S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 79

Toothless Murderer 02 – Teeth and Medicine

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Dead again!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang helplessly ended their midday meal. Unwillingly, Zhan Zhao took two skewers of siu mai and gnawed on them while exiting the restaurant, ready to go punish the evil and get rid of the wicked.

When their car arrived at the entrance of the church where the funeral was held, Bai Yutang opened the door and had just gotten out of the car when he was stunned by a burst of flashing lights.

Zhan Zhao looked out from the car – There were so many reporters.

It turned out that Bai Yutang's car was too flashy, and once it stopped, the reporters at the door thought that there was another celebrity, so regardless of what happened, they came forward and clicked.

But while pressing the shutter, everyone had a question – Who was this extremely handsome man?

Luo Tian had already arrived at the door, leading Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao to the scene of the crime, and on the way, giving the details of the crime to the two men.

Among the large number of entertainment reporters at the entrance, there were also a few social news reporters, and a few of them recognised Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao. Although these two weren't exactly public figures, the status of being SCI's captain and Bai Jintang's younger brother still made Bai Yutang a well-known person. The same went for Zhan Zhao. What kind of men were the most popular in this world? The geniuses and handsome men, those who were both were essentially not qualified to keep a low profile.

The sudden appearance of these two touched the nerves of many reporters. Could it be that there was some kind of trouble at the funeral site that warranted the presence of SCI? A serial murder case?

Everyone has heard that Bai Jintang is possessed by the god of evil, and that there is bound to be a murder if he arrives at a major event. Sure enough, the rumours are not false!

"Teeth fell out?" Zhan Zhao curiously asked Luo Tian, "Why would teeth fall out?"

Luo Tian shook his head. Ma Xin, who ran out to pick them up, was the first eyewitness, and hurriedly told Zhan Zhao that the dead woman was right next to her at the time, and had simply drank a cup of water and died immediately. The water and food provided at that place were freely accessible, and many people drank it and were fine. The water in the glass in the dead woman's hand had a strange flavour and was very suffocating."

"So suffocating yet she still picked it up and drank it?" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

"I also find it strange." Ma Xin seemed troubled, "There's no way a normal person would drink that cup of water, it stinks so bad!"

"Is there any poison that can make one's teeth fall out instantly?" Zhan Zhao asked Ma Xin.

Ma Xin shook his head like a rattle, "It's unheard of, my lord is troubled."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao glanced at each other – There were even times when Gongsun had difficulties.

Zhan Zhao reached out and rubbed his chin, "Water that smells bad..."

Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao and saw that he was squinting slightly, and his fingertips were regularly stroking his chin, as if he already had a clue.

Luo Tian and Ma Xin subconsciously looked at each other, both feeling surprised – He can't be this godly, right? There are clues even from this?

The crowd arrived at the place where the corpse was.

Zhan Zhao was the first to arrive next to the corpse, squatting down and looking at the deceased's mouth.

Bai Yutang asked Gongsun, "Any clues?"

Gongsun spread his hands, "Need to go back for an autopsy."

Bai Jintang said to Bai Yutang with a dark face, "If it was poisoning, could the murderer be here?"

Bai Yutang shrugged his shoulders, "It's possible, no one can leave anyway, they have to be investigated."

Bai Jintang looked at the sky, and the twins came over, "Leonard appears to have left."

Bai Yutang frowned.

"Ahem."

Bai Yutang then heard someone cough beside him. Turning his face, he saw Gongsun winking at him, "Mind your cat."

Only then did Bai Yutang realise that quite a few people at the scene were looking in the direction of the corpse with strange faces. He also looked in that direction, only to see that Zhan Zhao was squatting next to the corpse, holding a small spoon for stirring coffee, and just like knocking on a wooden fish, he was knocking on the corpse's teeth... knocking them off one by one.

Bai Yutang frowned slightly.

Although Zhan Zhao's behaviour was sometimes not very easy to figure out, he wasn't a person who couldn't distinguish between what was important and what wasn't, and there must be a reason for him to act like this... In addition, Bai Yutang was also a little concerned about why the teeth were crunchy as if they were hollow? What kind of poison was this?

