S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 53

Ghost Ship Murderer 19 – Escape

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Nguyen Van Gao tilted his face up and looked towards the balcony where Bai Yutang and the others were, and probably because the sunlight was rather harsh, he lifted the hand holding the book to shield his face.

Through the glare, Zhan Zhao saw the book in his hand, an English version of a Kafka novel.

Zhan Zhao raised an eyebrow slightly.

Zhao Jue whispered, "He was reading Harry Potter yesterday and Kafka today, I remember that he was reading Haruki Murakami the day before, but he was reading a Doraemon comic the day before that."

After hearing this, Zhan Zhao was silent, slightly squinting his eyes at Nguyen Van Gao under the bright light. How should he put it, he didn't know if it was because of Bai Yutang's suggestion just now, but his posture of holding a book to shield his face from the light looked very 'ladylike', elegant and quiet, which was a stark contrast to his short and solid figure.

Bai Yutang looked at him for a while, and suddenly asked Zhao Jue, "Is there a place here for him to do strenuous exercises?"

Zhao Jue blinked, "What kind of strenuous exercise?"

"Diving or something like that." Bai Yutang asked.

The corners of Zhao Jue's mouth twitched, "How is that possible, you really think this is a sanatorium, the most strenuous exercise they do every day is just a walk and aerobics.

When Bai Yutang heard this, there was a hint of doubt in his expression.

Zhan Zhao went over and asked, "What is it?"

Bai Yutang looked at Nguyen Van Gao, who had put away his book and was about to walk back to the ward, and said, "He's kept quite fit. "

Zhan Zhao did not understand.

"This figure should be a figure that only someone who exercises regularly and is trained to be muscular would have, the length of his hands is obviously disproportionate to his body, and his arms are well developed, which might have something to do with his habit of moving and climbing on boats for years. And looking at the thickness of his chest, back and shoulders, he should be very good in the water, and he couldn't have maintained himself that well if he hadn't been practising every day." Bai Yutang thought for a moment and asked Zhao Jue, "How much of the day does he spend out of surveillance range, alone?

"At night, I guess." Zhao Jue thought for a moment, "He spends a small part of the day in therapy, most of the day reading, and sleeps at night, his life is very regular."

Bai Yutang thought about it and called Jiang Ping, asking him to bring over a set of hidden surveillance cameras.

Zhan Zhao was curious, "You want to spy on Nguyen Van Gao's life at night?"

"I suspect he spends at least three hours every night training his muscles." Bai Yutang smiled faintly, "There's nothing wrong with exercising your muscles to stay in shape and athletic, but it's strange to do it secretly. Moreover, the intensity of the exercise is too much, a real sailor... or a pirate might need it, but a normal person doesn't need it at all."

"No wonder I think his body shape is a bit deformed." Zhao Jue stroked the scruff on his chin, "But because he looks so skinny, it's not eye-catching at all."

"The leanness is probably because he's restricting his diet." Bai Yutang asked Zhao Jue, "Do you have the menu?"

Zhao Jue called for a young nurse who was in charge of Nguyen Van Gao's daily life and asked her to bring him some records of Nguyen Van Gao's daily routine and diet. Bai Yutang flipped through it and frowned, "This is a recipe for special soldiers."

Zhao Jue and Zhan Zhao both showed a look of surprise.

"He might have some military background as well, so he's strict with himself, right?" Zhan Zhao poked Bai Yutang, "Aren't you usually very particular about this, what with the restraint and exercise..."

Bai Yutang shrugged, "I have to catch the thieves, of course I have to maintain my body, but he's different."

The crowd arrived at the lobby downstairs, and Zhan Zhao looked around, "This hospital is really well decorated."

"That's right, the owner has money." Zhao Jue tsked twice.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other and asked keenly, "Who is the owner?"

Zhao Jue pursed his lips and smiled particularly happily, his beard fluttering. Zhan Zhao's heart began to itch again, where was the razor?

Zhao Jue led the two of them through the brightly lit corridor and a few nurses passed by, all smiling and calling out "Doctor Zhao."

Zhao Jue discharged his electricity at people in a serious manner, making several young nurses dizzy.

Zhan Zhao tugged Bai Yutang and winked at him – Who has more powerful electricity than him!

Bai Yutang shook his head speechlessly – He didn't know what kind of enmity these two had in their past lives.

At the end of the corridor, there was a large door. Pushing it open and entering, there was a bright and spacious reading room with many bookshelves inside.

In front of the bookshelves were not long rows of tables and chairs like in a library, but soft sofas. There were some people sitting and reading, and a few nurses were accompanying them.

The reading room was very quiet.

When Zhao Jue came in, he walked towards the bookshelves with his hands in his pockets, and Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang followed him.

