S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 82

Toothless Murderer 05 – Lover

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After Bai Yutang was dragged out of the office by Zhan Zhao, Zhan Zhao made a phone call.

The phone call was to the twins. Zhan Zhao only asked one question, "Within the staff around Chang Yan, is there one who is very decadent, has a gambling or drug addiction, is very stupid, and basically no one wants to be friends with him except Chang Yan, does such a brain-dead person exist?"

When Zhan Zhao asked this question, the twins immediately answered. There was one, one of her assistants, who would only be used when Chang Yan went abroad, called Wang Hao. Xiao Ding also added that he was one of Chang Yan's former classmates or something, in short, they didn't want him to work for the Bai Group at all, it was Chang Yan who insisted on having him as an assistant. This person has no ability to do anything at all and is still always doing bad things, but Chang Yan inexplicably just treats him very well.

Zhan Zhao nodded and asked Chen Jiayi and Qi Le, "Do you know of this person?"

Chen Jiayi and the others looked at each other and seemed a bit confused, "I've heard of him, but I've never seen him."

Zhan Zhao smiled and said to Bai Yutang, "It's him."

Bai Yutang and the others felt that it was inexplicable, but no one doubted Zhan Zhao's judgement, so... Bai Yutang didn't even go out, he had the police officers from the police station near Wang Hao's house visit him, and Wang Hao was arrested.

Half an hour later, the police brought Wang Hao, carrying a camphor box of diary clippings and Chang Yan's laptop, to the SCI office.

Wang Hao was so scared that he didn't know what to do, saying that Chang Yan had ordered him to do it, and that he had just learnt about what had happened or something like that.

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly and shook his head.

The rest of the SCI crowd all looked at each other in disbelief, even Bao Zheng didn't think that it was really a true "brain-dead" person who was caught, as Zhan Zhao had said.

Everyone couldn't understand – How did Zhan Zhao accurately find this murderer through a video?

......

At this time, far away on a Hawaiian beach under an umbrella, Zhao Jue, dressed in a flowery shirt and holding a tablet, suddenly fell from the lounge chair.

"Ha ha ha..."

Bai Ye looked at Zhao Jue who was lying on the sand and laughing while pounding the ground. He picked up the tablet that he had left aside and looked at it, and saw that it was playing a video teaching how to make a "toothless capsule".

Bai Ye was puzzled and looked at Zhao Jue who was laughing so hard that he lost his breath, "What are you doing?"

"Ah... ha ha..." Zhao Jue laughed so hard that he could hardly breathe, saying, "I really want to see that cat's face right now, ha ha!… The one who made this video is a brain-dead idiot and wants to challenge that cat, ha ha ha. I'll... live the rest of my life thanks to this clip, aha ha ha."

Bai Ye looked at Zhao Jue, who was rolling around in the sand laughing, and was a bit speechless – What exactly was Zhan Zhao's expression at this time?

......

In the SCI office.

Zhan Zhao looked at Wang Hao who was sitting in the SCI office with his head in his hands, with an expression that was complicated, tinged with a bit of not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Bai Yutang walked over, looked at some information handed over to him by the police, and said to Zhan Zhao, "He has a gambling addiction."

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, looking at the other piece of information in Bai Yutang's hand, "What else?"

Bai Yutang smiled and said, "I also checked the accounts of Pan Jie, Xu Hong, the choreographer and the dancer who poisoned him, and the total sum of all of their ill-gotten gains plus Wang Hao's recently repaid gambling debts is equal to Chang Yan's missing assets."

Zhan Zhao crossed his arms and asked Bai Yutang, "What are Captain Bai's thoughts on this case?"

"It's the first time I've come across this kind of case." Bai Yutang spoke rather helplessly, and could only say, "Chang Yan, this lover is really scary, drunken and dreaming is no longer enough to describe how crazy she is in love."

Zhan Zhao nodded in satisfaction, reaching out to pinch Bai Yutang's cheeks, "So smart."

Bao Zheng narrowed his eyes as he watched the two flirting during work hours, but the most infuriating thing was that he didn't understand it at all. Earlier, he thought that some highly intelligent criminal had come out to challenge SCI, but he didn't expect that Zhan Zhao would solve the case in a minute and catch such a 'terrible' criminal.