At this time, Zhan Zhao, who seemed to have had enough 'fun', stood up and slowly walked towards the other side.

Bai Yutang looked over and saw that it was the direction where Ma Han and Zhao Hu, as well as a few of the girls were.

"He appears to have found something?" Gongsun asked Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang thought for a moment, "I guess there's no need to keep everyone to investigate."

"What do you mean?" Bai Jintang was puzzled.

Bai Yutang smiled, "That cat either already knows who the murderer is, or he already has a way to catch him."

The twins' eyes twitched – Fuck, what a godly man!

Zhan Zhao arrived at Ma Han's side, but didn't go to Ma Han nor Zhao Hu, instead chatting with Chen Jiayi and Qi Le, "Who's the one who died?"

"Her name was Xu Hong, a very famous make-up artist in the industry." Chen Jiayi replied.

Zhan Zhao nodded and suddenly asked the three girls, "Is there anyone here who knows kung fu?"

The three froze.

"Knows kung fu?" Chen Yu was puzzled.

"For example, stunt doubles, martial arts instructors..."

"Oh!" Chen Jiayi nodded, "There are three, they are..." She was just about to point when Zhan Zhao stopped her and asked, "Do any of you have medicine on you?"

"What kind of medicine?" The three girls tilted their heads together.

"Any kind of medicine, in capsules."

"I have some." Chen Yu was about to rummage through her bag, "Is Cold Clear okay?"

Zhan Zhao stopped her again, and hooked a finger to the three girls, as well as Zhao Hu, Ma Han and Bai Chi who were standing on the side, signalling for them to come over.

The six people gathered together in confusion. Zhan Zhao whispered a few instructions, and the six people glanced at each other, all nodding to show that they understood.

Afterwards, Zhan Zhao turned around and came back slowly. Bai Yutang saw him walking to his side with his hands behind his back, like a cat that had just picked up a fat mouse, so he asked, "How long will it take?"

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly and stretched out three fingers, "No more than three minutes!"

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow, indicating that he would wait and see.

Beside them, Bai Jintang and Gongsun felt that it was unbelievable... How was Zhan Zhao able to determine that he could catch the murderer within three minutes?

Bai Yutang observed the actions of the six people on the opposite side, and saw that the three girls split up and went in three different directions first, after which, Ma Han, Zhao Hu and Bai Chi each trailed one, following them imperceptibly... Suddenly, he heard Bai Chi shout out, "It's you!"

As Bai Chi shouted, everyone was startled! The crowd looked over together, only to see Bai Chi reaching out and pointing at a young man in a black suit with a crew cut. He was standing in front of a decorative fountain sculpture, and as soon as he saw Bai Chi pointing at him, he suddenly turned around and ran.

He was obviously quite skilled and moved surprisingly fast, running wildly towards the railing at the back, but Bai Yutang was faster than him, catching up with him in two or three quick strides.

There were quite a few obstacles in the garden, as there were neatly trimmed shrubs and long iron benches everywhere, as well as flower beds.

The man was rushing straight in the direction of the railing. Bai Yutang chased him from the side, and his movements were so nimble that the mouths of everyone present were wide open.

The man's goal was obviously to jump over the railing and escape down the hillside, but unfortunately, at the moment he was about to jump over the railing, Bai Yutang jumped onto the railing one step ahead of him, turned back and kicked his whole body back. He climbed back up, but Ma Han and Zhao Hu, who arrived afterwards, had already grabbed him and handcuffed him.

Zhan Zhao smiled and asked Ma Xin, who was looking at her watch to count the seconds, "How long?"

"One minute and forty-five seconds." Ma Xin tilted her face and replied, looking at someone who was not a human being but a god.

Zhan Zhao, however, seems to be less satisfied, and tsked, "The previous fastest record for solving a case was one minute and thirty seconds, but this time it was fifteen seconds slower, so it's not a new record."

Gongsun held his forehead, "How do you know he is the murderer?"

Zhan Zhao answered with a straight face, "Wild guess!"

Everyone sighed – Sure enough.

At this time, Bai Yutang returned with the others.

