S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 87

Lucky Murderer 17 – Shooting Club

---

After Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang left Xiao Wang's shop together with Zhao Hu and Ma Han, they first rushed to the hospital.

Unfortunately, all the doctors and nurses who were related to Lian Qianyi seemed to have evaporated. Bai Yutang had no choice but to find the hospital staff in charge of data management and archiving, and asked for the previous data to be retrieved for inspection. Unfortunately, as soon as he opened his mouth, the person in charge said, "Hasn't all the previous information been given to you police?"

Everyone was stunned.

Zhan Zhao asked, "Which police officer did you give it to?"

The person in charge thought for a moment, "Well... I didn't take note of them, but he came here a week ago, wearing a black suit, with a gun and papers."

The crowd had hoped that it was a mix-up with another case, but when they heard this, they immediately realised that something was wrong – no police officer would wear a black suit while on duty, it wasn't like the FBI on TV.

"What information did he take?" Zhan Zhao asked the man in charge to show him, while Bai Yutang asked Jiang Ping to access the hospital's computers to look for information.

Jiang Ping called back. The hospital's computer had very few records, and now the cases were all networked nationwide, but there was just no information on Lian Qianyi's recent visits to the doctor; he had not had a medical examination, so there were zero records. However, he pulled out the surveillance video information from the hospital inside a week ago and found some clues.

He sent over a relatively clear photo taken from the surveillance to Bai Yutang, and then went to track down the current contact information of the person of interest in the case related to Lian Qianyi back then.

Zhan Zhao came back and shook his head at Bai Yutang, "What was taken were archived medical reports, probably records made by Lian Qianyi's attending physician back then."

"But all that information is very incomplete." The person in charge told Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "Dr. Fan has been researching delusional disorders all his life, he has a lot of precious personal data, all of which have been duplicated, with one copy kept at home for research."

Bai Yutang told Jiang Ping to check for clues immediately and asked Luo Tian and the others to make a trip to find the medical reports, which might contain important clues.

Afterwards, Bai Yutang opened his phone to look at the photo sent by Jiang Ping and frowned. Because it was taken from an overhead view, it was still very unclear, the face was almost invisible and the man was wearing sunglasses.

After looking at it again, none of them could recognize the person. The person in charge was ambiguous, but he was still asked to go to the police station to do a sketch.

The crowd made a trip to the hospital in vain and had to drive to the shooting range to continue their investigation.

“Hmm..." Zhan Zhao looked at the photo on his phone and frowned, "One step behind, ah, if only we could have come to investigate earlier."

"That person in charge said that the information was taken away a week ago, and we only just learned that Lian Qianyi was once hospitalised." Bai Yutang shook his head, “The person who forged the documents and tricked the hospital staff into taking the information is very meticulous and should not be an ordinary person."

"This isn't Lian Qianzhong, is it?" Zhan Zhao looked at the photo on that phone's display and had Zhao Hu and Ma Han look at it as well, and they both shook their heads; the fake cop seemed to be physically a little taller than Lian Qianzhong, with a very broad back.

"This guy..." Ma Han stared at the photo for a long time and said, “he probably practises with guns a lot! And is proficient in the use of sniper rifles."

"You can see that?" Zhan Zhao was curious.

"Look at his shoulder!" Ma Han pointed at the man's shoulder for Zhan Zhao to see, "His habitual movements when using a gun have been incorporated into his physique, this man cannot be Lian Qianzhong, it feels like a professional sniper or a professional killer."

"Oh!" Zhao Hu nodded as he stared at the photo, "Well, this movement is the same as what Xiao Ma Ge usually does without thinking! When he lowers his head, he will keep his chest somewhat hidden, and one shoulder will lean back while the other shoulder will lean forward."

Zhan Zhao looked to the sky and thought about it, it seemed that it was – the kind of action that often happened when holding a gun up!

"Hmm..." Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows slightly, "Interesting, perhaps Lian Qianyi's injury has something to do with him as well."

Afterwards, the group arrived at the shooting club.

This shooting club was very upscale, the membership card was ridiculously expensive, and before joining, one had to have hit a bull's eye. It was said that the club did not accept rookies because the equipment inside was the best and most professional, and rookies might break the equipment if they went in. In other words, most of the people in this club are sharpshooters.