The three of them searched the whole room, but they didn't see Nguyen Van Gao.

Zhao Jue scratched his head, "Could it be that he didn't come here?"

Zhan Zhao took a few steps back and looked at the cart of the little nurse who was sorting out the returned books up ahead. He saw the English version of Kafka on the upper level of the cart.

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang frowned and looked around, but there was no sign of Nguyen Van Gao in the entire reading room. At the same time, Bai Yutang noticed a detail – a skylight at the end of the reading room was open – the skylight was quite high up and about the right size for a person to enter and exit.

Bai Yutang quickly looked around the ceiling and noticed that there was a camera above the door, which should be able to capture the position of the skylight.

Zhao Jue quickly walked to the front desk and pressed the alarm bell, picking up the intercom, "Close the doors, there are dangerous patients outside the surveillance area."

With the alarm bell ringing loudly, the hospital's security staff began to search the area, guards were posted at the entrance, and the patients who had been walking outside were back indoors.

After about half an hour of searching, however, Nguyen Van Gao was still missing.

At the door, Jiang Ping, who had rushed over with his equipment, was inexplicably kept out, and after being let in, the first thing he had to do was check the surveillance equipment.

The few hospital guards in charge of watching the monitors were helpless. Although they were watching, there were too many surveillance screens to look at, and it was not clear whether anyone had escaped.

Jiang Ping roughly determined the viewing area according to the time estimated by Bai Yutang and the others, and played it back carefully.

Nguyen Van Gao did appear in the reading room, and after putting down his books, he slowly walked towards the back of the bookshelf, his movements giving the impression of being somewhat wooden and sluggish. He quietly walked behind the bookshelf without arousing any suspicion, as he walked this way every day anyway.

But just about thirty seconds or so after he disappeared behind the bookshelf, Bai Yutang suddenly said, "Slow down."

Jiang Ping slowed down the playback speed.

Everyone then saw a black figure, like an ape, quickly scurrying up to the window above, burrowing out of the open skylight and disappearing out of the picture.

"Wow..." Zhao Jue couldn't help but exclaim, "That's a professional move!"

Bai Yutang told Jiang Ping, "Put it back at normal speed and watch again."

Jiang Ping adjusted the speed to normal and the crowd finally understood why no one had noticed, because the speed at which Nguyen Van Gao scampered out was so fast that he escaped in almost the blink of an eye, which was simply not something ordinary people could do.

Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin, it seemed that Bai Yutang was right, Nguyen Van Gao had persistently been exercising, training his physique, so his reach was agile.

"Wouldn't he have to exercise every day just to escape?" Zhao Jue rested his elbow on Zhan Zhao's shoulder, frowning and tsking twice, "That's not right either, he didn't run away earlier and didn't run away later, but today, after seeing you guys. Could it be that he is intentionally trying to avoid you?"

The crowd asked the few nurses in charge of the reading room again, and they all said that Nguyen Van Gao had come early today, and that he usually came in the evening.

When asked if Nguyen Van Gao had spoken, one nurse recalled hearing him muttering to himself as he brushed past her, but she didn't know exactly what he was saying and didn't pay attention.

As he was an extremely dangerous mental patient, Bai Yutang had people search the city for Nguyen Van Gao's whereabouts, while Zhan Zhao went into Nguyen Van Gao's room, looking for clues.

......

"Xiao Ma Ge."

Inquiring at a hospital in S City, Ma Han walked out of the elevator with a list of tests and frowned.

Zhao Hu padded over to look, "How is it?"

"My eyes are healthy." Ma Han showed him the sheet.

"And?" Zhao Hu followed Ma Han out of the hospital building and when he saw him stop suddenly, he asked, "Still not going back, huh?"

Ma Han stood still, seemingly in a daze.

"You're not going to check your head, are you?" Zhao Hu poked him, "Let's go and find Zhang Long and the others at Jin Liang's house."

Ma Han suddenly asked Zhao Hu, "The car with a logo that looks like a wing and has the letter A at the beginning that you told me about the other day, what is it called?"

Zhao Hu blinked, "Aston Martin?"

"Mhmm." Ma Han nodded, "Does Lin Ruo have one?"

"Yeah, a silver one." Zhao Hu nodded.

"Is it that one?" Ma Han suddenly reached out and pointed to a car in the distance, parked in a relatively hidden corner. The licence plate was half hidden, so Zhao Hu dashed over to take a look and quickly ran back, "That's the one!"

The two men glanced at each other and Ma Han frowned, "Lin Ruo is in this hospital?"

"No way." Zhao Hu crossed his arms and looked at it, "This is a public hospital, would those rich young masters come here? Did they have a car accident? No, the car is in great condition, it's so new it's blinding."