"Ai, don't just end it like this." Zhao Hu had always been one who was the least ashamed to ask questions, and came over to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's side, "What do you mean?"

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin and tilted his face up, and as usual, began to organise his human language to explain the reasoning process.

Everyone present, except for Bai Yutang and Gongsun, who were leisurely drinking coffee, had a strong sense of guilt. Was it that they were too stupid? They always felt that every time Zhan Zhao explained the process of solving the case to them, it was even more laborious than the process of solving the case itself.

"Firstly, that video." Zhan Zhao shook his head, "It can be referred to as the brain-dead self-destruction video for short!"

The crowd raised their eyebrows, ready to hear more!

"That video is an instructional video, simply put, it teaches people how to make capsules for committing murder." Zhan Zhao spread his hands, "But as soon as the video came out, all the people who understand the beginning and end of the case would be confused – an important part is missing, which is the baked porcelain teeth! Not everyone in this world has a mouthful of porcelain teeth, which means that this capsule can't make everyone lose their teeth when they drink water, right?"

The crowd nodded, that's what happened.

"Let's look back at the entire killing technique itself." Zhan Zhao said, "The person who was able to come up with this method of killing, do you guys think they are smart?"

Everyone nodded, and Ma Han said, "Very smart, well educated, and after precise calculations and research, it's very much a premeditated murder!"

"That's right." Zhan Zhao nodded, "This case, from the very beginning, was premeditated. These few deceased and the person who committed the murder are not unconnected, they all belonged to the Bai Group, they all knew Chang Yan, and they all had a mouthful of baked porcelain teeth! In other words, because they all had a mouthful of porcelain teeth, the murderer used this capsule poison, as well as the method of water poisoning!"

Ma Xin stroked her chin and glanced at Wang Hao who was crying in the office, "He didn't come up with it, right? He definitely doesn't have this kind of IQ, and if he did, he wouldn't have put that video on the internet."

"That's the key!" Zhan Zhao nodded, "The purpose of the beginning of this case is clear! A premeditated murder! The purpose of this kind of poisoning is simply to kill only a select group of people, but the person who put the video up instead said that it was a random killing, to challenge the police, and that it was a purposeless murder... Therefore, the person who set the purpose and the person who released the video, are simply two different people. And judging from the behaviour of the person who released the video, he knows nothing about the whole poisoning process. So what good does it do him to have the video released online?"

The crowd thought about it and shook their heads, "Apart from getting him caught..."

Zhan Zhao nodded, "So this video is perfect, it's a trap to get him caught, or self-destruction for short!"

Seeing everyone thinking, Zhan Zhao continued, "The people the murderer wanted to get rid of this time were Pan Jie, Xu Hong, the choreographer, the dancer who poisoned him, and this Wang Hao, who was given to the police by the murderer."

Ma Han frowned, "So who is the murderer?"

Zhan Zhao smiled, "It's Chang Yan."

After Zhan Zhao finished speaking, most of them froze.

Chen Jiayi was at a loss, "But, Xiao Yan passed away already..."

"This entire plan was laid out by Chang Yan before her death." Zhan Zhao said, "She made all the arrangements before her own death and then passed away peacefully."

"Why did she kill those people?" Qi Le was puzzled.

"To protect Ran Shaoqi, her lover." Zhan Zhao said, "I've never understood how an ordinary woman like Chang Yan was able to attract a man with completely deformed aesthetics like Leonard, but now it seems that she was truly extraordinary! She was simply in poor health, and in addition, she liked artists but not the mafia. If she was in good health and liked Leonard, then she would definitely have been the perfect candidate for an underworld sister-in-law."

"How?" Jiayi was puzzled, "Xiao Yan was so gentle."

"Gentle?" Zhan Zhao smiled and asked in return, "Isn't Zhao Jue gentle?"

Everyone froze.

"Achoo..."

On the beach, Zhao Jue held a cup of mango smoothie and sneezed loudly, rubbing his nose.

Bai Ye picked up a large bag and said in a low voice, "I'm going to run an errand, I'll be back in half an hour."