In this situation, Bai Yutang and Ma Han would have no problem getting in, Zhao Hu could naturally get in, but Zhan Zhao would never be able to get in.

Bai Yutang discussed with Zhan Zhao beforehand, "Cat, use your identification documents to get in."

"What for?” Zhan Zhao was quite unconvinced, let’s take a shot and see!

The crowd all look at the sky, the heart won’t die until it reaches the Yellow River.

As per the rule, the crowd went into the range to try their hand at shooting. Bai Yutang and Zhao Hu both passed easily, and Ma Han had shot yesterday and the head of the club appreciated him so much that he didn't need to shoot again...

Next it was Zhan Zhao's turn.

It was the first time he had used a sniper rifle, but he thought – he'd hit the target with the pistol, and the sniper rifle had a sight! Can't he hit it with a sight?

So he confidently chose a prone shooting position, thinking that having a place to set up his gun would be more stable.

After aiming carefully, the shots were fired. The first shot shattered a light bulb on the training range, and the second shot hit the target, except that it was the one next to the next one, and hit the ten ring. The third shot... given the risk of hitting innocent people, Bai Yutang duly stopped him from continuing to endanger the flowers and plants.

"There's no reason for that!" Zhan Zhao pondered seriously, "I accurately aligned the crosshair and calculated the speed and flight path of the bullet, as well as the possible effects of gravity and wind speed, there's no reason why I can't hit it, the data doesn't lie!"

Ma Han was holding his forehead in the back, while Zhao Hu was laughing and whispering, "Everyone has something they're not good at, don't they? We can't memorise, but we can shoot!"

“Apologies," The person in charge was called Tony, an Italian-Chinese man with a slightly melancholic look, and he smiled at Zhan Zhao, “although you are very cute, unfortunately we are not open to amateurs here, I can teach you some basic skills if you are interested."

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang, who took out his identification, "We want to investigate something."

"Oh..." The person in charge looked at Zhan Zhao and asked, “are you also a police officer?"

Before Zhan Zhao could say anything, the remaining three spoke in unison, "No!"

Zhan Zhao had a feeling of being abandoned and looked at Bai Yutang in a depressed manner.

"Ahem." Bai Yutang coughed and said to Tony, “he's just an advisor, a civilian position."

"Oh..." the person in charge nodded, “no wonder."

Tony led the crowd into the firing range while talking to Ma Han, "Actually, as soon as you showed up yesterday, I knew you were bound to be no amateur and guessed you were either a killer or a cop… It’s a pity, I was guessing killer at the time."

"Oi oi." Zhao Hu was a little disgruntled, "Doesn't he look righteous enough?! Xiao Ma Ge is a model police officer."

"Oh." Tony smiled, "A normal police officer wouldn't come up to my place to practice his shooting, the disciplined forces have rules, right, especially for a profession like snipers."

The crowd did not press further. Zhan Zhao carefully observed the surroundings, as well as Tony... This club really had a lot of people practising shooting, including Tony himself, who all had some habitual movements, which looked particularly obvious once spoken through.

"Do you guys want to check on Lian Qianzhong?" Tony asked.

“En." Bai Yutang nodded, "Any leads to offer?"

"You guys said he shot his brother with a gun and caused his brother to be seriously injured, is that true?" Tony didn't seem too convinced, "I don't think it's possible."

"Why?"

Zhan Zhao was not good at shooting, but good at asking questions, "He's a very good shot."

"That's true, but he's great at shooting at fixed targets and terrible at shooting at moving targets!" Tony shrugged, "There's a big difference between a professional sniper and a shooting champion!"

"That's true.” Ma Han nodded, "What you're looking for if you're a shooting champion is completely different from what you are looking for as a professional sniper... The one who shot Lian Qianyi, his technique looks like he is a professional killer."

"So as far as you know, are there any people here who are worth suspecting?" Zhan Zhao asked Tony.

"Uh..." Tony laughed, "Are you trying to set me up? I can't just guess, these are my clients."

"Do you have shooting records or anything like that?” Ma Han asked, "Show us."

"Well... this has it." Tony found the information and handed it over.

Bai Yutang took the information and flipped through it, but there really wasn't much of a clue.

