of books and newspapers. After laughing for a while in the corridor, Zhao Zhen collected his smile and frowned slightly in contemplation. He walked quickly to the floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the corridor and looked down.

Downstairs, Morris came out of the police station and seemed to be waiting for Ma Han and Zhao Hu's car. He was standing by Bai Chi's car and was staring down hard at the cute yellow beetle.

It was impossible to see the expression on Morris's face because he was too far away, but...

Retreating to the hallway, Zhao Zhen's frown tightened as he walked quickly into the bathroom, scooped up the water and washed his face...

In Bai Yutang's office, Zhan Zhao played with a Rubik's Cube on his desk.

"How about it, Cat? We have a suspect of some kind!" Bai Yutang laughed, "Where's your expert opinion? Is this Morris telling the truth, or making it up?!"

Zhan Zhao was silent for a moment and sneered, "Worse than making things up..." Putting the cube down, he looked at Bai Yutang, "He's called being redundant!"

At this time, Zhang Long and Wang Chao came back from outside.

Bai Yutang opened the door to his office and walked out, "How did it go?"

Zhang Long shook his head, "The woman's name is Zhou Lu, she came to Akasha by chance to have her fortune told... and woke up in the hospital saying she couldn't remember anything!" Breathing heavily, he continued, "That Akasha is even more evil, nearly lost her own life in the game, and is still shouting about some curse... I am really conquered by her."

"What about Qu Yanming?" Bai Yutang asked afterwards.

Wang Chao shrugged, "That kid didn't say anything."

"Not a word?" Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang.

"Then again, that brat is a tough piece of work." Wang Chao continued, "Took a bullet up the shoulder... he didn't even grunt."

"Did you bring him back?" Bai Yutang asked. Seeing Wang Chao nod, he said to Zhan Zhao, "Let’s go Cat, we will go interrogate..."

"I don't think that's necessary..." Bai Yutang's words had just fallen when the door to S.C.I. was pushed open and two people walked in.

The S.C.I. team frowned at the sight of Shang Luo, followed by a man in his thirties with a briefcase - the man who followed Shang Luo was well-known to the police. His name was Hu Lie, a lawyer with a high success rate and a reputation for being unscrupulous and doing whatever it takes to win cases. He was the royal lawyer of many powerful people.

Hu Lie had been dealing with Bai Yutang and the others for a long time, so he took a few steps forward with ease and smiled: "I'm Qu Yanming's lawyer, and I'm asking for his bail."

Bai Yutang smiled back, "He killed someone with a gun, was caught red-handed with the stolen goods, and is suspected of multiple murders, so he has to be taken into custody."

"It's not certain whether he did it or not." Hu Lie said somewhat smugly, "It's possible that his actions are not governed by his brain, and you don't have definite evidence linking him to several other cases... Aren't you police officers having a headache over whether it's a curse killing or not?"

"Hehe..." Zhan Zhao couldn't help but laugh: "You say his split personality is also more convincing than a curse? If you want to prove that he's not normal, get professional expert proof, but I think he's sober as hell"

"Oh~~" Hu Lie nodded to Zhan Zhao: "Dr. Zhan is right, just as the curse is indeed unscientific. However, you police have no evidence yet to prove that this is not caused by the curse, right... Since everything remains in doubt, I demand that my client be taken for a professional mental condition examination. If you want to detain him, you must produce my client's motive for the crime and evidence related to the case, otherwise I will apply for bail"

The faces of the S.C.I. crowd sank at these words, and before they could say anything, they heard someone at the door say slowly, "If you want evidence, I can give it to you." Pushing the door in was Gongsun, who was still wearing his white coat.

The eyes of the crowd were focused on him as Gongsun walked in with a thick stack of autopsy reports in his hand and handed them to Bai Yutang: "The results of the autopsies on Carlos, Tian Zhong and Mo Ning are all in. All were killed, none of them were cursed, Qu Yanming is fully suspected of murdering these people and we have the absolute right to hold him for investigation."

Zhan Zhao looked at Hu Lie and asked, "Lawyer Hu, the forensic pathologist's autopsy report, is that scientific enough?!"

Hu Lie looked back at Shang Luo, who had no expression on his face, and turned his head to ask Gongsun, "Can you give me a detailed explanation?!"

Gongsun gave him a cold look and replied with a wry smile, "I have no obligation to report to you, if you want to know, go home and watch TV and wait for the police press conference." After saying that, he turned around and walked out, turning back to add as he reached the door, "By the way, if you want to collect that box corpse, you can feel free to display it at home. Because there is no curse or anything like that... If you are afraid to take it, remember to sell it to me, I am very interested." After saying that, closed the door and left.

Bai Yutang closed the autopsy report and smiled at Shang Luo and Hu Lie: "Both of you... the door is there, I won’t see you out..."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Translated: March 9, 2022 by Turtle

Edited: April 26, 2022 by Angel