Ma Han frowned, "Isn't it a bit conspicuous to drive such a car at a time like this?"

"Uh... Lin Ruo has always been very low-profile, this car was in the garage before, if not for checking his home security system that day, we wouldn't have seen it." Zhao Hu said, taking out his phone. "There is a solution."

Ma Han looked at him in confusion.

He saw Zhao Hu looking for Lin Ruo's phone number, dialling it, pinching his nose and speaking, "Hello? Is this the owner of LR977? Someone called the police to say that your car is blocking the ambulance in front of First Hospital in S City, please move the car away as soon as possible."

After saying that, Zhao Hu hung up the phone and held out two fingers to Ma Han – done!

......

The two men went to a secluded place and waited.

Sure enough, not long after, from the direction of the inpatient building, Lin Ruo, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, rushed out. When he reached the door and looked at his car, he looked around at the empty main road and scratched his head in some confusion, where did the ambulance come from?

As he was confused, he received a phone call, said a few words, and got in his car and left.

Zhao Hu patted Ma Han, "Do you want to follow him?"

"Why follow?" Ma Han pulled him back, "His car is so obvious, just call someone to keep an eye on it. This kid is acting abnormally, I'll call and ask Dr. Zhan first."

Zhao Hu nodded, "Good idea."

......

Zhan Zhao finished looking at Nguyen Van Gao's room, and was full of doubts. Just as he walked back to the reading room, he received a phone call from Ma Han, and after thinking about it, he was curious, "Did you really go to the eye clinic?"

Ma Han looked at the sky, and Zhao Hu held back a laugh in the background.

"You two go into the ward and ask who Lin Ruo went to see." Zhan Zhao said, "He must have a purpose for running over like that."

Ma Han nodded, put away his phone and then went with Zhao Hu to the inpatient ward to inquire.

Bai Yutang hung up the phone on the other side and came over to Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue, spreading his hands, "All the major traffic routes are being searched, there are no clues about Nguyen Van Gao, he shouldn't be able to move that easily in his hospital gown. I've also called in the police dog team."

As he spoke, he saw someone outside the door looking in.

Zhao Jue saw him immediately and grinned, "Chi Chi!"

When Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked back, they saw Bai Chi, who was carrying a bag and a folder.

Bai Chi was obviously surprised to see the bearded Zhao Jue, and ran in with his mouth wide open to visit.

Zhao Jue reached out to touch his head, "Aiya, it's not been easy for you, I haven't seen you grow taller or mature after so many years."

As soon as Zhao Jue opened his mouth, an arrow hit Bai Chi's soft spot, and sure enough, he saw Bai Chi's mouth flatten.

After he finished teasing Bai Chi, Zhao Jue went back to teasing Bai Yutang who was busy making phone calls to various districts to find Nguyen Van Gao's whereabouts.

Zhan Zhao reached out and put a hand on Bai Chi's shoulder, "Chi Chi, ignore him, we'll work together later to shave his beard off!"

Bai Chi tilted his face up, "Shave his beard?"

"Chi Chi, what are you doing here?" Bai Yutang hung up the phone and pushed Zhao Jue away a little in the process, and walked over to ask Bai Chi.

"Oh." Bai Chi said, "It turns out that Jin Liang leaves detailed records for every job he does, which is convenient for inspection. I just looked at it, and guess who went to him a month ago?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, puzzled, "Who?"

"Lin Ruo!" Bai Chi took out the work notes inside his briefcase and flipped them open for Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang to see, "Look at what Lin Ruo was looking for him for."

Zhan Zhao flipped through the notes and frowned, "Lin Ruo asked him to exorcise a ghost?"

Bai Chi nodded.

"It's not like Lin Ruo's character." Bai Yutang frowned, "I haven't heard him mention this before either. Did he encounter a ghost? Or is his house haunted?"

"Those boys, being mysterious and secretive, should be hiding a lot of things." Zhan Zhao sneered and handed the notebook to Bai Chi.

"Head."

Jiang Ping returned from the balcony, "The police dog team has arrived."

The young nurse took Nguyen Van Gao's daily necessities to the police dog team, and a police officer with his dog went to find out where Nguyen Van Gao was. The police dog followed the scent all the way to find… that Nguyen Van Gao had really left the hospital. However, they only followed him for a while before the police dog ran out of leads because of the mixed scents and the many people and cars on the street.

"This is not the way to go." Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, "You were just in Nguyen Van Gao's room, did you find any clues?"

"There really was." Zhan Zhao nodded, "I found that he was in contact with someone."

"Who?" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

"Why don't you go to his room and see for yourself?" Zhan Zhao smiled, "Maybe your discovery will be greater."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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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 , 2023 by Angel

Edited: June 15, 2023 by Angel