Zhan Zhao looked around Tony's office, studying the man's character, and inexplicably… he felt that the layout of the office did not match Tony's character at all – Zhan Zhao had some doubts, was Tony's character disguised, or was this office not owned by him? Strange!

"Do you know why you didn't hit the right target?" Tony, however, asked Zhan Zhao with a low chuckle.

Zhan Zhao tilted his face up to look at him and asked with a smile, "Why?"

Tony reached out and gently patted Zhan Zhao's shoulder, "The upper body strength is too weak."

Zhan Zhao did not understand, the point was that he had aimed and had made a calculation error.

"Even if you aim, it takes a lot of strength to control the gun at the moment of firing! Otherwise, a subtle movement of the fingertips could make the shot a thousand miles off." Tony laughed, "Do you want me to accompany you to practise again... I'll teach you to control the strength of your hand and the correct posture..."

"Ahem."

Before Tony could finish his sentence, Bai Yutang interrupted him with a cough and walked between him and Zhan Zhao as he handed the information back to him, "We need to check all the firearms you have here, you can make a list later and send them all to the police station."

"No way?!" Tony hurriedly threw his hands up, "How long is that going to take to check? I can't do business!"

Zhao Hu raised the corner of his mouth, "Ten days to half a month. Speaking of which, the gun theoretically belongs to your club, not Lian Qianzhong, so you're responsible for that too."

Tony immediately tensed up and took a step back, negotiating with Bai Yutang, "I didn't see the ring on his hand just now, I won't go near him again, OK? Beauty is less important than eating."

Bai Yutang gave him a cold look, "Do you have surveillance cameras here?"

"Yes."

"There's only one main door to get in and out?"

"There's also a back door, but both are monitored."

"Then we'll need surveillance for both doors."

Tony hurriedly and honestly led Bai Yutang and the others to look at the surveillance footage, and stayed away from Zhan Zhao.

Before going upstairs, Zhan Zhao poked Bai Yutang with his elbow when no one was looking, "Captain Bai has a personal vendetta."

"You want me to take personal revenge?" Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow, "He has molested you twice, but no more than three times, if he dares to say one more word, I will kill him."

Zhan Zhao secretly laughed and turned back... noticing something a bit awkward – there were many green plants in the hallway, one every few steps, which seemed too dense and not very coordinated.

"Why do you keep so many green plants here?" Zhan Zhao was curious.

"Oh, at the shooting range, there is a lot of dust we can't get out of sight, so some greenery is better." Tony replied.

"Oh..." Zhan Zhao nodded, then suddenly glanced at Zhao Hu beside him and reached out to gently touch his ear.

Zhao Hu immediately said, "Chief, you guys watch the surveillance, we'll take a look around!"

Although Ma Han did not see that look in Zhan Zhao's eyes, he guessed that something was wrong and stayed outside with Zhao Hu.

Bai Yutang nodded and followed Tony into the elevator with Zhan Zhao and went upstairs.

Zhao Hu then ran over to the flower pot and started looking at it.

Ma Han walked over to him, looking at him in confusion, and Zhao Hu pointed to him at the flower pot.

Ma Han raised his eyebrows – What for?

Zhao Hu touched his ear like Zhan Zhao had just done, and Ma Han immediately understood – Zhan Zhao had hinted with his movements; touching the bridge of his nose was a camera, touching the bottom of his nose was a strange smell, and touching his ear was a bug!

The two men circled around the greenery, gently poking at the soil, and found nothing, nor was there anything on the leaves.

On a whim, Zhao Hu reached down and lifted the pot up, and saw that in the indented area at the bottom of the pot – there was a small, button-like black bug!

The two men looked at each other and looked at the pots one by one, finding one at the bottom of each planter. If cameras are installed to prevent the loss of guns or thieves... then a bug every few steps – Is this necessary?

Zhao Hu took out his phone to send a text message to Zhan Zhao.

Just as the elevator doors opened at the entrance to the surveillance room, Zhan Zhao gave his phone to Bai Yutang to look at. Zhao Hu sent a message saying that they found a bug, and that there is something wrong with this club!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked up and ahead at the same time, and inexplicably thought, this Tony's back, how is it that he has some resemblance to the person on the surveillance video?!

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

Translator Notes

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

Translated: May 21, 2022 by Angel