Zhao Jue waved his hand, "Go, so long-winded."

Bai Ye rubbed his head, got up and left.

......

"Whether a woman is gentle or not is just her temperament, not her nature." At this time, someone from outside the SCI office walked in and said, "A very gentle person can also be very ruthless, being ruthless does not necessarily equate to being vicious. Chang Yan's strength lies in the fact that she can be very gentle to those she loves, but can be very ruthless to those who may harm her loved ones. Don't look at her as a weak woman, but as someone who has a very strong desire to protect, but also has a lot of courage, is ruthless and will do whatever it takes. She carries the most pain on her own, and will never implicate her friends, which is both noble and mean at the same time. Leonard once said she was the perfect woman for him, regardless of whether he loved her or not, he couldn't stop himself from admiring her."

The crowd looked out and in came Bai Jintang and the twins, and it was Bai Jintang, who rarely said that much on a regular basis, who made that comment.

"What brings you here?" Gongsun asked Bai Jintang curiously, hadn't he gone to a place where flowers bloomed to find solace?

Bai Jintang was helpless, "The twins said the case was solved, so I came to take a look."

"Continue, continue." Bao Zheng urged Zhan Zhao to continue with the case.

"As I said before, all the victims and perpetrators of this case revolve around Chang Yan. Of course, excluding the two motorcycle attackers who attacked me and Yutang." When Zhan Zhao said this, he saw Bai Jintang frown and ask, "Someone attacked you?"

Bai Yutang gently waved his hand, saying, "This matter will have to be discussed later, it should have nothing to do with this case."

Zhan Zhao nodded in satisfaction, "That's right!"

"Excluding all the fancy stuff, this is actually a very simple case." Zhan Zhao said, "The people around Chang Yan died, Chang Yan's money was withdrawn in batches one after another, and Chang Yan's laptop and diary clippings are all gone."

Everyone pondered.

Zhao Hu thought about it, "Right, Chang Yan's computer and all the written records are gone, for the sake of covering up the clues. This indicates that the person who wanted to cover it up was someone who had interacted with her too closely, and to eliminate the evidence, it would be necessary to destroy all the written records."

"The money was all taken out by Chang Yan herself, and she didn't appear to have bought anything. If we investigate the accounts of those deceased again, it's very easy to check the relationship between the incoming and outgoing accounts, the money should have been given to them by Chang Yan." Ma Han also nodded, "In other words, those people were blackmailing Chang Yan."

"Through Jiayi, we were able to discover the relationship between Chang Yan and Ran Shaoqi." Ma Xin analysed along the same line of thought, "What could be used to blackmail Chang Yan? It could be the impact to Ran Shaoqi's reputation after their relationship became public."

"Xiao Yan was afraid that after her death, those people would then blackmail Master, so she planned to kill them all?" Jiayi was shocked, "Then, this Wang Hao is..."

"A tool that Chang Yan cultivated from the beginning." Zhan Zhao said, "For Chang Yan to carry out all her plans after her death, she must have an executor who listens to her! This person must be unintelligent! Greedy! Trustful and even dependent on Chang Yan! He might be a frequent recipient of Chang Yan's charity. Who would need large sums of money for charity on a regular basis? The simplest speculation is someone with a drug addiction or gambling problem. What kind of person would become dependent on someone else? The world hates him, and only one person is kind to him. Chang Yan probably promised him a substantial income after he finished these few things. In the same way that Pan Jie killed Xu Hong, the dancer killed the choreographer, using the same method! Chang Yan left a dying message for Pan Jie and the choreographer, by poisoning the other two, they would receive a sum of money. Wang Hao, on the other hand, was the oriole hiding behind, administering the drug to Pan Jie and the dancer, and then putting the video on the internet. Chang Yan probably told him that after putting the video online, the police would never be able to catch him, and he could take the money and go far away... Wang Hao, who was convinced of Chang Yan's words, handed himself over to the police in a muddle-headed manner. By this point, everyone who knew about Ran Shaoqi and Chang Yan's relationship was dead, so no one could threaten her lover anymore. Wang Hao, the poisoner, was caught by the police, and Chang Yan herself had already passed away, a perfect circular crime!"