Chen Jiayi knew him and came over to tell Zhan Zhao, "His name is Pan Jie, he's a body double, a fitness trainer and boxer, and he's very close to Chang Yan."

Zhan Zhao nodded.

After he was brought over, Zhan Zhao asked him, "Why did you want to kill her?"

Pan Jie was silent for a moment before simply saying, "She deserved to die."

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin, "What bad things did she do?"

Pan Jie stopped speaking.

Bai Yutang had Ma Han and Zhao Hu bring the man back to the police station. This case should not belong to SCI, and since it has been solved, the man would be handed over to Ai Hu and the others for interrogation.

At this time, Zhao Zhen slowly walked over to Zhan Zhao's side, reached out and spread his hand, and there were three capsules in his hand, green and white Cold Clear capsules.

Everyone was puzzled.

Zhao Zhen asked Zhan Zhao, "Just now, the three of them passed by three men and quietly dropped the capsules to a conspicuous position. The three men all lowered their heads and saw the capsules, but while the other two did not pay any attention to them, only Pan Jie quietly picked up the capsule... so Chi Chi shouted at him. That's your whole process of solving the case?"

Zhan Zhao nodded.

"Capsules?" Bai Yutang thought for a moment and looked at Gongsun.

Gongsun was stroking his chin at this time and muttering to himself, "Oh... so that's how it was poisoned! Ingenious."

"How was it poisoned?" Ma Xin hadn't figured it out yet, and the others apparently hadn't as well.

Gongsun went and grabbed one of the dead woman's teeth, and saw that the tooth was a smoky yellow colour, as if it was roasted, and brittle, "It's a porcelain tooth!"

"It doesn't seem to be of good quality..." Chen Jiayi frowned.

Qi Le and Chen Yu nodded. In their line of work, many people had mouths full of porcelain teeth, but porcelain teeth should be clean and white, why was it this yellow colour?

"The poison is not in the water at all." Gongsun said, "That's just a cup of ordinary water, this is chemical formula poisoning!"

"Chemical formula poisoning?" Everyone raised an eyebrow – Very advanced!

"This type of poisoning is very clever!" Gongsun said, "Firstly, a certain chemical agent is placed in a capsule and the deceased is made to take it. As the capsule melts in their stomach, the stomach acid and the chemicals in the capsule undergo the first chemical reaction, which may produce a gas or a liquid with an unpleasant smell, and the person's symptoms are... thirst and bad breath, so..."

"Drink water!" The crowd nodded.

Gongsun continued, "But the water that they drank caused the second reaction with the chemicals that were produced first reaction and the chemicals in the porcelain teeth, creating an explosion or a strong oxidising reaction! So..."

"Oh!" Ma Xin clapped her hands, "So the tongue burnt and the teeth were blown loose!"

Gongsun nodded, "The water only produced the unpleasant and pungent smell after the chemical reaction, what caused her death could be the internal organ damage caused by the explosion, or it could be the highly toxic substance generated by the chemical reaction."

Everyone understood, and couldn't help but look at Zhan Zhao – This guy was so smart that it screamed bizarre, and the scope of things he dabbles in is wide. His thinking seemed to be completely unrestricted, to the extent that he had thought of this kind of method of poisoning with a thousand twists and turns just by taking a spoon and knocking on her teeth.

Ma Xin flattened her mouth and muttered from the side, "Calling for hatred!"

"Then how did you use the capsule to find the right murderer?" Zhao Hu was puzzled and asked Zhan Zhao, "Also, why did you only suspect the three martial arts experts?"

Zhan Zhao spread his hands, "First of all, the most crucial thing to make this method of poisoning effective is to make sure that she swallows a capsule."

Everyone nodded.

"Getting someone to take a pill isn't as simple as having to make them drink water. What are the circumstances where one would be in a hurry to take a pill?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Painkillers?" Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao nodded in satisfaction.

"Painkillers?" The crowd was curious.

The girls asked, "Physical pain?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head and pointed to his head, "I guess it's a headache."

"Headache..."