"But why did Ran Shaoqi tell the police that he killed Chang Yan?" Luo Tian asked.

"Because of understanding." Chen Jiayi murmured, "Master understands Xiao Yan's character very well. He should have unintentionally learnt about Pan Jie and the others blackmailing Xiao Yan, and as soon as he saw Pan Jie die, he guessed what Xiao Yan might have done, but he didn't know her exact plan, so he came to turn himself in to the police to try to tell them about his relationship with Xiao Yan and stop the murders. The reason why he said he killed Xiao Yan himself is entirely due to his holy father character, he might have broken his glass heart into pieces at that moment, feeling that he not only killed Xiao Yan, but also killed so many people..."

The crowd did not know whether to describe Chang Yan's feelings as great or vicious... She had previously poured out all of her assets to satisfy those who threatened her, not allowing them to disturb Ran Shaoqi, and even not allowing Jiayi and the others to know people like Wang Hao, so as not to cause him and the others any trouble in the future. On the day of her own funeral, she killed everyone in one go, and then handed over the stupidest one, the accomplice, to SCI, bringing the case to a full conclusion.

"Speaking of which, why would Chang Yan fall for Ran Shaoqi?" Xiao Ding seemed to find it confusing, "Obviously Leonard is a little more attractive."

"Like repels like, I guess." Bai Jintang said out loud. When he saw everyone looking at him, he spread his hands, "I'm talking about the nature of character, some people like to be like-minded, some like to be opposite in their ambitions. Instead of following Leonard and floundering around, it would be better to pick a great talent who is simple-minded to the point of innocence and purity. At least she was comfortable and satisfied before she went away."

"Did she know anything about SCI?" Bao Zheng asked with great interest, "Chang Yan seemed to be very confident that SCI would be able to solve the case at first glance, and judging from the name she gave to that instructional video, she was sending a clue to SCI, and was confident that you guys would be able to catch Wang Hao right away."

"It might be Yang Yang." Luo Tian said, "Yang Yang mentioned to me that Chang Yan was very interested in SCI and kept asking him to tell her how we solve cases."

After hearing this, everyone was a bit speechless. They originally thought that it was another exaggerated serial murder case, but they didn't expect that it was just that little girl Chang Yan drawing a circle to remove obstacles and protect her lover. At the same time, she herself has died. The mastermind is dead, so Wang Hao, a dumb follower, will go to prison. Perhaps he can give up his gambling addiction, and accept the rehabilitation to be a new person.

"The one who sent hitmen to attack you is also Chang Yan?" Bao Zheng asked Zhan Zhao.

The smile on Zhan Zhao's face was gone, and he looked at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang gently shook his head, "It shouldn't be."

"That's where the problem lies." Zhan Zhao said, "With Chang Yan's character, knowing that we are Brother's relatives, she wouldn't involve us in any dangerous or embarrassing situations, and there's no need to! Someone else suddenly stepped in and created this situation today."

"Then who attacked you?" Bai Jintang asked, "And who released those two videos online?"

"The person Chang Yan wanted to kill has already been killed, and if there is another case after this, that murderer is the one who is really going to challenge the SCI." Zhan Zhao said, "His setup started with the two complete videos from the funeral and outside the dance practice centre, and included sending hitmen to attack us. So far, the only clue is that he might know Chang Yan, or worse..."

Having said this, Zhan Zhao paused for a moment to look at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang leaned against the door, looking at the security guard from downstairs who walked in through the open elevator door, and whispered, "Perhaps, Chang Yan's killing method, was taught to her by that person..."

As he spoke, the security guard walked in, "Captain Bai?"

Bai Yutang nodded to him.

"Someone delivered a parcel downstairs." The security guard handed over a courier envelope, "We scanned it, there are no explosives. Judging by the X-ray, it should be a cell phone."

Bai Yutang opened the parcel and took a cell phone out of it.

Bao Zheng asked the security guard, "Who delivered it?"

The security guard shook his head, "It appeared at the door just now, the address of SCI was written on it, and the recipient named was SCI. We checked the surveillance," Saying that, the security guard told Jiang Ping the exact time period, "we saw a person in black wearing a hat on the CCTV, but we didn't get a picture of his face."

Bao Zheng nodded to indicate that he understood, and the security guard left.

Zhan Zhao took the phone and looked at it, frowning slightly... It was an ordinary phone, the technical department probably needed to study it.

As he was looking at it, the phone suddenly rang.

Zhan Zhao froze slightly...

The ringtone was set to the intro of one of Chang Yan's songs, and the caller shown on the screen was just one word – "murderer".

Zhan Zhao placed the phone on the table and pressed the speakerphone.

Jiang Ping put the recording device beside it.

After the phone was connected, there was about three seconds of silence, and then a voice that had been scrambled by a jammer came through, saying, "Hello, everyone from SCI."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other, as if to ask – Who will speak?

But before the two could speak, they heard Bao Zheng say, "Who are you?"

The crowd looked up at Bao Zheng, and saw that his tone was calm and composed, but he somewhat had the demeanour of a great patriarch.

"Oh... so it's Director Bao." The other party spoke in a tone that seemed relaxed, "Are you guys ready? Captain Bai, Dr. Zhan, Forensic Doctor Gongsun, and... all of the elites, time is limited, so I won't greet them one by one."

Everyone frowned slightly – Did they know everything about everyone in SCI?

"If you're ready, then we'll start the game." The other side said.

"What about the rules?" Zhan Zhao suddenly interrupted him.

"Rules?"

"Every game has rules." Zhan Zhao said, "For example, no killing or whatnot."

"Ha ha, Dr. Zhan is so humorous." The man laughed seemingly happily, "The rules are naturally made by me, as I am the murderer."

Bai Yutang frowned slightly, "What do you want?"

"I'll give hints, and each hint will allude to the next murder. If you can guess the answer, you'll be able to stop the crime... If you can't guess, you'll have to wait for the next murder to continue looking." Although the voice went through a voice changer, they could hear that the other party's tone was vaguely cheerful, "Of course, if you guys can catch me through these clues, then it is counted as a win for you guys, and the game will end."

"Can I ask you a question first?" Zhan Zhao interrupted him again.

"Sure, I'm happy to talk to you guys." The other party seemed very polite and patient.

"Why do you want to play this game, and… what is your relationship with Chang Yan?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"The answer to the first question is that I want to find out if you have the ability to protect good people." The murderer said calmly, "And the answer to the second question, I'm a fan of hers."

"You said protect the good people, so the people you kill are not good people?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Yes." The man replied, "The ones I kill are toothless people."

Everyone looked at each other – Toothless again.

"First hint." The man spoke, "The diary."

"Diary?" Bao Zheng frowned. Everyone subconsciously looked at the box full of Chang Yan's diaries and newspaper clippings on the side, did he mean that the clue was in the diary?

"Just one word?" Zhao Hu was surprised.

"This should be Miss Qi Le's boyfriend." Everyone frowned when the other party said this – Even the web of relationships was clear.

"It's more than one word, right, there are many words in the diary, but it shouldn't be hard for the young kid Bai Chi, who has a surprisingly high reading ability." Saying that, the man smiled, "The murder will happen in three days, and if you can't stop it, I'll call this number in three days to notify you of the location of the body... Good luck everyone." After saying that, without pausing, he hung up the phone.

Everyone was silent.

A moment later, Bao Zheng patted Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "Catch him."

The two nodded, and Bao Zheng turned around and went out the door.

......

On the Hawaiian beach, a dark cloud drifted over and covered the warm sun.

Zhao Jue raised his head and looked at the parasol that was being blown left and right by the wind.

"Let's go, it's going to rain." Bai Ye walked back from the distance, carrying a huge bag.

"Are you done with your business?" Zhao Jue asked him.

"Mhmm." Bai nodded.

"Shall we go back to S City?" Zhao Jue stretched his back.

"Go back for what? We still have a lot of unfinished business." Bai Ye frowned.

Zhao Jue switched off the video of Bai Yutang subduing the attacker that was playing on the tablet,  "Something interesting will happen this time, it should be wonderful."

After saying that, he stood up and shook the sand off his feet, "Let's go watch!"

‿︵‿︵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 20, 2023 by Angel

Edited: August 24, 2023 by Angel