"Although she is dead, from the condition of her body, her state before death was haggard and anxious. If you look at some of the details, there are signs of scratching on both sides of her temples, and shallow nail marks, it is evident that she had pressed her temples for a long time before her death. She probably had an unbearable headache."

The crowd understood that the headache was indeed a life-threatening problem, and if someone had passed a painkiller when the pain was unbearable, it would definitely have been taken.

"Even if the headache is severe, one wouldn't just take medicine from a stranger." Bai Yutang said, "That person would have to carry painkillers with them without making it seem out of place. Stunt doubles and martial arts experts are professions that are often injured, so they make the most sense."

"Right." Zhan Zhao nodded, "And the painkillers they carry should be ones that take immediate effect, which would be more reasonable than those carried by doctors or girls with menstrual pain!"

"So you first targeted the three suspects to see how they reacted to the capsules?" Ma Han asked.

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Although I don't know what kind of capsule he used, the so-called guilty conscience of a thief will instinctively react to capsules... In fact, I asked the three of them to watch the reaction of these three martial arts experts when they saw the capsule... as long as there was a little panic, they were the murderer!"

"But I didn't expect that man to just go and pick it up!" Bai Chi said, "I saw him trying to throw the capsule into the fountain, so I did as Brother instructed and shouted."

"Maybe the colour of the capsule was coincidentally the same as the colour of the capsule he used to poison her, that's why his reaction was so intense." Bai Yutang said, "This person doesn't look smart, he doesn't look like someone who would use such meticulous methods to kill."

Zhan Zhao nodded, "I also think that someone should have given him the capsule, and he was just the executor."

"Have Ai Hu and the others look into it in detail." Bai Yutang said, glancing back at Ran Shaoqi who was not far away, and asked Ma Han with some confusion, "That person has been looking at you since earlier, with a very anxious look."

"Oh... right." Ma Han and Zhao Hu spoke about Ran Shaoqi's strange behaviour just now.

"What?" Before Bai Yutang could react, Chen Jiayi shouted, "Master said he killed Xiao Yan? How is that possible! He has a personality like a quail, and apart from his baton, he hasn't held anything offensive."

Ma Han shrugged and said – The exact situation was unknown.

At this time, Ran Shaoqi came over, and repeated the same words, demanding that the crowd arrest him, or else a lot of people would die.

Bai Yutang frowned slightly, "Since you turned yourself in, how did you kill Chang Yan?"

Ran Shaoqi obviously couldn't answer.

"Master, are you alright?" Chen Jiayi was a little worried about the old man's mental state.

But Ran Shaoqi was obstinate and determined.

The crowd was helpless – Was there anyone else who had to be arrested for unreasonably causing trouble?

"You said that many people would die if you weren't arrested?" Zhan Zhao was curious, "Why?"

Ran Shaoqi frowned slightly with a melancholic expression, but he couldn't say anything.

Bai Jintang shook his head, no longer wanting to pursue the matter. Why was it that someone died every time the slightest thing happened, no matter what happy event it was, and there was always a long list of messy freaks...

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao decided to bring Ran Shaoqi back to the SCI office to talk about it in detail for the sake of caution. The funeral was to continue and the crowd was about to disperse when Xiao Ding's phone rang.

After Xiao Ding answered the phone, he listened for a while and blinked, "Huh?"

Bai Jintang looked back at him with the meaning – What's wrong now?

Xiao Ding held the phone with a puzzled look, "The company just called and said that a choreographer died suddenly during dance practice."

Bai Jintang frowned, another death...

"Sudden death of a choreographer? Stroke?" Gongsun was curious.

Xiao Ding opened his mouth, "They said he died after drinking water."

The crowd's keen nerves were immediately touched, "Drinking water?"

Xiao Ding bitterly smiled as he picked up the phone and asked the other side, "Hello? One of you open his mouth and take a look, what's the condition of the teeth?"

Not a moment later, the staff over there replied, "The teeth fell out as soon as they were knocked..."

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin.

Bai Yutang picked up the phone and helplessly asked Zhao Hu and Ma Han to escort Pan Jie directly to the SCI office, escalating it to a serial murder case.

‿︵‿︵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: August 7, 2023 by Angel

Edited: August 18, 2023 by Angel